Six Degrees of Separation: Eats, Shoots and Leaves to Circe

 Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

This month the chain starts with Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. 

l wasn't sure how to start this chain this month.  In the end, I have taken the fact that Eats Shoots and Leaves is about grammar and decided to link it to a dictionary because grammar and language go together right? So my first book is The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

I  am continuing down the lost track with The Lost Man by Jane Harper, a book that is set in the harsh Australian Outback.

That brings me to the first book in a big saga called Outback by Aaron Fletcher. I first did a post about the identity of Aaron Fletcher about 10 years ago and I still get comments on that post, most recently talking about his passing.

Keeping with the outback theme, I am choosing Outback Sisters by Rachael Johns which is part of the  Bunyip Bay series. There is a new book in this series out in October which I am looking forward to.

A bunyip is a creature from Aboriginal mythology. A book which incorporates Aboriginal mythology into a YA dystopian/fantasy setting is The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina.

Using the concept of mythology as my final link, I am jumping to ancient Greek mythology with Circe by Madeline Miller

Next month starts with Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher.

Sunday Salon: Parramatta or bust!

A few weeks ago now, I blogged about the mysterious identity of author Aaron Fletcher, who wrote the Outback Saga books that I have been reading for the last few months. At the time I was posting about how I hadn't been able to find out much about him as an author, and that hasn't changed. This week's post is not so much about the author or the books themselves, but rather a day trip to Parramatta that was inspired by reading the books.

I've mentioned once or twice that I was in Sydney last weekend, and I am sure I will mention it again given that I still haven't posted anything about ARRC yet. Because I wanted to be in Sydney for the Thursday night book blogger meet up, I flew up early Thursday morning which meant that I had most of the day Thursday and a few hours on Friday that I could use to explore.

I have been to Sydney a few times now, so have done most of the obvious tourist stuff that can be done in and around Sydney itself, so was trying to think about what I could do when I had an idea.

The Outback saga is predominantly set in the Outback of New South Wales, but there is quite a bit of toing and froing from Sydney, and many of the characters started out in Sydney in the first place. Every time the people travelled, they had to go via Parramatta and then Bathurst. I therefore decided that I might go and have a bit of a look around Parramatta. I couldn't spend a lot of time there because I needed to be back for the blogger meet up, but I really wanted to be able to still have a Sydney experience so I decided I would catch the Rivercat ferry up and the train back again.

It was a gorgeous day in Sydney, and there was a big cruise liner in port, so there were plenty of tourists around that I could have a chat with while I sat at Circular Quay eating my lunch, and then again as we got on the ferry.

I sat out the front of the ferry, which was a really bad idea for two reasons - it was really windy and my hair went everywhere, and I got sunburnt - but it was beautiful, sitting out in the sunshine on a lovely day going past some of the most famous sights in the world! Here are a couple of images from the boat ride.

Once I got to Parramatta, I walked through the main part of town and was surprised by how many restaurants there were. A short walk and I was at the entrance to Parramatta Park.  This used to be part of the ground of Old Government House, which was my destination. From this direction, you get to see a Tudor style gatehouse

The original Old Government House was a lath and plaster hut that was built in the1790s. A more substantial residence was built in by Governor King and then further extended by the Governor Macquarie (who is mentioned in the books) who came to Australia in the early 1800s. The double story section you can see at the front below is the King House, with the wings and the back part of the house added by Governor Macquarie later.

This property is now part of the National Trust, and as such there were guided tours of the building by a member of the Trust. In my case, my tour guide was Mavis, and we got to have a look at the interiors of the building including the formal reception areas as well as the family area. I was really pleased to see that the Trust is working to make the upstairs areas into more interesting displays, which when they are finished will show a room as it would have looked like from the 1820s to the 1850s which is when the house was no longer used for official purposes.

There were some fascinating details in the house like the fold back window shutters (which you can see in this image), the grandfather clocks that were amongst the earliest in the colony, and the cabinet that was made by the first Australian born cabinet maker to complete his apprenticeship.

On the second day (the morning after the meet up which I which I posted about here) I spent the morning at the Museum of Sydney, which I enjoyed despite the fact that it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I really wanted a museum about settlement. There was a little bit of that , but there was also an exhibition of Edwardian summers in Sydney. The other exhibition is called From Little Things Big Things Grow and was about the struggle for indigenous rights. We like to think that we live in enlightened times, but it was only four years before I was born that a referendum was held that gave Aboriginal people in Australia the right to vote.

When I was talking to the tourists they asked where I was from, and when I said Melbourne, I was asked a couple of times how Melbourne compared to Sydney.  My answer to that question is that Sydney feels like a much bigger, more crowded city. For example, there are lots and lots more apartment blocks scattered around Sydney compared to the houses that predominantly form the Melbourne housing market.

I love living in Melbourne. There is always stuff on, things to do and the lifestyle is great, but it has to be said that it can't compete with the sheer physical beauty of Sydney. The harbour, the bridge, the Opera House, the history, the beaches - everything really! When I got my first glimpse of the harbour from Circular Quay train below train station (seen below) I must confess that my breath caught, just a little bit. I also wondered if Sydneysiders ever get a bit immune to the sights? I hope not because it is gorgeous!

Sydney is a fantastic place to visit!

Have you ever been inspired to visit a place due to reading a specific book?

TSS: The mysterious identity of author Aaron Fletcher

In this era of the internet, it seems that as readers we have unparalleled access to the lives of our favourite authors. If the author so desires, all their readers can know exactly what they had for dinner on Tuesday, or all about their kids, and what they like to do in their spare time.

Obviously every author is different in terms of what they want to share, as are we all online. For example, whilst I don't mention my son often on my blog or on Twitter, when I do I choose not to name him. It wouldn't take a lot of investigation on anyones part to find out his name, but I don't put it out there for every one to see.

It seems to be generally accepted that having a web presence of some sort is crucial for authors. The depth of involvement can vary between authors. Some may choose just to have a website (regularly updated and current is best), or may choose to blog either as an individual or as part of a group blog (if you are going to blog though, please blog. There is no point in having a blog linked to your website that has only been updated once in the last year and which has no mention of the book that has just been released), perhaps a Facebook page,or a Twitter account. Then there may be forums, guest posting and interviews on other people's blogs - the list is endless.

Even for those authors who choose not to have an online presence, it is usually possible to find out basic information about them from publisher's website or profile on other sites.


So when you come across an author that you can find absolutely nothing about, it comes as something as a surprise. And then that reaction morphs into frustration as you read more and more of their books and you still don't know the most basic information like nationality, and are they still alive, and facts like that.

Aaron Fletcher is one of these authors!
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I started reading Aaron Fletcher's Outback saga last year as part of a group over at Goodreads who enjoy reading big, juicy historical sagas, and since then I have read four books in the series: Outback, Outback Station, Walk About and Wallaby Track. I now have just one more to read and that is Outback Legacy and then I will be done, as far as I know anyway. There are other books out there, but no more that are part of this series.

The Outback Saga books are set in colonial Australia and feature larger than life character who become hugely successful despite the harsh environs of Outback Australia, or maybe in some cases because of them. There's lots of talk about sheep farming in particular. There were certain aspects of the first book that I didn't liked (most particularly the way that Aboriginal communication and family bonds were portrayed) but other than that they are very readable books filled with drama, danger, love and triumph. 

As an Australian, reading a series of books about Australia, I wanted to know what was Aaron Fletcher's background. Is he an Australian because if he is the books count for the Aussie Author Reading Challenge I am participating in, has he worked on a sheep station, how did he do his research. I'm not saying that any of those things need to be true but I wanted to know if that was his background of not.

This series was originally published in the early 90s, but they were all republished only three or four years ago, so I do think it is a bit odd that there is no information about him at all that we have been able to find and believe me there have been a number of us looking for information.

I did wonder if maybe this was an agency author name rather than a writer's actual name, mainly because in some ways the later books did feel as though they were written differently, but I don't have anything to back that up. The only possible piece of information we have been able to find relates to the fact that Aaron Fletcher may have been part of a group of writers who wrote under the name Dana Fuller Ross, and that is a mention on a Facebook fan page so may or may not be true. Other than that - nothing, nada, zilch.

Would it bother you if you couldn't find out anything at all to do with an author. Is there is any such thing as too much information. Do you know something about Aaron Fletcher?

Teaser Tuesday: Wallaby Track by Aaron Fletcher

Wallaby Track is the fourth book in the Outback Saga by Aaron Fletcher. The saga is set in early Australian history and features strong characters working in the harsh Outback of Australia.

This teaser, from page 77 of Wallaby Track, reflects the setting.

The vast, illimitable expanse of the outback was different from other places, not only in what the senses could detect. Alexandra had both experienced in herself and observed in others that it exerted subtle, ineffable forces upon those who lived in it. Those influences were nourishing for some, but a virulent poison that affected the minds of others.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!