Author Archives: gabrielablandy

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About gabrielablandy

Some history, a bit of fiction, with me in there somewhere.

Does anyone else feel guilty when they see a police car?

Posted on September 20, 2012 by gabrielablandy

When I was seven, I told my mother I wanted a willy. It looked so much easier for my brother. On family walks, having to squat down in the grass, I would often pee all over myself, or down the back … Continue reading →

Posted in Essay, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Lost Belongings

Posted on September 10, 2012 by gabrielablandy

Dan is on the station platform, holding a woman’s handbag. He stops and looks back in the carriage. What’s that? I ask. Someone’s left it, he says. Maybe they’re in the loo, I tell him. I don’t think so. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Moments that change us

Posted on September 6, 2012 by gabrielablandy

Something happened last week, which made me refer back to the diary I kept when Dan and I were living in Denmark, WA. It was the end of February, 2011. Dan’s mum was staying. I wrote that I was going … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Honesty, and how we might write

Posted on August 30, 2012 by gabrielablandy

My thoughtful readers and all the pioneer bloggers out there have brought my attention to something. Firstly, the draw of honesty, and secondly, how we might write. Perhaps, they are the same thing. So far, my writing journey has lasted nine … Continue reading →

Posted in Essay, Fiction, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Between two people

Posted on August 27, 2012 by gabrielablandy

There are five or six girls, sitting on a bench in Christchurch meadow with notebooks on their laps. On the lawns behind are larger groups of students, in the city for the summer. Backpacks lie flung on the grass. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Exposure

Posted on August 20, 2012 by gabrielablandy

During the rehearsals of a pantomime in a Scottish town, an infant is needed for the Spirit of the Mustard-pot. Ellen Terry’s father offers her services. He has acted both at Edinburgh and Glasgow, throughout the 1820s and 30s, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Things that make us stand out

Posted on August 13, 2012 by gabrielablandy

When John first sees Ruta Meilutyte swim, he thinks her breaststroke tidy enough for her to be one of the best swimmers in the world one day. She is a rangy, blond-haired twelve-year old, but there is something in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Two Trees Entwined

Posted on August 6, 2012 by gabrielablandy

Henry’s sons are rebelling in France. It is the year 1173, which began on a Monday and will see fighting from Scotland to Brittany. The land will watch man tearing himself to pieces, destroying much of what has been built. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, History | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Swimming in lakes

Posted on July 30, 2012 by gabrielablandy

The waitress must have been sitting on a small stool behind the counter because when I left my table to find the toilet, I only saw her head between polished yellow cups, a napkin dispenser, the small hand-painted bowl with … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Not all those who wander are lost

Posted on July 23, 2012 by gabrielablandy

‘Are you writing a novel?’ I turn to the table next to me where two young men are sitting – one in a grey suit, the other in a crumpled shirt, jacket slung over the back of his chair. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, History, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments