My New Year Future Prediction

**May you soar to great heights in the New Year 2026**
*Abian window washers Brisbane City © image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023*

An author researches background facts and yet most students cringe at the word ‘research’ because it means hours of time drained by facts, figures and fundamentals which are as dry as woodchips. Now I am ‘older’ and ‘more mature’ I realise that apart from travel this is the best and perhaps only honest way to get to know our big wide world. My father was an advocate, as was most of my family, for that immortal volume The Dictionary.

Everything was in The Dictionary, well, almost everything you wanted to know was contained in The Dictionary. Of course, newspapers were also a source of information but often lacking in credibility and more on the side of sensationalism than facts. Television was, and still is, a different source of knowledge. Here today I will not venture down the rabbit hole of the World Wide Web, computers, electronic devices and mobile phones, but I will go
‘so last century’.

My family owns big beautiful well-used old dictionaries with faded gilt covers woefully out-of-date, plus a Readers Digest three-dictionary set named in gold lettering ‘Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary A-Z’ and various smaller versions of Australia’s unique Macquarie School Dictionary. No batteries no recharge.

**Are you bored yet?** © *image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 202*6

I still like reading what is call ‘non-fiction’ and there is always a dictionary or two on the bookshop shelves, not forgetting our local library, often translated into foreign languages, but naturally the go-to source is now the internet and Google and the ubiquitous AI. Speed or laziness?

Cars, indeed most forms of vehicular transport, will soon drive itself/themselves so likewise there will be no need to carry a drivers licence when you are microchipped.

Yes, I do believe human body microchips will be the next big thing. Officially named BEAM (no relation to ‘beam me up Scotty’) an acronym for Body Electronic Access Management, it will become a burgeoning industry supplying, among other things, microchip eye enhancement. This deal would include a swipe-or-tap bonus pack of wrist (LW) or (RW) microchips for personal data and an optional wrist cover (plastic or tattoo) designed on the style of an old-fashioned watch and intended to protect from bumps. Unfortunately wrist tug-and-swipe and/or kidnapping could become prevalent in some unhealthy countries.

The universal word for wealthy citizens will become Imp short for ‘implant’ and the mega-rich will be the first to go tap-tapping their wrist-chip at the Screen Of Life every morning, indeed throughout their day. For the average citizen (Chippers) there will be an official standard ID microchip in wrist or thumb for daily purchases and regular street screen interactions but these users will have a set daily limit on their chip. Employers will offer a workplace microchip for access, email and payday.

Most living things will be microchipped including The Trees since they are still in decline. Basically every living human in the outrageously wealthy countries of our world will have a microchip. Quite rapidly we will forget how to interact with each other live (as in for-real) and have no need to write or remember anything. Perhaps we can’t or won’t need to do anything, just exist in an artificial Earth version similar to Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. You’ve read my blogosphere version here first, what you predict may be entirely different!
Get writing!

From my window I look at the real world outside, previously a balmy sunshiny subtropical day sinking gracefully into late afternoon and now a soft evening.🌞🌴🌜

To my readers, family and friends Happy New Year 2026!
💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2026

**Who is watching you while you are watching your screen?**
*© image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2019*

The Christmas My Life Fell Apart

*King George Square Brisbane Australia © image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025*

Truly, I don’t know about you, but I am a wreck at Christmas time. Trigger warnings are advised. Not because of the festive fuss, the food, the fun, the family gatherings. My gloom stems from the loss of a loved one who never got to grow old like me. It was the last day of school, Christmas was felt everywhere, in homes, the shops, the mall music, the tinsel bling covering up the true reason for the season. It was the last day of High school, Christmas holidays had arrived and my teenage brother was wheeling his bicycle across the designated school crossing, a woodwork parcel on the handlebars. A large van came through the crossing and ran my brother down, he died in the ambulance on the way to hospital. The policeman who came to the door to tell my mother was less than compassionate. Someone had to tell my father at work. I just stood in the doorway frozen in time. Chillingly my mother whispered to the room, “I heard the ambulance.” Later, a neighbour dropped off my brother’s mangled bicycle, a thoughtless and grim reminder. My brother’s best friend was also crossing the road, however I am doomed to never know what happened to him. I believed he was okay but what he witnessed would have shattered him emotionally. There would also have been cars and high school students leaving the school grounds. No doubt equally traumatised, but I will never know if counselling was offered since classroom assembly would not have taken place until the new school year.

The funeral was attended by crowds of people, families and friends. At the Church service and the Cremation Chapel banks of beautiful flowers and condolence cards were displayed. On the coffin rested a small bunch of freesia flowers, my mother’s favourite. Leaving, my mother, father and I walked in a daze passed them all and got into a black car to be taken home. I don’t remember much else, I cannot recall family faces, friends, but more cards and flowers came into our home. People left food on the doorstep, at dusk a neighbour watered our newly turfed front lawn and slipped away as silently as she had come. My father was stoic, I know my mother cried for a very long time that night, and perhaps forever. I can honestly say now as a mature adult that I was probably in denial, trying to say that I was alright, that I was okay when I was not. I did not accept or know words of comfort to offer anyone, least of all my grieving parents. How could I be okay when my family and closest cousins were also devastated? After a long awhile the pain and heartache of loss, which almost doubled me over, slowly began to subside leaving a void. My parents did not want to talk about it. Did not want to press charges against the van driver. He was interviewed by police and they found his licence expired. On inspecting his vehicle it was found to have faulty gears and a faulty breaking system. In other words he knew he could not stop the vehicle in time. As an adult now many years later, I never forget the shock, the hurt, the need for retribution for the sudden gaping loss, the hole which that illegal van driver so swiftly and brutally left in my life; yet knowing under such circumstances that no amount of legal action would return a loved one.

In small ways it still does affect my life; as I type this I feel the pain, the sudden sense of loss because absolutely nothing could replace my brother. He was cremated and later, on a bright sunny weekend, my parents and I visited the cemetery and his plaque in the columbarium wall. For me it was all quite surreal, somehow misty like a movie. The strongest memory I have from that day is my mother, usually an undemonstrative woman, falling into the car, lying on the back seat sobbing deeply, tears cascading down her cheeks onto the vinyl seat. I patted her, a gesture of comfort, but knew nothing I could do would help. The rest is a blur although eventually we moved away, a new State, a new city, but in hindsight it was perhaps not the best thing to do. Leaving family and friends behind, starting afresh like nothing had ever happened. Slowly we adapted and the climate did help ease my asthma. My Dad found a good job, Mum worked for a time but preferred to stay home. I grew up, made wonderful new friends who were lead to believe I was an only child (still didn’t talk about it) and had some creative and marvellous yet not highly paid jobs. Marriage followed the universal pattern set by my age group. I guess I am pretty average and everybody has one personal story that changed their outlook on life.

However, deep down I think I regret that we left everything behind because my parents support system, their immediate close family had gone. Yes, the relatives, the cousins, flew in during the holidays but it wasn’t the same. Likewise, when we drove interstate to visit them, it was stilted and formal and often uncomfortable although occasionally we had a good laugh about something silly. Nobody ever raised the subject of my lost teenage brother, the kind one, the one who never got to grow into maturity. This is from my perspective, I will never know what my parent thought or discussed in private. I will never know the full trauma it may have caused my relatives and friends and I will never be free from the awful day before Christmas when that policeman knocked on our door. In short, dear reader, although I try to hide it, I am a snivelling scrooge at Christmas time. Bah humbug ‘Carols By Candlelight’ and I crumble. Jingle bells music and I mourn the loss of a brother who never got to come home for the school holidays. My thoughts also fly to those who have lost loved ones at this time of year. Maybe that’s part of what Christmas is all about. Love, loss, understanding and acceptance.

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

AI is Approaching Your Toddler

This beautiful book from real humans for illustration only!

Mother Jones: “AI Is Coming for Your Toddler’s Bedtime Story – Artificial intelligence poses an increasingly real threat to children’s literature — and children’s learning” warns Lily Meyer.

As a long-time reader of Paula Bardell-Hedley’s prodigiously interesting blog, Winding Up the Week, I came across this snippet (29/11/2025) https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/ai-childrens-books/ and Mother Jones certainly sinks the boot into publishing houses. I let fly with the following embellished comments recorded below:

I said “That’s appalling” because Mother Jones said: “AI Is Coming for Your Toddler’s Bedtime Story.” Having read, written and attended courses on writing and illustrating picture books and stories for young children I can voucher for the fact that they come from the heart. Children’s books are not written quickly, or rubber-stamped, and many are written by a teacher or parent who has hands on experience. You cannot dumb-down a child’s story nor can it be over-embellished.

If you have read “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by superb British author Charlie Mackesy you should also consider the consequences to children’s artists and illustrators.

Some things in life are too precious, too personal for publishers to tamper with, and I truly hope a computer generated AI will never comprehend the nuance of a child’s reading enjoyment. Better still stay away from young readers.

We need Self Before AI for our future of adaptability and mental stability. The old saying “If you don’t use it you lose it” is needed by a world of people staring too much at their screens. Read with a child, turn the human created/real pages, explain what you both see, let the child colour in some pages, nod off to sleep with the book. Make a picture book a family friend with wrinkled pages and maybe a food stain because it’s all part of the warmth of a human learning experience.

I know from personal and practical contact that children’s books are written by authors with kind hearts, then read by a trusted mature human to enhance a trusting young human’s reading journey through life.
No AI need apply.

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

My Short Story Rejections

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well_of_Lost_Plots

Most writers at some time or another, usually early in their literary career, enter a writing competition. It gives you a reason to write when you think you have lost the plot. There is exposure and the bonus of possibly getting a monetary reward. Occasionally there are the perks of receiving feedback from the judges and maybe your work appearing on the relevant website. Not all writing competitions do this, especially if they specify a word/theme which is only used as a one-off with no ongoing relevancy other than it being a writing exercise to aid your creative thinking.

Never put your name on the actual story, write it on the submission form. If A4 size paper is requested (e.g. Word.doc, email attachment, PDF) – if font is requested – if the line spacing is requested – if any other requirements are requested please do it for best results. Another necessary thing you must do is wordcount. Absolutely stick to the specified wordcount. This does not guarantee you will win but it will leave a good impression.

Okay, I know you may have already entered some writing competitions, and perhaps none of this is new to you, but that should not stop you from fully reading the competition rules and guidelines and sticking with them. Be aware that there may be an entry fee for some of the bigger writing challenges. Usually if you are a member of a local writers group you can enter free. Note, I have never been given money as a prize and once a story is published is cannot be used again in competitions.

If you are reading this far, I have included two of my most recent short stories (below) which were written for two key-words supplied by a writers centre prompt. ‘Fragment’ and my piece is titled ‘Rocky Horror.’ Allow me to offer a critique and say the winning entry for ‘Fragment’ was predictably sentimental. The prompt and title for my second tale is ‘One Room Story’.
Anyway, my two stories are short, both are well within the 500 wordcount limit and as you can see they are different styles. Although rejected I did have a sense of achievement writing them. So don’t fall into that Well of Lost Plots.
Great book title, thanks Jasper!

——ROCKY HORROR——
By Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025
The pavement fractured under her feet and fissures formed. A fragment of rock flew down from a dark sky then bounced back up. Annie fled for the house – fast.
Felicia sniffed, her author brain unimpressed.
“Too much alliteration,” she reasoned, and ducked a meteorite as Annie reached out for the front door handle. The molten mass smashed a jagged hole straight through the door and landed on Annie’s new carpet. It choked the air with sulphurous intent, which caused Annie to wail uncontrollably.
Felicia glanced upward. “That’s not rain.”
Sharp shards showered down onto the rooftop shingles. She held grave fears for their resilience under the rapid assault.
“Cut it out,” she yelled in her head. It stopped.
Now feeling foolish and faintly ridiculous, she quickly wrote down fragments of what had just happened as another gritty fissure crackled towards the house. It wasn’t looking good, she still had an imagination too wild for pre-school books.
Annie shrieked “Help me, please!” a fraction too late as Felicia swiftly drew a thick black line across the previous paragraph.
The workshop lecturer looked up and raised an elegant eyebrow.
“Having trouble with this exercise?” she asked.
Unnoticed by group members, a light sprinkle of insect-like shale bounced and pinged off her neatly groomed head.
“No, no,” replied Felicia, “just trying to control my fractured thoughts.”
She smoothed her notepaper as a resurrected Annie tipped over a metal bin, sending granite boulders rolling silently across the meeting room floor towards the unsuspecting lecturer.
“Actually,” Felicia mused, “I seem to have hit a rocky patch.”

——ONE ROOM STORY——
By Gretchen-Bernet Ward 2025
The waiting room chair had a cracked leather seat which pressed through her summer dress like a blunt knife. She tried to move slightly, knowing mother would hiss, do not fidget. Maybe her button-up shoes could reach the floor, maybe that would ease the pressure on her insides. Heels swung, mother glared.
Only two other people sat in the doctor’s waiting room, the nurse at a desk and an old man with wire-framed spectacles who breathed in and out like a faulty balloon.
Why was she here? It hadn’t been said at breakfast, only that she would miss school for the morning. Like a gift given and snatched away, her stomach churned with what might be waiting for her behind that big brown polished door with its fancy gold lettering. That slow, slow rotation of the brass door knob. She hoped the old man would live long enough to go through first.
The front sash window was slightly ajar but didn’t allow for an escape.
An idea, perhaps she could bolt out the front door while everyone was looking at the surgery door?
No, her mother was fast, even catching squawking hens.
Glancing around she studied the glass fronted cabinet beside the nurse’s desk. Medicine in small bottles made of brown glass with paper labels and cork stoppers. Bill Beans Laxatives also in their family medicine chest. Saltrates, Alkia, Nitrate of Amyl and her grandmother’s stomach powder. Like medicine daddy gave her at night.
Her body shivered. Time to move. She slid and jumped, the seat tore at her dress.
A black and white tiled dash to the front door but the shiny door handle was unyielding. She tugged hard, memories rose, she whimpered as mother pulled her back.
The nurse steered her to the uncomfortable seat, not to worry, the doctor was a nice man. She remembered daddy had whispered, be good. A special treat tonight.
A quick glance, the hem of her dress torn, she felt bad as her mother quietly wept.

Now it’s your turn to start plotting! Write something wild about the Blue Geese photograph. Or follow through and blog your own prompt and short story. I promise not to critique them. Send me a link to your latest short story and I will post your link below where I have mentioned *Ekphrastic Writing. Whether it be writing or frantically editing to meet a deadline, make something great from those 26 letters of the English alphabet.
You know you can!
📚 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

BLUE GEESE Community Arts project by STREET ART MURALS on Green Hill Reservoir Brisbane Australia https://www.australiansiloarttrail.com/green-hill-reservoir
© image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2021
*Don’t forget to look at my Photo of the Week every Saturday on my home page*.

STOP THE PRESS: This information may be of interest!
AUSTRALIAN WRITERS’ RESOURCE
https://www.austwriters.com/competitions
A seriously long list of writing competitions around the world!
The AWR has sourced information from other websites
and no assurance can be given as to its current accuracy.

*Ekphrastic writing is a literary description of a work of art
such as a painting, sculpture, or performance
BUT IT CAN BE USED FOR EVERYDAY ITEMS within a story.

Queensland Reviewers Collective Reading

Just by chance one afternoon I came across a wonderful website which I can recommend.
The readers review many book genres from Australia and overseas on Queensland Reviewers Collective.

They also list current awards, the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Ned Kelly Awards and more. They offer reviews for various categories from crime to historical and literary as well as children’s books. Plus there is a Readers Choice which was a landslide win for Emily Maguire – ‘Rapture’ (Allen & Unwin)

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2025

Writing Australia announced the winners of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Two of the winning titles, chosen by an independent panel of judges from shortlists announced in August are:

Fiction – ‘Theory & Practice’ (Michelle de Kretser, Text)

Nonfiction – ‘Mean Streak’ (Rick Morton, Harper Collins Australia)

The awards were presented at a special event, which was live streamed, at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on Monday, 29 September 2025. More information is available on the Creative Australia website.

Ned Kelly Awards 2025

The Australian Crime Writers Association has announced the 2025 Ned Kelly Award winners. The winning works in each category, chosen from shortlists announced in August are:

Best crime fiction – ‘The Creeper’ (Margaret Hickey, Penguin)

Best true crime writing – ‘A Thousand Miles from Care’ (Steve Johnson, HarperCollins)

Best debut crime fiction – ‘All You Took from Me’ (Lisa Kenway, Transit Lounge)

Best international crime fiction – ‘A Case of Matricide’ (Graeme Macrae Burnet, Text)

The winners were announced via a live-streamed video on the Australian Crime Writers Association website on Thursday, 26 September 2025. More information about the Ned Kelly Award Winners is available on the Australian Crime Writers Association website.

Great ideas for Aussie book club reads and also visit Sisters In Crime Australia. Now all I need to do is track down copies of each book then read and review on (whisper) Goodreads.
Whatever you read, enjoy your reading!

📚 With thanks to QRC 💗 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

What happened to the knitter? Created by Michelle Hutton of Beenleigh Quilters, Brisbane Craft & Quilt Fair Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 2024 © photo Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024

Publishing House Seeks Volunteer Reader

Volunteer proof-reader vacancy

Do you have a sharp eye for detail and a love of great stories? Hawkeye Publishing is looking for a volunteer proof-reader to join their team.

You would be helping the Hawkeye Publishing team put the final polish on their newest books, proof-reading manuscripts that have already been line edited and typeset, across a wide range of genres. Typically Hawkeye need one manuscript proof-read every 1-2 months.

Perks of the job: Here’s what they say…

A. Receive a complimentary copy of any book you proof and fall in love with — their gift to you to add to your collection.

B. Invited to the occasional training session and social event, connecting with director Carolyn Martinez and the Hawkeye team.

C. Professional references from a trade publisher.

An eye for detail makes
all the difference!

To be considered: Please send Hawkeye an email with your details:

Your CV and cover letter, with evidence of your proof-reading ability and experience.
With an eye for detail, this is an opportunity to help bring quality Australian stories into the world.
Be part of a friendly, passionate publishing team.
For Hawkeye Publishing I proof-read and reviewed author Jack Roney’s superlative ‘The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon’ (see below) such an exciting and inventive adventure story.
Jack also writes adult thrillers.
Have a look at Hawkeye’s book box gift packs: https://hawkeyebooks.com.au/collections/gifts
From gripping thrillers to heartwarming romances and thought provoking non-fiction, Hawkeye Publishing has a lot to offer readers.
You could be the first to read!

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

‘The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon’ Review

The Bright Sword for Restless Readers

**“The Bright Sword”** (Not a child’s book) By Lev Grossman Published Penguin Random House UK 2024

In case you don’t believe me, or dislike the book on principle, please try to read at least a bit of it to gauge the true essence of Lev Grossman’s blockbusting novel “The Bright Sword”.

It is a bit daunting to praise a book which has already received glowing recommendations from Rebecca Yarros and George R.R. Martin. Also the first mentions of King Arthur go back to ancient Welsh poetry from the sixth to the tenth centuries.

But I will plough onward lest there is a reader out there at a place called Wits End with a teenager who does not read. Worry not, this is the book for them. Or any jaded reader really. Sure it’s often a bit gruesome and a large tome but you can get it in different formats – the sheer readability, the accessibility of this tale cannot be underestimated. Parents and Medieval cognoscenti, move out from under estimated and go forth into early Britain badlands as never been scribed before.
(Please note the castle and items photographed with the book are NOT part of the package).

Snippets from my Goodreads review to further tempt non-readers:
Gretchen Bernet-Ward said: “A heavy book (weight-wise) but a highly enjoyable read ✨ Ten stars for this one!” Review posted Goodreads September 2025.

REVIEW: I received a brand new copy of this enthralling tale, or dare I say voluminous tome? “The Bright Sword”, written by author Lev Grossman over a ten year period. It could have been a series but this paperback is 5cm (2 inches) thick with 670 pages not counting the historical note. Think James A. Michener’s blockbusters but don’t despair. It is already a winner! I was keen to get started because it was guaranteed that it would be a while before I could write my review. This is a contemporary take on a very old story and is shaped into something akin to medieval social commentary or something like army bros on reconnoitre. Non-reader teenagers and adults will enjoy it. I have always been a fan of King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, wizard Merlin and those who live in Camelot so I guess it was inevitable I would give notice of intent to read and plough on regardless.

LATER: Well, I had to concede tiredness and take off my reading glasses for awhile. An absorbing tome, male-centric (followed by the age of Guinevere) with a layer of topical subjects like social justice, war, rights, royal privilege, rich and poor, chunks of fantasy, dreams, visions, an angel fight, modern language (not too hip) and general non-glorification of what the middle ages were like to live in way back when dragons breathed fire. See chapter eleven “The Tale Of Sir Palomides” for a satirical ye-olde take on medieval Britain; or Knights in convo “Lancelot is the last of the great ones,” Constantine said gravely, “he’s not like us, he’s a hero.”

FAVES: My aunties said Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy rules (I’m a Heath Ledger fan of “A Knight’s Tale“) but this twisty-turny meeting with sorcerer Merlin is well done, creepy, prophetic and offers touches of universal Monty Python humour in a live-or-die situation. Nimue, The Boss, does some nifty moves on sly Merlin, and has some good words to impart. Of course there is also sad and gruesome stuff involving battles and pitting of wits. My favourite chapter is Fourteen “The Well of Ink” a master class in creating an easily imagined scene even though it is nothing like I have ever experienced. Likeable lads, the knights Bedivere and country boy Collum are in Cornwall, one of the unconquered lands which has not fallen to the Romans so what hope have these guys got? Just the same there is some beautiful/scary written imagery as the scenes dissolve like CGI special effects.

MUST-READ: All in all, perhaps this will become my favourite King Arthur version. Galahad is mentioned and Guinevere plays it cool “Welcome to Avalon,” then comes the Saxon refugees. Later in the land of Pict, a sardonic Dinadan quote “Great, you can give us a tour of the finer coastal haystacks.” Stay with it, I really enjoyed the story and think a variety of readers will love it. If I was so inclined I would say this tale leans toward a universal awareness. A portrayal of semi-factual lifestyles, ancient battles and ongoing things readers may loosely compare to present day. The physical book is impressive but an e-book or author-read audio book is available. Read it before the movie!

💗 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

Prisoner of the State by Lily Arthur

My thoughts have become passionate words on my blog and also on Goodreads. No frills with this post. The book ‘Prisoner of the State’ was loaned to me and I am grateful for the chance to read it. Written by Australian Lily Arthur, every chapter is shattering and true.

HERE are my own personal thoughts, observations and book review comments on a serious, shocking and quite tragic topic.

FORCED adoption, such a brutal and inhuman thing to do to young mothers. I only had to read the first chapters of this biography to be enraged. Such lies and deceit, such an underhanded and basically illegal activity in the name of social propriety and Church teachings. What were the parents of these girls thinking? Perhaps their 1960s puritanical fear of being socially marked was worse than what happened to their vulnerable young daughters.

SURELY not all hospital staff involved were corrupt and morally wrong? Why didn’t someone speak out? Do they regret not alerting the proper authorities? Everyone turned away, didn’t want to get involved, ‘Not my problem; I can’t change the system; what will the neighbours think?’ Three wrong responses! For badly treated and bereft young women their situation became much worse once their babies were taken from them. Mentally and physically they were broken, drugged, lied to and later doomed to wonder at the cruelty of the Australian city they called home.

IT doesn’t matter your status, all that matters is that you are a mother and your baby is the most precious being on the planet and no person or organisation has any right to lie and take such a living breathing joyous gift away from you. In this 1960s case, steps were taken many years later and a mother, Lily Arthur, sprung into action to find out the truth of what happened to her stolen son all those years ago. Not only for her own piece of mind but for hundreds of other young unmarried mothers who were coerced, deceived and told their baby had died.

AS a mother myself I feel sadness for the other women, the adopters who thought those young mothers willingly gave away their supposedly unwanted babies.

WHO needs a document to say they can birth their baby? Who needs a document to say they can keep their baby? In the past a document, a law, a church or organisation of any kind should not have had the power to decree outcomes which sever a healthy fundamental mother/baby bond. Would a mother give up her new born child if she was given clear options? Back then new mothers should have been given clear, concise information, counselling, legal assistance, childcare support and every accessible help for their future. Instead they got human rights abuse and social stigma. Indeed treated like a criminal when in fact a victim of crime.

CAN a male feel and experience the fundamental changes wrought by pregnancy and childbirth? No. The male attitude Lily Arthur has faced while researching, and in courts of law, has been pompous and disparaging. Quote ‘I felt as if I had been victimised all over again.’ Similar treatment by nurses and those convent nuns mentioned in the book, ruled by priests and made barren by repetition, religious teachings and ancient doctrine. If you or anyone you know is going through pregnancy and facing adoption, forced or otherwise, this is the book you should read for both sides of the story.

LILY Arthur had a long road to travel. She kept going. She is still going and has reached milestones in law courts and certainly shines a strong light on the appalling secrets of white and indigenous baby birth exploitation in Australia. No doubt this appropriation happens around the world but it’s not a case of buying a puppy. Later, of course, disclosing a birth mother is a minefield of emotions for both parties. It worked for my cousin, she found her other family and happiness. Many do not, but in both cases I believe the truth should always be told.

‘Author Lily Arthur still seeks both truth and closure.’
Visit blog https://www.lilyarthur.com/about-author
Published 2025 by Big Sky Publishing Pty Ltd.

World Explorers or Destroyers of Ancient Cultures?

No disrespect to the descendants of these guys but they really did not know what they were messing with when they traversed vast lands, sailed the seven seas and crossed seemingly endless oceans, heading towards different lands and entirely different civilizations to anything they knew or expected to find. In so doing they named everything they saw with their own names without a thought for the culture, religion, tribal or family practices nor a sustainable way of living that preceded their arrival, possibly for thousands of years. The plan seemed to be “bemuse, plunder, kill if necessary and get plenty of provisions to get back home for much kudos and acclaim.” They certainly received acclaim and got their names in the history books.

Captain James Cook has, for a long long time, got his name plastered everywhere in Australia but surely it is time to look at new explorers, new pioneers in the area of 21st century preservation. Save what we have, not bulldoze it and pour more concrete. Keep big chunks of the natural land, places for native animals to remain safe, eco-friendly homes and lots of safe walking paths to minimize vehicle traffic. One of my pet dislikes is huge off-road vehicles and the advertisements where they race a 4-wheel-drive through creeks, over sand dunes and across rugged bushland without a care in the world for flora or fauna habitat. Off-road destruction by any type of wheel or tyre causes land erosion and damage is far greater than walking.

At least Captain James Cook and his fellow explorers, those navigators and discoverers of ancient civilisations and “new” worlds, got to see pristine environments of great wonder and people with different lifestyles. Such a shame that they were not open and broad-minded enough to work out a peaceful and harmonious meeting of minds instead of injury and death. Or not use the exploration funds on getting a good reputation back home and impressing the Royals by plundering and carting valuable goods back with them. In the case of those land explorers who came after Captain James Cook, mainly to grab as much acreage as they could, it would appear that they did not have a masterplan but brooked no argument or discussion from the original Indigenous first nations people.

So I say, much in all as I loved History in school, what I now know is a load of PR rubbish any 21st century spin-doctor would be proud to write. Explorers were first-line invaders like the lone black ant which gets into my kitchen, exploring the benchtops. Tough, inquisitive and not too afraid of me, it is no doubt the strongest and bravest in the hive to seek out a new food source. I cannot kill it, I put it outside in the hope it will explore further afield. I know in due course it will return with reinforcements.

Famous and incredibly brave explorers pictured top to bottom: Vasco da Gama, James Cook, Abel Tasman, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo.

Further information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery

💗 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

Kate Shackleton Mysteries on Goodreads

Book Number 6 of Kate Shackleton Mystery series written by Frances Brody.
Favourite bookcover artwork © photo Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025.

For readers interested in this series and my reading record. “Gretchen is reading the Kate Shackleton Mystery Series by UK author Frances Brody for the Goodreads “Annual Crime Series Challenge 2025″ Read a Series, twelve crime novels, one a month for a year. Info: Join Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense. One crime novel a month in a crime/mystery/thriller/suspense series.”
Admin by Goodreads Moderator Phrynne, Mystery lover!
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22983939-annual-challenge-2025—read-a-series

MY GOODREADS CRIME SERIES CHALLENGE 2025
The dates indicate the publication edition
Mystery Series Kate Shackleton by Frances Brody

JANUARY 1. Dying in the Wool (2009) Owned/Reviewed

FEBRUARY 2. A Medal For Murder (2010) Owned/Reviewed

MARCH 3. Murder in the Afternoon (2011) Owned/Reviewed

APRIL 4. A Woman Unknown (2012) Owned/Reviewed

MAY 5. Murder on a Summer Day (2013) Owned/Reviewed

JUNE 6. Death of an Avid Reader (2014) Owned/Reviewed

JULY 7. A Death in the Dales (2015) Owned/Reviewed

AUGUST 8. Death at the Seaside (2016) Owned/Reviewed

SEPTEMBER 9. Death in the Stars (2017) Owned/Reviewed

OCTOBER 10. A Snapshot of Murder (2018) Owned/Reviewed

NOVEMBER 11. The Body on the Train (2019) Owned/Reviewed

DECEMBER 12. Death and the Brewery Queen (2020) Owned and final book Reviewed on Goodreads.

My Goodreads Book Reviews here: https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward
Note: I order books from Booktopia Australia.
There is a 13th book which I will read separately at a later date: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59732421-a-mansion-for-murder
Frances Brody Goodreads Author: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3102629.Frances_Brody
Author update: Friday 25th July 2025 “A few of her books were only £2.99 on Kindle but ‘Death at the Seaside’ has been selected for a Kindle Monthly Deal in August”. I have just finished reading this book in paperback (in wintertime) and currently pay between AU$21 to AU$38 per book depending on the UK availability plus postage and handling. Also pricing changes between hardcover and paperback copies. I wanted the actual books so this is the Australian price we pay for new/real books from the other side of the world. 🥂 Cheers to mystery reading!

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

SERIES SYNOPSIS
From a hard-boiled crime reader’s point-of-view the private investigator
Kate Shackleton book series could be classified under the ‘cosy crime’ banner
but these stories contain a clear-eyed and faithful look at the 1920s.

Set in a bygone era where much has changed, our intrinsic human nature is
still the same: people committing Crime, Misdemeanour and Murder.
Kate is the individual who perseveres to solve these transgressions.
Kate’s two companions Mrs Sugden and ex-policeman Jim Sykes
add their own opinions and insights into every investigation.
The Yorkshire countryside settings feature strongly.
Also I am a fan of the retro-style bookcovers.
Kate Shackleton’s life progresses through the books as she solves
murderous crimes with her clever mind and astute manner.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/70508-kate-shackleton
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward
https://www.hachette.com.au/frances-brody/books
This author has written other books