What inspired the idea behind this book?
Whenever I’ve talked to people about my fear of flying and how desperately I wanted to overcome it so I could become a foreign correspondent for the ABC, they are fascinated. Mostly because they could see the irony of someone terrified of getting on a plane considering a dream job was to fly around the world. Also my friend Leigh Sales has often remarked that my childhood growing up in country Queensland would make for good material. I had thought for years about writing a book but never had the time or the courage and when I returned from my last overseas posting and was interviewed by ABC Radio’s Conversations program I finally thought it was time to write my own story. Hachette’s Louise Adler gave me that courage.
What was the research process like for the book?
Because it was a memoir a lot of the research involved going back over old photos and emails. But I also started making contact with people who had been around for significant moments. I had a lovely zoom call with the psychologist who created at the fear of flying course I did. And I spoke with a photographer who I hadn’t seen for 25 years who had been present on a particularly challenging assignment. Everyone was so generous with their time and their thoughts and memories even if they were difficult ones and I will be forever grateful to them.
If I looked at your internet history, what would it reveal about you?
That I love parkrun – the free weekly 5km run/walk that takes place every Saturday around the world. More than 3 million people take part and it’s the most amazing community. So I would probably have been searching for the latest news on parkrun. My internet history would also reveal plenty of use of google maps because I’m still relatively new to Melbourne (given that most of the year was spent in lockdown so I couldn’t go anywhere anyway) so if anyone suggests meeting up I say ‘great’ and then immediately have to search for the suburb name because I have no idea.
How does it feel to hold your book in your hands?
I’m not ashamed to say I cried with happiness. It was so much work and to see the end result and how beautifully everyone at Hachette had made it, well, it was very emotional. I also wished that mum and dad had been alive to see it. The copy I saw was in boxes from Booktopia. They’d sent them to me to sign since I couldn’t fly to Sydney because of the lockdown to do the traditional signing. The building manager where I lived offered to bring them upstairs once his staff were back from their lunch break and it seemed to take forever. I didn’t want to say ‘but I need them now!’ – but I was so desperate to hold one in my hand for the first time.
What’s some great advice you’ve received that has helped you as a writer?
I listened to a podcast that Mia Freedman did with author Sally Hepworth and it was so good. Sally said she would get out of bed and write a few hundred words before she even had a cup of coffee or tea and then if you wrote nothing more for the rest of the day you’d at least have those few hundred! I abided by that advice each day. I also soon realised I couldn’t write during the week after getting up at 3am for ABC News Breakfast. I put a bit of pressure on myself over that but finally decided it would just have to be a weekend activity. And on weekends I would write for 5 or 6 hours. There were some days that I just didn’t feel inspired at all and other writer friends said not to force it, just step away. And that seemed to work for me.
Cant wait to read Your Story……Your ease to ‘just be’ inspires me to fly.