1. Why did you decide to write Last Summer?

The book was inspired, for want of a better word, by the unexpected death of one of my husband’s close friends, a guy he had played cricket and footy with for many years – and I’ve actually written a whole blog about this over at Lisa Heidke’s website. But as well as that, having written about romantic love in my previous novel, After The Fall, this time around I wanted to write about friendship. My husband has played club cricket for over three decades now, and is still going strong. Some of the relationships he has made in that time are like blood to him, and how he and his mates can still seem to need to dissect a game six hours after it has finished never fails to amaze me. I find the whole group psychology thing fascinating… a long established group, be that of Uni friends or teammates or work colleagues, is almost like a marriage, with all the compromises and resentments and deep understanding that entails, and I wanted to dive into that.

2. What do you find essential to sustain or encourage your writing brain? (e.g. food, drink, music, etc.). Do you have any other writing habits?

I have no writing habits other than, it seems, stuffing around for hours at the start of my writing day (of which I have three a week) then finally getting into gear when I suddenly realise I only have a few hours until 3:30. The threat of the school bell is the greatest incitement to write I have ever come across – once that goes, it’s all over for the day. Other than that, there’s nothing special I do to get the muse to show up. I’m quite used to starting without her.

3. If you could live the life of any fictional character (book or film), who would you be and why?

Robinson Crusoe. I really love the beach.

4. If you weren’t a writer, what else would you like to be?

A hairdresser. Or a bank teller. In fact, I dream about these professions on a regular basis, usually when it is 3 o’clock and I am still 550 words off my 1000 words/day goal…. Oh, how I long to be doing something productive and straightforward and that you can go home from feeling good about yourself, rather than lying awake that night wondering if you dare re-read over the chapter you’ve just finished and if it’s even more rubbish than you already suspect. Swimsuit model would be good too (the beach again), but so far I haven’t been able to find an agency.

5. Who inspires you in life?

Big question! My mum has always inspired me – she decided to become a doctor at the age of 40, with three young kids, and having left school without passing Year 11. That she went on and did so is a constant reminder that dreams can come true – particularly if you’re prepared to put in years of hard work. In terms of authors, Toni Morrison is unable to write a bad sentence. Every one of hers is as exquisitely turned as a Bentwood chair, supple and strong. Also Joanna Trollope, who I suspect is often under-rated, simply for how well she can pin characters to the page and make them squirm.

6. How would your ideal day go?

Any day where I get 1000 words I am happy with is a perfect day, it really is. That probably sounds like a cop out, but I came to writing in my thirties, after eleven years studying for another profession, and I’m just so grateful to be finally doing something I truly love and occasionally even get paid for. The only way it could get any better would be if I could find a way to write on the beach… but I keep getting sand in my laptop.

7. You’re about to get parachuted on to a desert island for a month, Survivor style – and you’re allowed to take three books. What would you take and why?

This sounds like my Robinson Crusoe fantasy! If it really was in Survivor style I guess I’d need Robison Crusoe, so I could see how he survived, plus 101 Tasty Ways With Turtles And Other Easy To Catch Aquatic Species, and my Girl Guide handbook, so I could brush up on my knots and semaphore.  If, however, I’m being parachuted into Club Med I’d pack the biggest, thickest books I could find – War and Peace, definitely, all of Proust, and maybe Of Human Bondage. All a bit intimidating, I admit, but I could get through a lot of books in a month doing nothing, and I’d hate to run out!

8. What have you learned during the course of writing and publishing your novels?

That EVERYONE hates their novels at some stage of writing them, and often on a daily basis. That the muse is utterly unreliable and not to be trusted. That Twitter will sing such a sweet siren song to you that the only way to defeat it will be to unplug your laptop and go and work in the kitchen where you can’t get wifi (pathetic, I know). That being published won’t automatically make you happier, richer or a better person… but also that the first time you see your name on a book is right up there with the first time you see your children, although with the added bonus that you won’t need stiches afterwards.

9. What do you hope people take away from reading your book?

An overwhelming desire to buy 100 more copies to pass out to their family and friends, and particularly that great-uncle who is the literary editor at the New York Times. Otherwise, though, I simply hope people come away from my books having enjoyed them, and, while they were reading them, having believed in their world. Being asked about my characters as if they were real people is the greatest compliment I have ever been given.

10. What’s next on the horizon for you?

Finishing my next book! By some fluke of timing (and the fact that publishing moves at a pace that can make glaciers look reckless) I should complete the novel I am working on, Into My Arms, not long after Last Summer comes out. A first draft anyway… Finishing a book is almost as scary as starting one, and right up there with having one launched. To be honest, it’s all terrifying… but I still love it.

It’s been a pleasure chatting to you, Kylie (and your mum sounds incredible!) Good luck with your writing, and I’m really looking forward to reading Into My Arms.

Geiki Gorge landscape, in the Kimberley

It’s not about rights
(though it seems some rights mean more than others?)

It’s not about need
(who can say about greed)

It’s not about whales
(or this rare, safe place they calve)

It’s not about flora, fauna, or natural heritage
(or dinosaur footprints left 130 million years ago)

It’s not about a wilderness few will visit
(out of sight, out of mind)

It’s not even about pollution
(the inestimable clog of it)

No, it’s not about any of this
(It’s all of this)

 It is that all this damage is irreversible
(i.r.r.e.v.e.r.s.i.b.l.e.).

Land and sea are irreplaceable
And afterwards
They are all we’ll have left.

S.A.V.E. T.H.E. K.I.M.B.E.R.L.E.Y.
(and all places like it)

I have given myself a huge challenge. All I’ll say about the story at present is that it takes place along the beautiful coastline of WA, and there’s a messy, complicated family (of course!), who are already hijacking my thoughts regularly. I have the feeling that however determined I am to take the reins of their story, there will be parts of the process where all I can do is hang on and try to enjoy the ride.

One of the best parts of this job is that readers I have never met are prepared to give my ideas and imaginings some of their precious time. My desire to write a fantastic story that will capture your heart and mind is as strong as your desire to read one, so wish me luck, and let the fun and hard work begin!

I don’t want to start anything that’s important to me until I get a good run at it. Therefore, I’ve been getting some rather random and ill-chosen things out of the library, literary heavyweights that I start at about half past ten at night, and struggle through approximately three lines before my eyelids betray me. However, while I attempt to fix this problem and rediscover my reading time, I have been doing plenty more reading of another kind. If it’s by Mick Inkpen, Eric Hill, Lucy Cousins or Julia Donaldson, chances are not only that I’ve read it, but that I can recite it to you verbatim. And the squeals of excitement and enthusiasm they engender in my daughter make these books rather special. I’ve been asked before what books we read together, so here, in honour of my new toddler-imposed reading regime – are some of our favourites right now:

The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Schiffer. The ending makes me well up every time.

Watch Out Little Wombat by Charles Fuge. We particularly love shouting SPLAT and CROC-O-DILE!

The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Everybody’s favourite – but one of mine because I love hearing my daughter name the foods, and the cute way she says ‘pickle’ and ‘alami’ for ‘salami’, and the satisfaction on her face when she gets them all right.

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough. Despite it’s questionable moral ending when Duck leaves all his helpful mates completely in the s**t, my little one loves it and has great fun getting things ‘stuck in the muck’ in the back garden.

Snore by Michael Rosen and Jonathan Langley. My little girl loves to imitate the snores and animal noises.

Tiger by Nick Butterworth. The illustrations are gorgeous and make me want another kitten!

The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen. We also love Kipper and Wibbley Pig, but this book is brilliant, and the quick-tongued rat makes us both laugh.

If You’re Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera. The illustrations are lovely and there are lots of great simple actions for little ones to sing and dance to.

Shhh Little Mouse by Pamela Allen. We do lots of finger to mouth and whispering until the cat wakes up and it all breaks loose.

Follow the Kite by Anna Nilsen and Mark Burgess. A really unusual book with a kite that you can lace through the pages as it blows up and down in the wind.

I’d love to hear your favourites too?

And I wonder, if you want to effect real change, how do you ask people to open up, past their fears, prejudices, beliefs, traditions, sense of selves embedded far deeper than vital organs, and re-examine their lives? To ask them to turn over each heavy stone of truth and see what it might really be made of? For a society to do this successfully, doesn’t it have to happen within each individual too? And if we ask this of others, shouldn’t we first ask it of ourselves? What might our own stones reveal, if we have the willingness to recognise them and the courage to examine their foundations?

I hadn’t searched this out. I wasn’t planning to read the news at that point. But it broke its boundaries and affected me. As did the Four Corners story this week, which I found out about thanks to twitter. I’m grateful I didn’t have to watch that footage, because I know it would still be haunting me. The photographs I did see were enough.

No one has taught me how to deal with these moments. I have had to teach myself, because, quite frankly, they have brought me to my knees at times. And the way I have come to terms with this is by becoming a more conscious guardian of my emotions, knowing when I can take action and when there is nothing I can do. From what I could gather (the article wasn’t clear), the little Chinese girl was rescued. Twelve hours later, the news has moved on, and I can’t even find it on the same site. I’m pretty sure I won’t ever know what happened to them.

However, with the push to ban live exports, there were at least petitions to sign. Where once upon a time I would have felt this was a fairly unremarkable gesture, I don’t any more, because of the emergence of a few amazing, energetic sites that have recorded some brilliant, measurable breakthroughs as a result of people power. Sites like Avaaz.org and getup.org.au (who ran a live exports petition), and organisations like the Wilderness Society (who send you the results of their actions) are doing a great job of bringing some critical issues to our attention. And despite the desperate, depressing news they bring to my door, they make me feel that there is something small but very important that I can do. They wouldn’t exist unless we were all choosing to add our names to causes we believe in. This weekend my family will be going to climate change rally in Perth on Sunday (there are also rallies in Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney), thanks to the information and reminders from GetUp. Our voices might be small, but they all count, and I’m buoyed by the words of anthropologist Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Kerri Sackville

1.  Why did you decide to write When My Husband Does the Dishes?

I really believed that there was a gap in the market place for a tell-all memoir of marriage and motherhood. Nearly everything that’s been written on these subjects to date has been didactic, or really grim, or really flip, and I felt that I could write about it with honesty and humour. And I had masses of material. My life is really, really funny, in a tragic kind of way.

2. What do you find essential to sustain or encourage your writing brain? (e.g. food, drink, music, etc.). Do you have any other writing habits?

Mess and chaos. Truly. The more I have to do, the more creative I am. Sit me down at a neat desk with all the housework done and the evening meal prepared and I am likely to go blank. (Of course, this is purely hypothetical, it has never happened.) Sit me down at a desk piled with bills to pay and papers to file, surrounded by laundry to sort and groceries to unpack, and I can write for hours.

 3.  If you could live the life of any fictional character (book or film), who would you be and why?

 Julia Robert’s character at the end of Notting Hill. A Hollywood superstar with a gorgeous, down-to-earth devoted husband and a baby on the way??? It doesn’t get better than that.

4.  If you weren’t a writer, what else would you like to be?

 A Young Talent Time team member, but sadly the time for that has long since passed. Seriously, though, I’ve tried a dozen different careers and none of them stuck. The only thing I’ve ever loved doing is writing.

5.  Who inspires you in life?

I’m inspired by brilliant writers, particularly novelists as I have NO idea how they do it. How do you make up a world inside your own head? I’m also constantly inspired by people with a broad general knowledge – writers, journos, my husband… It makes me want to go out and learn things, which I try to do until I get distracted by the laundry.

 6.  How would your ideal day go?

I would wake up in a gorgeous hotel and call my kids who are having a lovely weekend at their Nana’s. My hubby and I would go for breakfast in a nice café, then I’d go shopping in several gorgeous boutiques with the hundreds of dollars that magically appeared in my pocket. We’d have a light lunch then go back to the hotel where I’d sleep all afternoon as my husband reads the papers. Then I’d spend an hour or two on Twitter and Facebook, and then we’d head out for drinks and a nice dinner, followed by an ice cream on the way back to the hotel. We’d get into bed, watch The Big Chill again, have some quick but multiple-orgasmic sex, then sleep for another 12 hours. Bliss.

 7.  You’re about to get parachuted on to a desert island for a month, Survivor style – and you’re allowed to take three books. What would you take and why?

1. Dale Carnegie’s How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, as I would be absolutely panic stricken and would need help calming my anxiety.
2. Garp by John Irving, which is my all-time favourite book; I’ve only read it about 100 times so I could easily read it 100 more.
3.  My friend Kylie Ladd’s new novel Last Summer. It’s not being released till July, but I’m sure if she knew I was being dropped on a desert island, she’d get me an advance copy.

8.  What have you learned during the course of writing and publishing When My Husband Does the Dishes?

EVERYTHING. I knew nothing about editing or publishing. Nothing! I didn’t know how a book was pitched or sold. I didn’t understand how the editing process worked. I had no idea how a cover was designed, what a normal print run was, what was involved in publicity and marketing, what an author talk is about, what one signs on a book! NOTHING. It’s been an amazing learning curve.

9.  What do you hope people take away from reading your book?

 I want people to read my book and say ‘YES! That’s exactly what it’s like!’ To know they are not alone in their challenges. To know that they are normal. To know that their partners and kids are normal. And to have a big laugh at me and at themselves. Because we’re all going through the same thing.

10.  What’s next on the horizon for you?

I’m going to keep blogging, and I’ve started writing my next book, which is not about marriage or motherhood! And I am very open to other offers. Johnny Young – I’m talking to YOU!

 Thanks, Kerri, it’s been a pleasure talking to you. Wishing you every success with your book, your blog, and your future writing.

To visit Kerri’s blog, Life and Other Crises, click here.  To find her on facebook, click here. Or follow her on Twitter – @KerriSackville.

No, I didn’t wake up screaming at that point, as happily this whale shark was a friendly filter-feeding giant. Nevertheless, as I didn’t fancy being head-butted by a fifteen-tonne juggernaut, I rapidly executed an elegant series of scissor kicks (i.e. freaked out and swam like mad) to get out of the way.

When I had first imagined my encounter with these fabulous otherworldly creatures, I had pictured myself swimming alongside them, perhaps giving them a cheery little wave, one small person helping to advance human-whale shark relationships. However, the whale shark encounters of Ningaloo Reef are a well-honed military operation. Planes are sent out to spot the whales before you even board your vessel, then you travel to the sharks while receiving a series of instructions. You discover that when the boat gets into position near a shark, you have approximately two nanoseconds to get in to the water, otherwise you will miss the show. It is then the snorkeller’s version of ‘first in, best dressed’ – i.e. whoever jumps in front of you assumes the complete right to kick their fins repeatedly in your face in order to stay ahead. In the midst of all this, your objective is to spot the shark, admire the shark, and swim alongside the shark. Sadly, no one has informed the shark to slow the fuck down. Result: a mega-fish that disappears faster than speedy Gonzalez, and a heap of frantic pushing and jostling in the race to keep up. Still there are plentiful glimpses of the shark’s tail to be had, as it casually swooshes its way out of sight. Once the shark has gone, the boat then rushes in, picks you up, catches up with the shark, and then the next group jumps in. Thank god for the two-group rotation, because there’s barely time to catch your breath before you are in the water again.

Both pictures taken by my husband Matt (who could swim faster than me!)

So, the whole day was slightly more frenetic than I had envisioned, but I loved it. Researchers are still learning about whale sharks, but from tracking them they do know that now and again a whale shark appears to swim right onto the beach and continues inland. Despite their ‘vulnerable to extinction’ listing, their giant fins fetch good prices and form centrepieces of backstreet markets in Asia. It’s unbearable, however there are people working tirelessly to stop it. If you are interested go to www.whaleshark.org, or for a broader perspective visit www.seashepherd.org.

I have had some wonderful opportunities to swim with different marine animals, including seals, dolphins, penguins, minke whales, hammerhead sharks, reef sharks and manta rays, and every time I have one of these encounters they ground me in a way I find difficult to explain – perhaps because it’s something of a paradox. Watching life going on in myriad different ways fills me with amazement and makes me feel very, very small and insignificant, yet it also thrills me with the suggestion that I am an inextricable part of something infinitely bigger than I’ll ever understand.

This is my last foray into writing about Fun Fearless adventures, because next Friday I’ll be eating cucumber sandwiches while watching along with the rest of the world, as a girl called Kate does something pretty darn fun and fearless of her own. I’ve relished the chance to reminisce, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it too. Thank you Cosmopolitan Australia for the privilege of being included in your line-up this year.

With Nikita at Dymocks World Square in Sydney

A month of events, touring, and more events… beginning with a fantastic evening at Joondalup library, which was attended by an enthusiastic bunch of eighty. By this time Beneath the Shadows had been on the shelves for a few weeks, so I headed further afield to promote both books in the eastern states. My husband and I did an extended bookshop tour with an incredibly patient toddler in tow. We had two days rushing around Sydney, did a flying visit through Canberra, and spent a week in Victoria. The staff at Dymocks, A&R and Borders were invariably welcoming, but there was a diverse reception from the independents. Some were immediately interested and asked lots of questions, but sometimes I just couldn’t engender any enthusiasm from them and was cut off almost before I started. Frustrating. Still, considering I have never wanted to be a door-to-door salesman I seem to be becoming quite adept at it!

While in Victoria I had two events, with ABC Werribee at Heaths Road Library, and at Readings in Hawthorn. This was my first taste of talking about my books beyond Western Australia, and I met some great people, including a group of very friendly book bloggers. You can read about my event from one of their perspectives at All the Books I can Read from 1girl…2 many books, as well as her subsequent review of Beneath the Shadows for Aussie Author Month. There are also great reviews of both my books at The Hungry Bookshelf blog. And I subsequently wrote about being a Writer on Tour at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader.

As soon as I got back to WA I did a day’s stall at a festival – where no one seemed to realise that I was the author, so I enjoyed fielding comments such as, ‘Do you read Sara Foster?’ and ‘She’s coming to the library soon, you know’ (despite our big sign saying ‘Get your books signed by the author today’)! Then I finished the month with another well-attended local library event at Clarkson. I go there most weeks, but the librarians may not have recognised me since I’m usually found in the children’s section or chasing my toddler round the aisles.  

Beneath the Shadows on display in the National Library of Australia bookshop

So now Beneath the Shadows has gone from the ‘new release’ shelves to take up its place in the ‘F’ section, where it will require a more eager eye to seek it out. The month’s end draws to a close an intense period where promotion has dominated my life – either in planning or events – and finally I have chance to look at where I want to go next. Now I can get back to doing some writing! To echo the words of Wilbur Smith on Booktopia recently, I’m rapidly learning that writing and publishing isn’t for sissies. It veers from being enormously exciting to incredibly draining and frustrating. I was pretty resistant to the idea of promotion to begin with – it sometimes feels like a kind of self-serving bragging, and I still have moments where I want to run away and hide. But I’ve come to realise that what I find far worse is putting my heart and soul into stories that sweep me up, ones I feel have so much to offer, and then watching them fade away because I wasn’t brave enough to fight for them and get behind them. This past few months has been a steep but valuable learning curve for me, and I don’t think I’ve reached the end of it by any means. Meanwhile, it’s exciting to be able to tackle new projects – and to finally begin to explore my gigantic reading pile.

Baby rock

Don’t believe the photos. What you see on the right might look like a picture of me smiling next to my husband, with nothing but my trembling hands on a rope saving me from a twenty-metre drop. However, what actually happened was this. Husband wanted to abseil for his birthday. I agreed, despite not being a fan of heights. On the day, I listened carefully to the instructions, figured I’d have a go on the ‘baby’ rock, and then feign illness. As we marched to the top I slyly asked the instructor for a few tips that might save me from the humiliation of backing out before even having a go. She told me to remember to bend my knees. Of course, this conversation ensured we were at the back of the line, so I had to watch everyone else while my nerves built nicely. But, finally, over the top we went, with me busily threading my rope through my sweaty, shaky hands, just as I’d been taught. And then, SLAM! I had well and truly overdone the knee bend, sending my body crashing into the side of the rock. It really hurt. And I found myself suspended there, with my face pressed against the cool granite, in a kind of vertical child pose (thankfully one of the only yoga positions I can do).

Mummy rock

Of course, everyone began stressing out. Instructors yelled instructions. Meanwhile, I focused on continuing to breathe, and I think I may have told them all fairly tersely to stop yelling at me. Finally, when my legs felt less jelly-like I pushed hard away from the rock and managed to get back into position. We carried on – not that there was a choice, since once you’re on your way, down is the only option. And as soon as we got to the bottom I decided that was it.

Except I hadn’t counted on my cunning, conniving husband. ‘Just walk up to the next one with me,’ he said, oh so lovingly. ‘You don’t have to do it, just come up to the top and see how you feel.’ I grudgingly climbed up and did one more descent, which was actually not too bad. I was proud of myself, for getting ‘back in the saddle’. Done and dusted. Hurray.

Actually, no. As reward for our bravery, the final challenge was revealed. A fifty-metre drop. It leered over us, taunting our nerves, with our cars tiny specks against it. But, again, there came another pep talk from my beloved. ‘You might as well come up with us, you can always back out.’ Of course, once at the summit I realised that backing out meant a ten-minute solo walk of shame to return to the bottom, while listening to the successful whoops of braver souls. Thanks, my love! So I found myself watching as the instructor hooked about half a dozen safety ropes around a tree, before heading to the precipice with a silly smile pinned to my face. I managed to get over the top without plunging face-first into the side – step one, accomplished – and then I took it slowly, reminding myself not to look down. After a while I decided I must be close to the bottom and ventured a peek. I was nowhere near. I didn’t risk looking again until I was almost next to the people on the ground.

Daddy rock (I'm on the side of it - look closely!)

I was triumphant! There was no way I’d imagined I was capable of anything like that a few hours earlier. I think I did a jazzy victory dance. I clapped everyone else as they came down and yelled my encouragement. I even thanked my husband and his sneaky little ways of getting me to do things.

Then they suggested we could go back up and run down facing forward. At which point I gave them all death stares and marched off to eat cake.

My Fun Fearless Friday blogs are in gratitude for my Cosmo ‘Fun Fearless Female’ nomination. If you’d like to vote, you can do so here. You can vote as many times as you like :)

Hear me scream!

See that crazy woman? That’s me, aged 23, zipping through New Zealand airspace, somewhere over Lake Taupo, strapped to a madman who does this kind of thing every day. I look back at this photo and what I find strangest is that I was really having a good time. Which was unexpected, because I’d been sick to the stomach at the prospect, but I also wasn’t one for missing out on a challenge. Mind you, the enjoyment on my face was for two reasons: 1. at this point in a parachute jump there’s not really much you can do except go with it; and 2. this was actually my second jump of the day – after the first one went wrong.

As you’ll gather from my continued presence on the planet, they didn’t mess up the chutes. Rather, I’d shelled out about $50 (equivalent to a month’s backpacking budget) for a cameraman to video this one-off occasion, which would forever prove that once upon a time I was not a total wimp, only to discover he had bailed out of the plane about a minute too early and filmed the wrong daredevil. The news was broken once I got back to terra firma, lifting my legs slightly higher than instructed on landing, to ensure I executed an ungainly stagger then fell on my backside. Instead of celebration I was met with sheepish faces, and offered another jump. The first time around I’d been paired with a human gorilla who looked very capable of breaking my fall at considerable speed (yes, I know I was strapped to his front, but in an emergency I was planning a last-minute tussle). On the second occasion I was taller than the pro, and probably weighed more – the only comforting thing about him being that he’d just managed to get my super-tall boyfriend down safely.

Reader, I married him

I did think about refusing. I was still marvelling at having made it once. But, as was pointed out to me by everyone else, it was extremely impolite to refuse a free skydive. And I also felt I somehow owed it to the girl who had fainted as she exited the plane and not woken up until back on land, hanging like a ragdoll from her instructor the whole way down. So back onto the plane I went, my regular fear of flying almost cured through knowing I was strapped to a guy with a parachute.

This time I went up with a freefall team, who were practising forming human chains. They handed out macho high-fives before they exited one by one, pumping me up with their adrenalin. We were last to go. There was the awkward bum-shuffle to the open plane door, the instructor saying three…two…one… And whoomph. A vicious punch of air rushing to meet us at 200 km an hour. The chaos of noise. The struggle to breathe.

And then, the pull of the cord, switching us to pure silence in a second. Peace. Followed by five minutes of floating down, watching the birds flying beneath us.

The speed of descent only became apparent as we neared the ground. But this time I was ready and landed on my feet. Finally, I got to celebrate. And I could see why the adrenalin rush was addictive. Who knows, I might even do it again someday. But if not at least now I have the footage. I just need to convert it to DVD!

My Fun Fearless Friday blogs are in gratitude for my Cosmo ‘Fun Fearless Female’ nomination. If you’d like to vote, you can do so here.

Meanwhile you can follow Aussie Author month on Facebook or on Twitter using the hashtag #ausbooks. Aussie Author Month is raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Project, which is dedicated to bridging the reading gap. Find out more on their website: www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au

Happy Aussie reading!

Becoming a mother is wonderful, yes, but overwhelming and confronting too. At the bottom of all those rolling emotions is one fervent wish: the desire to do your best for this tiny, helpless little person and protect them in every way possible. That’s exactly what Jackie O will be doing, and the best way to help her is to leave her alone and show her some respect. And that goes for every other mother who is juggling their chaotically busy lives and trying their hardest.

Dr Anita Heiss

It’s great to be involved in Aussie Author month, and what better way to begin than by having a brilliant Aussie author visiting my blog. Anita Heiss is an inspiration  – her books are fabulous, her work rate incredible, and  her gratefulness blog perfectly reflects her positive take on life. Her energy is at whirlwind level, as I discovered first of all at Perth Writers Festival, where I was lucky enough to be on a panel with her. I’ll always remember how supportive she was to this first-time author.

Anita’s latest book, Paris Dreaming, has just been released. Here’s a teaser:

Libby is on a man-fast: no more romance, no more cheating men, no more heartbreak. After all, she has her three best girlfriends and two cats to keep her company at night and her high-powered job at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra to occupy her day – isn’t that enough? But when fate takes Libby to work in Paris at the Musée du Quai Branly, she’s suddenly thrown out of her comfort zone and into a city full of culture, fashion and love. Surrounded by thousands of attentive men, nude poets, flirtatious baristas and smooth-tongued lotharios, romance has suddenly become a lot more tempting. On top of it all, there’s a chauvinist colleague at the Musée who challenges Libby’s professional ability and diplomatic skills. Then there’s Libby’s new friend Sorina, a young Roma gypsy, desperate to escape deportation. Libby must protect her work record and her friend, but can she protect herself from a broken heart?

I asked Anita what Libby was most grateful for in life, and here’s what she said:

1. CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: Libby is grateful for her circle of friends she calls her ‘tiddas’. In Canberra her bestie is Lauren, a visual arts curator who believes in romantic love. Her ex flat-mate Denise is a primary school teacher, who’s witnessed both Libby and Lauren’s relationship sagas over the years, and yet she still believes in ‘the One’. And the latest addition to the posse, Caro, is a lawyer with a dry sense of humour who likes to wet-her-whistle often. Together they unpack the serious issues of life: relationships, careers and good food! When Libby moves to Paris, her new tidda is Canelle, a sleek-bobbed black woman from Guadeloupe with a passion for bling, who ups the fashion-and-fella-anti!

2. A COMPLETE LIFE: Libby has her core group of friends and an active Canberra social life. She has a healthy long-distance relationship with her mum and five brothers in Moree. She’s got a tertiary degree and has excelled in her job as Manager of Educational Programs at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra. Libby isn’t that interested in children just yet, but loves her two cats – Bonnie and Clyde. She’s fit from running and riding her bike around the streets of Braddon, on a total man-fast and is grateful for her complete life, until…

3. PITCH FOR PARIS: Libby is grateful her Pitch For Paris – to work at the stunning Musée du Quai Branly – is successful. She gets to do what she loves best: promoting Indigenous arts, this time on the international stage. But once arriving in the city of love with its cravats, culture and classy men, the ‘man-fast’ isn’t that easy to stick to. But she’s grateful that at least she’s a long way from home… and so no-one will ever know what she gets up to, or will they?

4. NUDE POETS: Libby is grateful to a new friend, Ames from Burgundy, because he introduces her to the revolutionary Maximilien de Robespierre. But the most revolutionary thing about their English and French poetry readings is that they are all done in the nude. Libby says: ‘I liked the feeling of freedom in being without clothes just for the sake of it.’

5. MOULIN ROUGE: Libby goes to the Moulin Rouge with staff from a job she ends up doing through the Australian Embassy. While she gets a tad jealous of the barely covered dancing girls, she’s grateful she won’t have to do any can-can moves to impress her fella. She simply says she can’t can’t and won’t won’t.

To find out more about Anita, visit www.anitaheiss.com and http://anitaheissblog.blogspot.com/ I’d highly recommend going to one of her events – you’re guaranteed a fun evening.

Thanks for dropping by, Anita, and wishing you every success. xx

‘Living in a flat in the city it is almost impossible to have a sense of connection to place’ Tim Flannery

‘a still–Volcano–Life’ Lyndall Gordon quoting Emily Dickinson

‘the frontiers of consciousness, where words fail, but meaning still exists’ Lyndall Gordon quoting T.S. Eliot in his essay ‘The Music of Poetry’ (1941)

‘We don’t need more intelligence, we need more empathy.’ Tim Flannery

‘Depression is the refusal to mourn.’ Dorothy Rowe

‘We have a brief period of historical co-existence [between the book and the e-book] that is almost over as we speak.’ Geordie Williamson

‘Books are how I learned to manage solitude.’ Lev Grossman

‘Gaelle learns she doesn’t have to accept the gifts that have been bequeathed to her, but the worst thing is to remain silent. “Sometimes the stories that have to be told are the hidden ones.”’ Natasha Lester, talking about her book, What is Left Over, After

‘There’s a paradoxical unity of past, present and future. They are all ghosts. The present is always abandoning us.’ Jon Bauer

‘Give oneself permission not to know where something is going, and try to find the strength in that.’ Gail Jones on writing

‘If the past is where the pain is, visiting the past is also where the healing is… healing is the hand I want to hold to walk boldly into the future.’ Jon Bauer

Finally, Jon Bauer answered one audience member’s question in a way well worth noting. When asked about how to move a piece of writing forward, he said he wanted to respect the fact the writer was lost and struggling, as we all are at times in writing, and therefore he wouldn’t answer the question in order to empower the gentleman to find his own way through. Such an eloquent way of encouraging a writer to keep reaching for their own authentic, unique voice.

I came away feeling reasonably positive. James Bradley noted that, as happened with the music industry, the restructuring of the book industry would engender a new wave of creativity. Lev Grossman suggested that the new technologies need not mean the death of the old ones, but rather the advent of something ‘more complex and interesting’. And Angela Meyer proposed that the bookstores who prevail will be the ones who create a culture around themselves, such as the Readings chain in Melbourne (which I’m excited to be visiting for the first time next week). Geordie Williamson observed that we may end up seeing a more diverse industry, akin to the way things operated before conglomerate consolidation.

One question raised was whether the enhanced e-book is a good or bad thing – or indeed if it is possible to authentically translate all books into standard or enhanced e-formats.  I loved Lev Grossman’s statement that ‘just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should’ (something that sprang to mind again as I looked longingly at the scones in my local cafe this morning). Geordie Williamson’s related comment, that in our excitement we may begin to see technology as a virtue in itself instead of a tool, also rang bells with me – because my fiction books are written with the aim that I want you to lose yourself in them. I don’t want you to pause to click on words to find out their meaning unless you absolutely have to. I don’t want your e-reader battery life to run out just before the final chapter. I don’t want you to accidentally press the wrong button and find yourself reading a random page. I guess in some ways my novels (and, heaven forbid, me?!) are a little bit old school, so I’m happy I am writing at a time when I can see them in print.

I got home that night and saw on Twitter that the publishers of the Oxford dictionary have conceded there is no point in publishing the printed version any more. From now on it will be online only. I thought of my enormous dictionary in the study, which I frequently don’t bother to haul out, since I can look up a word much faster on the internet. And yet… to flick through page after page of minuscule text and find random words you never knew existed … to be able to feel the English language as a weight in your hands… The loss may not be registered by future generations, but at that moment I began to feel it.

However, on the panel, James Bradley told us that Socrates apparently deplored the coming of the written text as he said we’d no longer have to remember things. It’s a reminder that many fears prove unfounded, and that change, loss and adaptation are part and parcel of life. So while I may get nostalgic for the vanishing worlds of this wonderful business, I’m also looking ahead with optimism and excitement at what may come next, and enjoying being part of it all.

I’m delighted to welcome Nicole Alexander, author of the bestselling debut novel The Bark Cutters (Bantam 2010), which I had the  true privilege of reading before it was published. Her travel, poetry & genealogy articles have been published in Australia, America and Singapore and her first volume of poetry, Divertissements-Love·War·Society (Kre8 Publishing) was published in 2008. Nicole is the business manager on her family’s rural holding north west of Moree and is a regular contributor to New England Country Living Magazine. A Changing Land, her second novel, has just been published, and is already climbing the charts. Over to Nicole to tell us more:

When I signed my contract with Random House for my rural novel, The Bark Cutters, I hadn’t planned on writing a sequel. I was still getting over the excitement of landing a major publishing contract when the publisher said they would like one. However as the initial contract was for two books I excitedly wrote a one page synopsis and sent it off. Then reality set in. I had twelve months to write it. Twelve months less the editorial process involved in turning The Bark Cutters from manuscript to novel form, twelve months less a month touring for the first novel, less my normal work commitments on the property where I live 110km northwest of Moree in north western NSW.

While the concept of bringing two novels out in quick succession in order to cement your reading audience makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective, from the author’s perspective suddenly your days are measured in terms of how many words you put down on paper: In an hour, a day, a week. Eventually I wrote A Changing Land in eight months. Along the way I suspect I wrote and deleted approximately thirty thousand words, suffered from cramping in my fingers and right hand, developed a healthy fondness for merlot and became acutely conscious of how much faith a publisher must place in a new fiction writer. Publishers invest many hours and thousands of dollars in establishing new authors and I’m sure Random House were holding their collective breaths hoping I wasn’t a one book wonder. So was I!

Luckily they liked A Changing Land. The writing of this novel was made easier as I already knew the world my story was set in. I knew my environment. I can still mentally wander the landscape that is Wangallon and I can draw a mud map in the dirt as to the exact location of the Wangallon homestead, creek, aboriginal camp and river. I could envisualise my characters talking to each other and through them the plot gradually unfolded, a natural progression of the original story. The environment was so real to me I could smell it and I realised how important it is to know your created world even better than your real one, for otherwise how can you make it believeable?

For those of you who have not read The Bark Cutters, A Changing Land is a stand-alone work. You can certainly pick it up and be thrust into the continuing legacy of the Gordons. So for a brief story rundown it is about four generations of a rural family, the Gordons. The work has an interweaving narrative with the story split between 1909 and 1990.

It’s 1909 and Hamish Gordon has a large rural holding built on stock theft. Determined not to bow to his wife Claire’s genteel need for respectability, he embarks on a final stage of land acquisition. His ruthless plan, triggered by an antagonistic English neighbour nearly destroys Wangallon and has serious repercussions eighty years on.

In 1990 after the death of her grandfather and family patriarch Angus, fourth generation Sarah Gordon now runs Wangallon with her fiancé, Anthony. Their relationship begins to deteriorate when a power struggle develops between them, Sarah’s problems escalating with the arrival of her Scottish half-brother. Jim Macken is intent on receiving the thirty percent share of Wangallon bequeathed to him by Angus. Stunned by her grandfather’s will which effectively destroys the family legacy of a strong succession plan, Sarah discovers that Anthony has embarked on a project that will ultimately change the face of the property forever. Unable to buy Jim out and with the possibility of losing one third of Wangallon, Sarah finds herself fighting the law, her half-brother and her beloved Anthony.

Sarah knows she must continue in her forefathers’ footsteps, however has she the same unescapable Gordon qualities that will ensure both her and Wangallon’s survival.

I’m touring NSW/QLD to chat about A Changing Land during March & May (while trying to write book 3!) so please visit www.nicolealexander.com.au for details or contact me through my site. Enjoy!

Thanks for popping by, Nicole, and wishing you the best of luck with your novels.

I was particularly interested in sessions concerning the natural world. I have found myself becoming increasingly drawn to and protective of untouched landscapes, and I’m fascinated and terrified by the commentary of some front-line thinkers and researchers on the state of the planet. In a session on landscape, Annie Proulx talked about how her surroundings inspire her, saying, ‘there’s something about striding out and looking at far distances that sets the mind on fire’, while Tim Flannery gave the best description of climate change I have ever heard, and I think most others agreed, as he got a major round of applause in the packed Octagon Theatre. In essence he explained that the earth goes through a predictable 100,000-year warming/cooling cycle, but what is happening now is a warming spike caused by man rather than the normal pattern of nature. As a result, the seas are predicted to rise one metre in the next ninety years. If they rise just half of that, then we can expect to see major events such as flooding, which have so far occurred approximately every hundred years, happening every month or up to ten times a month. I repeat: ten times a month. If that isn’t an impetus to look carefully at what we are doing at all levels from superstructure to personal, I don’t know what is.

Later in the day I listened to Tim again, this time with Dorothy Rowe, someone I’ve always admired for her ability to examine and explain the more difficult and disturbing sides of human nature. Her latest book, Why We Lie, looks at why we hide from unpalatable truths, such as the scale of climate change we could be facing. She was marvellous to listen to, and I was very moved by her comment on mourning and grief being the great themes of human literature. ‘If you love other people you will suffer loss. And if you want to avoid loss you will be lonely. To be a human being is to choose between these two.’ It could have been demoralising, but these speakers all talked with open minds, passion, and a brilliant sense of humour, and what came across most in the sessions is that while we can be ambushed by our fears and our feelings of helplessness in the magnitude of the problems we’re faced with, the irrepressible spirit of Hope keeps on finding a way through.

I’ll be writing more about the diverse range of PWF events later in the week, but tomorrow I am delighted to welcome Nicole Alexander, who visits my blog to talk about her new book, A Changing Land.

BUSY WITH… Promotion for Beneath the Shadows. So far I have visited three gorgeous independent bookshops and four libraries proudly supported by Dymocks, and met lots of lovely people. I have only noticed one person nod off briefly during my talks (FTW!), and I think I managed to speak fairly coherently to a brilliant turn-out of 80 at one of my local libraries, Joondalup, on Tuesday night.

THINKING ABOUT… Natural disasters – surely everyone is due for a break right now. My heart goes out to those who has been affected this past month, whether by fires and storms in Perth or the earthquake in Christchurch. I first saw the terrible news from New Zealand on twitter, and it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t a good idea to watch streaming coverage. I’ve been very interested in the subsequent debate about how the media should/shouldn’t report such events, I think it’s a really important issue but a difficult one to resolve. If you are interested, check out these two articles by Jonathan Green on ABC’s The Drum, and the response from Lyndal Curtis on the same site.

READING… I am alternating between Lauren Oliver’s Delirium, and Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace is Every Step (I’m a big fan of the Buddhist monk/Zen master genre!). I’m also desperate to get back to The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.

WRITING… I’ve been working on an article about London-inspired books and films for the holiday goddess travel book that will be out later this year (www.holidaygoddess.com). It’s been a wonderful piece to research, and as a result I now have an extra-long list of books to read and films to watch.

PLAYING… I’ve been building a lot of towers in my spare time, with an array of multi-coloured blocks. I’m busy trying to teach my daughter to understand that ‘per-pol’ is not the default colour of everything, and loving all the new words she comes out with every day.

I love thunderstorms. To me they represent unbridled power and helplessness all in one. The power they produce, we humans can’t harness, which makes us at the mercy of the storm, therefore the power/helplessness.

Thunderstorms always seem – well on the coast, anyway, to be in layers. First of all there is the high, white strips of cloud that streak, in wisps, across the sky. As the storm starts to stream in over the hill, huge indigo coloured rollers make us stop and watch. I’m often unable to tear my eyes away from what is about to happen. Lastly, and this does really only seem to happen on the coast, the cold, scuddy, murky grey clouds seem to come up from the sea and lay across the menacing clouds, giving the storm three sections.

And then as these clouds roll through, we wait. The sky darkens, the atmosphere, the humans and stock all tense in anticipation.

At the first crack of thunder we all jump, even though it’s expected, the lightning sheets across the sky or forks and hits the ground. Again we hold our breath, watching for fires, but when the rains start, we laugh and lift our faces to the heavens. No fires, nothing destructive, just life-giving rain.

Creating a book is much like this, believe it or not! The book holds the all the power and, as the writer, I feel helpless, until the setting and characters emerge and introduce themselves to me. It starts in layers, the first one being the setting, like the high clouds, it doesn’t do much, but it creates the atmosphere. For me, as both a reader and a writer, I want to be immersed in the place that the story is being told. I want to breathe the air my characters are and see the things they do.

The second layer is the plot. The very thing that gives the book the control to draw the reader in.

The third layer is the characters. They are what makes the book – who they are, how does their setting effect them, make them the people they are and have the relationships they have. Now my issue is getting it all to mesh together, weaving the suspense and action into normal peoples lives. It takes time and it can be frustrating, but as it all comes together, then comes the anticipation – what is going to happen next, we’re all waiting…

Bang! A thunder clap – or a pivotal point in the book.

Lightning strike – gasp, hold your breath! Is there going to be a ‘fire’?

Then the rain is the ending, we’re happy to see it because now we know what is going to happen, why it did and how we got to the finish line.

So to me, writing a book is a lot like a thunderstorm; a rollercoaster of emotion, plots, characters and settings. Although sometimes frustrating,  I love every minute of it!

I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for visiting, Fleur!

I’m delighted to welcome the lovely Lisa Heidke to my blog. Claudia’s Big Break, her most recent bestselling book, is a hilarious and heartwarming read that I couldn’t put down. I asked Lisa what she thought were the linking themes running through her work so far. Over to Lisa:

I have written before how my characters are formed first before I consider plot but I have been forgetting a crucial element, theme.

The theme in Claudia’s Big Break — women, generally in their thirties, who are at a cross roads in their lives —is a theme that runs through my other two books, Lucy Springer Gets Even and What Kate did Next as well.

When starting a new manuscript, I’ll think about the general theme and develop it more specifically, for example infidelity and its’ repercussions, and then create a character to embody that crisis. Whilst the characters in every book are very different, they are all struggling with real issues women face such as aging, betrayal, divorce, teenage sexual awakening, career frustration, loss of independence, friendship, etc.

In each of the novels, the characters start in a difficult place but by the end of the 85,000 words they are on their way to resolving those issues. They are not going to lead perfect lives but the characters have developed the strength and determination to keep going and moving forward in a positive direction.

I always write in the first person so while developing Claudia, Kate and Lucy’s stories, I imagined living inside their heads to make their personalities, motivation and dialogue as emotionally authentic as I could.

While Claudia is the main character in Claudia’s Big Break, the story revolves around the relationship between three long-time best friends: Claudia, Tara and Sophie. All are in their thirties and are struggling with personal issues: Claudia has a less than stellar career and love-life, Tara is trying to overcome personal demons so she can finish writing her novel, and Sophie is dealing with the transition from corporate lawyer to stay-at-home mother.

What excited me about writing this novel was creating the intricate and often tricky relationship these women have, and playing that out against the idyllic Santorini back drop.

With What Kate did Next, the focus is very much on Kate and her coming to terms with the fact that the dreams she had at twenty are no closer to becoming a reality as she approaches her thirty-sixth birthday.

Lucy’s husband in Lucy Springer Gets Even walks out on her in the first sentence, so her journey starts in a very bad place, that of being totally blindsided and having to rebuild her life.

I can’t see the general theme of my books changing. I like writing about women, what drives them to succeed (or fail), how they react to adverse situations and how, even though they may start from a dark place, their strength of character pulls them through in the end. My characters generally aren’t going to get ‘the happily ever after’ of fairytales, but I hope that they are interesting and inspirational regardless of how flawed they appear.

You can find out more about Lisa at www.lisaheidke.com. Thanks for visiting, Lisa!

E-books are on the up, and they have risen so quickly that when we were negotiating my first publishing deal the e-book portion of it proved a little bit tricky, because we were all still getting to grips with the ramifications of the format. Traditional book formats are expensive at RRP – and many of my readers are happy to tell me they got my book out of the library. I don’t mind this at all (I get some books out of the library too), and writers do earn a little bit from library borrowings. Nevertheless, I made more in my final year of editing than I have done in my last three years of writing combined, and soon I will probably need to supplement my writing with another source of income. 

It seems that for everyone in the book business it’s time to adapt in order to survive. I hope as many as possible make it through to the other side, and that diverse, original, independent booksellers can tough it out against the big discounters. And I hope that all writers, published and those to be published, can ignore this horrible blip in the business and pursue their ideas wholeheartedly, because surely, at some stage, things will settle down, and earning a living this way might get a little easier. In the meantime it’s a pleasure to be part of the book-business community, because I’ve met (or cyber-met) so many superb, supportive people in the last couple of years: booksellers, authors, readers, agents, journalists, salespeople, librarians, editors and publishers. Good luck to every one of you, and here’s to a brighter day tomorrow.

It is both daunting and exciting to be very close to moving on from projects that have consumed the last few years of my life. I can’t wait to write something new, but thinking about what I hope to achieve next has led me to some reflection on what my overall goals are in my writing. Many aspects of my writing lend themselves to lots of other books too – most of us are touching on universal themes of love, friendship, journeys, psychology, freedom, fears and longing in one form or another. But I’m very interested in examining the psychology of traumatic events, and the different ways people try to cope with what fate deals them. I want readers to grow attached to my characters – not necessarily agree with them, but certainly relate to them, and recognise aspects of them in themselves or others.

I love to tell stories through the medium of suspense, with compelling chapters and twists and turns, because it’s what I want to read –there’s nothing better than a story that grips you. All that drama! The biggest compliment you can give me is saying you couldn’t put my books down – I want to grab my readers, pull them into the world I’m creating and completely absorb them until we’re finished. I hope I’ve achieved that in my first two books, but there is still plenty more to come.

Then, in the middle of the month, a big box of finished copies of Beneath the Shadows arrived. What an amazing thing it is to hold my own finished book in my hands. It’s almost surreal turning the pages and remembering how this bit came about or what made me write such and such. I am very lucky that Random House have done such an amazing job of putting it together – fantastic cover, editing, and extras.

In the back, there is a small section called ‘Acknowledgements’. I have made a rule that I only put in names of people who have directly helped me out with each book, because I don’t want to go over the top. But perhaps I should, because when I looked at that little piece, I couldn’t help but think of some of the names that are missing. There are many people whose different contributions to my life make them all indirect contributors to my books being written and published. Some of them live next door, others interstate, and more on the opposite side of the world, but they have all been champions of my writing, my family, and me personally. And I am very, very grateful.

I would also like to send my thoughts and love to the people of Queensland who have been dealing with the devastating events of the past month. Amid the tragedy there are always stories of such courage that it puts everything else into perspective. It’s very humbling watching people from all walks of life responding with unwavering energy and purpose, and in my field there have been a number of authors whose efforts are raising thousands for the relief effort. They are Kate Gordon, Fleur McDonald, Katrina Germein and Emily Gale, who organised the Authors for Queensland auction, now well on the way to a $20,000 total; and Rebecca Sparrow and the Queensland Writers Centre, whose project www.writersonrafts.com is still going strong. You can visit and enter the prize draw for only $5 a ticket, earning the chance to win a whole host of fantastic prizes from some amazing writers.

So now we’re into February – and Beneath the Shadows is beginning to reach the shelves. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to talk about at the end of this month!!

Sara F x

Why does inspiration never strike at a time when I can write it down?

I blame my children for this – they’ll end up blaming me for almost everything when they’re older so I might as well get in first. Except that, in this case, it’s true.

 Having recently had the luxury of nearly a whole week to do nothing but write, courtesy of my lovely husband who subjected himself full time to the 3 cherubs, I have discovered that I get the best ideas in the most uninspiring places. Places where there are no pens. And even if there were, it would be impossible to write anything down.

 The first day inspiration struck in the shower. I was washing my face and the solution to a major plot problem that had been niggling me for months suddenly and perfectly appeared. Short of inscribing myself with shampoo, there was no way to make a note of the idea. But I’ve learned that if I don’t write it down, I won’t remember it later. So I had to chant it in my head – Dan gets run over, Dan gets run over – while I jumped out and dried myself. My mental monologue was interspersed with shouted directions at the children: ‘Your headband’s in the doll’s cradle’ – Dan gets run over – ‘Your shoes are in the fridge’ (don’t ask) – Dan gets run over. I’m just lucky that, when I got to my study, I didn’t end up writing in my notebook: Dan runs over a doll with the fridge.

The next day we were at the Disney Live concert surrounded by a million mini Cinderellas and my two year old needed to go to the toilet. While I was holding her on the toilet seat, more inspiration struck. This time a brilliant plot twist that I knew would make the book impossible to put down at the critical halfway mark. ‘Please hurry, darling,’ I begged, desperate to get out of there and back to my notebook and pen. ‘But Mummy,’ she piped up, ‘I shouldn’t rush. I need to get it all out.’ Of course my oft-repeated advice, which was never remembered if she was in the middle of jumping on the trampoline, was thrown back at me the one time when rushing would have been very welcome.

 The day after that, the ideas came while I was driving on the freeway. No way to jot things down at one hundred kilometres an hour and I’m sure it wasn’t quite the emergency that the stopping lanes were designed to accommodate.

 Later, I realised that the reason I keep finding inspiration in unlikely places is because they are quiet places, places where the kids are either absent or silent – shower, toilet, car.

 I wonder whether this means that the ideas are there all the time but I just don’t hear them, drowned out as they are by the four year old yelling at the two year old, ‘She took my Barbie,’ and the baby delighting in his new found ability to shout Mum-mum-mum at the top of his voice.

 So my New Year’s Resolution is this: to somehow build a quiet moment into every day. The girls received a cubbyhouse for Christmas so perhaps I need to rig up some kind of lock on it – not to lock them in but as a place for me to hide! I know I won’t be lucky enough to dream up a new story idea, solve a plot problem or come up with an unexpected twist in every quiet moment, but the important thing is, I’ll be ready, pen and paper in hand, if the ideas do choose to come.

Natasha Lester lives in Western Australia and is the author of What is Left Over, After, winner of the TAG Hungerford Prize, published in 2010 by Fremantle Press. Check out her website, www.natashalester.com.au, or visit her blog, While the Kids are Sleeping.

Since I always want more time to read, it has been great to have such a flexible and portable way of accessing a book. But the rise of the e-book has brought with it some very serious concerns. Bookstores are struggling to maintain a viable market share; publishers are worried about maintaining control of rights; and authors are concerned about impacts on sales and royalty rates. Meanwhile, what is happening to the art of reading itself? Because that cold, hard little phone screen doesn’t encourage me to savour each word in the same way a softly turning page might give me pause. With an e-book you no longer hold a complete work in your hands (does this make the story itself less tangible?). Instead, you can simply switch your book off – or, when you are in the middle of a particularly moving passage, a message pops up over the top reminding you that your battery is dying.  

No, I might venture into e-books now and again, but I desperately need their printed older brothers and sisters to survive too. Let’s hope they can eventually be friends and work together.

Watching the King’s Speech last week served as a great reminder of how quickly things change. All those nervous comments about broadcasting being rather dangerous and distasteful seem so innocent now. And yet, back then, how long would it have taken to get word out about the terrible flooding in Queensland, and all the help needed? In fact, technology has been an incredible ally in the past week, and it’s been inspiring to watch everyone supporting each other.

I’d love to hear what other people think about the rise of e-books. In the meantime, happy reading everybody, in whatever form it takes!

To donate to the Queensland flood appeal, go to http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html, or check out some fantastic fundraising initiatives set up by writers:

Authors for Queensland: http://authorsforqueensland.wordpress.com/ Signed copies of Come Back to Me and Beneath the Shadows are on there, as well as a fantastic array of signed books, and other writing and reading related services and ideas. You can even bid to get a character named after you in upcoming novels!

Writers on Rafts – Rebecca Sparrow and the Queensland Writers Centre are putting this together, offering more chances to win an amazing host of writing/reading prizes for a small entry fee. Details to follow soon, but you can read about it now on Rebecca’s blog.

PS Look out for the lovely Natasha Lester, my very first guest blogger and author of the fabulous What is Left Over, After, who’ll be featured here next week.

It’s a question I am asked regularly. And my answer is ‘everywhere’. Considering my profession is writing, I spend much more of my time thinking about what I might write rather than actually noting it down. I am a compulsive thinker – not just that, but I like to replay, analyse, deconstruct, reconstruct, rewind and fast-forward. Occasionally I might even add a soundtrack. I find it difficult to switch off the whirring of my brain, though I have trained myself to get better at it, and my thoughts are widespread and random. I wonder what the cat is thinking on its morning prowl around the back garden. I wonder who made all the things in my house, which hands these objects passed through, and how curious it is that through them I am connected in some small way to hundreds of other stories I won’t ever know. I wonder who first thought of putting vinegar on a potato chip, or chilli in chocolate, and whether they received the recognition they deserved. These thoughts and others zip through my head all day long, and when I’m building a story, occasionally something will linger for a moment, and I’ll connect it to a character, and it eventually becomes part of my book. That’s if I can stop my thoughts long enough to find a pen and write them down. I often seem to have my best eureka moments just before I fall asleep, which is an endless source of frustration. I’m either constantly switching the light on and off to make notes, or trying to repeat ideas like mantras so I might remember them in the morning (which I rarely do).

I can’t ever imagine running out of inspiration, because I can’t see that I’ll ever run out of these streams of questions. And somewhere within my fascination with them, and the possible answers to them, is the place where a story begins to form.

For me and my family, this month has been a blur of Christmas preparations, culminating in a wonderful week in Singapore. You can’t fail to get into the Christmas spirit there – it seems everyone has wholeheartedly embraced the festival, and the kids are treated to all sorts of rides, shows and activities. The schoolchildren singing carols in our lobby on Christmas Eve were particularly special. My only low-light was seeing shark fin soup in so many restaurants on Orchard Road. We’re shark fans in our family – in fact, two of the highlights of my life were seeing hammerhead sharks on a dive in the Galapagos, and swimming with whale sharks in Exmouth, WA. Many ocean and conservation experts tell of the plight of sharks and the ecological disaster that is unfolding as they begin to disappear from our seas. Turning the tide seems a daunting task but a critical one.

The New Year has also brought me a new-look website, a new blog … and, soon, a new book! Beneath the Shadows hits the shops in just a few weeks time, and I’m excited, nervous, and busy working on promotion. There will be a dedicated web page for the book on the Random House site that includes a short film, a trailer, an extra chapter, and background to the book, which will be going live in just a few weeks. In addition, I am doing events in the west in February and the eastern states in March – all details will be advertised on my site.

The wonderful team at www.holidaygoddess.com have a beautiful travel book coming at the end of this year too, and I’m very excited to be part of that project. Plus, there’s an idea that I hope to turn into a book draft by the close of 2011. Phew, it sounds busy – but then that’s just the way I like it.

From now on, I will be blogging regularly on writing, reading, and life in general…and I hope to have some guests dropping by to say hello too. Please follow me on facebook or twitter for regular updates.

Wishing you all the very best for 2011.

Sara F x

North Yorkshire moors November 2010

November has been a blur of travelling, mostly racing around England. The somewhat rushed hellos and goodbyes with family and friends we haven’t seen for years make these trips a bittersweet experience, but it was wonderful to see everyone. And it seems we have a toddler who was born to travel – hurrah!  

While we stayed with my husband’s family in North Yorkshire, I had the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere of the moors again. We spent some time filming a few of the places mentioned in Beneath the Shadows, and my talented brother-in-law is busy editing the footage, so I’ll let you know when it’s ready to watch. I can’t believe we missed the snow by only a couple of weeks!

While I was in the UK I went through the final proofs for Beneath the Shadows, and the book is being printed as I type. The editing process has seemed gruelling this time – though I suspect I’m becoming ever more of a perfectionist and having trouble letting go. But now I can prepare for the excitement of finished copies – one of the most deeply satisfying moments of the whole process.

North Yorkshire moors, beginning of December 2010

So it’s time to get ready for promotion. I will be out and about in WA in February and planning a trip to the eastern states in March. Watch this space for events near you. There are also a few other exciting things in the pipeline, including two overseas deals for Beneath the Shadows, which I can’t wait to tell you about when they’re finalised. And, as you can see, my website changes are progressing and will be finished by the New Year.

Finally, I attended the ‘Save the Kimberley’ rally at Cottesloe on Sunday 28 November. It was a great turnout, but the people involved need everyone’s support in stopping oil companies from destroying one of the great last pristine wildernesses. Go to www.savethekimberley.com, or the websites of the Wilderness Society and the Conservation Council of WA  for more details as to how you can help.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Sara F x

However, next on the agenda, the Foster family are heading back to England for a holiday. I apologise to any of you unlucky enough to join us on the journey, as I get the distinct feeling we will be the ones chasing an over-excited, over-tired toddler up and down the aisle for the duration of the veeeeeerrrrry long flight. During the time we’re in the UK we will be heading to the North Yorkshire moors, the setting of my new gothic mystery suspense, to catch up with family. And while I’m there I’m planning to take footage of the area to get you all in the mood of an English winter amidst a dark and forbidding landscape…

Meanwhile, my website is currently undergoing some changes , and I can’t wait to unveil its fresh look and layout. If you haven’t already, please sign up and follow me on facebook or twitter for instant access to all my news updates.

Sara F x

The joy of reading is that it’s such a personal experience. We form relationships with the characters we read about, and we have our own reactions to the journeys they are on, which are interlinked to our own feelings and experiences. Stories are places of freedom, of escape, and of personal interpretation, so it’s a sad state of affairs when any kind of snobbery begins to try to dictate our reading passions. Besides, sweeping whole genres into generalised definitions is plain daft. I’ve read some brilliant chick-lit that has had me crying with laughter – Watermelon by Marian Keyes springs to mind. I’ve also read plenty of books in the same genre that I thought were a load of old rubbish (and will therefore remain nameless!). It’s the same with ‘lit fic’ – I’ve waded my way through a few prize-winning, critically acclaimed doorstoppers wondering why I felt compelled to waste my time; and yet other books have had me in awe – Swimmer by Bill Broady, and Beloved by Toni Morrison are two of my all-time favourites. But I should add that I did my dissertation on Beloved. It was by studying it that I got such a lot out of it. In fact, I think I gave all my friends copies of Beloved for Christmas that year, and, in hindsight, since most weren’t doing English degrees they would probably rather have had the latest Bridget Jones.

Wouldn’t it be great if all types of writing could simply co-exist and try not to squabble? But it’s unlikely, isn’t it. Life just isn’t like that, at least not yet. In the meantime, I have made a conscious choice to try to write the kind of books I love to read. And there is nothing I enjoy quite as much as a spine-tingling mystery with characters you can’t stop thinking about. If that makes my stories your guilty pleasure, then so be it. I promise you’ll get your money’s worth!

http://nicolealexander.com.au/2010/09/sara-foster-on-the-difficult-2nd-novel/

I’m also hoping to revamp my website a little over the next couple of months, so keep checking in and I’ll keep you posted…

On the top is A Mercy by Toni Morrison. I wrote part of my Bachelor of Arts dissertation on Beloved, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I admire Morrison, but I wouldn’t call her stories easy reads. With this one, the haunting lines that close the first chapter will see me through to the end of the book on their own. Underneath A Mercy is The True Story of Butterfish by Nick Earls, which I’ve only just started, but it’s good and I’m keen to keep going. Next comes a children’s book – The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis – which I’m reading because a) it is set in Yorkshire, England, and b) on the cover is a brilliant but terrifying picture of a black barghest (a black dog that is legendary in the area). Both Yorkshire and the barghest also feature in my upcoming novel, Beneath the Shadows, and I want to see what Jarvis has made of them.

Halfway down the pile is Mandela, which is there because I watched Invictus the other day and wanted to find out more about ‘Madiba’.  And below Mandela are two books a friend lent me: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak and The Observations by Jane Harris. Pretty much everyone I know has raved about The Book Thief, while I’d never heard of The Observations. When I’ve finished them, I’ll report back on both.

I always have some kind of inspirational reading by my bed too. At the moment there is an old book called the Handbook for the Soul, edited by Richard Carlson & Benjamin Shield, and a recent book called The Shift by Wayne Dyer (who I saw speak in Perth on Saturday, and who was tremendous). I love these kinds of books as they inspire me and challenge me to keep thinking about things differently. Alongside those I’ve got Karma Kids, because I’m keen to instil some Buddhist values in my daughter at some point, perhaps in a few years’ time when I can slow her down for a few seconds! And I’m also gradually making my way through two Lonely Planet books – a guide to Wildlife Travel Photography, and A Year of Watching Wildlife – because in my dreams of an ideal life I’m often in the middle of nowhere, stalking something with a camera.  

And, finally, last night I added my own Come Back to Me to the pile. The smaller paperback edition will be coming out in February along with Beneath the Shadows, so I thought I’d better refamiliarise myself with my old friends!

And that’s it…! It’s messy, I know, but at least it means I can choose just what I feel like reading on any given night. And I’ll get through them all…as long as they can keep close to the top of the pile. Because I was in New Edition bookshop in Fremantle yesterday, and there were thousands of undiscovered worlds wrapped in shiny covers, all calling out to me…

So, when submitting your work, to give yourself a head start you need to make your book stand out. Why does the publisher HAVE to read it? (If you’re not sure, how can they be?) Why do you believe in what you are doing? What is it about this book that warrants the attention of the book-buying public? If you are able to provide an agent or publisher with this kind of information BEFORE they look at it, then – as long as they are enthusiastic, of course – you’re a step ahead.

How can you make a potential agent or publisher want to read a script? It’s a big question, and you should take your time and consider your approach. First and foremost you need to stop thinking like a writer and start thinking like a marketeer. Can you condense your story down into one or two awesome sentences? If you can, you’ve developed a pitch, and depending on the policy of the publisher/agent in question, you can use this to get people interested – either on the phone or via cover letters/emails. I realise this can be scary, as you might get an immediate no. But the pitch will remain important right through to the book-buying stage, because in this frenetically paced market you never have very long to grab anyone’s attention.  Don’t start pitching until you’re ready, as a publisher isn’t going to take very seriously the person who develops a new pitch every few weeks. They want to know you are focused and serious about what you are doing.

Do you know which market you’re aiming for? Have you thought about how your book will compete with others on the shelves? Why is it different? Why will readers pick up your travel book on Rome rather than the Lonely Planet’s? If you can give a publisher answers to these kinds of questions (without them having to ask), you will pique their interest. Otherwise, if such questions come up and you have no reply, you will look naïve.

Look at submissions policies very carefully and use them to your advantage. A script that comes in clean, tidy, correctly formatted according to guidelines, and with a concise covering letter will get more attention than the dog-eared, single-spaced tome with a rambling two-page explanation. Are there small embellishments you can use to draw people’s attention – artwork, for example? Be careful with using unusual fonts – only attempt it if they fit the kind of book you are working on, and remember they must still be easily readable. If you make the presentation too much of a challenge for a publisher, you are shooting yourself in the foot before you’ve begun.

Can you do anything else differently to get people’s attention? Your ploys need to be subtle, as at this stage a busy agent/publisher is doing you a favour by reading your work. When I worked in-house we would get writers ringing up demanding why we hadn’t yet got to their synopsis and outline, and that didn’t go down well. Never mind the writing, who wants to work on publishing a book with a stroppy, argumentative author. If you haven’t heard anything for a while, keep your inquiry courteous. You can remind them why they really should read your book, but be careful how far you push.

The submissions stage is one where books and dreams are made or broken. Success is a combination of skill, perseverance, patience and good fortune (and much more besides) - but the only way the final line is ever drawn is the moment you give up. Good luck!

I am a little ashamed to admit that this is the first Tim Winton I’ve read, since he is perhaps the most prestigious author in my home state of WA. I have long had Cloudstreet and Dirt Music on my list as well as this one, but when a friend suddenly gave it to me all other books were cast aside. I read it in a couple of days, and while it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, on reflection I think it was better. I am regularly disappointed by lauded, award-winning books – perhaps the hype kills them for me. Yet Tim Winton’s prose here is beautiful, stark and spare – it’s to-the-point, incisive fiction. The subject matter and the plot didn’t grab me all the way through, but the writing did – Winton absolutely lives and breathes his characters. I’m really looking forward to Cloudstreet now.

NB: At the moment, Save Our Marine Life (Australia)’s page on facebook features an open letter from Tim Winton about the importance of marine conservation. It’s well worth reading.

I had heard lots of good things about this book, but the subject matter didn’t automatically appeal so I took my time in getting to it. However, I’m really glad I did – the characters and the circus jumped right off the page and every time I picked it up I was absorbed. Highly recommended.

So, while I’ve been taking a break, I’ve been dabbling with my bookshelf on goodreads.com.  I now have an author profile, which I’m still working on, and you’ll find my latest book reviews on there as well as on this website. You’ll notice they all tend to be rather positive, but I often don’t finish books I’m not enjoying, and as a result I don’t feel entirely qualified to comment on them! I’m currently reading and loving Water for Elephants, so you can expect another positive review soon!

Lately, quite a few aspiring authors have asked me for advice on what to do when you feel your novel is ready to go out into the world. So, while I have some downtime, I’ll shortly put up a blog or two with some general advice and information. Good luck to you all. Book publishing is a tough world, but it’s a very exciting and fulfilling one too, and I love being part of it.

I’m still busy with the structural edit for Beneath the Shadows, hoping to be finished by the end of the week. As an editor myself, I take the editing stage of publication very seriously! It’s been a long, involved process, but I am working hard to make the book as beautiful and enjoyable as possible. I can’t wait to see the typeset pages in a few weeks.

Every year my family goes out onto the Indian Ocean to watch the whales travelling down the WA coast on their annual migration. Sometimes we’re lucky and a whale comes to investigate the boat, or flings itself joyfully out of the water nearby. I am one of those whose life has been deeply affected by the contact I’ve had with these magnificent creatures – ever since I had the privilege of scuba diving at close quarters with a minke whale ten years ago on the Great Barrier Reef. So this week I’ll be watching events in Morocco, as the IWC meets to discuss whaling. The strides forward that many people around the world have campaigned tirelessly for are now threatened, with deals for the resumption of commercial whaling on the table. I firmly believe that whaling has no place in a progressive future for the world, and I hope that compassion and conservation rather than commerce win the day. 

On a lighter note, I’m also avidly watching the World Cup, and with my dual loyalties hoping that both the Socceroos and England can make it through the group stage. They’re certainly making us sweat…!

I have long been a fan of Maggie O’Farrell, as her first book, After You’d Gone, ranks as one of my all-time favourites. In this, her latest work, her writing is mesmeric, and I was captivated from start to finish. Such overt manipulation of narrative voice is difficult to achieve without losing the reader, but O’Farrell is fearless, and as a result The Hand that First Held Mine is a wonderful, unique piece of fiction.

I enjoyed this, although not as much as The Shifting Fog, which was by far my favourite read of 2009. Kate Morton is a master of original and evocative descriptions of people and places, not to mention time shifts, and the book moves easily between different decades. Considering how many threads she was tying together she did a great job of keeping me focused. I love the fairy tales running through the book too, which really bring the story to life. Would definitely recommend this one.

My passion for the sea and marine life meant I was thrilled on Friday, when the Australian government announced they would press ahead with legal action to try to stop whaling in the Antarctic. It’s been a long time coming, but hopefully this will prove to be a true step towards change. Of course, the real celebration will come when whaling actually ends for good.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, with its superb build-up of tension, and glorious writing. However, I didn’t feel it lived up to its promise, and petered out at the end. A shame after such a great start.

Beneath the Shadows is currently at the structural editing stage. So we’re looking at things like how the chapters work, both on their own and with one another; whether the characters are developing fully; if there are gaps that need filling, or sections that need paring back. So wish me luck, and I’ll post some updates on how it’s going.

I’m always eager to read a book I’ve heard a lot about, and this one didn’t disappoint. An absolute page-turner that draws you in from the start, I read it in one sitting, and was only disappointed when it finished. Looking forward to the next one!

This was on my reading list for ages. It took me a little while to get into the characters, but once I did I really enjoyed it, and there were a few laugh-out-loud moments. A compelling exploration of the evolution of a relationship while trying to find one’s way in life beyond the university years – some of it disconcertingly familiar!

This blog also appeared on the Random House ‘Random Blogs’ website on 9th April 2010

I was recently asked advice on how to become a published writer.

Here’s my take on what it takes:

Originality
In general, the more original your concept, the better. But originality must still be able to be placed within the market. Sometimes what’s original to one person can be just a bit too way out to the next reader, so don’t go too far. Alternatively, you may want to follow a trend – vampires, anyone? – but you still need an original take on it. And you need to get the timing right, so the market isn’t oversaturated by the time you finish your book.

Determination
You have to really want to succeed, be prepared for knockbacks, not get bogged down in them but use them to make you stronger.

Stamina
First of all to finish the book. An enormous feat. Then to go over and over it yourself, figuring out how you can make it better. Then to allow other people to do the same.

Enthusiasm
To learn from those who have been there. Listen to published writers. They can give you so many ideas, and to hear them talk is often inspirational. No one begins life as a published writer, they were all once in unpublished shoes, without exception. Read lots of books. They all have something to inspire you – even if it’s only, ‘I could do better than this!’

Listening skills
Listen to critique. While it’s great to wholly believe in what you have written, it’s also good to remember that your readers might just have a point. Try to look dispassionately at your writing, and pay particular attention if you hear the same comment more than once, even if it’s not what you want to hear.

Insight
Put yourself in a busy publisher’s shoes. They have thirty manuscripts. Four meetings that morning. Which should they pick up? I can guarantee you that it will usually be the one sent with a bit of razzmatazz from an agent. So then perhaps you should find an agent. If you decide to go this route, put yourself in their shoes. They have thirty manuscripts. Four meetings that morning. Which should they pick up? The one that’s double-line spaced, interestingly presented, with a quick-to-grasp concept. And a covering letter that stands out. From someone who phoned or emailed first with a great, succinct pitch (although do check what type of contact each agent prefers before doing this)? Or the single-spaced scruffy sheaf of papers, appended to a meandering cover letter, from a person they’ve never heard of or from. I know which I would choose.

And finally: Passion
For the written word. For writing for writing’s sake, not just for publishing’s sake. Because that joy and commitment will be immediately recognisable to the reader, and there is little more compelling than that.

An older version of this blog also appeared on the Random House ‘Random Blogs’ website on 8th April 2010

For me, for a long time my writing was my hobby, and as such I would get through everything else first, promising myself writing time later, as some kind of reward. However, it’s far too easy for that time to never arrive. It was only when I dedicated myself to finishing Come Back to Me at the end of 2007 that I really made the strides forward that I needed to then pursue publication. Now I do try to schedule time to write, but it’s not always easy. I have an active one-year-old little girl, all the general aspects of life to keep going, and my husband would quite like some attention sometimes too, I think. I have just finished my second book, and managed it by making the most of the time my little girl was asleep or my husband was here to care for her, as well as having the help of a wonderful childminder for a few hours a week. (Also invaluable was a well-timed visit by my mother!) Although I used to write at all hours of the day, for now I have to make the most of this dedicated, limited time. I usually have lots of scribbled notes to work through by the time each session comes around, as when I’m busy on other things I still make sure to make notes on ideas so that I can refer back to them later.

As with many other writers, it may well be necessary for me to continue my day job of editing to make a living. Then I will not only have to remind myself to make time for my writing, but to work hard to make sure that time actually happens. When the task at hand seems enormous, I also remind myself to just make a start, and that if I keep doing that every day, one day I’ll reach the finish line! And, if I don’t find the time I need, I may have to look hard at the things I am making time for. I once heard a popular fiction writer in England talking about how if you just turned off EastEnders, a prime-time soap opera that runs for half an hour four nights a week, and used the time to write, in six months you would have a book.  It’s worth thinking about.

This blog also appeared on the Random House ‘Random Blogs’ website on 7th April 2010

For the past eighteen months I have been telling family and friends that my book will be published. Before that I was just ‘writing a book’ – an oft-heard phrase. I think many of them have grown so used to hearing about this mythical book that it will actually be quite a surprise when they see it on sale. However, waiting for family and friends’ reactions is in many ways as daunting as waiting for the reviews. Because they read it from a different perspective, knowing me and my story. And because I can’t scrunch them all up and throw them in the bin if I don’t like what they say! Although, I’m not sure I can even trust their feedback – after all, I don’t think I would tell anyone I was fond of that I thought their book was a load of rubbish – at least, not if I wanted to remain on speaking terms.

I also realised a while ago that there’s another potential problem with having people I know read my book. I’m not sure if it’s a bigger problem for me or for them really. The question is: how many of them will be looking for themselves somewhere inside the pages? Sure enough, when my mother had finished reading Come Back to Me, one of her first comments was that she hoped the character of Chloe’s mother wasn’t modelled on her! I was pleased to reassure her that it wasn’t the case. None of my characters have been modelled on anyone I know, though no doubt at times I have drawn on my own experiences with people to help me to look further into a character’s actions and motivations. But it’s very general – believe me! Although perhaps I should do a quick friend tally now, and see if anyone stops speaking to me in the next few months – the reason why, whether valid or not, might just lie within the pages of my novel.

This blog also appeared on the Random House ‘Random Blogs’ website on 6th April 2010

It is always interesting to see how writers respond to editorial guidance. Some are completely open to suggestions, others are not, and there’s a third category who seem to be keen for a critique, but then either don’t like the reality, or don’t seem to alter anything much as a result. What many writers appear to get stuck on is the ‘Well, I like it’, or ‘It has to happen because…’ response. A writer becomes so attached to a piece of writing, or a certain event in their plot, that they will hold on to it come hell or high water. But I believe that the more malleable you see your work, right up to the point it becomes set in print, then the more likely you are to create a better book. This doesn’t mean you have to follow any or all editorial suggestions, because ultimately, and quite rightly, the author has the final say. However, it is worth remembering that editors are there to help you produce the best finished product you can, not to ruin your treasured script! Therefore their comments should not be dismissed too lightly.

That’s the theory, anyway, coming from an editor’s perspective. But how did I go as a writer? Well, I had this experience with Come Back to Me. The book had a prologue, which was the very first thing I wrote for the novel, and I loved it. Every time I reread the prologue, it made me think that maybe, just maybe, I could get this thing published. So when the script came back with a big pencil line streaking across the first page, I did have a bit of a gulp. And, if I hadn’t had an editing background, I would have probably argued passionately for it to remain – because I loved it. However, the thing is, while I felt it was a fine piece of writing, it interfered with something more important: it delayed the real start to my story. So when I’d had a few minutes to think about it, I knew the editor was right. The prologue was a personally beloved part of an earlier draft, but it didn’t belong in the finished piece. So out it went. And the book is better for it.

This blog also appeared on the Random House ‘Random Blogs’ website on 5th April 2010

I find it very easy to lose myself in my writing, and once I do, I often feel more like an observer within the story rather than its creator. On coming back from one of these reveries it can seem like I’m waking up, since I’ve usually forgotten where I am. During these times, one of the absolute pleasures I get from writing is when my characters turn around and do something completely unexpected. When I was working on Come Back to Me, my husband would give me the raised eyebrow on occasions where I would excitedly announce that ‘Wow, my character did something so strange today… it took me completely by surprise’, or, ‘I found out something I never knew about my character today’. And I don’t blame him – depending on how you look at it, this sounds anything from a little bit pretentious to borderline insane. However, I’ve heard many other writers talk about experiencing the same thing. I’m inclined to believe that it happens when your imagination is firing so well that the process of creation is occurring spontaneously rather than through concerted effort. This doesn’t happen to me all the time, but it does occur now and again – and then I find my stories going off in directions that I’m quite sure were not in the original concept.

However, on evaluating such occurrences, while sometimes I love them, at other times it looks more like my characters have just been having fun running amuck in my head upon realising I’ve let them loose. Which is why it is great to be able to put my editor’s hat on again, and examine just what these new events are doing for my story. Ultimately, are they contributing to it, or taking it off on too much of a tangent. Because now and again it’s not a bad idea to remind my characters who’s boss.

I was lucky enough to see this debut fiction novel before it was published. An engrossing multi-generational saga set around Wangallon, the Gordon family homestead, this multi-layered story of romance, risk and family secrets by Nicole Alexander, ‘Australia’s Newest Bush Storyteller’, is highly recommended.