Doggeroo

Doggeroo Place Post 6

Doggeroo is the large country town to which Sergeant Russell is

transferred in the book Dog Den Mystery. At least, that's what Sarge's dog Jack says the town is called, and who could doubt the word of a dog detective? 

Doggeroo is a good town. A river runs through it, with some open ground where Jack and his friends like to run, and there's the high part of town where Caterina Smith and Lord Setter live. Just up and across the street from the police house is Auntie Tidge's place, and there's an old empty house where Jack's friend Foxie spent some time. 

Doggeroo has a school and a showground, a hospital, a vet and a library where Fat Molly lives. There's a railway station where Jack and Jill Johnstone live with Jill Russell. 

The town is big enough to have a reasonable population, but not so big that strangers can pass unnoticed. 

Up river from Doggeroo is the town of Cowfork, where Dr Jeannie and Trump live. Trump is Jack's daughter by Jill Russell, so it's a fair bet Dr Jeannie and Sarge know one another quite well. Dr Jeannie's cousin James Barnaby most likely visits Doggeroo at some point... but that's another story.

Doggeroo is the setting for the twelve books in the Jack Russell: Dog Detective series.

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

Tom Merriweather's van

Tom's Van Object Post 1

Tom Merriweather, when we first meet him in the mid 1980s, is twenty-one years old, attending university part time while working in a junior position at Merriweather and Associates, his father's architectural/building firm. He drives a van that possibly needs a new muffler and which definitely has problems with its front passenger door which Tom keeps closed with a twist of wire. It's not new; probably an early 1970s model, a manual with an inconvenient gear lever and a fair bit of clutter.

Mish Verhoven, Tom's girlfriend for the first three months of 1985, likes the van, though she does want Tom to fix the door. She claimed some territory there by leaving a book and a cassette tape in the front; something that disconcerted Tom when they broke up as they reminded him of Mish and he had to think of a way to get them back to her. 

Tom does get the door fixed, but Mish is able to pick the lock and does so with aplomb on the day of their break-up. She wasn't trying to steal anything, just proving a point. 

Later, Tom finds the van useful when he takes it over Bass Strait on the ferry. It gives him transport on the mainland and also an emergency sleeping place if he needs it. He uses it a year later to collect his fairy girl Ryl from the airport, and, as she's travelled in it before, she's able to conjure her luggage into it directly. Later still, Tom drives it to deliver tulips for his uncle and aunt. He and Ryl have a minor confrontation about their situation, and Tom, not trusting himself to drive at that point, pulls over. 

The van weathers the early days of Tom's and Ryl's couple-hood, and they find it useful when their children arrive. By this time, the van is thirty years old, so why is it still running? Well, Tom and Ryl have a secret weapon in Ryl's cousin Peck Grene, a fix-it pixie with a close and occasionally disturbing relationship with vehicles.  Peck works for Ike's Motor Services, but he keeps Tom's van running as a labour of love; he just can't bear to see a vehicle being badly managed. It is running still in 2018, but Tom finally put it out to pasture a few months ago. It was in such good order he could have sold it to a collector, but instead he gave it to Peck, who polishes it lovingly every so often. No one is quite sure what Peck plans to do with it. Tom's youngest son Timbre suggests, half-seriously, that his big cousin may be plotting to modify the van so it can be driven over there. This is technically impossible, but if anyone can do it, Peck can. 

I never described the van (which appears in The Kissing Ring), but I know it's white and I suspect it's a VW.   

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

Bandinangi

Bandinangi Place Post 5

Bandinangi (pronounce it BAND-ee-NANG-ee with a hard G is a moderately-sized Tasmanian town, not very far from Kissinhurst. A

river runs through it. Bandinangi has been around for quite a while, even by Tasmanian standards. The Spinks family, of whom Juliana Case is a member, were there from the beginning. The Spinkses were explorers and (according to Blossom Archer, whose son C. George is married to Mellie Case) oddballs. Juliana quite agrees. If she hadn't, she would never have married the active and peculiar John Z. Case. (For more about the Spinks/Case/Archer family, visit HERE. 

Back in the day, someone with a fascination for astronomy named the streets after celestial bodies. Thus the Case/Archer family lives at Number 13 Moon Street. There is also Milky Way Street, Sol Street, Andromeda Avenue, Greater Horsehead Nebula St, Sagittarius St, Sirius St, Vega Avenue and so on. 

The long-term mayor is Villijicacki Broggen, a Hungarian Irishman, friend and rival of John "Pop" Archer, who runs the Hot Potato. Broggen owns an enormous dog names Hans Broggen whom Jeremy Archer walks sometimes... for a price. Hans Broggen is somewhat addicted to Sweet-Doggo-Trotdrops.  This is undoubtedly Jeremy's fault. Pete the Cheap Whickerson runs the grocery shop... (Mellie refers to him by a less flattering adjective) and there is a park, a nursery and a large library. 

The main thing about Bandinangi is that it is - well - odd. It has a large populations of odd people to whom odd things happen. Very close by, but currently cut off from view, (or possibly in deep cover) is a witch community. Roseblight Zebrahoovesbackward is one of the nicest of them, and she currently manages to live in Bandinangi, using the name Rose Blackwood. Stephen Kelleher and Mathew Caley probably know this... but they're not talking.

Bandinangi, as well as housing odd people, attracts them. One year three very strange (even by Bandinangi standards) people arrived in town. Mrs Imelda Hieronymous, her brother Inigo Hauntman and their niece Serendipity Creed caused considerable consternation to the three Archer children. Then there was the vanishing magician, an invasion of ducks, and the scary plants (if they were plants) that grow from John Case's compost. An expedition of the planet Azurea, at some time in the future, will have ties to Bandinangi, and Lulu Quest and her father, (not to speak of the Bozo ghosts) will live near the river one day. (Just ask Mark Winwood about that... or maybe don't. After all, his brother Ben is "going" with Rose Blackwood.) The Dennis family, Donald, Jarrod and Dumone, may be the least peculiar people in town. Maybe redneckery keeps them immune. Father Tom Janus presides over the local church. He strives not to notice too much, though his daughter Evie, best friend of Justin Archer (to their mutual astonishment) notices all too much. (Her pet, Puss, is not really a cat.)

So, I guess you might say, Visit Bandinangi at Your Own Risk. Resolve to ignore, or else open your mind to oddity. Just don;t ever say you weren't warned.  

Bandinangi appears in the Bandinangi Books series and also in others such as The Magician's Box, Hairy George and Spiral Stairs. 

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

The starship Elysian Dawn

Elysian Dawn Place Post 4

Elysian Dawn is a generational colony-class starship built for the Outward-Bound company and launched in 2254. Elysian Dawn, known colloquially by some of the young colonists-elect as Elly-D, was huge. It carried 1000 hand-picked people. Most were aged between 18 and 25 but there were also some children, all younger than five years old. There was space in the living quarters for a great many more.

Elysian Dawn, using a Type 1 FeTtL drive, was the first and by far the biggest of three colony-class starships launched in 2254/55. She carried more people, of sternly-enforced ages, and livestock in stasis tanks. She had a fully-functional farm/garden/recycling system that could technically run forever...or at least for the centuries (none of the people knew how many) it would take to reach its destination; a planet known as Magellan Sixteen. The passengers, all of whom had clean two or three generation gene charts and none of whom was related to more than 2% of the others, had cut all ties with Terra. They chose new surnames. The adults refused to tell their children anything about their lives on Terra. The children were well-educated in most fields, but only two families ever learned anything about electronics. They were communication families, and even they had very limited coded access to the Terra-tat, sending one way logs back to Outward-Bound. 

Education was based on future-proofing. Literature was available, but none of it was contemporary. Most was intended to enrich imagination and knowledge, but also to give a false picture of Terran life. Thus the ship-born knew Greek myths and Shakespeare, Arthurian romance and other ancient writing. 

Elly-D was shaped somewhat like a limbless whale, with a rounded blunt snout at the bows. Here was the celestial map, showing a limited part of space. Apart from that, most people seldom thought of what lay outside or behind. Few of them ever considered their eventual landing, either, beyond the future-proofing drills deemed necessary to keep the knowledge alive for generations to come. They all took it for granted they would never stand on a planet. It didn't trouble them. Elysian Dawn was home. Her rubber-grip floors and curved pale walls kept them safe, provided for them, and allowed them to live contented lives, guided by scientific principle leavened with friendly commonsense. As Moon the healer said, gene charts were useful for choosing a life partner, but there were other things to think about as well. They could probably have lived on reconstituted foodstuffs, but instead they grew crops in real soil, with temperature variation and water drawn from artificial creeks. 

Elysian Dawn was the world to those on board. To Terra, she was a fading memory. Eighteen years into her voyage, she was nothing but a promise and a duty to three remaining directors of Outward-Bound. To one man, Harry Fejoa, she was a lost dream which had played a part in robbing him of his world.

Elysian Dawn appears in the Elydian Dawn series. To read more about the series check out the publisher's link and the Elydian Dawn website.

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

Diamond Spellman Productions Studio

Diamond Spellman Productions Studio Place Post 3

Diamond/Spellman is a small production company situated in the upmarket Sydney suburb of Windhill. The studios are modest in size, because it really is a shoe-string operation, specialising in Australian documentary of the warts-and-all variety. 

Diamond/Spellman is run by Jasper Diamond and his cousin Tam Spellman, and established in the late 1990s. Jasper's wife Aberdene works there part time. The cameraman is Rod Bowen, Tam's boyfriend, and Steve and Stew the roadies and Elodie Campbell the PA round out the full time staff. 

Diamond/Spellman walks the tightrope between polished content and breaking the budget. When things go wrong on-screen--and they do-- Jasper generally finds a way to make it a part of the show. The films and short series are shown on TV and at film festivals. Not much has been heard of them in the past eighteen years, but most likely they're still plugging along, with a small cult following and just staying on-budget. No doubt some of the staff moonlight from time to time, but hey-- Jasper won't mind. He'll probably arrange to make a doco about what Rod does when making a doco for someone else!  

The studio appears in Mix and Match and Triple Treat

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

The Outback

The Outback Character Post 62

The Outback might be reckoned a place rather than a character,

but in the book Pride Bridgeover-Sundown it is both. In the near future, (well, it was the future when the book was written) seventeen-year-old Glen Steele borrows his sister's Bradman Pride and heads off into the Outback, looking for validation and adventure. As he drives along, increasingly annoyed by the car's helpful verbal cautions and reminders, Glen becomes aware that the ultra-modern vehicle's accessories are failing one by one. The culprit is the Outback, the great sentient spirit of place that has taken on board every myth and icon and is reenacting them. As Glen encounters the avatars of the Outback he starts wondering if he's going mad. One of the people he meets is his own ancestor Arthur Steele, who died at Gallipoli. Although Glen knows Artie is a figment or a ghost, Artie persists in being real. Glen repudiates his reality and has to witness Artie's death in the hell of Gallipoli which is part of the Outback's cauldron of myth.

Glen rescues Artie at considerable sacrifice, but who is he really saving? The Outback presumably knows, but the Outback, with its many faces, voices and personalities, isn't finished with Glen yet.

 Buy Pride Bridgeover Sundown as an ebook here.

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

LeeLee and Malachite Grene

LeeLee and Malchite Grene  Character Post 61

Malachite "Mal" Grene was born to Peter and Gentian Grene in around 1966/67. Peter is fairly laid-back (for a pixie) and Gentian is an apothecary/herbalist and a notable cook, so Mal had a comfortable childhood. He was born over there in the fay homeland, but since childhood he was brought over here to the human realm quite often enough to give him a human identity. As a small child, he often played, squabbled and laughed with Leilana "LeeLee" Peckerdale, a distant cousin, youngest child of Peter and Pia Peckerdale. The families were good friends and eventually went into business together. LeeLee was a beautiful child with black hair and green eyes and an affectionate nature. Her elder brothers often minded Mal as well as their sister. Mal was dark haired with hazel eyes. They weren't really alike, but shared volatile tempers being quick to laugh or to yell.

As the two reached their upper teens, both families expected they would become less close as Mal branched out to court pixie misses while LeeLee was courted by other pixie men. Instead, they became more devoted to one another. Mal was forever on tenterhooks lest one of LeeLee's suitors won her over, but eventually he accepted that she loved him best. 

Their transition from surrogate family to a couple was more difficult for their relatives than them. They married as soon as they could, and took over the management of the family B&B. In the first few weeks they had problems being parted and LeeLee's niece, Ryl, refused to travel in a car with either of them. Even a year after their wedding they were still as passionately in love as ever, although they had learned to control it better.

In his early twenties, Mal considered himself well qualified to advise Ryl's betrothed on how to behave as a married man. He also knew enough to keep on the right side of LeeLee's cat.

In 1989 LeeLee gave birth to their first child, Peckerdale Peter Grene. Peck was an intense child like his father, and he spent much of his time "living human" because of his fascination with motors. Mal and LeeLee moved to Peckerdale Grene Community Tower at some point, and there their daughter Promise was born in 1994. Prom was a wild card, reserved and given to wandering. 

When Peck left school, Mal and LeeLee were pleased to have him move into a bachelor apartment in the tower. His desire to "fix" things was getting in the way of their volatile relationship. Now in their fifties, they are still in love, still squabbling and making up, and still loving life. Mal boxes to keep fit. LeeLee presides over Wednesday tea and cake gatherings for the ladies of the tower. According to Chloe, Peck's fiancee, LeeLee owns a pair of green fuzzy handcuffs which she presumably uses on Mal. Peck doesn't even want to think of that. He loves his parents but sometimes feels he is older than they are.

Mal and LeeLee don't see as much of Promise as they'd like, as she's still a bit of a gypsy. They are fond of Chloe and look forward to grandchildren in time. They do love their children dearly, but it must be said the most important thing to them is one another. They hope and expect to live, love, squabble and dance on for many years to come.

Mal and LeeLee appear in The Kissing Ring, and Sam and the Sylvan and Calico Calypso as well as other stories. The couple in the picture aren't quite right (LeeLee has cropped hair and Mal is brown-haired) but the "feel" is right.

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!

Over Here B&B

Over Here B&B  Places Post 2

Over Here B&B is a bed-and-breakfast establishment situated on the outskirts of Patterdale, Victoria, in the 1980s. 

It is owned by the Peckerdale and Grene families, and originally served as a staging post and safe haven of sorts for family and friends transitioning between Over Here and Over There. Apart from this, it is also a functional B&B, running more or less like any other. 

When readers first encounter it, in The Kissing Ring, it is managed by the newly-married Malachite and Leilana 'LeeLee' Grene. They are pixies, but Tom Merriweather and his father, who arrive at the B&B to stay, don't realise that at first. 

The B&B is a late 19th Century building of three storeys. It has a small foyer leading to a hatch where the receptionist (usually LeeLee or one of her brothers) sits to take bookings and greet guests. Mal and LeeLee live in rooms on the ground floor, which also houses the kitchen. LeeLee's brother Alex has a room there, and her brother Kris occupies a tiny studio room in the attic which has a balcony big enough to grow a fig tree.

In between are guest rooms, singles and doubles. The stairs are narrow and quite steep, and can be disconcerting because LeeLee's black cat, Millie, has a habit of sitting on the steps or landings. Since he blends into the shadows, guests need to take care not to trip over him. No one seems able to keep him from doing this, so guests are warned--when LeeLee remembers.

The rooms are appointed with simple furniture, having beds, chairs, tables and a small bathroom each. Alert guests may notice the furniture is often too big to have fitted in the small 19th C doors, but they mostly don't question this. Presumably they suppose the furniture was taken apart and reassembled.

Room service is provided for breakfast, with old-fashioned crockery and tea sets. There is no option for packaged cereal, but porridge and toast and fruit are available. The B&B doesn't offer dinner (most guests go to the pub in Patterdale) but occasionally favoured guests are able to dine with the family. Although only Mal, LeeLee and LeeLee's brothers live there, other family members come and go and the place acts as an informal get-together for family dinners.

After Peckerdale Grene Community Tower is built, the B&B is less necessary for the family. At some point Mal and LeeLee move to the tower, but the family does keep the B&B going. After all, it provides some income as well as a place to stay, and it can help act as a "soft" introduction for human friends. Kris and his wife Calypso live there part of the time, since Calypso works in Appledore and running a B&B fits in with Kris's occupation as a freelance artist. It seems likely one of their children, Corin and Jisinia, will eventually take it over. If it's Corin, guests will feel very welcome and charmed. If it's Jin... not so much. 

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!