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Can you give us a brief biography and tell us about your path to publication?
I was born in South Australia’s Riverland and grew up in Melbourne and Adelaide. As a mature aged student, I graduated from Adelaide Uni with a Masters in Creative Writing and along with being a very inspiring course, this helped to kick start my writing career. I worked as a TV researcher and a business writer and this led to me editing and publishing two books based on TV programs ‘Postcards’ (Wakefield Press 2001) and ‘Moments in Time’ (ABC Books 2004). I started writing the manuscript for ‘Memoirs of a Suburban Girl’ about four years ago; successfully applied for a residency at Varuna, The Writers’ Centre, and finished my manuscript while I was there. Later that year I entered it in the Adelaide Writers’ Week Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and was shortlisted. Wakefield Press offered to publish it after that. In actual fact, it was a long journey to publication. I’m 50 this year and I’m so happy that my first novel has been published.
Memoirs of a Suburban Girl is based on your experience of living with domestic violence as a young woman. Did it start out as a memoir and turn into a novel? Did you find it hard to write about such a difficult topic?
I always knew I would write about my experiences one day but I didn’t want to write a factual memoir. Somehow I wanted to express what it’s really like to live with domestic violence, so once I’d found my protagonist’s ‘voice’ I just kept going.
The writing process was difficult at times, and yet it also set me free. My girl has a black sense of humour despite her circumstances and this helped me to keep writing her story, and pushing her on to find a way out.
Has anything about the publishing process surprised you?
It takes a long time from the first ‘yes’ to publication date. Initially, all I could think of was ‘When is my book going to be published?’ I learnt that the editing process is as important as those first few drafts if you want your book to be the best that it can be.
What does your average day (or week) involve?
Paid work, parenting, housework – all the usual – and when I can squeeze in some time I write. I tend to write in blocks when I have the time, then I’ll do nothing for a while. However, if I can’t write, I read or watch a film. I love stories.
Are you a planner/plotter or a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ type writer?
I dream of being one of those organised writers you read about who sits down every morning and writes for four hours. That doesn’t really fit in with my life right now, so I just go with the flow.
What question would you most like to get asked in an interview?
Who is the most famous person you have ever met?
Answer: Prince Charles (I wrote that into my novel)
What’s the most important tip you’ve been given/read about writing process?
‘Hate writing. Love having written.’
‘Writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.’
Both of these remind me that you’ve got to be prepared to the do the hard yards. Writing takes work.
Do you have a favourite saying, motto or mantra?
‘We read to know we are not alone’ from the movie ‘Shadowlands’ (CS Lewis biopic)If you could have any job in the world (other than an author) what would it be?
I’d love to be a singer but I can’t sing for peanuts.
What can we expect next?
I’m working on another novel – too early to tell where it’s heading.
Do you have any ‘Need to Read’ recommendations? If you had a premonition you’d be stranded on a deserted island what five books would you throw into your bag?
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt
Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
The Spare Room – Helen Garner
The World According to Garp – John IrvingAre you a member of a critique group or writers’ centre?
SA Writers’ Centre
What are you reading at the moment?
I just finished The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and loved it.Do you have a favourite song lyric? What is it?
‘There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.’
From Anthem by Leonard Cohen
What websites or blogs do you visit regularly?
Goodreads www.goodreads.com
ANZ Litlovers http://anzlitlovers.com/
Ancestry www.ancestry.com
Want to know more? Check out these sites.
http://www.debkandelaars.com/
http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=916&cat=0&page=2
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