What inspired the idea behind this book?
Every book I write, everything I’ve ever written begins with a landscape. For Stone Town, it was when I was walking in the bush near my house, a beautiful, forested area of stringy bark, red gum and ironbark, and I got the fright of my life when I saw a man with binoculars standing quietly behind a wattle. He was a birder, but of course my mind went wild with possibilities. I was already thinking of writing something about the role of older women in small country towns, and when this happened – in a bushland dotted with mine shafts, I merged the two.
What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
Definitely the fact that it was the second one! After the success of Cutters End, I did initially feel a certain pressure to follow it up with another bestseller. I no longer had the luxury of writing without expectation or deadlines and I found it difficult to relax into the writing. After a month of trying, I decided that the best way for me to write was to try to free myself of all those things and just work as I always have, with little planning and with no assumptions about how well it might be received. It was an enormous relief and immediately, I began to enjoy the process once more.
Do you write about people you know, or yourself?
My characters are a mix of personalities and traits that I see in people, there is no one character based on one person. For example, my main character, Mark Ariti, shares traits with my husband, my brothers and even my teenage sons – but he is not one person. My mother’s name is Helen, but she’s not the same as Mark’s mother Helen. I chose that name because of Helen of Troy and Mark’s Greek connection, which Mark is beginning to find more about in Stone Town. I’ve lived in country towns for most of my life, and there are some wonderful personalities that I draw on.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring authors what would it be?
I would suggest entering writing competitions. Having deadlines and wordcounts can be really helpful – and if you are longlisted or shortlisted, then it is terrific for your confidence. If you win, you’ll be able to add the achievement to any agent or publishing enquiry which is always a good thing. If you don’t win anything, you will still have a bank of writing to draw inspiration from, to edit, to improve, to share with friends. There are so many wonderful writing comps in Australia.
Are you able to switch off at the end of the day? If so, how?
I work as an English teacher during the day, so in the evening it’s my chance to write. On weekends, if I’m in the middle of an idea, I’ll write whenever I can. It’s the same with holidays, which my family sometimes frustrating. However, my writing process is such that I can go weeks without writing anything at all, so at those times I am easily switched off. Too much probably.
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