And life keeps moving forward...

April, 2024

Last week our family farewelled the oldest sibling of the Bonney clan and my mother’s oldest brother, David Bruce Bonney. 97: an amazing life achievement. Bruce was keen to make the 100, but the eternal dice roll left him short of his target. He was a gentleman, a solid human. He served in the RAN and RAAF during WW2, and he was instrumental in helping his family survive tough situations during that period. A father and grandfather, brother, uncle, friend and community citizen, he lived a good life. One of my favourite sayings attributed to Baden-Powell is that we should leave the world a little better than we found it, and Bruce did exactly that. Vale Uncle Bruce.

​Probably irrelevant to most people and events, but we also put a little blue Ford Laser up for sale on Carsales this past fortnight. My mother bought it brand new from Adrian Brien back in 1990 and the little ‘Bluebird’ was her pride and joy for fifteen years until a stroke ended her ability to drive. Reluctantly, and with tears, she let the car go to my mother-in-law, Karmela, who has driven the car ever since, until her hip operation at 92 has seen the end of her licence. So, we’re selling a car that has genuinely been owned and driven by two little old ladies to shopping, bowls and church for thirty-four years.

On the writing front, Girlie has sold a handful of copies to family and friends – exactly what the book was intended to do, so I’m satisfied. On reflection, I forgot that the book was a twelve year project, started back in 2012 when I began formally interviewing Mum. People often ask, ‘How long does it take to write a book?’, and my answer used to be ‘About twelve to eighteen months’, but now it is always ‘As long as it takes’ as I learned is the case with several projects in the past twelve months.
 
While I keep querying agents in the hope of selling my fantasy and science fiction projects, I embarked on a different tale which feels like it has the potential to be a novella rather than a full length novel and I may adapt to a stage play. Working title A Day in His Life, it focuses on one day in the life of an older man whose world is confined to a boarding house, prison experiences and pension income, a situation created by many childhood and young adult traumas. I can’t divulge much more except that it is gritty, realistic writing and unlikely to attract a huge reading audience because the central character is not necessarily appealing, but it’s a story I want to tell that is in the vein of Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (only shorter, contemporary Australian and unforgiving). Anyway, I’m 25,000 words in and committed to finishing it.
 
The other project based around eight men on a houseboat is in idle phase at the moment, but I will renew attention to it soon.
 
So, a fragmented blog entry – more a catch-up than anything. Hope everyone is well.