It’s October, so Australia goes to daylight saving time. Well, half of it does. In Queensland and Western Australia we just plod on as normal. Believe it or not, despite four referendums on the subject – I only remember two but Facebook insists there were four, so that must be true – the debate about […]

Tom Cruise has done some pretty dumb things in my opinion. Dumping Nicole Kidman. What the hell was that? The whole Scientology thing, but I mustn’t mention religion. Reacher is completely unforgivable. Yet I can’t help loving the little guy. Top Gun’s the best. The Mission Impossible movies are close behind – except for one […]

  Nearly there!

It’s Mother’s Day in Australia, so here’s a story about a hero mum. It’s called Welcome to Western Australia and it’s based on my mother-in-law’s reminiscences about life in the Graylands migrant hostel in the early 1960s. Thanks Enid! —— Mary thanked the driver, tucked her purse strap into the crook of her elbow and […]

Who knew American vernacular was so different from Australian slang? Okay, all of us did, to some extent, but stay with me on this, you may be as surprised as I was. I’ve watched American TV for thirty years. They speak American on Quincy, Bonanza, Big Bang Theory and CSI, don’t they? We’ve spent months […]

I’ve posted another free story you can download. This one’s called Passing Premonition. It’s a spooky tale about a teenage boy’s paranormal experience. I Hope you like it. https://www.beachreads.com.au/free-stuff/

Hi, I’m TJ Beach and this is my blog. I thought I’d get things started by giving something away – a free short story. We writers work alone in dark caves surrounded by part-filled coffee cups and scraps of paper but we gather for comfort and support in writers groups. Mine is the Vic Park […]