Caroline Reid Writes

Pre-loved plays A few weeks ago I finished the first draft of what will be my first novel. It's the story of a young girl who immigrates to Australia from Wales with her family under the Ten Pound Pom immigration scheme offered by Australia's government from post WW2 to the 1970s. It's loosely based on my own experience, but I found myself wishing I could remember the landscape of Wales more specifically than my faded memory would allow.  And then something happened. Poetry My mum rang me to ask if I would accompany her on a trip back home to Wales.    Ma is a dynamic Welsh lady who comes in at just under 5 feet, who loves music and singing, who lives with hearing loss (which is apparently the result of her factory-working years, back before they knew the value of ear muffs) and has recently  been diagnosed with the early signs of dementia.  This trip will most likely be her final trip home to visit family and friends, to say goodby to ...

#sundamagedselfie This rather fetching selfie is my personal contribution to raising awareness of the effects of sun exposure on a fair-skinned person living in Australia. No, I don't have skin cancer. But I am currently in my third week of a four week treatment for Solar Keratosis, more commonly known as 'sunspots'. The redness you see is sun damage caused from too much sun exposure. The cream that I am using is called Efudix and comes in a tube that you apply twice a day. It works by destroying abnormal (or precancerous) skin cells. That's the redness. I am applying the cream to my nose, forehead, temples, left cheek, and hands. The skin is blistering and beginning to get crusty. It's a bit like a facial peel. Sure, it's a little uncomfortable and I had to postpone my modelling shoot for a few months, but it's worth it. The dermatologist who prescribed the treatment assures me I'll have the skin of a sixteen year old when I...