CHRISTINE M. KNIGHT

'The Flame' features in my novel ‘Song Bird’. In the novel, it is sung by rock legend Rick Brody who serenades Nikki Mills (the central character in the novel). In real life, it was sung by Funnie Williams and Thanapat Yarchartoen (aka Film). I produced the song through Karma Sound Studios in Thailand.

Ever felt it was just too hard to get through another day? That’s where I am at the moment. I feel like I’m weighted down by slabs of concrete, and I am no weight lifter. At times like this, it’s the small things that help me. Of course, there is always the hope of better times too.

It’s late autumn here in Canberra: hard frosts, clear blue skies, warm still days, and freezing nights. I’ve been quite sick in 2012 and have not written much for my blog for what seems ages. So with renewed vigour, I return to my conversation with readers.

I was shocked this week when driving south down Northbourne Avenue through Canberra's city centre. Stopped at traffic lights at the junction of London Circuit, I glanced casually to my left. Emblazoned across the windows of the Fletcher Jones store were the banners: CLOSING DOWN SALE.

It’s summertime and Christmas. The travelling cherry sellers from Young are out in force across the Canberra region, stationed in their utes along major arterial roads every weekend.

G'day and welcome to the first in a series of blogs in which I share my life and reflections. I am a novelist who writes about contemporary Australia: the people and concerns of the day. I'm not interested in perpetuating the popular myth that we are a pastoral landscape or an Outback community.