Rose River

Balmy Friday's and Booktopia Favourite Author Voting

Margareta-Admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 03:40:40 +0000

Balmy Friday's and Booktopia Favourite Author Voting

Margareta-Admin Fri, 13/01/2017 - 2:40 pm

Good morning on this balmy Friday! It feels like rain but the clouds are too high, a bad thing for my paddocks which are so dry the grass underfoot crackles as you walk; a good thing for the Mountain Cattlemans Get together that starts today at Buchan! And no, I’m not going. Boo Hoo! The things I sacrifice so you guys get to read a good book for Mother’s Day. That said I have just spent the last three days at the beach with the kids, so I really can’t whinge. Well, maybe I’ll allow myself a little whine, because I DO love Cattleman’s and we have three young friends riding in the Cattleman’s Cup. So here’s a big shout-out to Gemma and Amber Rendell and Thomas King! Ride like the wind you lot! Another friend, Darren Williams, is also competing in the pack horse race, so a big shout out to him as well. Today is also the anniversary of when I met my husband, Hugh, at the same said Cattleman’s back in 2002. The Cattleman’s Get together weekend is responsible for a LOT of weddings, I can tell you! I've lost count of the amount of friends who met their significant others there.

Thank you for all your kind comments on my previous post, "Hello 2017". I was overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity with regards to the sad loss of my wonderful great aunt. It appears many people lost precious family and friends over the past year, and to each and every one of you, I send my deepest sympathy and hugs.

And I'm also SO delighted (picture me dancing around my office) that you love, love, love the new cover of LAKE HILL as much as I do. Isn't it the bee's knees?! It's going to look so pretty sitting on the bookshelf next to all my other books!

Today, I thought I should share a few of the fabulous things that happened over the past couple of years, you know, just to balance out the last post.

I released ROSE RIVER. YAY! Enough said. :)

I got to spend quality and quantity time with my Great Aunt. The stories! Oh my Gosh. They will seep into a book in my future, I am sure.

Our incredible working trip into Western Australia’s remote Pilbara and the mustering season our family worked did on a half million-acre cattle station there. You can read all about it http://www.centralstation.net.au/our-extreme-sea-change-part-1 on the Central Station – stories from Australian Outback Stations blog.

Then I took delivery of my dog, Ange, who has to be the best Kelpie that ever lived and breathed. I know ... I’m biased. And to be truthful she is also the “blondest” kelpie that ever lived and breathed (what other Kelpie would jump, unbidden, up into the back of the LandCruiser and slam into the glass because the back wasn’t actually open?), but hey, I love her and she loves me, so that’s all that counts, right? (And she is clever sometimes ...)

My kids have done so well at their new school. The Farm Boy took away an Endeavour Award this year for his consistent efforts and the Princess finished her year as Vice-Captain of her House with a flourish, the House taking home the overall shield in a close battle for equal first. The big kid has also broadened his horizons working in the NT followed now by Canada. The photo’s I’m getting sent home are spectacular and we all know how much he loves his photography (a la the feature photo’s on this website are his!)

ROSE RIVER was released as an AUDIO BOOK! WHOO HOO. And LAKE HILL is next! It makes you feel a little special having someone actually read ALOUD the words, which you wrote. I can’t even imagine what it must feel to have your book made into a movie!

And TODAY (I know. Technically it’s not allowed as it’s in 2017, but hey …) I have been nominated as one of Australia’s Favourite Authors in 2017. I need your votes if I am to go any further, so if you have enjoyed my books would you mind taking a minute out of your busy day to go here and cast me a vote? There are so many wonderful authors on the list too, if you’d prefer them … and you can vote for as many as you like!

Here’s the link:

http://blog.booktopia.com.au/australias-favourite-author-vote/

So, now my wonderful daughter has delivered me a delicious salad lunch (check it out!) I’d best get back to working on LAKE HILL, and make good with my promise of delivering these edits by Monday! And here’s cheers to upstairs sending some rain, but, perhaps, just hold off 'till Monday ;)

Have a great weekend!

Love

Margareta x

Tags

Rose River

Booktopia

Lake Hill

Ange

Kelpies

Winter is Nearly Behind Us

Margareta-Admin — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 11:06:09 +0000

Winter is Nearly Behind Us

Margareta-Admin Wed, 24/08/2016 - 9:06 pm

All I can say is thank goodness, winter is nearly behind us. After the warmth of the Pilbara, this time last year, I can categorically say, ‘I loath and detest the southern winter.’ I am currently dreaming of sun and nice days. Thankfully I have been noticing the wattle is going mad, blazing a brilliant gold in both our paddocks and along the sides of the roads. This usually hails the impending arrival of Spring but I will be having some strong words with the weather if it doesn’t come true with that promise. I NEED SOME WARMTH UP HERE ON MY HILL!

The children have had me running ragged with sporting and school commitments, traveling up to a 1000km per week. My poor little car is nearly past its use by date, but it keeps on chugging, like ‘the little red engine that could.’ A zippy little diesel Peugeot known as ‘The Pug’, my car sometimes doubles as a ute. It has certain idiosyncrasies. On any day, only IT decides whether the boot will open. Or not. Whether the side windows go up, down. Or not. It hates frost and threatens to leave me at home if the ice is too thick. It has distinct ideas on whether it will allow me to drive over check-banks and to check hay-rings. Some days it wants to, other days no siree. There’s no rhyme nor reason and just quietly, 'The Pug' drives me nuts. I'm sure it's fickleness is to get back at me for taking it's classy, little European soul off the tar and along beaten bush tracks, down rocky hills and up grassy, cow poop covered slopes. But that's beside the point .... Deep down, I do love my little car - plus the fuel it saves on the long drives is amazing.

Lilac Planting in very deep holes!

I’ve been madly planting deciduous trees, camillas and roses this year. A gorgeous deep pink flowered Magnolia, is a highlight (please grow!) as is the potential of a light mauve lilac, similar to one my Grandmother used to have in her garden at the family homestead. I was cursing the lilac though. I swear I must have been close to China, I had to dig down so far to get the graft under the soil. A very strict nurseryman instructed me that was what I had to do, so after digging through a half foot of topsoil, followed by a half foot of stone, and then a foot of clay, I finally got deep enough. And that was after I’d rescued my wandering sheep from the grips of a buckled fence that decided enough was enough.

It was ‘a cup of tea to recover’ kind of morning, I can tell you

Hand Crafted Cattle Yard Panels!

Out in the shed, the boys are building panels for our new cattle yards. H never ceases to amaze me at his ability to build just about ANYTHING and the Farm Boy is following in Dad's footsteps very rapidly. They've made a jig to make the construction of the panels easier and soon we will move the whole operation up to the yard site. We've finalised the design and I can tell you, my little farming heart is fluttering with SO MUCH EXCITEMENT! (#onlyinthecountry ... )

In the office, the edits on LAKE HILL are coming along, and whilst I’m outside working in the garden or spraying weeds on the farm (which are popping up EVERYWHERE – maybe Spring and it’s warmth wasn’t such a good idea after-all …) ideas for the next two books are flying around in my mind. Well, except when I'm tackling boxthorn. All thoughts then have to be on the sharp barbs which persist in trying to tear me to shreds. As always, it’s a busy place both internally and externally around here!

Last week, I headed to a local primary school for the afternoon to chat with some children on the importance of reading, writing and editing. They were a great bunch of budding authors and had some awesome questions for me to answer!

Recently I was also involved in two book talks. One, a discussion alongside the gorgeous and very talented thriller author, Honey Brown, at the beautiful Readers Emporium Bookstore in Traralgon on the importance of our local bookstores, and the other, a talk to a large group of women involved with the Sale Probus Club. We chatted about the publishing process and the effort it takes from a vast variety of people to get novels onto the bookshelves.

Speaking of bookshelves, Better Reading would love you to nominate your all-time favourite book – and by voting, you could WIN the entire final list! That’s 100 BOOKS for your bookshelf. (Swoon … Don’t you adore a good book competition? I do!)

I’d love it if you felt like considering any of my books (Bella’s Run, Hope’s Road, Mountain Ash, or Rose River) for the list. But, if there is another novel you love above all others, please, by all means, vote away. ONE HUNDRED BOOKS … wouldn’t it be amazing if one of us won?!

Voting closes 31st of August 2016 at 5pm, and winners will be announced on the 9th of September 2016.

Voting is easy. Just click here: http://www.betterreading.com.au/top-100/

And speaking of winning books. A while back, before I went into winter hibernation for family reasons, we mentioned we had a beautiful and fascinating book to give away! It’s been sitting here patiently on my bookshelf, waiting for its new owner.

I’m absolutely delighted to let you all know that Freda Marnie Nicholl’s latest book, THE AMAZING MRS LIVESEY, has been won by DENISE GARTLAND. If you’d like to contact me via this link within the next 48 hours, with a delivery address, I’ll post your new book out.

Until next time,

Margareta

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Hello Crosby! & Mother's Day Book idea's

Margareta-Admin — Mon, 04 May 2015 00:31:48 +0000

Hello Crosby! & Mother's Day Book idea's

Margareta-Admin Mon, 04/05/2015 - 10:31 am

NEW ADDITION TO THE FARM

Say hello to "Crosby" our new 20 week old bundle of Kelpie trouble (I told you all to stay tuned. It's kinda like I knew something, hey?! )

What a big weekend it's been up here on the hill. It all started when H and I organised a Kelpie puppy to be purchased and transported from his owner Helen McDonald (http://www.neilmcdonald.com.au/) at Keith in South Australia to a friend's place in South Gippsland. Next, we told the 12 year old Farm Boy I was taking him and The Princess out of school on Friday lunchtime and down to Buffalo for some working dog training just to reinforce what he'd learnt a couple of weeks ago (you can read about what happened back then here Kelpies, Life and the East Gippsland Field Days). Come in spinner. Two kids soooo excited they were getting out of school early on a Friday, happy to be on a road trip with mum. No questions asked (thank heavens!)

Off we trundled to South Gippsland on a glorious autumn afternoon and there we met Crosby, this beautiful, intelligent, fun-loving puppy who is already starting to work. The Farm Boy was speechless for a few minutes as he dropped to the ground to pat his new best friend, then he looked up at me and said, 'I didn't expect that to happen, mum!' Such a wonderful surprise and of course I was shedding a few tears. Typical. Sigh. Sniff ...Sniff ..

The new arrival is settling in well and no doubt I'll have plenty of 'The Farmboy and his dog' stories to share.

VOTE FOR AUSTRALIA'S TOP 100 BOOKS ...

BETTER READING are looking for Australia's Top 100 books and so, if you've loved one of my books and think it might be worthy of this list, I'd love it if you could click through and cast a vote. SImilarly if there is another book you'd like to vote for, please do. http://www.betterreading.com.au/better-reading-top-100/

Better Reading says, "The book must be adult fiction. It can be an Australian or international title. It can be a new fiction book, a recent book you’ve loved reading, a book where the story has lingered or stayed with you, a book you can recommend or a book you read when you were at school."

THE COWBOY EBOOK

Is now available from ALL ebook sellers rather than just Amazon (Kindle). So excited!!!

More buy links are on the book page now: http://www.margaretaosborn.com.au/books/cowboy (Only available as an ebook)

ROSE RIVER NOW COMING IN LARGE PRINT AND BRAILLE

Just in - news that ROSE RIVER will soon be available from the commercial business, READ HOW YOU WANT in both large print and Braille formats. YAY!

MOTHER'S DAY

It's that time of year again when we get presented with those beautiful wonky clay pieces, the decadently drawn & smudged cards, the rolled up and tied with a bow scrolls of artistic endeavor. Love, love, love Mother's Day and I can't wait to see what creations the kids have in store for this year. The Farmboy is promising me something handmade with his Renovator whilst The Princess is secrecy itself 'I know exactly what I'm going to make you mum, and you'll NEVER guess!' The 21 year old just says, 'Don't ask for a book!' I cannot see why asking for a book for Mother's Day around this place is such a crime?! I LOVE books and can think of nothing better than getting a good one for Mother's Day. The kids, unfortunately, say that's B O R I N G so it's usually left up to H to purchase me my hearts desire with the wonderful recommendations of our local book store extraordinaire, Liz Watt.

So, in case YOUR family don't think it's B O R I N G to buy you a book this coming Sunday, my website guru, Karen (who loves to read and review crime novels http://www.austcrimefiction.org), and I have come up with a few books we've read recently which we really enjoyed.

For the sweet lover ...

The Chocolate Promise by Josephine Moon - a lovely romance set in Tasmania which incorporates all things sweet and chocolatey (Is there such a word?)

For the baker ...

The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe - a surprise book which I read purely because I love tea. Don't be fooled. It's more about relationships, love and family. Set in Macau, you will also come away craving a macaroon.

For the lover of warm family saga's ...

Hello from the Gillespies by Monica McInerney - I know I recommended this one at Christmas time but I loved this book so much I think it deserves another run. A heartwarming, poignant family saga set in rural S.A. from one of Australia's (and my) favourite authors.

For the book club attendee ...

The Anchoress by Robyn Caldwaller - Rich, strange and thought provoking this book explores a need for connection which is as relevant today as it was in the twelfth century. I came away from this novel thankful I wasn't born back then.

For the historical buff - with a touch of fantasy thrown in for good measure ...

Wild Wood by Posie Graham Evans - From the much loved creator of the McLeod's Daughter's series, comes a riverting read which will have you immersed in the Scottish English borderlands in the times of the Troubles. In this contemporary historical parallel narrative storyline, the historical portions were an absolute winner for me. Brutal yet very real, with a touch of mystical folklore a key part of the tale, I couldn't put this book down (and that wasn't only because one of the lesser main characters shared my name!).

For the crime lover ... (take it away, Karen!)

A Time of Secrets by Deborah Burrows which is a good combination of crime, romance and history set in Melbourne in 1943. A very atmospheric book which paints a strong picture of both Melbourne at that time, and the sorts of skullduggery that was going on (it's based around a true story of overseas missions going wrong), and because I can (Margareta's not looking is she....) if you're a fan of psychological thrillers Swimming in the Dark by Paddy Richardson. This New Zealander is writing some wonderful thrillers and this story of 3 women has stayed with me long after reading it.

For the rural romance lover ...

Rose River by Margareta Osborn !!! Ha! Of course. Even if you already have my latest novel, you might want to buy one for mum? Random House Australia have a great promotion going until Mother's Day. If you purchase Rose River before Sunday you can get a special 'Say it with words' bookmark to go with your present. Just ask at your local book store and check here: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/blog/this-mothers-day-say-it-with-words-2… for more details. I'd just love it if you could spread the Rose River love.

If everyone already has their copy of Rose River, you might be interested in another rural romance book. There's a plethora of new releases out on the shelves at the minute which you can see by going to http://www.australianruralromance.com The latest titles for May are The Falls by Cathryn Hein, Heart of the the Country by Tricia Stinger, The Season of Shadow and Light by Jenn J McLeod and Northern Heat by Helene Young.

If I don't get back to you later in the week, I hope you all have a fabulous Mother's Day with the little (& big) people you love,

Margareta x

Rum balls not fudge fingers ...

Margareta-Admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 04:31:24 +0000

Rum balls not fudge fingers ...

Margareta-Admin Wed, 15/04/2015 - 2:31 pm

Hi there,

The tour for ROSE RIVER is done and dusted and I'm back home on the farm. After four weeks of living out of a suitcase and my children trying to decide 'Is mum coming or going?' it's been a full-on couple of months.Whilst I love my family with a depth of feeling that encompasses my whole body, I also adore spending time out on the road meeting all you wonderful people, talking about books, hearing your stories and how you relate to my novels. For me, this sharing, makes the whole - sometimes joyful, other times excruciating - writing gig worthwhile. So thank you to anyone and everyone to came to say hello while I was out on the road. I loved every minute of my time with you.

ME! with Rose River :)

I reached home after the last day of the tour which was also the final day of Farmworld, Lardner Park, the massive farm field days which set Gippsland buzzing for the final four days of March. I was exhausted but happy. ROSE RIVER was still on the best seller charts and the feedback and reviews had been really positive. My plan for Monday was to spend the day in my PJ's (something I never usually do), drink cups of tea, eat a Tim Tam or two and ... of course ... read a book. My plans were thwarted at 10.15am by son no. 2. Not four hours into the school holidays and he came off his motorbike whilst out in the paddock with his Dad. I should of known it wasn't a simple 'off' by the fact, my normally laidback, 'she'll be right, mate' husband came steaming along the back verandah, calling 'The lad's hurt his leg'. The second clue was the speed with which he grabbed those Landcruiser keys, piled into the truck and took off with me barely making it to the passenger seat, then running down every tree sapling that was in his way back to the lad. Subsequently the rest of Monday was spent in ER consulting with orthopedic surgeons as to the severity of the break in his leg. Thankfully, it was only a fracture to the top of the tibia and into the growth plate. Compression bandage, crutches for three weeks and he'd be walking again. (A much better outcome all round than no. 1 son who, a few years ago, had a spiral compound fracture of his tibia AND fibia AND ankle. Whew!) Dealing with the lad on crutches meant these school holidays were spent a tad differently to what had been planned. Camping was out, time on the couch was in. Not a good look for a 12 year old who is used to driving utes, tractors, riding motorbikes and generally getting into all sorts of mischief outside. He survived, is now on the mend and is even managing the school bus steps and a flight of stairs to his classroom. He's a tough kid and it won't be long until again he's on two feet.

So now peace is restored to our farm in the hills of Glenmaggie and the children are back at school, so I've spent the last three days running around trying to get my house back into 'Mum's home & the kids are at school' order. Don't get me wrong, H does an incredible job managing and juggling things while I'm away, with the wonderful help of my beloved Dad and his partner Miss Pat, but - I'm told - there's nothing quite like mum being home to make sure everything is in it's place and there's home baking in the pantry. My family is such a bunch of country cooking loving sooks. H reckons all is right in the world when everyone is happily doing what they usually do - which includes me baking - and there's that certain calm that comes when when all is tripping along at normal speed. And I'm happy I can, once again, potter around the farm and do stuff, talk to my horse, play with my dog, get annoyed with the dratted escapee sheep and parley with H over where the new cattle yards are going to go.

That's when I'm not writing.

Lake Glenmaggie

LAKE HILL is my new book for 2016. My word that sounds like an age away, but unfortunately it's not, and I'm head down bottom up stringing together another 100,000 words into another - hopefully - exciting story for you. I am spending some of my days sitting up on a camp chair out on the rise in the paddock to the east of our homestead typing away on my laptop. Here I can see a 360 degree view. To the west and north there are magnificent rolling hills, to the east a river gorge which leads to the Macalister Irrigation flats, and to the south, the sparkling, ever-changing waters of Lake Glenmaggie. Every time you look the lake is in a different mood, as are the northern mountains. It's truly magical.

This morning though, I hit my kitchen running. The Rayburn combustion stove was roaring and I had baking on my mind. A friend is shifting house today so I wanted to cook a cake and some slice to take down to her. The sky decided to close in and we had fog then rain, followed closely by a good dose of steaming hot sun. (I guess we're in Victoria. We should be used to four seasons in one day!) But I wasn't watching the rain gauge, nor the clearing hills, I was baking. And as my hands did one thing, my mind was on a completely different path, jumping all over the place, to-ing and fro-ing between characters and their story arcs in my new book.

Now, people often ask me where I find the ideas, the stories to last a book. How do I nut out what's going to happen next? As I was cooking, I looked down and gasped, suddenly realising my hands were actually making rum balls whilst the recipe on the bench was for chocolate fudge fingers and I had a sudden epiphany.

For me, writing a book is like just baking. I start out with a picture, a recipe, some ingredients and a basic outline of the method in which to make the slice / biscuits / cake. But as the mixture starts to come together, I indiscriminately add stuff, take other stuff away. Half the time I have no idea where I'm heading but I keep smelling the mixture, and led by instinct and some weird but totally amazing force, I keep adding and mixing ... And then I stare at that mixture and realise it looks absolutely nothing like the original picture accompanying the original recipe, ie. the plan has been completely thrown out the window into the mountain breeze. I sigh, scratch my head and decide to go with it because I'm this far in now and it would be a shame to waste all those ingredients (or words), wouldn't it? I whack the thing in the oven, pray a little bit and then after a while, voila! Out of the stove comes a sweet smelling piece of decadent baking. Well, most of the time. On rare occasions my flagrantly screwed around / played with recipe flops and I have to start all over again, sticking closer to the original plan. And then there's the sweetest times when I realise I've actually made what I really wanted to bake rather than what I thought I probably should.

That's the magic, because whatever I've made is what I really and truly wanted deep down inside, and it's usually BETTER or NICER than the original game plan / recipe. Rum balls instead of fudge fingers.

That's how LAKE HILL is turning out. I thought I was writing one thing and it has somehow metamorphised into another. It happens everytime time, with every book. And that's what makes this whole writing business so fantastically magical. Rum balls instead of fudge fingers. I can deal with that.

TIM TAM OFF - Where do YOU hide your TIM TAMS?

AND THE WINNER IS ...

What a fabulous array of places I now have at my beck and call to stash my TIM TAMS! Thank you so much to all those who entered our latest competition. I'll be sharing some of places mentioned with you in coming weeks, so stay tuned for some new hiding spots to stash this decadent treat.

But for now, the winner of the couple's ROSE RIVER giftpack is Selena Pryde of Pinbarren, QLD.

Congratulations Selena! Selena keeps her Tim Tam's away from sticky fingers by taking them out of the packet, putting them in a Tupperware container and leaving the empty packet in the fridge with a half eaten one inside. "No-one ever can have only half a Tim Tam :)" says Selena.

I tried this trick Selena and it worked!!! Thank you!

Have a great week and until next time,

Margareta x

Tags

Rose River Book Tour

Rose River

Lake Hill

Farmworld Winners & a chance to win a ROSE RIVER Pack for TWO!

Margareta-Admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 09:38:51 +0000

Farmworld Winners & a chance to win a ROSE RIVER Pack for TWO!

Margareta-Admin Tue, 31/03/2015 - 8:38 pm

FARMWORLD - LARDNER PARK

Farmworld, Lardner Park is over for another year and I think I've nearly thawed out now. For two days it was so cold I had to trot out my thermals (yes including my faithful old long johns!). Snow was recorded in the hills on Thursday whilst Friday the rain did not let up, ensuring some poor exhibitors had very wet stands. Thank goodness we were in one of the big sheds so at least we weren't sodden. I was also very hopeful we were getting the deluge at home but alas when I finally made it back to Glenmaggie, not a drop of rain had fallen all day! Sheesh!

Over the weekend we were back to sunny blue skies, warm weather and short sleeves which in turn brought the crowds out in droves (nothing like the weather to keep us all guessing!). So many books were heading to their new homes, I ran out of ink in my signing pens and had to scrounge for more. It was an absolute delight to see all the 'we come back every year' readers and to hear the catch up news. I think this is what keeps me coming back to Farmworld now, the chance to catch up with all my old and new mates. I just love seeing all your smiling faces and passing the time of day.

Of course, this year, we had a very special "ROSE RIVER FARM WORLD PACK" that went to everyone who purchased a copy of my new novel, ROSE RIVER, over the four days. Along with their signed copy of ROSE RIVER, these lucky people also got a matching bookmark, a beautiful branded wine glass, some decadent chocolates and the chance to enter the draw for one of three book packs kindly donated by my publishers Random House, Australia.

Stall at Lardner Park

We drew the winners of these book packs today and I'm delighted to let you know the following people will soon have three more books coming their way, to read after ROSE RIVER.

Lorel Celedrine
Pam Schembri, Bunyip
Leeanne Evans, Yarragon

Congratulations ladies!

TIM-TAM OFF

A number of my beautiful readers somehow seemed to have clocked onto the fact I love Arnott's TIM TAMS. I have no idea how (picture me looking up into the air and whistling... ). It's a treat I love to go with my cup of tea (stong white, one sugar!). I was so thrilled, surprised and delighted to be presented with numerous packets of TIM TAMS (I lost count at seven ...) whilst at Farmworld by some very generous people who obviously just knew I needed to keep my strength up so I could sign all those books. Gosh, I could've kissed and hugged every one of them because a TIM TAM was exactly what I needed. And not only did I get the orginal TIM TAM's, I got a variety of flavours - red velvet, chewy caramel, double choc coated, white chocolate ...

This got me to thinking, I wonder what everyone's favourite TIM TAM flavour is? And how do we keep these decadent little treats away from those greedy little fingers of kids, husbands, partners etc. so they can be our very own guilty little pleasure? Over on Facebook we've been having a bit of fun last night and this morning listing our favourite TIM TAM flavours, and one lucky commentor was the recipient of a signed copy of ROSE RIVER and a beautiful 'ROSE RIVER FARM WORLD PACK'.

Now it's your turn to win an extra special pack put together for you and your partner exclusive to my enewsletter subscribers!

A CHANCE TO WIN A 'ROSE RIVER PARTNER PACK' EXCLUSIVE TO MY ENEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS

Subscribers to my newsletter are currently vying for the opportunity to win a special Rose River pack including a signed copy of my new novel ROSE RIVER, a gorgeous bookmark with matching tassel, TWO beautiful branded His and Her's wine glasses, TWO lovely branded pens along with some decadent Cadbury chocolates.

Details on how to enter went out in last night's newsletter - make sure you're subscribed in the future to join in.

HAPPY EASTER

In the meantime, have a very happy and relaxing Easter break.

We were supposed to be escaping further up into the hills to camp out for a few days. Not sure if that's going to happen now as Mr 12 was out in the paddock with his Dad yesterday and came off his motorbike. Result? One slightly fractured right upper Tibia. He's couch bound for the next week and on crutches for a week or two after that. Our bush camping plans may need to compensate for the poor lad as I'm not sure a swag will quite cut it as comfortable sleeping gear. And of course it would have to happen only a few hours into the school holidays.

Looking on the bright side though as it could've been a whole lot worse, just ask his big brother! (broken wrist, leg, including the need for helicopter rides to Melbourne, specialist treatments ... the list goes on!) No wonder I spotted a grey hair the other day!

I hope the Easter Bunny comes your way and you and your family and loved ones have a safe and very happy Easter break!

Warmest Happy Easter wishes,

Margareta xxx

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Lardner Park

Margareta-Admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 09:59:09 +0000

Lardner Park

Margareta-Admin Thu, 26/03/2015 - 8:59 pm

Date & Time

Thu, 26/03/2015 - 9:00 am

Event Address

Farmworld, Lardner Park

It's that time of year again with Farmworld at Lardner Park, Victoria's largest regional agricultural event (Thursday March 26 - Sunday March 29, 2015!) And to celebrate we have this beautiful 'field day pack' to go with every copy of ROSE RIVER sold at the field days (limited availability). Includes a gorgeous branded wine glass, matching bookmark, Cadbury chocolates, a cute bag to carry it all in, along with the chance to win one of three books packs from Random House Books. Plus, I'll be there to sign your copy of ROSE RIVER!

We're in our usual spot in the General Interest Pavilion (GIP 17) so come say hello, pull up a stool and have chinwag. Love to see you there. Oh, and did I tell you we even have lovely bright balloons for the kids!

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Horsham Library

Margareta-Admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 05:16:34 +0000

Horsham Library

Margareta-Admin Wed, 18/03/2015 - 4:16 pm

Date & Time

Wed, 18/03/2015 - 12:30 pm

Event Address

Horsham branch, Wimmera Regional Library Corporation 28 McLachlan Street Horsham VIC 3400

Meet Margareta Osborn, as she talks about her new novel Rose River.

Horsham branch, Wimmera Regional Library Corporation 28 McLachlan Street Horsham VIC 3400

Paula: ceo@wrlc.org.au 0409215747 03 5382 1777

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Around the state in (nearly) seven days - ROSE RIVER TOUR & Lardner Park Dates

Margareta-Admin — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 04:28:28 +0000

Around the state in (nearly) seven days - ROSE RIVER TOUR & Lardner Park Dates

Margareta-Admin Fri, 13/03/2015 - 3:28 pm

* NEWS FLASH *

ROSE RIVER - is in the top 5 on the Australian Best Sellers list!!!

And it's sitting at No 8 on Random House's in-house best-sellers list.

Our Gippsland based book is rubbing shoulders with heavyweights like the Fifty Shades Trilogy, James Patterson's latest and Danielle Steele. There's even a Man Booker Prize winner (Richard Flannagan's Narrow Road to the Deep North)...

I'm trying to stay calm here ... but you know, that's such a wonderful thing for a rural based, laugh-out-loud, heart warming story about the thrills and spills of life on the land to be hanging out in that kind of company. {smiley} ... So please forgive me, but, dash it, I can't do the calm thing any longer. I'll just have to jump around and yell a bit here on my hill - WOO HOO!!! YA HOO!!!

You readers are the best!

Oh and it's even made it to your TV screens! Yep. ROSE RIVER Is currently screening across Foxtel, (which I don't have, but hope a lot of Australians do have and take a little notice of ... {smiley})

Oh dear, I'm feeling a bit dizzy. All this dancing around is too much and now the cows are looking at me all weird ...

Ahem.

Settle down sunshine. {smiley}

Thank you, thank you, thank you all of you wonderful, supportive readers. It's such a thrill to know that you still love to read our stories.

Now a bit of a catchup as life's been at break-neck speed since ROSE RIVER came out.

ROSE RIVER LAUNCH

It was such a buzz to catch up with around 180 wonderful readers and mates at the Blue Gables Winery, Upper Maffra West, for a fabulous afternoon event to to launch ROSE RIVER into the big wide world. What a day!

I started to chat with people as soon as I arrived, moving my way from table to table, thanking people for coming to support us on the day. By the time I'd gone around once, more people had arrived and I was just about to head off round again, but found out it was time to be interviewed by well-known former radio identity Penny Monger! I'm really sorry that I didn't get to chat with everyone who came on the day, but I do hope you all enjoyed yourselves. I have heard tell that everyone had a great time and Penny did a fabulous job of the interview, drawing out the inspirations and stories behind the writing of ROSE RIVER. What fun we had!

I was also thrilled to have in attendance fellow Gippsland author Barry Heard (WELL DONE THOSE MEN amongst other titles) and his lovely wife. And yes, we just had to get lots of photos!

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 1

Monday morning dawned bright and clear (until the muttering started), and it was time to head off on the first leg of the ROSE RIVER book tour. With a Toyota Corolla as our hire car, it took a LOT of pushing and shoving to get two women, two suitcases, boxes and boxes of books and all the associated paraphernalia into the car ... but we did it ... eventually (sucked in tummies due to seats being pushed so far forward), we took off at around 9am. With my good friend Jen as co-pilot, Albury was our first stop after a beautiful drive over Mount Hotham (the wildflowers were spectacular). I just HAVE to mention the homemade ice-cream at Morrie's place in Harrietville. It is superb. It could give the ice cream I found outside Bundberg in QLD on last year's book tour a run for it's money! Morrie's is a MUST stop if you're in the vicinity. It's even worth driving from Glenmaggie for!

After a lovely night with the Dymocks Albury book club, we travelled onto Grenfell where we were met by librarian Ann, who had arranged the most delightful event. Ann gave me the very best introduction I have ever had in my entire career (books or otherwise) and the luncheon looked just delicious. Unfortunately we had to move on, but we were greeted in Bathurst by Kathryn at BooksPlus and her lovely staff, with a cuppa plus a divine homemade carrot cake! YUMMY! Oberon, Mudgee (where we managed to lock ourselves out of our room whilst wearing P.J.'s!) and then to Wellington we travelled.

It was here I met the most talented group of ladies who had formed the local Wellington craft group nicknamed SABLE - Stuff Accummulated Beyond Life Expectancy {wink} Their craft work was out of this world.

Onwards to Dubbo (after losing the non-descript white Corolla for a good 10 minutes :)), and a lady who had travelled 5 hours from out the back of Bourke to hear my talk, buy all my books and say g'day. My oh my, was I chuffed (and amazed). Turns out she also breeds some of my most favourite cattle (Santa Gertrudis) and her husband loves old machinery (just like H) and was setting up a museum. I can feel a trip to Bourke coming on sometime in our future. {smiley}

A four hour drive out to Griffith library for a talk (with a little stop at a delighful homewares shop called Kristy's Cottage in West Wyalong where I did some bank balance damage ...ho hum ...) and then it was time to head east again. Peter and staff at the incredible Collins Bookstore in Wagga made us very welcome (Swoon, this is the bookstore to end all bookstores) and I signed piles and piles of books.

Jugiong Writer's Festival was next on the itinerary where I met up with Freda Marnie Nicholls (LOVE SWEAT AND TEARS etc.), Peter Rees (THE ANZAC GIRLS etc.), Tim Fischer and Sulari Gentill (ROWLAND SINCLAIR series). It was a beautiful day for an inspriring and well-run festival.

Canberra and the Romance Readers Convention was the last stop on the list. A panel with fellow rural authors Barbara Hannay, Cheryl Adnams along with US author supremo Victoria Dahl was a highlight.

Finally at 4pm Sunday we set the bonnet of the Corolla for home, landing over the farm's cattle grid at 11.10pm on Sunday night. We dodged a few roo's but we were finally home. Whew!

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 2

This week (March 18 - March 21, 2015) we are off again. Western and South Western Victoria is our destination with events at Waurn Ponds, Ballarat, Horsham, Hamilton, Warrnambool, Colac, Gisborne and Fountain Gate. Please see the appearances page for details. As you know by now, I love to meet the readers of my books. I really hope to meet you somewhere and we can chat about the inspirations behind ROSE RIVER, writing, publishing, and anything else we'd care to waffle on about!

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 3 - LARDNER PARK FARM FIELD DAYS 26TH - 29TH MARCH, 2015

I will be at Farmworld, Lardner Park, Warragul for the full four days, that's when I haven't ducked away for 10 minutes to check out boots, shirts, hats, plants, wood stoves and interesting cattle .

We will be at our usual spot in the General Interest Pavillion (GIP17). Look for the red and white gingham table cloths and me sitting up my rustic, handmade signing table. We have a gorgeous NEW Farmworld pack to giveaway this year with every copy of ROSE RIVER sold (as long as stocks last). So get in early for some nice treats! Love to see you there!!!

AND REVIEWS ...

If you've read ROSE RIVER and liked it, I'd love you to place a review on Goodreads, the Random House Website or iBooks/Amazon (if you read it as an ebook). The links are all on the book page here. Just a few words would be great ... It really helps we authors and makes the job of choosing books easier for other readers to know someone has read and enjoyed a book before them. Thank you so much.

Onwards the book tour rolls ...

Until next week, if I don't see you before!

Margareta x

Event - Margareta Osborn at Cafe 3847 & Co, Rosedale

Margareta-Admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:13:21 +0000

Event - Margareta Osborn at Cafe 3847 & Co, Rosedale

Margareta-Admin Wed, 11/03/2015 - 4:13 pm

Date & Time

Wed, 11/03/2015 - 7:00 pm

Event Address

Cafe 3847 & Co, 11 Prince St, Rosedale

Meet Margareta Osborn, as she talks about her new novel Rose River. Cheese, Fruit and light snacks available, as well as tea, coffee and wine.

Cafe 3847 & Co, 11 Prince St, Rosedale

Bookings essential. Tickets available from Reader's Emporium Bookstore, along with Margareta's new book "Rose River" - 11th March at 7.00pm

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Australian Romance Readers Convention Panel - 'Small Town Seduction'

Margareta-Admin — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 04:35:19 +0000

Australian Romance Readers Convention Panel - 'Small Town Seduction'

Margareta-Admin Sun, 08/03/2015 - 3:35 pm

Date & Time

Sun, 08/03/2015 - 2:15 pm

Event Address

Lake Superior Room QT Canberra, 1 London Circuit, Canberra ACT 2601

Listen to rural romance author Margareta Osborn discuss 'Small Town Seduction' with fellow panelists Barbara Hannay, Cheryl Adnams and Victoria Dahl.

Lake Superior Room QT Canberra, 1 London Circuit, Canberra ACT 2601 - Sunday 8th March at 2.15pm

Tags

Rose River

Rose River Book Tour

Event

Australian Romance Readers Associaton

Rose River

Balmy Friday's and Booktopia Favourite Author Voting

Leave a Reply

Winter is Nearly Behind Us

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Hello Crosby! & Mother's Day Book idea's

NEW ADDITION TO THE FARM

VOTE FOR AUSTRALIA'S TOP 100 BOOKS ...

THE COWBOY EBOOK

ROSE RIVER NOW COMING IN LARGE PRINT AND BRAILLE

MOTHER'S DAY

Leave a Reply

Rum balls not fudge fingers ...

TIM TAM OFF - Where do YOU hide your TIM TAMS?

Leave a Reply

Farmworld Winners & a chance to win a ROSE RIVER Pack for TWO!

FARMWORLD - LARDNER PARK

TIM-TAM OFF

A CHANCE TO WIN A 'ROSE RIVER PARTNER PACK' EXCLUSIVE TO MY ENEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS

HAPPY EASTER

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Lardner Park

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Horsham Library

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Around the state in (nearly) seven days - ROSE RIVER TOUR & Lardner Park Dates

* NEWS FLASH *

ROSE RIVER LAUNCH

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 1

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 2

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 3 - LARDNER PARK FARM FIELD DAYS 26TH - 29TH MARCH, 2015

AND REVIEWS ...

Leave a Reply

Event - Margareta Osborn at Cafe 3847 & Co, Rosedale

Leave a Reply

Australian Romance Readers Convention Panel - 'Small Town Seduction'

Leave a Reply

Rose River

Balmy Friday's and Booktopia Favourite Author Voting

Leave a Reply

Winter is Nearly Behind Us

Leave a Reply

Hello Crosby! & Mother's Day Book idea's

NEW ADDITION TO THE FARM

VOTE FOR AUSTRALIA'S TOP 100 BOOKS ...

THE COWBOY EBOOK

ROSE RIVER NOW COMING IN LARGE PRINT AND BRAILLE

MOTHER'S DAY

Leave a Reply

Rum balls not fudge fingers ...

TIM TAM OFF - Where do YOU hide your TIM TAMS?

Leave a Reply

Farmworld Winners & a chance to win a ROSE RIVER Pack for TWO!

FARMWORLD - LARDNER PARK

TIM-TAM OFF

A CHANCE TO WIN A 'ROSE RIVER PARTNER PACK' EXCLUSIVE TO MY ENEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS

HAPPY EASTER

Leave a Reply

Lardner Park

Leave a Reply

Horsham Library

Leave a Reply

Around the state in (nearly) seven days - ROSE RIVER TOUR & Lardner Park Dates

*** NEWS FLASH ***

ROSE RIVER LAUNCH

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 1

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 2

ROSE RIVER TOUR PART 3 - LARDNER PARK FARM FIELD DAYS 26TH - 29TH MARCH, 2015

AND REVIEWS ...

Leave a Reply

Event - Margareta Osborn at Cafe 3847 & Co, Rosedale

Leave a Reply

Australian Romance Readers Convention Panel - 'Small Town Seduction'

Leave a Reply

* NEWS FLASH *