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My two novels:

• The Overlife: A Tale of Schizophrenia visit https://amzn.to/4pdZBbW and
• Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Three Furies visit https://amzn.to/49cMa5Q

Research book:

The Slow Evolution of Foster Care in Australia: Just like a family? (Palgrave Studies in the History of Childhood) by Nell Musgrove and Deidre Michell, visit https://amzn.to/48Yp5Fs

• The above three links are my Amazon Affiliate Links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

#Fictionwriting #Familyrelationships #FosterCare #FosterCareAustralia #FictionNovel #NewNovel #Fosterfamilies

A vanished mother, a departing father, and three children waiting in an empty house set the spark for my next novel. I’m starting the year by opening the door to book three, a story shaped by my maternal grandfather’s oral history and the fault lines it carved through generations. I share why I’m choosing fiction over memoir, how family accounts from my mother and her sisters guide the narrative, and what it means to honor facts while building scenes that carry emotional truth.

We journey to Ballarat at the turn of the 20th century—Jewish families adapting after the gold rush, a synagogue that still stands, and a boy named David whose childhood shatters when both parents vanish days apart. I break down the family fracture, the mayor’s intervention, and the uneven outcomes of foster placements that left one child abused, another bounced between homes, and a sister sheltered by luck. The heart of this episode explores resilience and anger living side by side: how a man can build a loving family and a successful business while never letting go of the fury he felt toward the adults who abandoned and mistreated him.

To ground the story, I pull back the curtain on my research into historical foster care in Australia, including insights from The Slow Evolution of Foster Care in Australia: Just Like a Family by Nell Musgrove and Deidre Mitchell. You’ll hear how period policy, placement practices, and social pressures help me avoid anachronism and sentimentality. We talk ethics, composite characters, and the craft choices that keep a narrative honest when memory is secondhand. If you’re drawn to historical fiction, family history, Jewish diaspora stories, or the craft of turning oral history into a novel, you’ll find a clear roadmap of where this project is heading.

Join me as I build a story about fracture, belonging, and the quiet endurance that outlasts harm. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves literary historical fiction, and leave a review telling me what questions you want the book to tackle next.

My Website and Social Media:

https://dianadirkbywrites.com

My Instagram: @dianadirkby_writings (https://www.instagram.com/dianadirkby_writings/)

My Facebook Page: Diana Dirkby Writings (https://www.facebook.com/DianaDirkbyAuthor)

My X-account: @dianadirkby (https://x.com/DianaDirkby)

My YouTube channel @DianaDirkbyWrites (https://www.youtube.com/@DianaDirkbyWrites)

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The Playlist "Fractured Ink: Writing in Life's Chaos (audio)" is available on many platforms, including my YouTube channel. I use BuzzSprout to process the audio files. The BuzzSprout website for the audio Podcast is: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2467673

The Playlist "Fractured Ink: Writing in Life's Chaos (video)" is only available as a Playlist on my YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/m47nx39b

The Playlist "My Amazon Affiliate Links - Products for writing from home" is only available as a Playlist on my YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/ycv2j9kj (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)

My discontinued Podcast "Schizophrenia as I Live It" is still available. Its website on BuzzSprout is https://www.buzzsprout.com/2186769

#Podcast #Fiction #fictionwriting #memoirs #schizophrenia #Horrorthriller #Amazon #Amazondeals #Kindle #KindleDevices #WritingProducts #writing #mentalhealth

Two tracks, one creative mission: we’re drawing a clean line between story craft and gear talk so you get exactly what you came for. After experimenting with mixed episodes, we’re shifting to a clear structure that respects your time, your focus, and the way you like to learn.

Fractured Ink: Writing in Life’s Chaos now zeroes in on writing craft you can use today—fiction techniques, memoir insights, and lessons learned from the messy middle of real projects. We record in Zoom to deliver both audio and video, but every segment is designed to work if you’re listening on a run or watching at your desk. Expect practical strategies for scenes that move, point of view that clicks, revision methods that calm the chaos, and candid reflections from our own pages and from writers we admire.

Our affiliate reviews move to a dedicated, video-only YouTube playlist because tools deserve visuals. When we compare microphones, lighting, or keyboards, you’ll see the setup, hear real tests, and get frank takes on what’s worth buying. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, and we’ll keep opinions clear and grounded in daily writing use. That separation means you can binge deep craft without stopping for unboxings—or jump straight to gear when you’re upgrading your workspace.

You’ll find Fractured Ink as an audio podcast distributed via Buzzsprout across major platforms and as a video version on YouTube. The product review series lives separately on YouTube, organized for easy browsing. We’ll still mention relevant tools on the craft feed when they support a technique, and we’ll keep links transparent and useful. Subscribe, share with a writer friend, and tell us what you want next—what craft problem should we tackle, or what tool should we test?

My published books

“The Overlife: A Tale Of Schizophrenia,” by Diana Dirkby (visit https://amzn.to/454WgW6.) #ad #commissionsearned The link is an Amazon Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)

“Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Three Furies,” by Diana Dirkby (visit https://amzn.to/42Z81KY. ) The link is an Amazon Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

My Website and Social Media:

https://dianadirkbywrites.com

My Instagram: @dianadirkby_writings (https://www.instagram.com/dianadirkby_writings/)

My Facebook Page: Diana Dirkby Writings (https://www.facebook.com/DianaDirkbyAuthor)

My X-account: @dianadirkby (https://x.com/DianaDirkby)

My YouTube channel @DianaDirkbyWrites (

Send us a text

You can go ahead and follow my Amazon Affiliate links below to find the corresponding product on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

1) Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition: https://amzn.to/4rZTaf9
2) Amazon's Kindle Color-Soft Signature Edition case: https://amzn.to/4s0F64Y
3) CoBak Case for 7" E-Readers: https://amzn.to/48DTGIa
4) Supershieldz (3 Pack) Anti-Glare (Matte) Screen Protector for Kindle Colorsoft: https://amzn.to/4oWzXIA
5) Amazon 9W Official OEM USB Charger and Power Adapter for Fire Tablets, Kindle eReaders, and Echo Dot: https://amzn.to/4qcayeW

6) Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition User Guide : Display, Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition User Guide : Display, Highlights and Notes, Troubleshooting, Accessibility and Battery Saving Tips for Beginners by Susan Powell:chttps://amzn.to/48Vv5x9https://amzn.to/48Vv5x9

#Kindle #KindleColorsoft #KindleColorsoftSignatureEdition #KindleScribe #KindleScribeColorsoft #Kindledevices #Kindleapp

Color that calms instead of shouts. That’s the promise of the Kindle ColorSoft Signature Edition, and we put it to the test with real books, real accessories, and a few real surprises—like which titles quietly refuse to download and how to fix it without leaving the Kindle ecosystem.

We start with the core of ColorSoft: a custom color e‑ink stack designed for soft, paper-like tones rather than neon saturation. After dialing in brightness, the display makes covers, comics, maps, and charts feel clearer while staying gentle on the eyes. I unpack where color adds value—highlights in multiple hues, cleaner visual structure in non‑fiction—and where a monochrome Kindle used to fall short. Then we get practical about the two models. The Signature Edition’s double storage, wireless charging, and auto-adjusting front light aren’t flashy features; they’re the quiet upgrades that make daily reading smoother, especially for large libraries and Audible downloads.

There’s also a frank look at compatibility. Some fixed-layout and enhanced editions won’t install on ColorSoft or Scribe, a quirk that catches many buyers off guard. I show the simple workaround: keep the Kindle app on a Fire tablet or your phone so those edge‑case titles still live in your library. From there we dive into the reading experience: organizing with collections, tweaking themes and fonts, typing notes from highlights, and flipping seamlessly between reading and listening with Bluetooth headphones. Accessories get their due—covers, screen protectors, and travel cases—so you can protect the display without dulling color or adding glare.

If you create with pen, I explain why Scribe still pairs beautifully with ColorSoft—one for handwriting and document review, the other for comfortable, color-rich reading. If you’re deciding whether to upgrade, you’ll get clear criteria to choose between the standard model and the Signature Edition, plus when a sale on non‑color Scribe might be the smarter buy. Enjoy a grounded tour of what color e‑ink does well, where it still has limits, and how to get the most from the Kindle ecosystem without overpaying. If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what would make color e‑ink a must‑have for you?

My published books

“The Overlife: A Tale Of Schizophrenia,” by Diana Dirkby (visit https://amzn.to/454WgW6.) #ad #commissionsearned The link is an Amazon Affiliate Link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)

“Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Th