It's 2013, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

I've started the year with an adventure! No, not with Bear Grylls (I wish) but to find an old quarry on the north face of Mount Barker.

I knew it couldn't be far off the Fire Track, and it is a bit of an interesting hike (through cobwebs - bleccch!), but I made it okay to the west side. There's an easier way in, but this was much more fun (and a little nerve-wracking - keeping an eye out for those slithery creatures!)

As it's my first time, I didn't venture far, and I apologise for the quality of a couple of the pictures but wanted to include them for posterity.

THE EXCITING BIT: I found what looks like old ruins! There's certainly a concrete/stone slab there, remains of two and a bit stone walls and an old stone fence line. Certainly it looks like was "used" at some stage, perhaps during the construction of the freeway (back in the early 1970s). Really pleased at finding this!

(BLOG continues below these photos...)

I hacked back along a non-existent path and managed to link in with the circuit track - so pleased about that.

Just quickly on the bird-list: Wrens, female GW, babblers, thornbills, y/f h/es; heard: fantail,  pardies, spiney. It's heating up this week, I hope they move near water (i.e. dams in the farmers' paddocks).

Writing - working on the publishers/agents query letters, reading up on Search Engine Optimisation, redesigning this website! Only a day more on this, then it's back to expanding out my next crime novel, Hell's Bells, and another slash-and-burn edit of The Fatal Span.

Happy writing
Bo
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As I'm writing this, it's nearly noon on the 31st. In a few more hours, it'll be 2013 - and I wish you all a happy and peaceful New Year. Let's hope the conflict zones around the world (especially Syria) can come to a peaceful resolution soon!

First: there's an RSS feed button on this blog page (just scroll down a bit - it's on the right hand side). If you'd like to keep updated, just click on the button and enter your email details.

The webpages and blog and undergoing major changes - which are taking far longer than I thought (whoops). I've updated The Crime Novels, The Whodunnits, The Short Stories and About Bo pages. Currently I'm working on the Gallery pages - and that's where it's slowing down. I'm taking my time chosing WHICH photos go in, rather than blindly uploading all of them.

On the writing front, I'm preparing my query letter(s) to agents/publishers, and have enrolled in a couple of Writer's Digest webinars to help me improve my chances, plus reading up from a few texts: "Guide to Query Letters" by Wendy Burt-Thomas (Writer's Digest books 2008) and "The Sell your Novel Tool Kit" by Elizabeth Lyon (Perigee/Penguin 1997). And what would the New Year be without rehashing a synopsis for the CWA's Debut Dagger competition?

This week, I've relaxed a bit, caught up with friends (always wonderful) and some work around the garden. We really could do with some rain. It's been such a dry spring and an even drier summer, with another hot blast on the way for Thursday. At least it hasn't been as hot as Perth, who've had nearly a week of 40C temperatures! No thanks!

MORE OF THE BLOG AFTER THE PHOTOS (keep scrolling!)

MONARTO:

Friday was a trip to Monarto Zoological Park - and that fabulous open range "zoo." Yep, lions, cheetahs, meerkats, rhinos, zebras, antelope and deer, bison and other plains grazers, chimps, ostrich and of course those beautiful giraffes. They have an impressive program of breeding mammals that are endangered in the wild, including our own yellow-footed rock wallabies.

You can catch a bus for a tour of the area (on/off stops during peak times) or walk some of the lovely trails through the park. An impressive day!

Oh, and we saw singing honeyeaters, yellow-rumped thornbills, wrens, heard babblers and weebills, and saw the tiniest of skinks.

Just before that, we had a SHORT trip to the beautiful Laratinga Wetlands at Mount Barker. It's the first time I've ever seen a SAND BAR in the first lake. It's that dry! Always a great spot for wrens, and there were a considerable number of wading birds (ibis, spoonbill) and of course ducks (black duck, grey teal, dotterels - or was it a plover?) I'll do a better list when I go back and have more time!

MOUNT BARKER

Mount Barker summit is dry, and the birds are moving down the mountain. Perhaps the best was being eye-balled by the juvenile Golden Whistler, who then followed Dad Golden Whistler into the tree-martin's tree for instruction on how to hunt for insects. Seen  Mrs GW in the same area too. The birds are often travelling in groups at the moment, and on various days I've seen large groups of wrens travelling with thornbills (striateds probably, and maybe brown) and fantails. Seen and heard: grey shrike-thrush, black-faced cuckoo-shrike, eastern spinebill, RBFs, rosellas (Adelaide), pardelotes, y/f h/es, babblers (always fun), currawongs, blackbirds, tree-martins, clogs, magpies, galahs, silvereyes, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, sulphur-crested cockatoos. Not all at the one time of course. Yesterday I had 3 groups of wrens (in one batch) OVERRUN me: I just stood still and gaped!

Finished a fabulous TV series The Killing (Forbrydelsen) from Denmark. Great acting, an exciting and thrilling story, and garnished with local politics. Superb television! Sophie Grabol is a goddess!

And finally, vale Gerry Anderson. Thanks for the some of my favourite childhood memories - great stories, heroic characters, and always with a great message. Thunderbirds are Go!

Happy New Year

Yours in writing
Bo
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Happy Holidays!

First of all: I wish you all a joyous and peaceful Christmas, and safe journeys for those who are travelling. Okay, that's the sensible bit over, I wish you loads of expensive presents, a lotto win, and an around-the-world trip! YES?

Okay, let's start with the birds. No, let's start with yesterday's Hot Blast from Hell: 41C here at Nairne/MtB, 42C in Adelaide, 46C in Tarcoola. Yep, horrible. Thankfully, today is much cooler, and it really tried to rain earlier. Yes, we counted the drops, unfortunately.

NOW to the bird report: MtBS was closed yesterday because of fire danger, but a walk around the back streets of Nairne brought a surprising haul of birds considering the weather and the lack of forest (farmland, houses). Saw thornbills (not sure which variety), rosellas, raven, North Road Willie Wagtail, fantail (heard), and SAW a grey shrike-thrush who was determined to bash the brains out of a seed-pod on the roadway and yes, thank you, I could walk around it and get out of its way (I apologised). Oh, and just the last few days, I've had RBFs into my b-baths at home: now THAT'S hard to take (not).

MtBS has been a mix - depending on the weather (again) and which track I'm on. On Friday, the Fire Track produced fantails, striated thornbills, RBFs, wrens, y/f h/es, and heard babblers, GWs and kookas. Saturday and today (Monday), the circuit/summit/road tracks brought quite a few batches of inquisitive wrens (plus a tiny baby wren with a tail about 3mm long - how cute is that?), fantails, galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos, Adelaide rosellas, magpies, thornbills (yellow-rumped and striated), Mrs GW (who whistled me a Merry Christmas at eyeball level - amazing!), saw/heard grey shrike-thrush, spineys, b/f cuckoo-shrikes, currawongs, pardies, a heap of butterflies (trying to learn their species), AND I had to wait for a kangaroo to hop off the road. NOT BAD!

Writing this week: Not as productive as I'd hoped as I had phone problems AGAIN(!) and it's gone back to Optus to be fixed. Not happy. I've started planning the second Albert Finemore book, and ordered a couple of books to help me locate the right place in Cumbria. Didn't get to the agents/publishers letter - will nail that by Sunday at the latest.

Websites: I've started the changes to my Weebly pages; I'll work on that in the early mornings. I've already ordered my "Quotation Corner" - hope you enjoy it. I'll add all the links over the next few days.

Reviews: Writing that review - will post it by Sunday.

And I'm looking forward to a couple of films: "The Hobbit" due for release here on Wednesday (I'll wait a couple of weeks for the queues to thin out) and "Les Mis" - with the wonderful Hugh Jackman (a good reason to see any film). Oh and Bond, of course.


Yours in writing
Bo
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At last, things are almost back to normal after 3 weeks trying (fighting) to get my computer fixed, my phone fixed (it died) and a new printer (old one died). Yes, I didn't think it was possible that all 3 things could break down at the one time...

So let's start with this week's great event: RAIN! Yes, we've had about 9mm over 2 days. I know that will make some folks laugh, but I can't tell you how welcome that is after three DRY months. The correas and young plants on the mountain are either dying or under serious stress, and it's interesting how the bird population has migrated because of the dry.

To the bird report: Not a great number these last few weeks. Wrens more visible now (and so cute), thornbills bossing about, a mistletoe bird (!) - a first sighting here and I did try and take a photo...(note: "try"), yellow-tailed black cockatoos crunching banksia seed pods, golden whistlers and shrike thrushes doing duets (duelling whistlers?), spinebills, ravens, currawongs - and today I've finally SEEN some grey fantails on the fire track - in fact, one BUZZED me telling me to GET LOST! And some more amazing news: an RBF came into my bird-bath at home! WOW! It tseee'd in, had a drink, and tseee'd off. They are SO cute. The bursarias are just starting to flower - lovely!

Last Wednesday night, I joined other local environmental volunteers at a special evening held to recognise our efforts in the Mount Barker council area. With thanks to our Mayor, Anne Ferguson, and her excellent staff (thank you Emma and Gary) we had a terrific evening testing local food and wines and listening to several local speakers: Luke Booth speaking about bush tucker (amazing what you can do with acacia seed), Kevin Williams and Bob Snell talking about the birds at Laratinga (such fabulous photos) and Noleen and Bob Sharrad talking about the Friend's of Coppin's (Reserve) bush group. A fabulous night! The thing I'm now doing is updating my bird-list for the Summit, and hunting down a new bird book on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Did I mention school's finished for this year? Yep, a few weeks off to recharge and get stuck into writing.

On the writing front: Last Sunday I celebrated "the end" of 2012 with the Crime Writer's group at The Feathers Hotel. Another great meal, a fun time with all of us getting louder as the clock ticked on. This time, we left the curtains in place (that's another story). Thanks Chris for organising it all!

Over the break: I have some serious planning to do and two new outlines to write PLUS redraft an agent's letter. I sent off some online submissions some weeks ago - no news yet, but certainly one is a "no go." While that's going on, I'll be updating my Weebly site - so some long overdue changes will appear! And I'll be catching up with a few more friends this time - too many hours as a writing hermit is NOT good for the soul. Hoping to catch the James Bond movie and (about mid-January) The Hobbit (too crowded before that).

And I've nearly finished an excellent book on "the writer's platform." I'll review it after I've turned that last page.

This week, I must finish on a sombre note, with a sad farewell to an old friend earlier this week (thank you Les). And my thoughts and prayers for the victims in Newtown, CT, and for those who have lost loved ones. This is an incomprehensible horror.

Yours in writing
Bo
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Apologies again. Still struggling to sort out the computer to the point that it's going back to the IT people tomorrow.

Writing: revising submission letters to publishers, revisiting Hell's Bells for the Max Murdoch series, hunting down "the right area" in The Lakes District for the second book in the Max Murdoch series.

Lunch today with the Crime Writer's group (Crime Writers of South Australia) at The Feather's Hotel in Burnside. Great company, and a delicious 5 course meal to discuss everything from the latest news to Dr Who to writing!

Birds at the mountain: plenty of tweets, not so visible due to the incredible DRY for the last 3.5 months. Not good! Saw a Mistletoe Bird last weekend and the return of the Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos (with further evidence shown in scrunched banksia-cones and ripped-off banksia branches). GWs doing well, wrens around, no sign of the grey fantails, few thornies, hearing spiney, shrikey, babblers, y/f h/es. But the dry is killing the correas and other plants - all are water-stressed. Some good news: the butterflies are back!