The Roland Medals is my second published book. Much of it is set on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, on which I have walked hundreds of kilometres over several years. My research also took me to Finland, Russia, France, Italy and Spain as well as specialist museums and libraries in the UK and the USA.
My travel writing and short fiction have been published in Australian newspapers and journals. I live in Canberra, Australia.
My memoir, Charlie & Me in Val-Paradis, about the village in south-west France where I and my beloved poodle Charlie lived between 2003 and 2005, was published by Simon and Schuster Australia in 2008. It is now available as an eBook and in hard copy (print on demand).
French Provincial Magazine Dec/Jan 2009 said:
‘Charlie &Me in Val-Paradis skilfully captures the community aspect of provincial living where people rely on each other and their land like generations before them. When I first opened the book I wanted to meander through the French countryside, pick the little wild flowers in the warm sun of late spring and feel the land again. Charlie &Me in Val-Paradis gave me all of these things and more. (This book) will delight both lovers of dogs and rural France.’
My story ‘The Amber Bird’ appeared in the (free) online section of Southerly Journal.
https://southerlyjournal.wordpress.com/long-paddock/74-3-australian-dreams-2/
Thank you, Barbara, it’s good when a nice comment comes in out of the blue. I do have Inese’s address, but won’t publish it here for obvious reasons. Terry will find it if he looks for her in the Sydney directory in Birchgrove (under her ‘married’ name. Best wishes, Maureen.
Hi Maureen, I’ve just finished reading your delightful and informative memoir from you time in France with Sha-lee. What a lucky boy to have lucked in his life with you after such a difficult beginning. You did good. Your book just lifted my spirits with many a good laugh into the bargain. Thank you. Keep up the good work in writing, travel and friends. In Appreciation, Renate
Thanks, Renate, it’s good to know that Charlie is still giving pleasure to readers, as he does to me whenever I think of him, which is often. He died five years ago and his successor is a sweet little Havanese called Edie. She and I do a lot of travelling in Australia but she has recently expressed a desire to go to Spain. Best wishes, Maureen