D.M. Cameron's Blog, page 2
July 21, 2018
Irish Myths in the Australian Landscape.
As a new mother, I observed myself teaching my children the myths I had absorbed as a child. As a fourth and fifth generation Australian of mainly Irish descent, I taught them to look for signs of faeries in the coastal scrub or hollows in the mother trees. When the curlew cried, I asked…was that the banshee wailing? I was also inadvertently passing on Indigenous myths I had picked up along the way from aboriginal friends at school. ‘Three curlews…someone’s about to die,’ or ‘Don’t go into th...
July 18, 2018
Science in fiction.
This image is of a moss covered mangrove root system. One of the Quandamooka breeding habitats of the mosquito.
Unless you have lived on a sub-tropical island and experienced the full extent of every season you can’t begin to imagine the ferocity of the mosquitos at certain times of the year. I knew in Beneath the Mother Tree, which is set on an island peppered with tea tree swamps and a large mangrove habitat, mosquitos were going to play a major role in the story…just how major I didn’t rea...
UPCOMING APPEARANCES for Beneath the Mother Tree
Wednesday 27th of February – Wodonga Library. 2pm.
Thursday 28 February – Mulwala Library 10.30am / Corowa Library 2.00pm.
Friday 1 March – Holbrook Library 11.30am / Tumut Library 4.00pm.
Saturday 2 March – Junee Library 10.30am.
Monday 4th March. 2019. Sutherland Shire Library. 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
Tuesday 16th April. 2019 Thirroul Library 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.
Monday 29th April. 2019. Elanora Library. Gold Coast. 10:30 am.
Tuesday 30th April, 2019 Wynnum Library 1 pm.
Tuesday 30th April, 20...
July 12, 2018
Working with Uncle Bob.
Even though I knew the Aboriginal characters in my debut novel ‘Beneath the Mother Tree’ were only ever going to be told through the gaze of the non-Indigenous characters, I still wanted the guidance of an Aboriginal consultant, to ensure I, as a person of mainly Irish heritage remained culturally sensitive. Growing up in the Quandamooka area, I already had connections to the vibrant Aboriginal community which still exists on Minjerribah so it was a natural step to consult with revered Ngugi...
June 28, 2018
Quandamooka Country.
The Quandamooka Nation, where I spent most of my formative years, and where my debut novel ‘Beneath the Mother Tree’ is set, consists of the waters and islands of central and southern Moreton Bay and the coastal land and streams between the Brisbane to Logan Rivers. The original inhabitants consisted of three clans – the Nunukul and Gorenpul of Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island) and the Ngugi of Mulgumpin (Moreton Island). The first recorded contact with outsiders occurred when Mathew Flinders s...
June 20, 2018
Who the hell is MidnightSun?
MidnightSun Publishing is a small Adelaide based press run by Anna Solding, a talented author in her own right. MidnightSun receives hundreds of manuscripts every year, but only publishes 5 to 7 books per annum, including Y.A and children’s books. This year ‘Beneath the Mother Tree’ is the only adult book in their new releases. Solding’s selectiveness has paid off, because MidnightSun’s books have been shortlisted for the Varuna Manuscript Awards, the Penguin/Varuna Scholarship, the Unpublish...
May 24, 2018
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover. Yeah right!
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ they say, but when negotiating with your publisher the image for the front cover of your book, the upmost thought in your mind is how people are going to judge it by its cover. A good cover needs to jump off the shelf and grab the potential reader’s attention. It needs to indicate the type of story contained within and be culturally sensitive to its contents. It should look good as a thumb nail, and work with the title to intrigue and seduce the reader. But,...
