The Twins of Tintarfell by James O’Loghlin

When Dani was woken by the cock’s crow, she heaved herself out of bed, dipped her hands in the jug of water that stood on the wooden bedside table, stepped over to Bart’s bed and shook his shoulder.

‘Ma … nurrrr,’ grumbled Bart, rolling away.

‘Come on,’ said Dani. As usual, that didn’t work, so she cupped his cheeks in her cold, wet hands.

‘Or … gonks,’ cried Bart. His eyes flew open and he pushed her hands away.

‘Come on,’ repeated Dani.

Bart reluctantly swung his legs onto the floor. ‘You could have just shaken my shoulder.’

When Dani was woken by the cock’s crow, she heaved herself out of bed, dipped her hands in the jug of water that stood on the wooden bedside table, stepped over to Bart’s bed and shook his shoulder.

‘Ma … nurrrr,’ grumbled Bart, rolling away.

‘Come on,’ said Dani. As usual, that didn’t work, so she cupped his cheeks in her cold, wet hands.

‘Or … gonks,’ cried Bart. His eyes flew open and he pushed her hands away.

‘Come on,’ repeated Dani.

Bart reluctantly swung his legs onto the floor. ‘You could have just shaken my shoulder.’Ma

Dani and Bart are twins. They are servants in Tintarfell Castle and have lived there for as long as they remember. Dani’s the thinker, Bart has an uncanny empathy with animals. Prince Edward is their age, not all that bright and less than excited about being prepared to defend his kingdom. When Bart is kidnapped, Dani’s is sure they intended to kidnap the prince. Once beyond the walls of the castle, each of the three young people discover that their world has included many half-truths about their history.

‘The Twins of Tintarfell’ is a fantastical story about secrets, ambition, magic and more. The baddies are bad, the goodies are in short supply and there’s plenty of action whether or not the characters are looking for it. It tests the bounds of familial ties, and stretches beyond them. As is appropriate in medieval adventures, much bravery is needed. Recommended for mid-primary readers

The Twins of Tintarfell, James O’Loghlin
Macmillan 2016
ISBN: 9781743548097

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

How to Balance Your life, by James O'Loghlin

No one has enough time. Almost everyone agrees that achieving a better work/life balance is worth striving for. Yet hardly anyone does anything about it. Why? Because it all seems too hard. How do you find more time for the things that really matter when you have to pay the mortgage, battle peak hour and earn enough money to support yourself and your family?

James O’Loghlin is the presenter of The New Inventors, on ABC TV and also worked as a stand up comedian, radio presenter and author. In How to Balance Your Life he gives practical steps to achieving a balanced life. O’Loghlin speaks from experience, having given up his radio job in 2007 so that he could spend more time with his family.

Aspects covered include how to balance your life without reducing income, how to negotiate with employers to change the way you work, how to deal with a workplace culture that doesn’t embrace work/life balance, how to achieve work/life balance if you are self-employed and more.

There are lots of practical suggestions for achieving work/life balance, taking into consideration different situations, both in the workplace and at home. This is a useful guide for anyone aware of the need to balance their life, but unsure how to achieve this balance.

How to Balance Your Life: Practical Ways to Achieve Work/Life Balance

How to Balance Your Life: Practical Ways to Achieve Work/Life Balance, by James O’Loghlin
Allen & Unwin, 2009

A Month of Sundays, by James O'Loghlin

When is a travel book not really a travel book? When the traveller does not need to take time off from work and when he returns home at the end of each day to sleep in his own bed. A Month of Sundays is about one such traveller – James O’Loghlin – who, with his partner and young daughter sets out to explore the city in which he lives.

When their neighbours on both sides embark on building projects seemingly designed to cause maximum noise and disruption, O’Loghlin and his partner, Lucy, decide not to get mad, and not to get even either. Instead, they will leave home each day to escape the disturbance. They will use the time to explore the Sydney they live in, to get to know it more intimately. They will use the time to visit places they’ve never seen and to rediscover suburbs they thought they knew.

A Month of Sundays is a record of these travels, but it is more. It is also a record of O’Loglin’s personal journey – both in the time-frame of the book and in the years before. It is a serious book, but it is also very witty. O’Loghlin’s view of the world is both insightful and comic.

James O’Loghlin is a comedian who used to be a criminal lawyer. He is known as the face as the ABC’s New Inventors and is also heard on ABC Radio. This is his second book. Readers will be grateful that he took the time to write it – and to live it.

Wonderful reading.

A Month of Sundays, by James O’Loghlin
Allen & Unwin, 2004