I’m up at the shack. I’ve been here for four days on an intensive deep dive into the edit of the manuscript, called - well at least on my computer - The Lambing Diaries. I have been working on this manuscript for four years. It’s based around a diary I kept over the lambing seasons through the drought. It’s a book of fragments, guided by the principle that we can never grasp the whole, but instead only offer this moment or the next, to lay out some sliver of truth. Perhaps that’s why it has been so hard. There’s three different voices in the book. There’s my diary self - close and intimate. There’s an observational voice that writes short bird portraits - a scientific description overlaid with something more poetic. And then there’s the traditional memoir voice - the story teller ranging backwards and forwards in time. I have a vision for the book. I can see sketches of birds, dogs, sheep and mud maps of paddocks and waterholes and dry creek beds. It is also a mediation on motherhood. Perhaps because of all the things I wanted it to be, it almost wasn’t anything at all. But here I am, four years on, engaged in a conversation with my wonderful editor about what stays and what goes, about what is unclear, confusing, what is
Love this, Maggie. I'm greatly intrigued by the three voices at work in you. You make me think of how editing might be taking binoculars up in arms to focus in on a specific bird and how writing and birds say back to each other. This sounds a bit crazy to reread, but I had owls living in my backyard this summer and they brought such wisdom to me. I believe in the power that observing birds can bring to the words you are writing and editing and reliving. Sending you the best writing vibes from the other side of the world!
Our special and mutual friend Di Carlton has treated me to a subscription of ‘the Sit Spot’ and I now look forward to Tuesdays with impatience. Your descriptions transport me back to the wonderful State of Tasmania where we have enjoyed many holidays hiking and fishing with friends. I also enjoy your reading and listening suggestions - what a glorious photo this week. Good luck with the new book - thank you.
Such a joy to read your words and be transported to another world for a few minutes. And yet, as I listen to the birds on the canal where I sit; it doesn't seem so far away. Thank you for sharing your words.
Lovely Sit Spot as always Maggie. Well done on finishing the edit. I can hardly wait to have the book in my hands - do you have a publishing date yet? I hope the title The Lambing Diaries sticks. It appeals to me at least. :)
As a Tasmanian who now lives on the other side of the country I love immersing myself in your words and visioning all the special places I used to inhabit. Whilst watching ‘Back Roads’ last evening on ABC I was transported back to my early years of being brought up in the small country town of Longford. Watching the old footage of cars racing under the viaduct I remembered sitting on my dad’s shoulders watch them do just that! John Talbot, who drove Heather Ewert around was my first boyfriend, Neil Kearney is my cousin who I share special memories with and I lived quite close to Brickendon. Such a fabulous trip down memory lane and now reading Sit Spot I am am reliving my time on the East Coast. Hopefully soon I can return.
Love this, Maggie. I'm greatly intrigued by the three voices at work in you. You make me think of how editing might be taking binoculars up in arms to focus in on a specific bird and how writing and birds say back to each other. This sounds a bit crazy to reread, but I had owls living in my backyard this summer and they brought such wisdom to me. I believe in the power that observing birds can bring to the words you are writing and editing and reliving. Sending you the best writing vibes from the other side of the world!
Our special and mutual friend Di Carlton has treated me to a subscription of ‘the Sit Spot’ and I now look forward to Tuesdays with impatience. Your descriptions transport me back to the wonderful State of Tasmania where we have enjoyed many holidays hiking and fishing with friends. I also enjoy your reading and listening suggestions - what a glorious photo this week. Good luck with the new book - thank you.
Such a joy to read your words and be transported to another world for a few minutes. And yet, as I listen to the birds on the canal where I sit; it doesn't seem so far away. Thank you for sharing your words.
Lovely Sit Spot as always Maggie. Well done on finishing the edit. I can hardly wait to have the book in my hands - do you have a publishing date yet? I hope the title The Lambing Diaries sticks. It appeals to me at least. :)
I love everything about this MM. I have just started listening to The Lincoln Highway....it's marvellous x
As a Tasmanian who now lives on the other side of the country I love immersing myself in your words and visioning all the special places I used to inhabit. Whilst watching ‘Back Roads’ last evening on ABC I was transported back to my early years of being brought up in the small country town of Longford. Watching the old footage of cars racing under the viaduct I remembered sitting on my dad’s shoulders watch them do just that! John Talbot, who drove Heather Ewert around was my first boyfriend, Neil Kearney is my cousin who I share special memories with and I lived quite close to Brickendon. Such a fabulous trip down memory lane and now reading Sit Spot I am am reliving my time on the East Coast. Hopefully soon I can return.
What a glorious week, Maggie! Congratulations on finishing your edit. I'm looking forward to reading that book xo