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Moments at Marathon
Moments at Marathon describes a chapter from Western Australian history- from the 1930’s to the end of the war. It is a coming-of-age story, a memoir, set in the Northern Wheatbelt on a farm called Marathon, near Winchester, a few miles south of Carnamah. Even the names of places have echoes of a colonial past when settlers bestowed names which remain until this present day.
During this era, Winchester supported a school, a store, railway facilities and various sporting facilities. This was typical of settlements every ten miles or so. The nearby town of Carnamah supported a hospital with two doctors and staff, three banks, various stock agents and several fuel supplies, machinery dealerships, food stores. It was a thriving metropolis.
What happened to change this now in 2022? It is called mechanization and population decline. So, someone recorded this era when farms thrived, and Lyn Bodycoat’s book Moments at Marathon describes a moment in history when life on the farm was constantly enriched through the efforts of farmers on their land. These farmers had families with social needs and so life prospered during these times when acreages were comparatively small. On the farm called Marathon, author Lyn Bodycoat describes the moments enjoyed by her ancestors.
Jane's Justice
Sometimes random conversations spark ideas for writing and this happened to me when I created Jane’s Justice. The beginning was easy but as the story progressed, I needed to ensure all red herrings served a purpose. But were they red herrings? I don’t think so. All characters and their actions served a purpose. According to our laws, Jane’s actions were unlawful and misguided, but she was a mother protecting her son. Don’t all mothers do that? Or is there a point where ethics intervene. In Jane’s Justice the line is blurred and not only by Jane. This is a suspenseful crime story where family members protect each other, often sliding close to raising questions on ethics. What is right is questioned as suspicion shifts between different characters. No-one is immune from questions in Jane’s Justice.
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