When Sarah was a young teenager, still living in Maleny, Queensland, in the 1940s she was given a spirited horse that her elderly neighbour didn’t have the time to train, or the time to take care of. Sarah called her Dawn. She rode her at every opportunity and loved and cared for her more than… Continue reading Dawn Riding
Blog
The Wilted Rose Blog Series
2022 marks the tenth anniversary of publishing my debut novel, The Wilted Rose, which tells the story of one Australian family’s struggle with mental illness during the 1960s and 70s. To mark National Mental Health Month, and to celebrate this special anniversary, from now until the end of October, in partnership with Simply Story Poetry,… Continue reading The Wilted Rose Blog Series
Storytelling through Circus
As well as a writer, I am also a hula hoop and aerial hoop artist. I have been hula hooping for sixteen years, and two years ago, I took my hooping skills to the air when I started training in aerial hoop, also known as lyra. Since then, I have been creating themed performances combining… Continue reading Storytelling through Circus
President
On Saturday, I became the President of the Gold Coast Writer’s Association. The Gold Coast Writer’s Association (or GCWA for short) is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to encourage and support writers from all genres, age groups, and levels of experience, to grow, learn, and excel in their craft. I attended my first GCWA meeting back… Continue reading President
Thirty-Three: My Jesus Year Commences
A week ago today I turned thirty-three. According to Urban Dictionary, the thirty-third year of your life is where you are reborn in some sense. Perhaps a mid (or slightly-more-than-a-quarter)-life crisis, perhaps an ego death, perhaps the year where you abandon old ways and start new .... or perhaps you were affixed to a cross and… Continue reading Thirty-Three: My Jesus Year Commences
A Kind Gesture
Copyright © Kate Kelsen 2022. All Rights Reserved The boy stood in the bitter cold with his thumb held at half height around eight o’clock. Stuart had never picked up a hitchhiker. He was sure that most of them were fine, but he had never been prepared to take the risk. He was surprised at… Continue reading A Kind Gesture
Rithm of Love
So I just entered my very first Reedsy Prompts competition! For those that are unfamiliar with Reedsy Prompts, it is a weekly writing contest guided by prompts. The theme of this week's prompts was 'Machine...Learning' and the prompt I chose to use was 'Write a story where an algorithm plays an important role'. My story… Continue reading Rithm of Love
Winning the GenreCon Short Story Competition
On Monday morning the 15th of February, the day after Valentines Day, I received an email from Queensland Writers Centre notifying me that I had won the GenreCon Short Story Competition. Its a good thing no-one was home at the time, because I was screaming. This competition took over QWC’s regular Right Left Write flash… Continue reading Winning the GenreCon Short Story Competition
2021- A Rollercoaster
* My apologies for the removal of the original post, there is an image that appears twice in the post preview but not in the draft, and I can't seem to delete it.* As I look back over the past three years I've recognised a pattern. 2019 was a foundation building year- I ventured out… Continue reading 2021- A Rollercoaster
Happy New Year!
This holiday season has looked very different to any that have gone before, and was very different for everyone depending on where they were in the world. Wherever you are, whatever degree of restrictions you are currently subject to, I hope that your holiday period was as enjoyable as humanly possible. I was very quiet… Continue reading Happy New Year!
Kate Kelsen 