Just One Percent …

Posted on November 8, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

The Melbourne Cup is run, the spring racing carnival in full swing, but as a massive horse lover, I can’t watch a race without seeing the misery behind it. The biggest animal welfare issue facing the Australian racing industry is wastage – a euphemism for the slaughter of twenty thousand thoroughbreds each year.

Deposer

Eighty percent of horses get no life after racing. Take Deposer, for example. This magnificent horse raced at Royal Ascot, went to Hong Kong, then came to Australia and won more than $1.1 million for his owners – before being dumped in the Echuca meat pens. He was alone, forgotten and left for dead, when filmed by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses last year. Deposer was due to join thousands of terrified, often starving and terribly injured horses, in a desolate dogger’s yard. They are taken one by one into a killing box, and shot in front of each other for pet food, crab-pot bait and export meat. More than ten thousand thoroughbreds slaughtered each year are healthy young animals under seven years old. Call me a party-pooper, but that just stinks!

Celebrity vet Dr Chris Brown has got behind a proposal for the Australian racing industry to use a tiny 1% of all betting turnover to establish a retirement plan for horses. Along with this, the proposal calls for some other preventative measures (such as a reduction in breeding) to stem the issue of wastage, and in the long-term, end the slaughter of thoroughbreds. A 1% betting levy would result in $143 million annually being given back to racehorses, thus sharing the riches from the ‘Sport of Kings.’

http://www.horseracingkills.com/features/1-percent-to-stop-the-slaughter/ http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/extra/season-5/just-1-percent http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/they-shoot-horses-dont-they-20130923-2u8nh.html

In the meantime, North West Equine Rescue INC have vowed to take off the track racehorses when their career is over (sometimes before it even starts).
NWER INC is a Not-for-Profit registered charity with three bases in Moree, Armidale and Tamworth. Since registering in 2012 NWER has successfully rescued and rehomed 397 horses. NWER is funded by the generosity of the public, meaning they receive NO government funding. Volunteers have twenty-four horses in care at any given time. Their mission is to rescue as many sick, injured and slaughter-bound animals as possible, set their lives on a different path and give them the second chance they deserve! NWER have set out to raise $5,000 to rescue seven thoroughbreds facing slaughter, re-educate and rehome them. They are still a long way off target. You can donate as little as a dollar. Help put a doomed racehorse in the arms of these angels. It only seems fair, don’t you think?
www.northwestequine.org.au
admin@northwestequine.org.au
www.facebook.com/North.West.Equine.Rescue

Don’t Be A Writer …

Posted on October 24, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

I’m deep into structural edits for my new novel, Billabong Bend, due out next year. The deadline is next week. I’m too busy to blog (already missed last week’s post) so my brother Rod Scoullar has sprung to my rescue. He writes terrific young adult fantasy as a hobby, and has written a guest post. ‘It can be about anything,’ I said. This is what he came up with … (Love ya Rod x)

“Don’t be a writer.

A writer’s life is hard. Oh it’s not hard to write – putting words on paper is easy. It isn’t even that hard to put well written words on paper, words in well structured sentences, words that flow, words that evoke mood or place or situation. I can do that. You must do that if you are to be a writer.

Words are not enough though, even well written words. The reader will weary of the sweetest prose if the plot is inadequate. Poor characterisation will undermine any story regardless of the beauty of the writing. Those are areas in which I fall down. I’m not destined to be a writer; yet it isn’t for that reason.

I see how hard Jenny works. I see the notebooks, constantly added to, dozens of them, full of words and ideas that might be useful, someday. I see the effort that goes into the research. I see the discipline that requires so many words must be written before day’s end. I see the redrafting, the effort to fashion a scene just so. I see the frustration when things don’t come together.

Then, when the manuscript is complete, as best it can be given the timeframe – professional writers have to work to deadlines – and sent to the publisher, back come the edits. “Character X needs greater development early in the manuscript; the relationship between Y and Z should build more slowly; the resolution of the conflict in chapter seven seems contrived, etc.” Those aren’t comments relating to Jennifer’s current manuscript in case you’re wondering. Oh, and don’t self-publish without a professional edit. Professional editors know what they’re about. Ignore them and their advice at your peril.

I’m not prepared to put in the effort required to be published. Writing something is easy. Writing something worthwhile may be possible, but writing and rewriting and rewriting again is too much for me. I don’t want to be a writer, not desperately. It might be fun to try but, well, for me it’s all too much. If you want to be a writer, want it because you can’t imagine yourself as anything else, then go for it; but understand – a writer’s life is hard.”

Echidna Dreaming

Posted on October 11, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

Millie, a friendly echidna, has recently arrived at Pilyara. (I really don’t know what gender, but with such a pretty face, I’m guessing a girl!) She loves feasting on the meat ants that live in our old brick pile. So in honour of our new resident, here are some fascinating echidna facts.

1. Echidnas are the most widely distributed mammal in Australia and are listed as common. (Yes – I know they’re monotremes too.) But because they live for forty-five years or more, we may have an ageing population. Nobody knows the current survival rate for young. In a Kangaroo Island study, more than a quarter of all puggles (the cute name for baby echidnas) were killed in their burrows by cats each year.

2. The prefrontal cortex of an echidna’s brain is larger compared to the rest of its body than any other mammal, including man! Usually the greater the volume of this part of the brain, the more intelligent the animal is. So, Millie’s a smart cookie!

3. It was once thought that echidnas were the only mammals that didn’t dream, because they didn’t seem to experience REM sleep. It’s now been discovered that echidnas do experience REM sleep, so long as they’re at the right temperature. At 25°C they experience REM sleep, but at 28°C or 15°C it decreased or disappeared. Wonder what they dream about?

Echidna Love Train

4. Echidnas breed in winter, so if Millie sticks around until then, I might be lucky enough to see some fascinating courtship behaviour – an echidna love train. These processions are led by the female, with up to ten lovelorn males trailing behind. It can take six weeks before Miss Popularity chooses a mate from the strongest and most determined suitors.

My Three Wishes – 3 Wishes Blog Blitz

Posted on September 2, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

Today I’m participating in the Three Wishes Blog Blitz, hosted by author Juliet Madison. From 2nd to 6th September you’ll have the chance to win some terrific prizes at all the blogs participating in the blitz, including mine. For a chance to win a signed copy of Currawong Creek, just tell me a wish of your own. Then click over to Juliet’s blog to enter her prize draw, see the list of other blogs taking part and enter their giveaways too. How good is that? And why is it called the Three Wishes Blog Blitz? Juliet’s new romantic comedy release, I Dream of Johnny, is about three wishes, a high-tech genie in a lamp, and one very unfortunate typo that proves magic isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…

To fulfil my obligation to the blitz, I’m writing about what I’d want if a genie gave me three wishes. First I’d like to be financially independent enough to turn my boutique dog boarding kennel into a wildlife rehabilitation centre. Much as I adore my canine guests, I often fantasise that the lovely runs and sheds are full of recovering wallabies, wombats and possums instead. I’d love to do the wildlife rehabilitation course and dedicate myself to native animals. There’s nobody in the world that I admire more than our wonderful wildlife carers.

Second wish – I’d like to ride the length of the Bicentennial National Trail from north to south. The trail stretches an extraordinary 5,330 kilometres from Cooktown in tropical far north Queensland to Healesville in Victoria. As it winds along the eastern seaboard, following the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and the Eastern Escarpment, it travels through some of Australia’s most remote and spectacular scenery. My son has offered to ride it with me if I can ever organise myself. Would love to hear from anybody out there who has already done it.

Thirdly (and this is a magic genie granting wishes right, so there are no limits) I’d like to buy up large tracts of rare habitat a la Bush Heritage. Wetlands, rain forest and temperate woodlands – the most threatened wooded ecosystem type in Australia. The problem is particularly severe in my home state of Victoria, which has lost 83 per cent of its woodland ecosystems to land clearance. Combined with drier weather patterns, that loss has led to a dramatic decline in woodland fauna, with recent research suggesting that even common birds such as the red wattlebird, spotted pardalote and rufous whistler are in trouble. I’d love to fence these areas, eliminate foxes and cats, and help restore habitats. What a thrill that would be!

You’ve seen my top wishes. To enter the prize draw, just comment telling me a wish of your own. NZ and Aust only. Competition closes 12pm Friday 6th September. Once you’ve entered my giveaway, visit Juliet’s blog at http://julietmadison.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/3-wishes-blog-blitz-official-post/ & enter her giveaway too, and visit any or all of the other participating blogs to enter more prize draws. You could potentially win a whole heap of prizes! Good luck!

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Posted on July 21, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

Fellow author and blogger Lord David Prosser (http://barsetshirediaries.wordpress.com/ ) has kindly nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! After a little online snooping I discovered that he is actually a Lord. He’s the Lord of Bouldnor, an hereditary Manorial title lost in the mists of time, well the 1400′s anyway. I wonder how his Lordship feels about me being a staunch Aussie republican? Anyway, thank you for the nomination.

As an award winner, I’m asked to:

Display the award certificate on my website and include a link to my sponsor.
List five unusual facts about myself.
Present 5 awards to deserving bloggers and drop them a comment to tip them off.

I’ve fulfilled the first condition which is to thank my sponsor and link back to his blog. Secondly I must post the award badge to my blog – done. By the way, I’ve changed the rules a bit to suit myself. Us colonials aren’t good at taking orders, my Lord. Okay, now for five unusual things about me.

I once drove a tractor for a living.
I have a great interest, affection and admiration for insects, particularly the social insects – wasps, ants and bees. Many insects display curiosity, learning ability and parental devotion (as you’ll discover if you read my first novel, Wasp Season) They are fascinating and highly underrated creatures.
At one stage I gave up my job as a lawyer to become a full-time foster carer.
I love to buy spent hens from battery farms. There is nothing quite so heart-warming as rehabilitating such birds, watching them learn to scratch, nest and dust-bathe etc. In return I get their friendship and lovely fresh eggs for many years.
I am a member of a little writing group called the Little Lonsdale Group. Since its formation just a few years ago, four of our members (including me) have become published by major publishers – Random House, Penguin and Simon & Schuster. Pretty good going, huh?

Now for the part where I nominate five other bloggers. Drum roll please …

Storie – Diane Simonelli
http://dianesimonelli.wordpress.com/
Margareta Osborn – The Voice Of The Bush http://www.margaretaosborn.com.au/blog-listing
Jenn J Mcleod – Come Home to the Country
http://www.jennjmcleod.com/blog/
Whitney K E – Aspiring Romance Author
http://whitneyk-e.blogspot.com.au/
The Ecstacy Files – Kate Belle – (Over 18 only!)
http://ecstasyfiles.com/blog/

And nominees, don’t feel obliged. I know how busy you all are!

Brumby’s Run Q&A

Posted on June 9, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

The launch date of my new novel, Currawong Creek is fast approaching. Penguin Books (Aust) is offering a digital price promotion ahead of the new title’s release. The ebook of Brumby’s Run (usually $12.99) is available at $4.99 until the 28th June. For those who haven’t read it, today I’m posting a Penguin Q&A about Brumby’s Run for your information. Here’s the link for last week’s Currawong Creek Q&A

Penguin Q & A with Jennifer Scoullar, author of Brumby’s Run

What is your book about?

– Brumby’s Run is a story about a young woman named Samantha. She discovers she has a twin sister, Charlie, who is critically ill. City girl Sam soon finds herself running her sister’s farm, high in the Victorian alps. This new life, Charlie’s life, intrigues her. Bit by bit she falls in love with the mountains, the brumbies and with handsome neighbour Drew Chandler, her sister’s erstwhile lover. Sam begins to wish that Charlie might never come home.

What or who inspired it?

– Originally I was inspired by the classic Banjo Paterson poem of the same name. It is one of my absolute favourites. But I was also inspired by the magnificent wild horses of the high country, and the fine work done by Australia’s various Brumby welfare associations.

What was the biggest challenge, writing it?

– My biggest challenge was finishing the novel in time to pitch to Penguin at the 2011 RWA Conference. I only just made it!

What did you want to achieve with your book?

– I wanted to share my love of Victoria’s beautiful upper Murray region, and pay tribute to the fabled wild horses of the high country. I also wanted to entertain readers with a passionate and unusual love story.

What do you hope for your book?

– I hope it may be widely read and enjoyed.

Are there any parts of it that have special personal significance to you?

– The horses are based on my own, favourite animals, past and present.

Do you have a favourite character or one you really enjoyed writing?

– I have a soft spot for Charlie, and really admire her spirit.

What do you see as the major themes in your book?

– One of the major themes in Brumby’s Run is our search for personal identity. The book also explores our relationship with animals and the environment.

What made you set it in Victoria’s high country? – I have a great love for this region, and it is where the Brumbies are.

Did the title come instantly to you or did you labour over it? – I’d always wanted to base my novel on Banjo Paterson’s classic bush poem, Brumby’s Run, so the title was a given.

To whom have you dedicated the book and why? – I’ve dedicated the book to Australia’s various Brumby welfare associations, in acknowledgement of the wonderful work they do protecting our wild horses.

Who do you think will enjoy your book?

– Anybody who enjoys passionate love stories, set in Australia’s spectacular wild places.

Do you have a special ‘spot’ for writing at home? (If so, describe it)

– I have a small office space off the lounge room (no door!), but with a noisy family, this isn’t always ideal. My favourite spot is over at the stables. Horses are good listeners, and don’t mind you reading aloud.

Do you like silence or music playing while you’re writing?

– Silence. I’m easily distracted otherwise.

When did you start writing?

– As a child I was an avid reader and loved writing stories and poems. I began my very first novel when I was eleven years old.

Did you always want to become an author?

– I did, but then I grew up, and life kind of got in the way. There was long gap before I returned to my original passion for writing.

Tell us a bit about your childhood?

– I was a horse-mad child. My family had a house in Melbourne as well as a property in the mountains. At every chance I escaped to the farm to be with my horses.

If you’ve had other jobs outside of writing, what were they?

– I graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Law and Jurisprudence, and worked for a while as a solicitor. I have also raised four children, with the youngest one still at school. Now that’s a job!

Describe yourself in three words? – Passionate, compassionate and curious.

What star sign are you and are you typical of it?

– I’m a Capricorn. That’s an earth sign, and I do feel a deep spiritual connection to the earth. Typically Capricorns are ambitious and serious, with a strong work ethic. I suppose that describes me. They are also supposed to be neat and tidy. That definitely doesn’t describe me!

What three things do you dislike?

– Cruelty, greed and indifference.

What three things do you like?

– My family, my animals and having the opportunity to write, in that order.

Have you a family, partner or are you single?

– As I said before, I have four wonderful children. I am divorced and do not have a partner. Maybe no real-life man can measure up to my fictional outback heroes!

Happy Earth Day – The Canopy Project

Posted on April 22, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

Every year on April 22, more than one billion people take part in Earth Day. Across the globe, individuals, communities, organizations, and governments acknowledge the amazing planet we call home and take action to protect it.

One fabulous Earth Day initiative is the Canopy Project. It aims to plant trees that help communities – especially the world’s impoverished communities – sustain themselves and their local economies. A wonderful by-product of this project is that so many animals have their habitats restored. Trees reverse the impacts of land degradation and provide food, energy and income, helping communities to achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Trees also filter the air and help stave off the effects of climate change. That’s why, earlier this the year, Earth Day Network made a commitment with the Global Poverty Project to plant 10 million trees over the next five years, many of them in the world’s most impoverished places.

Wonderful examples of The Canopy Project can be found all over the globe, including here at home. Landcare Australia worked to help restore vulnerable areas of metropolitan New South Wales and Victoria, focusing on places with unique and threatened animal species. In Brazil, the Canopy Project worked with local communities to plant native trees to help restore the Atlantic Forest, one of the most biologically diverse and severely threatened forest ecosystems in the world. Tree Canada joined the Avatar Home Tree Initiative to restore 800 hectares of pine forest that was devastated by hurricane-force winds in 2005.

Tree cover around the world has never been more important. Congratulations to the Earth Day Network! They have made a commitment with the Global Poverty Project to plant 10 million trees over the next five years in impoverished areas of the world. Please join them to help make this commitment a reality

Happy Sustainable Seafood Day!

Posted on March 17, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

Most people know that today is St Patrick’s Day (a shout out to all my Irish friends, by the way) But many people might not know that last Friday 15th March was Sustainable Seafood Day. Started by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), this day is about celebrating and rewarding certified sustainable seafood fisheries, retailers and champions. It’s about empowering seafood lovers and showing them how their choices can make a positive difference in the world’s oceans.

Our ocean habitats face massive and multiple threats: warming temperatures, mining, pollution and over-fishing to name a few. How can you help? The idea of Sustainable Seafood Day is simple. Only buy seafood bearing the blue MSC ecolabel.

There are seven Australian MSC certified sustainable fisheries. These include; the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF), Mackerel Icefish, HIMI Toothfish, Macquarie Island Toothfish, Spencer Gulf King prawns, Lakes and Coorong fisheries and the Western Rock Lobster; which was the first MSC certified sustainable fishery in the world and is the first to be re-certified for a third time.

There are now more than 200 canned and frozen seafood products bearing the blue MSC ecolabel available at leading retailers across the country. To view the list of these products visit the MSC’s online Sustainable Seafood Product Finder. The other important thing is to check out the Sustainable Seafood Guide, print version or online, courtesy of the Australian Marine Conservation Society. You can even get an IPhone app now, featuring Greenpeace’s Canned Tuna Ranking. So much to learn. Orange Roughy for example (also known as Deep Sea Perch), live for 150 years. They are slow-growing and late to mature, resulting in a very low resilience. How can we justify trawling for fish that don’t even start breeding until they are 25-40 years old?

And for those who despair as to whether or not our small contribution makes a difference, let me assure you – it does. Every little bit counts. We must celebrate even small advances towards a better future for our planet. Let me share the story about the boy picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea to save them. A man says to him, “This beach goes on for miles, and there are thousands of starfish. Your efforts are futile. You can’t make a difference!” The boy looks at the starfish in his hand and throws it into the water. “To this one,” he says, “it makes all the difference.” We fix the world one day at a time, one person at a time, one action at a time. Let’s work together for a future full of fish!

A New Owl Identified

Posted on February 17, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

Southern Boobook

I am a great owl lover. These elusive birds have held a special fascination for humans throughout the centuries. Countless lore, myths and superstitions are associated with owls, and it’s easy to see why. They appear mysteriously from the darkness. Legend endows them with supernatural knowledge, and their large eyes and bespectacled appearance enhances this belief. A group of owls is known as a parliament, a wisdom or a study. The Greeks for example, considered owls as a symbol of good fortune and associated them with Athene, the goddess of wisdom. However the Romans thought they were evil. They believed owls were omens of disaster. Their hoot was considered to be the call of death. Even today, the standard metaphor for danger in film is their eerie call, or the glimpse of an owl near the scene of the crime.

Powerful Owl

Several types of owl live here at Pilyara. I am often lulled to sleep by the rhythmic call of the little Southern Boobook. We have even spotted the rare and magnificent Powerful Owl. Everything to do with owls gives me a thrill. So imagine my delight to hear that a brand new species has been identified to the north of Australia, on the small island of Lombok, Indonesia.

Rinjani Scops Owl

This photo, taken by independent researcher Philippe Verbelen, shows a pair of Rinjani Scops owls. They were discovered by accident when scientists looking for another bird, noticed their distinct whistling song. The small owls, with brown and white feathers and big golden eyes, had been confused with a similar-looking species for more than a century. Their new English name comes from Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second-highest volcano that looms over Lombok.

We live in a time when the extinction rate is gathering frightening speed. The identification of this gorgeous little owl comes as a welcome contrast to so much tragic news. Long may the Rinjani Scops Owl prosper!

Kermit, the Superb Parrot

Posted on February 13, 2013 by jenniferscoullar

I finished my edits for Currawong Creek (June release) this week, and was too busy for my usual Sunday post. So here it is, better late than never!

We have a wide variety of beautiful parrots here at Pilyara: Rainbow Lorikeets, Eastern Rosellas, Crimson Rosellas, King Parrots, Galahs, Little Corellas, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos, Gang-Gang Cockatoos and even the occasional Long-Billed Corella. These are the usual suspects. So I was very surprised at the arrival of a green parrot which I’d never seen here before.

I identified her as a Superb Parrot hen. After a bit of research, I discovered this parrot lives in New South Wales and northern Victoria, on the inland slopes of the Great Divide and along adjacent river systems. In other words, she does not belong in the southern Victorian ranges. The parrot (who we promptly dubbed Kermit), was quite tame and on closer inspection, a band could be seen on her leg. Kermit was an escapee from captivity. I wish she could tell me her story!

After much ringing around, I got onto a lady from the Bayles Fauna Park. She convinced me that I should catch Kermit and take her to the park, as a domesticated bird would not last long in the wild. I managed this without too much trouble, and Kermit now lives in a spacious aviary with others of her kind.

While researching what to do about our unusual visitor, I came across a remarkable organisation called the Parrot Rescue Centre.

It is dedicated to improving the lives of suffering, abused and unwanted pet parrots by providing an appropriate environment for their individual needs. Its main aim is to educate people about the correct diet, housing, enrichment and training of these highly intelligent and long-lived birds. It also runs a rescue and adoption program, as well as a lost and found service. It is fascinating to browse their website, and see the gorgeous birds available for rehoming, such as this lorikeet. Why don’t you go and like their Facebook page, or even give them a donation? They are an inspiration!

Jennifer Scoullar – Bestselling Author of Australian Fiction

'A love affair with the wild …'

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