Briefly tell us about your book.
The Second Son has been described by Anna Downes as a ‘modern-day Godfather’ and I’m running with that because…who wouldn’t? The Novaks live a life of crime. It’s a family affair. But when the eldest son is gunned down in the street, the second son, Johnny, has to step up and avenge his brother’s death. Johnny’s wife Amy wants them to break away from the family to protect their son. Where does Johnny’s loyalty lie? As the violence escalates, will Amy stay? And what is the dark secret she carries?
What inspired the idea behind this book?
Johnny Novak was inspired by the stories my Croatian husband told me about his teenage life, growing up on the mean streets of Western Sydney. Thinking about these stories, I wondered what it would be like to be born into a crime family. How is life different when you’re a teenager in a gangland family? Are you learning how to set up a protection racket and use all the guns in the family arsenal? What if you married outside your clan? Is it possible to leave a life of crime, to become a normal family man?
Amy was inspired by events in my own life, although she’s much braver and taller than me! Writing from her point of view allowed me to speak from the heart. Do we all know the feeling of being an outsider? And most mothers know the ferocious desire to protect their children. But what if you’re also carrying the guilt of a terrifying secret? How far does your love and loyalty to your partner go? Writing this book was a constant process of asking myself questions.
Do you write about people you know? Or yourself?
Like Amy, I’m a nice middle-class Aussie woman who was probably destined to marry a stockbroker or a lawyer and bring up children in a leafy suburb. Instead, I veered right off track, had a varied and somewhat strange career and then married a career criminal! To be fair, he was trying to go straight. The marriage didn’t work out, but it was interesting. I took notes. In my new career as a novelist, all my experiences allow me to jump into the shoes of my characters.
Now I’m married to a man who was destined to be a criminal, but who somehow managed to change his fate. He made a conscious decision to pivot away from what seemed like the easy path towards crime. He’s lived a very interesting life: every time I drag another story out of him, I take notes. I’m fascinated by people who change their destiny—just like I did.
If I looked at your internet history, what would it reveal about you?
It would appear that I am either a gun-crazed maniac or a drug dealer. How much cash can you fit into a Nike duffle? How many ecstasy pills fit into a Ziplock sandwich bag? How do I test the quality of ecstasy? Which guns don’t have safeties? Why did Yugoslavia disintegrate during the civil war in the 1990s? And what is the most popular sniper rifle in history? Oh, and cricket. Amy goes to watch her young son’s cricket match, and I knew nothing about the game!
What are you hoping the reader will take away from reading your book?
I hope my readers curse me for keeping them up at night reading when they should be sleeping. And I hope they find my cast of characters fascinating. I wanted to write an action thriller and ended up with a mix of genres: action thriller, murder mystery and psychological thriller. A book about different types of families. Most of all, I hope my readers find The Second Son entertaining and that they look forward to the sequel.
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