An arsenal in my living room

Who needs a knife when you have a credit card?

What do housewives and criminals have in common?

According to weapons expert Ray Floro, an assailant can use almost any household item to achieve their end but, unlike the dedicated homemaker,  this has nothing to do with removing mould from bathroom walls.

Coins and credits cards, socks and pillow cases, pens and newspapers… pretty much anything  can be turned into a weapon of attack or self-defence – as long as we know how to use it. What great fodder for a writer!

Ray was one of many presenters to inform and entertain writers at this year’s Bundaberg WriteFest. He showed us how a toothbrush can be turned into a sharpened weapon, how coins can become a sledgehammer punch, even how mags and newspapers can be used as batons.

He said the key to wielding weapons was Concealment and Speed/Method of Deployment. Check out some of Ray’s fascinating clips on YouTube, including:

Apocalyse headed for Vegas

There’s absolutely no doubt about it: Caesar’s Palace is the perfect venue for an all-out battle between good and evil.

Imagine it: Hundreds of Roman-inspired statues all waiting to be used as henchmen or fireballs in the coming apocalyse – and where else to have the show-down but in the world’s favourite Sin City.

Sigh. There was a lot of research involved. This included relaxing on a banana chair in front of the pool, walking through the Forum shops (yet another statue to discover) and scribbling away in coffee shops. Max Brenner Rules!

Finally, before packing my bags and returning to Aussie Land, I had a lot of my final battle worked out. Whether Miranda/Morganna will have her final showdown with Lucifer in the middle of Caesars Palace, Sin City, is yet to be decreed (I’m still weighing up options).

But I can assure you that if Vamp’s apocalyptic ending does happen that way, there’s gonna be a lot of rubble (and not the Fred Flintstone kind)…