What inspired the idea behind your book?
Everything I’ve ever written is inspired by a landscape I’m familiar with. For Cutters End, it was the Stuart highway, for Stone Town it was the old mining settlements around Burra, SA and for Broken Bay, it is the Limestone Coast of South Australia. My parents and other family live in South West Vic, so this is a place I know well. The cliffs, the stunning beaches, the moonah hugging the shore, and of course – those sinkholes. There are around 50 known sinkholes on the limestone coast, and probably more that most of us will never see. They are amazing, these brilliant pools of water, gateways to a subterranean world. The sinkholes of the Limestone Coast are well known as some of the best cave diving sites in the world, but if you are driving past the paddocks of cows and farmhouses – you’d never know they exist.
How could I resist? I love this area.
What’s your daily writing routine like and what are you working on at the moment?
I’m a Year 12 English teacher and I work 3 days a week, so my writing routine can be a bit haphazard with the marking and so forth, however I do like a deadline. I find that when I need to crack down and get writing, I do it in big spurts. I’ll do nothing for three weeks, and then I’ll write like crazy every day and get 20,000 words written. One day, I would like to be in a position to be able to write full time, but I think that will be when my three sons are independent, so it’s a few years off yet.
Basically, I try to write on my two days off – I get up early, go for a walk in the bush and then write. Often I have other things going on, like editing, or promoting my other books, or day to day stuff – but I have the deadline firmly in my head and I find I write well under pressure.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring authors, what would it be?
I know it’s a given to most writers – but the first thing I would advise is, to read. Read, read, read and in every genre, all the time. I don’t know how anyone could be a good writer if they don’t read. My second piece of advice would be to enter writing competitions. They force you to write to a deadline, to write to a wordcount and to be reminded of an audience. If you are long listed, shortlisted or win – then your confidence will be boosted in a massive way. You’ll also have a back log of stories to draw from when you come to write other things.
Who are some of your favourite authors?
I have loads! Off the top of my head: Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Sebastian Faulks, Donna Tartt, Tim Winton, Cate Kennedy, Barbara Baynton, Annie Proulx, Shirley Jackson, A.S. Byatt. I used to love Georgette Heyer and Victoria Holt novels. I picked up ‘The Black Moth’ the other day and could not put it down. What a cracker!
Does the creative process get easier for you with each book?
Broken Bay is the third of the Mark Ariti novels. I don’t think it gets any easier. I still have to work out the plot, the characters, the journey. I still throw thousands of words away, I’m always adding and discarding. However, I’m pleased to say that I still love writing. Everytime I sit at my dining room table to write I think how lucky I am. It may not get easier, but really, it’s a joy.
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