I guess love is a pretty topical subject, considering the date. Normally it’s something I steer away from in my writing – at least, as a main storyline. But it creeps in because it’s nearly impossible to write believable, well-rounded characters without them either being in, or thinking about, a love relationship of some kind. Does that mean I’m about to get all shmaltzy on you? Nope. Not any time soon. But it is interesting to look at how the concept of ‘love’ influenc

So here we are in 2020, and I’m only just kind of stopping to catch up with myself after one of the busiest years I’ve ever had. What on earth happened? I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but I certainly had goals for last year. I reached some of them, and fell short on others. That’s life, and it happens to most people. But I really hoped to have at least the first book in my Atomic Goddess trilogy published, if not by October, then by December at latest. It’s

Hello 2019 – here we are in a new year, and now that all the sounds of celebrating (and soon-to-be abandoned resolutions) have faded away, it’s time for the serious business of life and work to take over again. Do I hear a collective *GROAN* out there? Personally, I couldn’t wait to swing into a new year, and back to my usual routines. I deliberately gave myself a good break over December from most of my regular activities – including writing (except for a short s

So it’s been super-incredibly busy for the last few weeks – to the point that my October blog is only just happening now, in November. Of course, there are a couple of obvious reasons for that. One, naturally, was Halloween. It still amazes me how many people in Australia go on about Halloween being an ‘American custom’, and asking why on earth we should celebrate it. They argue that we should reject the holiday on this mistaken premise – although modern society seems t

You may be asking yourself, ‘why is Lana writing about Halloween again?’ After all, my last post went into the subject, and it does sound like a return to this previously covered ground. Ah, but some of you may be aware that I’m referring to something quite different. ‘The dark night of the soul’ is a term often used to describe the experience of going through a spiritual or existential crisis. Many of us have gone through something like this, where either an inte

So, how many of you look forward to Halloween every year? I do – not that I usually go all out to decorate the house or costume-up (unless there’s a really irresistible party to go to). Most times I just stock up on lollies and sweet nibblies in case there are trick-or-treaters out and about, and celebrate in my own quiet way. It’s a festival that has certainly grown in popularity over the years, and for many people, has become their favourite cultural celebration of al

So why Isis, you may ask? Why does my character, Ange, turn out to be Isis incarnate? Why the Egyptian pantheon? Why a goddess, and not a shape-shifting vampire slayer, or a technically advanced time-travelling do-gooder, or some kind of well-meaning elf-dryad-unicorn hybrid, or a priestess from the sunken, undiscovered-by-humankind island of Atlantis, or a Fairy Godmother Voodoo Queen, or some other supernatural entity? Easy answer: Er, I dunno. Honest answer: I

One of the important things for me in my writing is to explore the genres I most love to write. From my beginnings as an author – right back when I started writing as a child – fantasy was my clear favourite. So what influenced me most in my journey to the author I am now? Books – Enid Blyton’s Enchanted Faraway Tree series, The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Gulliver’s Travels, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Aladd

Just like my character, Ange, I have always had a deep and abiding love of animals, and the world of nature. I grew up watching programs about animals on television – wildlife shows, David Attenborough documentaries, and shows like A Country Practice and All Creatures Great & Small, which almost convinced me to pursue a career as a vet – until I realised I probably wouldn’t be adept at handling the emotional side of the business. The first animals I was introduced

As we make our way in this world, a parallel can often be drawn between our life journey and our physical meanderings on the earth. Sometimes it is easy to look back and see how far we’ve come in a lifetime, and perhaps liken the progression of our life to an actual journey. Just like one uses a vehicle to physically travel from point A to point B, so we can say our route from conception through the different stages of life is similarly a trip, of living, learning, and – hope