In tropical
beach mode on a small island in Vanuatu a few months ago,
with some other
animal friends.
Some fun facts about author Bronwyn Elsmore
Born
under the sign of Libra.
While I
have an amused view of such things, I am drawn to balance and harmony. And I
like to think that while the Libran symbol is the balance/scales, the word is
similar to that for book – libre/liber/libri. Together they seem to sum me up
pretty well.
For the
past dozen years, I’ve kept a record of books I have read in the year.
[Long pause
while I complete and review my list for 2019] For the past few years, the total
has been between 70-80, with a high of 93.
As usual, they’re non-fiction and fiction in a
variety of genres, with Literary Fiction being my first pick. I’m always
looking for books that are ultimately uplifting, which doesn’t mean they can’t
deal with negative subjects.
As well as
an author of a dozen books, and hundreds of shorter works,
I am also a playwright.
I am also a playwright.
Along with my reading record, there’s
another of the stage-plays I’ve been to. The number of those is showing a
decline, for several reasons – reluctance to find parking in the city, I don’t
review plays as I used to, and for a similar reason to my views on books – so
many are on depressing subjects. However, playwriting has given me much
pleasure over the years, and there’s nothing like sitting in an audience seeing
actors adding their skills to one’s words.
I’m located
in the South Pacific, so when most of the globe’s population are enduring
winter, I’m glorying in summer days.
Right now,
I’m spending a lot of time caring for my annual crop of monarch
butterflies. I grow plants for the
caterpillars, make sure they have enough to eat, keep predators at bay, and
bring them inside to develop safely. It takes many hours of my time but it’s
lovely to see them fly off. Each butterfly I let go with the words “have a
happy life.”
Altogether I spend far too much time on
them and each year tell myself next year I won’t do it. But here I am, back
into it. So far this season I have liberated 63 butterflies, and there are
plenty more to come!
Cats are
another thing. I don’t go looking for them, they find me.
At the moment, I have
to accept I have three – not by choice but because they’ve all turned up having
decided to live here rather than wherever they came from. Over past years
others have come and gone at their will or when I’ve managed to find other
homes for them. Then there’s the wild tomcat that turns up for food when he’s
in the area.
One of the present three, Teddybear, I
have tried to give away to three different willing new owners. Give him a few days
and he’s escaped and walked back. Teddybear has now returned here five times,
so he’s made his will very clear – he’s staying!
Bronwyn with #1 cat, McCullum, named after the, then, captain of the New Zealand cricket team
You can
find out more about author Bronwyn Elsmore here:
Everyone knows you can’t go back. Everyone except Mary. A plum tree has gone. A lemon tree
thrives. A mystery surrounding a boat
with painted eyes remains. A novel with the feel of a memoir – I find the
combination very appealing.”
Every Five Minutes
Gina, if that is her real name, sets out for work. Deliberately, she
misses the bus and walks into the city, then turns and walks back again. This
is not a day for work. Today she will spend with a white dog and a remarkable
man. “I hated the story to end. Read it and you'll see. It's a lovely, lovely
book.”
Seventeen Seas
Stowaways in lifeboats? Germans claiming deckchairs? When
passengers from many places cruise together, there must be fun. Fiction,
non-fiction, humor – Seventeen Seas is all of these. For all who have taken a
cruise, think they'd like to, or are certain they never would!
How lovely of you, Mary Ann, to tell your followers about me and my work. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you and for your books - I hope 2020 is a great year for you./
Happy to have you, Bronwyn. Wishing you the best with your books.
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