About Me

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

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Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

Inner Peace Blog

Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!

Fabulous Blog Award

Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!

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Monday 31 October 2016

A day to remember - or forget!



Isn't it strange how, now and again, you get a day when everything goes wrong? I don't know about you, but I'm sure I get more of those than I deserve. I get one maybe every month or two, whereas the other kind - the ones that bring nothing but peace, joy and satisfaction - come only once or twice a year at best. Nah, let's get real here - once or twice a decade is more like it!

Today, I had an appointment at one of the hospitals here in Perth. The public health system is underfunded and probably understaffed as well, so errors and misunderstandings are not uncommon. This was an appointment made ages ago, and as soon as I received the notice I phoned to say that Mondays aren't good for me because I teach dance then. Outpatients Direct, the mob in charge of the bookings, said they would try to get the appointment changed and I would hear about it in due course. What I received was another copy of the same notice - Monday, 31 October at 11.00AM.

'Oh well,' I thought. 'Perhaps they can't change it. I'll just have to cancel the dance class.' However, my students are dead keen on their work and they agreed to practise on their own today, while I went to the hospital. So I plotted out my journey - three rides (bus, train, train and a fair walk at the end) taking just over an hour each way.

Perhaps I should explain here that I do not drive. I did try to learn once, but after putting my then husband's treasured Jaguar into a ditch, nose down, I decided that a tactical withdrawal was in order, and I never tried again. In our society, non-drivers are rare, and not being able to drive might almost be considered a disability. However, I don't think I would ever have been more than a mediocre driver, at best: the kind that gets women drivers a bad name among certain males of the species.

Eventually, I got to the hospital all right, but do you think I could find the relevant department? Of course not. The sprawling layout of single-story buildings that constitutes the outpatients section covers an entire suburban block on its own, and of course all the buildings look alike. My notice had a map on the back, but whichever way I turned the paper, I could not find the right way into the right section. Eleven o'clock came and went and I was still lost. I asked for directions, and of course with the cheerful confidence of people who know their way around, various staff members pointed me in one wrong direction after another. Finally, more by good luck than good management, I stumbled across the right building, only to find that yes, the original appointment had, in fact, been cancelled and that I would eventually receive notice of a new time, probably in January.

This is starting to remind me of the song about why Murphy's not at work today, so I'll stop griping now. But I do hope my lovely dancing ladies had a better time than I did this morning!








4 comments:

Jo said...

Typical. And I'm awfully glad I drive.

Helen V. said...

How frustrating for you. Good luck with the new one. At least you'll know where to go.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Sounds like a disastrous day. I hope you treated yourself to something nice afterwards to cheer yourself up.

I am a fellow non-driver. I never had the disaster you did, but I took a LOT of driving lessons and still failed three times, each time worse than the time before. It didn't help that the driving instructor was useless. He didn't teach you anything he didn't think was going to turn up on the test. On the morning of my third test, he tried to teach me a last-minute thing that had, after all, turned up on someone's test that day. But I knew in my heart I wasn't going to be the best of drivers anyway.

I finally concluded that I have plenty of public transport in my area and didn't need a car; the cost of the occasional taxi was still going to be cheaper than owning a car, and I can read on the way to work.

Satima Flavell said...

Some are born drivers, some achieve driverdom, and some have driving thrust upon them. I don't think I fit into any of those categories, and the roads are the safer for it. :-)

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