I’m grateful for Bris-Vegas babes...

On my final night in Brisbane, I am grateful for the five beautiful Brisbane-based women who came along to enjoy drinks and dinner at Bar Alto at the Powerhouse, New Farm. As conversation covered my muse, kayaking, milking upside-down cows, dating, John Bjelke Peterson and racist in-laws, my pen was poised... after all, it was research! And my pages and soul were full when the night was over. Thank you to my tiddas below.

1. KRISSY KNEEN - author of Affection: a memoir of love, sex and affection and future Doctor (of the PhD variety), Miss Krissy is naughty and nice and I could learn much from her, including kayaking, which we’re doing on my next visit to Brisbane.

2. JOSIE MONTANO - Josie is very, very funny! Many of you will have met her here when we travelled together to Fraser Island last October. We share a love of French fries with aioli and we are never short of laughs! My dear friend came along last still fighting a virus, and I am thankful for the incredible effort she made, just to say hello. I’m also grateful for Josie’s offer to show me around The Gap on my next visit, because one of my characters will be living there.

3. SIDONIE CARPENTER: I'm grateful I met Sidonie at the InStyle awards in Sydney last year. I was a finalist in the Arts and Culture category and Sidonie was in the Environment category; she’s the President at Green Roofs Australia and a landscape architect. We didn't win our categories but we feel like we were the biggest winners because we won each others friendship. I'm not sure how many other women on the night there walked away with a new friend in another state. I'm also grateful that Sidonie's husband is a cyclist with lots of hot friends in lycra!

4. TRACEY WALKER: I'm not sure where filmmaker Tracey and I met, but it's fair to say we've got a lot in common in terms of the arts, politics and commentary on dating. I like Tracey because she’s genuine and so, it’s a gift to be able to break bread and yarn with her. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Tracey's film Push Bike which is doing the rounds as I write this!

5. JANINE DUNLEAVY: JD and I joke we are like twins because for some time we always seemed to have the same hairdo. We worked together on Black Words: the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers database for AustLit. I'm grateful that even though we are both in new jobs, we maintain our interstate friendship... and with different looking locks!