December 20, 2016

Hello World

Welcome, and all the best for a happy new year as we prepare to wave cheerio to this one, and greet the next. For me, 2017 is the start of my website and blog adventure so if you’ve stumbled upon this space by accident I hope you’ll hang around, check it out, and return often. You’ll always be welcome.

The year that was certainly proved to be a rollercoaster in many ways, but putting aside the big picture stuff for the moment, for me 2016 proved to be decision time so far as finally hanging out my shingle in cyberspace is concerned. The catalyst was the inclusion of two essays in a couple of books published earlier this year, ( Breaking the Boundaries: Australian activists tell their stories ; and The Fabric of Launceston) and starting work on my own story about an environmental campaign in Tasmania that both united and divided a community. More of that to come in future posts.

A blog after all is really an online diary, but diaries are personal, and a blog isn’t so I’m still coming to terms with the realisation that a largely unknown audience is likely to read this, just like all those published articles I’ve written over the years are read by an unknown audience. And it shouldn’t feel different, and it shouldn’t really bother me, but for some inexplicable reason it does. Bear with me. I’m sure I’ll find my comfort zone in a little while. Maybe I’ll give this blog a personality and name, like Anne Frank did with her famous diary, and pretend I’m writing a letter. This blog after all is mine to play with and develop as I wish – so hope you’ll join me on the journey.

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It's still a waiting game

By Anne Layton-Bennett • November 9, 2025
Seeking a publisher or agent for my book was never going to be easy, and so it is proving to be.

Strange and Marvellous Things

By Anne Layton-Bennett • October 27, 2025
Well done to the north-west Tasmania branch of Fellowship of Australian Writers . Once again their editorial team led by Allan Jamieson have produced an excellent anthology, with the intriguing title – as above – and an undeniably quirky cover. The rather wonderful octopus is just one of the creatures on it, indicating a watery theme until your eyes pick out the morose-looking frog, sporting what appears to be a death-cap toadstool hat, and a moustachioed chap apparently hitching a ride to work on a magpie. They all suggest an intriguing mix of writing to be explored within. I appreciate I’m a little biased in promoting this collection of stories, memoirs, poems, anecdotes and travelogues of far-flung places, since I've got work included, but after my copies arrived in the post last week, and from dipping into the book already, it really does look like another interesting and eclectic read – as FAWNW’s previous anthologies have proved to be. Tasmania is definitely not short of some talented writers, even if all of them don't necessarily have a published book to their name. Neither do I as yet, but with my magnum opus finally completed, and currently being strategically submitted to publishers that are ones most likely to be interested going on their previous publications, my fingers are firmly crossed. For a first-time author I knew this part would be difficult, as well as time-consuming given the lengthy delays before possibly receiving that much anticipated email or phone call - or not if the six- eight- or ten-week deadline is reached with no news at all - but hoping that with Dr Bob Brown on-side and putting in a good word when and where he is able to do so, my submission will be plucked from the pile sent by other hopefuls. Then it will be a case of hoping it will spark enough interest to ask for a publisher asking to see the full manuscript. Strange and Marvellous Things (edited by Allan Jamieson, FAWNW) 2025 is available online or at good bookshops. RRP $25.00

Windy dog walks

By Anne Layton-Bennett • October 12, 2025
Tasmania's wild and windy weather has been more severe than usual this October, making dog walking more of a challenge, and less pleasurable than usual.

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