Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Ana s Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

A Romantic Tail

Mark Summers, architect, lived on the Sunshine Coast. An early morning surfer, he was tall, tanned, and broad-shouldered. In addition, his hair was thick and wavy; one lock of which always fell beguilingly over his forehead. Women loved to brush it back, and at his age of thirty, they definitely found him attractive. On meeting him, they were so won over by his enthusiasm that Mark succeeded in having many first dates.

Sophia was his latest, and she was delighted when the architect invited her out for coffee and cake. The first minutes were fine, but then she said, "Tell me about the house you're now working on."

Big mistake. Mark leaned forward. "You know about the Golden Mean, of course."

Sophia shook her head.

"You don't?' Mark's eyes opened wide in surprise. "Well, it's the value you get when you divide a line into two parts so that the ratio of the whole line to the larger part is the same as the larger part is to the smaller part."

In contrast to Mark, Sophia's eyes did not open wide. "It is?"

"The ratio occurs frequently in classical paintings, and I find it useful in the design of buildings."

"You do?" Sophia stifled a yawn.

"Yes, definitely, with multiple iterations."

Unfortunately for Mark, his fascination with geometry overcame his awareness of how it affected his date. So when he went on to relate quantum theory to fresh airflow, he didn't notice that Sophia, herself, was in fact struggling for air.

Mark enjoyed the discussion so much that he was severely surprised when Sophia declined a second date. He watched as she hurried away, wondering where he'd gone wrong. She'd asked about his work, and he'd told her. So what was the problem?

After a thousand and one nights of Mark seeing his dates dash away, he decided that he just needed to meet people. On social media, he saw that Sunny Coast Casting was advertising for extras, and so he decided to sign on. Maybe he'd meet someone who wasn't put off by a little bit of Quantum.

Roger, the manager of Sunny, was impressed by Mark. "You've got the looks. You've got the bod. Have you got the voice? Say g'day."

"G'day." The architect didn't sound too Strine.

"Okay. Say How do you do?"

"How do you do?"

"Great. Try I like ze feesh and ze cheeps."

"I like ze feesh and ze cheeps."

"Excellent. Perfect. You're on. In fact, we can use you for a shoot at Noosa. Five in the morning, next Sunday, before the walkers disturb the sand and the surfers clog up the ocean. You on?"

"Try and keep me away."

The portly Roger rubbed his palms together. "Beaut, see you then."

"Indeed." Mark put out his hand and over-enthusiastically squeezed Roger's fingers.

Donna Claire was a part-time secretary. She was red-haired and possessed sparkling green eyes. Contrary to all opinions regarding her colouring, she did not have a fiery temperament. Mostly, she was calm and considerate. Donna was also tall, with a willowy figure and high cheekbones.

As her mother said, "Even a sack would look good on you."

Being a secretary for a high-powered real estate company in the centre of cosmopolitan Noosa, meant that she met many attractive men. A number of these asked her out, some of whom were even single. Donna was willing to give the unattached a try. As with Mark, she also rarely made it to a second date. Her problem was that in studying for a maths PhD, she was prone to rhapsodise about stochastic enumeration. This was enough to dampen the romantic ardour of even the most testosterone-laden male. But how about Trevor? Should she give Trevor a go?

Trevor had enough testosterone to fuel an army of teenagers. Oozing self-confidence, he took Donna to Ten Stars Restaurant. Knowing that he impressed her, he took her hand and murmured, "When I'm with you, time passes ever so quickly."

"Oh, yes." Donna sparkled with witty repartee. "That's like Relativity Theory. If one of us were traveling near the speed of light, then time would truly slow down. But because we're not moving relative to each other, then time just passes at the speed of time."

That was Donna's idea of a joke. But Trevor, baffled, moved his lips to echo her words. Not coming to a firm conclusion, he managed a weak smile, which eventually led to a weak excuse, and he took Donna home early.

She'd done it again! But never mind, theoretical physics was not for the faint-hearted. Maybe, she hoped, one day she'd meet someone with whom she could converse on equal terms.

Returning home, she softly called, "Hello, mum. I'm back early. Are you still awake?"

She listened carefully, but received no reply. Donna shared this small house in Tewantin with her mother. In fact, the reason she almost had a PhD rather than already had a PhD was that she'd come home to act as a nurse. Her mother was frail, but rather than put her in a nursing home, she'd decided to do the caring herself.

Since it was still early, Donna folded herself into a settee with a hot chocolate and the local newspaper. There must be some way to meet fun people. People more flexible than the likes of Trevor. The ad for Sunny Extras caught her eye. Just the thing! As an extra, they'd actually put words in her mouth - the correct words. Donna immediately went to her computer and emailed a bunch of her pictures.

She was still contemplating the screen when an email came back. "You look the part. Let's meet."

They met, and Roger was convinced. As with Mark, he declared, "You've got the voice. You've got the bod. Next Sunday at five."

Donna was delighted. "Good! Excellent! I'm quite a good actress," she said. "Last year, I played the plus sign in Iterative Nightmares of a Recurring Decimal."

Roger let her words flow past him as he handed over a sheet of paper. "Just as long as you can remember, your teeth sparkle like stars and you'll be all right."

With a glance that committed all the words to her photographic memory, Donna was relieved to see that not one phrase was mathematical.

Flipper was a dolphin - a dolphin with problems. Because he'd been rescued at a critical age, he thought he was human. So when released back into the wild, he'd had identity problems. Since then, he'd hung around Noosa and frolicked with the surfers. Lately, he'd reached an age when he'd been more attracted to human females than to human males. How could he tell? Who knows? But he was, after all, a mammal and mammals, presumably, had some cosmic thing going for each other.

Unfortunately, as well as an identity problem, Flipper had another problem, one common to all teenagers. That didn't matter if he was the only surfer around. But, although he wasn't invited to be part of Roger's show, when the cast began to assemble, the 200 kg, sexually active dolphin also wanted to participate.

The crew met when the sun was just rising and the sea reflected a palette of reds and purples. The air tasted like champagne and the sand was smooth as silk. Mark was in board shorts, his surfboard on the sand, ready for action when the shoot was over. Donna was in a tiny red bikini, having wriggled out of her skimpy frock. Even before Roger introduced them, they couldn't take their eyes off each other. When they shook hands, an electric tingle ran from one to the other.

"I'd better not mention fractals," Mark said to himself.

"No jokes about Relativity Theory," Donna thought.

Roger pulled them apart. "I want a cliche." He hitched up the cut-down track pants that allowed his stomach to breathe. "You're both slowly running across the sand with arms open to hug each other. Got that?"

"Slow running," Mark echoed.

"Slow." Donna smiled.

"Slow," Roger repeated.

They walked to the edge of the water and stood about tennis court distance apart. Roger dropped his hand. "Go!"

Mark and Donna began to run in slow motion. Mark stopped. "Slowmo running feels really weird," he said.

Donna nodded. "I agree."

Unimpressed, Roger circled his hand. "Try again."

Mark shrugged. Donna lifted her shoulders in a manner that made his heart race. They returned to their original positions and slowly came to within hugging distance. A little awkwardly, they put their arms around each other.

"She's supposed to be your girlfriend," Roger called. "Not your maiden aunt. Once more, kiddos, with heart."

For a third time, Mark and Donna slowly ran into a hug.

"Closer," Roger called. "Closer."

Mark grinned. He was really enjoying being an extra.

"Cut!"

Reluctantly, Mark drew away. Donna's hands trailed across his shoulders. She, too, was grinning.

"Looking good," Roger said. "Not exactly Hollywood, but good enough. So now we'll do it again but in real time. The camera will slow you down later."

Mark and Donna separated once more. Then they began to run towards each other, not totally realistically, but with a hint of slow-motion romance. It was hard work on the soft sand and they were almost at hugging distance when Mark tripped. He fell forward. Donna tried to catch him, but he was too heavy. He landed on top of her, his lips a breath away from hers.

Mark began to say, "I'm sorry... " But their eyes met and his body on top of hers created a heat that had nothing to do with the rising sun. They stayed there for a long moment.

Roger came over. "That was great. How did you know to do that? I can use you both again next week." He helped to pack away the crew's equipment. "I'll ring you next Friday."

Mark helped Donna onto her feet and, unawares, they still held hands. At a gentle pressure from Mark, though it might've been from Donna, they drew together and their lips lightly kissed. They both sighed.

"That impact," Mark said. "Really, I should have bounced away with half your velocity." He put his hand over his mouth. Damn, he'd just spoken physics.

But Donna leaned into him. "That's only for perfectly elastic bodies. We're non-elastic and we're not the same weight." She went pink. Damn, she was talking maths. "Um, I mean it was nice, very nice."

Then they stared at each other, amazed. "You know maths?"

"You know physics?"

They laughed and hugged again. Boy had just met girl.

At that moment, however, Donna glanced out to sea. "Oh, look there's Flipper."

Mark squinted. Then he saw a fin. A smooth projectile leapt out of the water. It was Flipper, and he also wanted to be part of the action. Particularly if it involved the young female in the tiny bikini.

Donna ran into the water. "Last one in is a fractal."

Mark hesitated. He was a good swimmer, but he'd heard stories about this young dolphin. So standing at the edge, he watched Donna's strong overarm. She hadn't gone far when Flipper raced towards her.

At first, it was all good fun, dolphin and beautiful woman frolicking in the water. Then it changed. Donna headed back towards the shore, but Flipper cut her off. Donna tried again, yet with the same result. On the third time, she called out.

"Hey Mark, Flipper is trying to be amorous."

"What?"

"I think he wants to mate."

"Mate!"

Mark was furious. Boy meets girl. Boy now loses girl? To a fish? A handsome fish, true. Okay, a swimming mammal. But still a bloody fish! Without thinking about it, Mark grabbed his board and plunged into the surf. It plunged him back. He rushed in again. The choppy waves broke over him, but he threw himself lengthwise onto his board and paddled like a madman. Swallowing seawater, Mark headed towards Donna and the would-be dolphin suitor.

Flipper saw Mark. He saw Mark and rightly saw a competitor. With a look that said stay-there to Donna, Flipper zoomed towards Mark. The human tipped his board to the vertical. Not wanting a collision, the dolphin immediately threw himself to the side. As Flipper turned, Mark waved frantically at Donna. But she needed no urging, and was already heading rapidly towards the shore. Mark furiously tried to paddle further out, while Flipper tried to nudge him back.

After an unequal bout of ninety-two kilo against two hundred, Mark saw that Donna was now waving at him. She was home and dry.

He pointed a finger. "Naughty fish." The dolphin's usual smile turned into a grimace. "Okay, naughty mammal." The smile returned. "But I'm a human. Which means I know that in Quantum, I'm both a particle and a wave. So, right now, this particle is going to catch a wave!" So saying, Mark jumped onto his board, and rocketed back to shore.

Encouraged by this display of exuberance, Flipper also decided to put on an exhibition. He sped after the surfer and, when fast enough, he leapt high into the air. Throwing off tiny drops of watery rainbows, he flew in a glistening arc. He hardly touched down before he was off again. From the shore, Donna clapped and cheered. Further encouraged, the dolphin performed an aquatic pas de deux followed by a jette a trois. Mark, sitting on his board, also applauded.

His current adolescent aggression abated, with a mental ability that would've put both Mark and Donna to shame, Flipper calculated the minimal space-time curve that would take him to the nearest dolphin pod. No more identity problems for him, he would go where the graceful cetacean swimmers went.

As Mark carried his board back onto the sand, a relieved Donna rushed to hug him. "I was so worried. First for me. Then for you. But it turned out all right, didn't it?" She moved back a little. "You are okay, aren't you?"

Being almost as cool as he sounded, Mark said, "Do fractals jump to strange attractors?"

Donna instantly replied, "They will if we bifurcate often enough. Oops!" She giggled.

At the edge of the surf, they faced together and gazed deeply into each other's eyes.

Roger, standing by the car park, looked back and saw a dolphin leap high into the air and create a rainbow spray that haloed the both of them.