I’m always surprised how few authors take along their wives or partners when they’re guests of literary events. I know that travel costs and the partner’s work or family commitments can make it difficult, but personally I go nowhere without Louise, my wonderful wife of 35 years, so that we can share the experience. That’s Louise above, when we were the guests of the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service, which invited me to speak at two extremely rare open days on Rodd Island in Sydney Harbour a few years back. I was talking about my book Pasteur’s Gambit, which is set on the island in the 1880s-1890s, so of course Louise went dressed in period with a fabulous lace dress and Sarah Bernhardt hat. Our good Noosa friend John Pfiefer, a brilliant artist and former advertising agency creative chief, produced this terrific portrait of Louise. BTW, I don’t do Facebook, so apologies to the many folk who’ve wanted to ‘befriend’ me online. But Louise does do Facebook, and with great insight, I might add. So, ‘follow’ her for the latest DC news; (that’s Dando-Collins, not District of Columbia).
