Arlo Mercia

Goodreads Author

Born

in Hobart, Australia

Website

http://www.arlomercia.com

Genre

Fantasy, Mystery, Fiction

Member Since

September 2016

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/arlo_mercia

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Arlo is Australian and currently lives on the island of Tasmania. She has worked in a range of jobs including as an artist, running a small business selling tea, and in education. Currently she is a senior teacher at the local high-school. She loves travelling as that is when she indulges her passion for infra-red landscape photography – you can see examples in the background of her author's website. She is also an accomplished artist and she finds that writing fantasy is a perfect complement to her love of painting. Both her fantasy novels and her website feature her artwork. She started writing novels about twenty years ago with 'Margot's Men' and her focus is now on the fantasy series 'The Lygons of Fraith' which is about a race of ...more

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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

Arlo Mercia There were two mysteries in my life as I grew up. The first surrounded the whereabouts of my uncle - my mother's brother. He and his wife had moved to…moreThere were two mysteries in my life as I grew up. The first surrounded the whereabouts of my uncle - my mother's brother. He and his wife had moved to Tasmania from England in the early 1950's and started a chicken farm in a town south of Hobart. This was very isolated with difficult dirt roads and my aunt was most unhappy. They went back to England and left the farm to be run by the foreman, who accidentally fed the chickens fertiliser instead of feed pellets and they all died. The foreman panicked and abandoned the place, and my father had to clean up the mess and deal with the RSPCA court case. Being who he was, my father blamed my uncle, cut ties with him, and forbade my mother to have any contact. 30 years later, after my father died, my mother made contact again, and a friend paid for her to visit him - they had a lovely holiday together just 18 months before my uncle died.
The second mystery surrounded my father's ancestry - he claimed his grandfather was a free settler, and not a convict. After he died we discovered his grandfather had indeed been a convict - sent out to Tasmania from Norfolk for stealing a cheese, and was quite a character. We think my father knew and was ashamed, but I was just relieved to find there was someone interesting in the family!(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Arlo Mercia I don't really get a writing block as in don't know what to write, as I am writing a long running series, so I already have lots of the stories in my…moreI don't really get a writing block as in don't know what to write, as I am writing a long running series, so I already have lots of the stories in my head and just hope I live long enough to write them all. It is more that sometimes I have to pause and sort out aspects of the plot - how do I get this character from here to there? What happens next? How is this character going to behave in this situation? Those sort of questions. The best times to think about these things are while lying half asleep in bed, or driving, or doing the housework. The best attitude is patience, and the best comfort foods while waiting for the answers to appear are chai tea and chocolate :)(less)

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Arlo Mercia’s books

Average rating: 4.33 · 3 ratings · 2 reviews · 8 distinct works

	Lygon Island: The Rock Ring (The Lygons of Fraith, #1) 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lygon Island: The Series 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sorrow of Isparag 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lygon Island - The Rift (The Lygons of Fraith, # 3) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Doctor God 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lygon Island - An Introduction 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lygon Island: The Undersea (The Lygons of Fraith, # 2) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Margot's Men 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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11 posts
Arlo Mercia's Blog

Mentoring Month

Mentoring has been a bit of a theme in my life recently. At the school where I work (no, I still haven't given up the day-job), apart from teaching various subjects, I am in charge of all the careers education and events for 700 students. Last week I ran a program where the students could access video-conference career mentoring from industry volunteers. Most of them really enjoyed it. I joked... Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 31, 2018 20:13

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Arlo Mercia wrote a new blog post Mentoring Month Mentoring has been a bit of a theme in my life recently. At the school where I work (no, I still haven't given up the day-job), apart from teaching... Read more of this blog post »
Apr 01, 2018 04:48AM · like
Arlo Mercia rated a book liked it A Place for Strangers: Towards a History of Australian Aboriginal Being by Tony Swain	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
An interesting book about aboriginal society, beliefs and their relationship with the Torres Strait islanders and various arrivals to Australia (eg Macassars as well as British). A very academic tome, and therefore prone to obfuscatory jargon - ie ...more
Mar 31, 2018 10:46PM · like · see review
Arlo Mercia rated a book liked it The Chronicles of Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia, #1-7) by C.S. Lewis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 31, 2018 10:45PM · like
Arlo Mercia rated a book liked it Dragonquest (Pern, #2) by Anne McCaffrey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 31, 2018 10:42PM · like
Arlo Mercia rated a book liked it Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern, #1) by Anne McCaffrey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 31, 2018 10:42PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Arlo Mercia has read Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern, #1) by Anne McCaffrey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 31, 2018 10:41PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Arlo Mercia answered Goodreads's question: What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book? There were two mysteries in my life as I grew up. The first surrounded the whereabouts of my uncle - my mother's brother. He and his wife had moved to Tasmania from England in the early 1950's and started a chicken farm in a town south of Hobart.... See Full Answer
Apr 19, 2017 10:23PM · like
Arlo Mercia rated a book liked it So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Well written with interesting case studies and enough personal information about the author to be engaging. Raises some very thought provoking issues - the nature of human behaviour probably hasn't changed much over the centuries, but the magnitude ...more
Oct 05, 2016 08:21PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Arlo Mercia made a comment on her review of Intercept: The Secret History of Computers and Spies " Absolutely fascinating book. Lots of interesting case studies that include details which didn't get into the media at the time. The role that the ...more "
Sep 23, 2016 11:58PM · see review
Arlo Mercia is on page 175 of 290 of So You've Been Publicly Shamed So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 22, 2016 12:20AM · like · see status · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">