Author Interview

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Interview with Australian Author – Kimberley Anne

“Australian Authors” – Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Kimberley  – I was never overly interested in reading until I was gifted a Kindle. When I have some spare time I like to write poetry

“Australian Authors” – What made you want to become a writer?

Kimberley – Reading romance novels on my Kindle and thinking I could do the same.

“Australian Authors” – What gives you inspiration for your book(s)?

Kimberley – Wanting to write like my favourite authors.

“Australian Authors” – Now, the big question, are you working on another book?

Kimberley – I am working on the sequel to my first novel. Blackout is the first in a series of six books.

“Australian Authors” – What genres do you prefer to write in?

Kimberley – I write romance novels, though I would like to one day write a crime novel.

“Australian Authors” – What do you think about the ebook revolution?

Kimberley – I wouldn’t have gotten into reading as much as I have without ebooks being available.

“Australian Authors” – Do you start a book with a definite plot, or do you just write?

Kimberley – I write what I’m thinking in the moment, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t usually do any planning.

“Australian Authors” – Pen or type writer or computer?

Kimberley – Computer.

“Australian Authors” – Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or are you always in control?

Kimberley – I’d like to believe I have control of my characters.

“Australian Authors” – Are your characters based on real people or completely imagined?

Kimberley – My characters are completely imagined but there are pieces of me in my characters.

“Australian Authors” – Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Kimberley – The writing group I’m apart of has talked about doing a collaboration.

“Australian Authors” – Who are your favourite authors?

Kimberley – Marian Keyes, Kathy Reichs, Tee O’Fallon and Sybil Bartel.

“Australian Authors” – What’s your advice to Authors? On writing? Publishing? Marketing?

Kimberley – Be brave, follow your dreams you never know where they will take you in life and don’t be afraid to reach out to other authors to ask them about their experiences.

Author Interview

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Interview with Australian Author – Sara Powter

“Australian Authors” – Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Sara – I’ve been tracing my family history since I was eight and my mother and I came across so many amazing stories they were too go to ignore. many are now novels.

“Australian Authors” – What made you want to become a writer?

Sara – I only started writing during COVID-19, so I could finish my mother’s last story. Sadly, she died before it was finished. It inspired me to keep writing…

“Australian Authors” – What gives you inspiration for your book(s)?

Sara– The trauma and trials of our Australian Convicts are so often belittled. However, although many had a horrible time in irons, others took the opportunities they were given and turned their lives around.

“Australian Authors” – Now, the big question, are you working on another book?

Sara – Yes, of course! Many of my stories follow the handcrafts of the women of the era. This current one is about Jams and preserves.

“Australian Authors” – What genres do you prefer to write in?

Sara – Australian Historical Fiction – set in Colonial Times.

“Australian Authors” – What do you think about the ebook revolution?

Sara – It’s great … now. I was hesitant at first – but I have been won over. However, I still like real books, too!

“Australian Authors” – Do you start a book with a definite plot, or do you just write?

Sara – No, although as I write with real history as my background, the outline is often already there. Various governors and surgeons’ journals are online for free and with access to TROVE, the details are easy to access.

“Australian Authors” – Pen or type writer or computer?

Sara – Computer all the way – and LOTS of sticky notes, too.

“Australian Authors” – Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or are you always in control?

Sara – Occasionally – I have one die that I had no intention of that happening.

“Australian Authors” – Are your characters based on real people or completely imagined?

Sara – 50/50. Many of my characters are historical fighters, but the others are fictional, woven through history.

“Australian Authors” – Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Sara – I did- I finished my mum’s book, but no – not anyone else.

“Australian Authors” – Who are your favourite authors?

Sara – Marcus Clarke (For the Term of His Natural Life), Catherine Gaskin (Sara Dane), and so many others, but I’ve fallen for Téa Cooper’s books too.

“Australian Authors” – What’s your advice to Authors? On writing? Publishing? Marketing?

Sara – Keep going! But unless you are experienced, don’t try to edit while you are writing… they use different parts of your brain.

Author Interview

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Interview with Australian Author – Desley Allen

“Australian Authors” – Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Desley – Now retired on the Sunshine Coast, I was born a wanderer, having lived in New Zealand for 2 years, Kenya for 10 years and did the grey nomad thing around Australia for 3 years. During my life I have lived permanently in 50 houses so an expert packer and regular thrower outer.

“Australian Authors” – What made you want to become a writer?

Desley – Since a little girl I loved writing. Using words to transcribe the wonder of the world around me. My ambition was to see the wildlife in Africa and having attained that I felt compelled to write and share the untold stories of the people I met there and the misadventures I encountered on my travels.

“Australian Authors” – What gives you inspiration for your book(s)?

Desley – Nature – an awe-inspiring sunset, sounds of a million birds nesting in the trees, satiated lion cubs unable to lift their tummies off the ground. People – they’re unique stories, quirks and foibles, what makes them tick. Negotiating the pitfalls and pleasures of living in the third world in a cross-cultural marriage.

“Australian Authors” – Now, the big question, are you working on another book?

Desley – Yes. A children’s book based on kids going to live in Africa with their family to live in an orphanage and share the everyday lives of the children who make balls out of string and cars out of wire coat hangers.

“Australian Authors” – What genres do you prefer to write in?

Desley – Autobiographical Sometimes historical.

“Australian Authors” – What do you think about the ebook revolution?

Desley – It has opened up the world for many readers not able to afford paper books. Also for authors who can now self-publish and see their works of art in digital print form. They don’t smell as nice as when you open a book, or the rustle of turning pages, but certainly save on buying new bookshelves, let alone dusting them.

“Australian Authors” – Do you start a book with a definite plot, or do you just write?

Desley – A bit of each. A rough skeleton. A jigsaw puzzle of bits and pieces to fit into the story and the ending you are heading towards.

“Australian Authors” – Pen or type writer or computer?

Desley – Computer

“Australian Authors” – Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or are you always in control?

Desley – Oh. My characters are really my other skin at times. Always top of my thoughts. Too real for comfort.

“Australian Authors” – Are your characters based on real people or completely imagined?

Desley – Sometimes real people heavily disguised. Maybe characteristics of several. Or they take on a different personality altogether. All my baddies are made up.

“Australian Authors” – Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Desley – No. A new and different concept for me to get my head around.

“Australian Authors” – Who are your favourite authors?

Desley – Australian authors who paint a picture of early historical settlements in the country, with wonderful never-to-be-forgotten characters. Outback stories that depict the everyday life in our vast rural areas. Tales featuring whacky people and woven around towns and places I have visited already or maybe will never visit. Authors who transport my living breathing self into their stories. One favourite is Susan Duncan.

“Australian Authors” – What’s your advice to Authors? On writing? Publishing? Marketing?

Desley – It’s a huge learning curve and I still have a long way to go because it turns into a circle and you never get to the end. Take advice, research, learn, but most of all just do it. Mistakes are the stepping stones to success.

Author Interview

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Interview with Australian Author – Jennifer Lancaster

“Australian Authors” – Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Jennifer – I am a farm girl from New Zealand and I was always a good speller!

“Australian Authors” – What made you want to become a writer?

Jennifer  – I started my journey by writing about personal finances because I wanted to help people avoid the types of scams that I fell into with an off-market investment.
I also found out other ways that salespeople convince us to hand over our money, and wrote about critical & creative thinking in Creative Ways with Money.

“Australian Authors” – What gives you inspiration for your book(s)?

Jennifer  – After learning all about an area, I find out the most important things to focus on, and thought “may as well put that in a book for others to learn more”. It took ten years to learn about small business marketing, so I documented many of the tips I learnt along the way.

“Australian Authors” – Now, the big question, are you working on another book?

Jennifer  – I have just launched My Personal Brand, and the other one in the works is part memoir, part mid-life lessons.

“Australian Authors” – What genres do you prefer to write in?

Jennifer  – How To and Personal Growth

“Australian Authors” – What do you think about the ebook revolution?

Jennifer – It is convenient to some, but this depends on your reading habits and eyesight. I make ePubs with Calibre or at Amazon.

“Australian Authors” – Do you start a book with a definite plot, or do you just write?

Jennifer  – I have a rough outline

“Australian Authors” – Pen or type writer or computer?

Jennifer  – Computer, but for some ideas at night I use a pen

“Australian Authors” – Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or are you always in control?

Jennifer  – N/A

“Australian Authors” – Are your characters based on real people or completely imagined?

Jennifer  – N/A

“Australian Authors” – Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Jennifer  – Nor really. I would only join an author who can write really well as I would end up being the editor otherwise

“Australian Authors” – Who are your favourite authors?

Jennifer  – Jack Canfield, Bob Bly. Fiction: Judy Nunn, Cathy Kelly, Tricia Springer, Graeme Simsion

“Australian Authors” – What’s your advice to Authors? On writing? Publishing? Marketing?

Jennifer – Always put your best foot forward! Let multiple people read your manuscript, don’t get put off if they have some unexpected feedback, and remember to have a launch plan with some social media ideas that go beyond your book cover and content.

Author Interview

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Interview with Australian Author – Travis James

“Australian Authors” – Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Travis – For someone who nearly failed English in school and can honestly say that I had never read a book from cover to cover until I was about twenty years old, writing a novel was the last thing on my mind. I never sent cards at Christmas or birthdays, always preferring to phone my messages because I could never get my words out on paper.

“Australian Authors” – What made you want to become a writer?

Travis – In my late twenties, as I lay in a hot bath daydreaming one evening, for some unknown reason, I just had to write my thoughts down. At the time, I was working as a carpenter six days a week, ten hours a day. Despite my physical exhaustion, I hand-wrote about four pages every night for several weeks. After about one hundred and twenty pages, I realised I had the makings of a novel, so I bought a second-hand laptop and have been tapping away ever since. Thirty-odd years later, I have completed eight novels.

“Australian Authors” – What gives you inspiration for your book(s)?

Travis – ESCAPE To Patonga
I was working as a real estate photographer, living in Umina Beach. One day an agent rowed me across Patonga creek to photograph the shack. Yes, Patonga is a real place, and it is exactly as I described it, including the shack. I stood on the deck looking out over the water and had the thought, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to escape to”. I turned and took the photos I needed and never gave it another thought until a few years later when I sat down to think of a story for a new novel. I added a second thought, “And wouldn’t that cause a lot of intrigue amongst the villagers across the creek if a lone male stayed here during the off season.” Bang! There was my story. I could see it all in an instant.

“Australian Authors” – Now, the big question, are you working on another book?

Travis – I’m editing my 8th book which I first drafted in October last year. It will be the second to be published, hopefully later this year. After a ten-year break from writing, I started with a scratchy plot and then…BOOM! Six weeks and 60,000 words later I reached the end. It literally fell out of me. I’m currently up to the fourth edit and it has grown to a tidy 82,000 words. ESCAPE To Patonga in about 100,000 words. I’ll need to go through it a few more times before sending of to the editors. But it’s getting close now.
As always…Stay tuned.

“Australian Authors” – What genres do you prefer to write in?

Travis – Literary Fiction

“Australian Authors” – What do you think about the ebook revolution?

Travis – Loving my Kindle Paperwhite

“Australian Authors” – Do you start a book with a definite plot, or do you just write?

Travis – The first six morphed into existence – some I started with an idea, others I had an ending idea. ESCAPE To Patonga with the first that I wrote out the entire plot first, character profiles and chapter list. I pretty much followed the plot with only a few minor deviations. After dozens of edits, rewrites, and timeline straightening, it was still basically the same story. I did the same with my latest book and it flowed out of me so much easier and will definitely follow that technique from now on. That’s not to say that my earlier works are no good. I intend to revisit them and lift them to a publishable standard over the coming years. Stay tuned…

“Australian Authors” – Pen or type writer or computer?

Travis – Lenovo laptop

“Australian Authors” – Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or are you always in control?

Travis – Oh the character write the story, no question. Just try and stop them. Thankfully they know their place in the story and don’t deviate too much.

“Australian Authors” – Are your characters based on real people or completely imagined?

Travis – Every character has a little of me in them, male and female. But mostly I do think of movie stars rather than friends or family to base them on.

“Australian Authors” – Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Travis – Um…no?

“Australian Authors” – Who are your favourite authors?

Travis – Wide and varied. Usually the one I’m currently reading.

“Australian Authors” – What’s your advice to Authors? On writing? Publishing? Marketing?

Travis – Don’t pay for a ‘Publisher’. They will take your money to publish a book that they will think will make them look good. Self-publish – it’s not rocket science.

Author Interview

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Interview with Australian Author – Karen Turner

“Australian Authors” – Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Karen – When I’m not writing I love to run and keep fit. My favourite event is the Melbourne half-marathon as it finishes with a lap around the MGC. I drink too much coffee and eat too much chocolate. I have been a very strict vegetarian for over 30 years.
I have a lead-lighting studio at home and make some nice things, although I’m not very artistic. I love making chocolates and spend a lot of time playing with colours and decorative techniques, with hand-made fondant fillings in different flavours.
I speak Italian and get together (via Zoom) with a group each week where we speak Italian, and discuss current affairs, politics, books, work, movies – anything really. No English allowed! When in Italy I volunteer at an animal shelter twice a week. The centre relies totally on public donation so I use my dual-language skills to chat with visitors and explain the work the shelter does.
In terms of my writing, I’d been working in corporate writing and financial services for many years, but began writing short stories in 2009. I then published my first collection All That and Everything. and many of the short stories went on to win literary awards! It was the start of a brand new direction for my life!

“Australian Authors” – What made you want to become a writer?

Karen – I’d wanted to be a writer since I was a girl. I used to write little books telling stories about my family, pets and friends, illustrate them very badly, and keep a collection of them on a bookshelf

“Australian Authors” – What gives you inspiration for your book(s)?

Karen – When I was 19 I moved to Yorkshire, England to live with my grandmother. We lived in a small rural village and I fell in love with the history, countryside, lovely country homes and villages. My novels were entirely inspired by my memories of living where you can physically touch history!

“Australian Authors” – Now, the big question, are you working on another book?

Karen – I’m currently working on a book called Fever which will be set in the Victorian goldfields.

“Australian Authors” – What genres do you prefer to write in?

Karen – My books have been classified as both Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction – although I have quite a few male fans which surprised me! I love these genres, I think it’s the history that attracts me, and I’m a bit of a romantic at heart so my books will always have that element too.

“Australian Authors” – What do you think about the ebook revolution?

Karen – As a writer, I think eBooks are a great opportunity for writers to reach more readers as eBooks are so quick and easy to buy. As a reader, I love them for the same reason. The books are so accessible, and since they’re generally cheaper, I’m not putting so much at risk when trying out a new author. I’ll never forget finishing a book while sitting on a train. I’d loved the book so much that I immediately downloaded the sequel and continued reading. It was the coolest thing!

“Australian Authors” – Do you start a book with a definite plot, or do you just write?

Karen – I’m a Pantser, so the story develops as I write. Oh, I know the basics: where it starts, what happens, how it ends – the milestones – but I don’t know the parts in between that make the story … well, the story.
I know I’m making progress when I fall in love with my protagonists, admire their better qualities, become frustrated with their human foibles.
I celebrate their wins and lament their losses. I take the journey with them as they move through their world, and then I write what I’ve seen and heard, inviting my readers to take that journey too…

“Australian Authors” – Pen or type writer or computer?

Karen – I’m a Pantser, so the story develops as I write. Oh, I know the basics: where it starts, what happens, how it ends – the milestones – but I don’t know the parts in between that make the story … well, the story.
I know I’m making progress when I fall in love with my protagonists, admire their better qualities, become frustrated with their human foibles.
I celebrate their wins and lament their losses. I take the journey with them as they move through their world, and then I write what I’ve seen and heard, inviting my readers to take that journey too…

“Australian Authors” – Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or are you always in control?

Karen – The characters always seem to be in charge, and tend to cause some trouble as I’ve tried to work out whether the character should be reined-in or would the reader be worse off. In my second novel, Inviolate, I was writing away and suddenly realised a major character was about to die and I hadn’t seen it coming. I had to go make a coffee and decide whether I should force the story in another direction or let the character carry on their path. I’m not telling you what the outcome was – you’ll have to read it for yourself.

“Australian Authors” – Are your characters based on real people or completely imagined?

Karen– Completely imagined, although my character Patrick in Torn and Inviolate had the most amazingly green eyes which I’d ‘borrowed’ from a guy I’d had a crush on when I was a teenager. I bumped into this guy about 30 years later at a party. He was balding and paunchy but still had those incredible eyes.

“Australian Authors” – Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Karen – Interesting question. I have written collaboratively in my non-fiction life which is predominantly in the banking/finance industry. However when it comes to fiction, I’m not sure I’d want to. Having said that, I have an idea for a novel set in a very high-tech business world that I know nothing about. I thought it would be interesting to work with someone who knew that world and see how the story ended up.

“Australian Authors” – Who are your favourite authors?

Karen – My greatest inspiration was an English writer named Pamela Belle. I have every book she ever wrote and have read them several times. Other writers I love are Philippa Gregory, Diana Gabaldon. I also enjoy Charlaine Harris, and of course George R.R. Martin – who doesn’t love him!!

“Australian Authors” – What’s your advice to Authors? On writing? Publishing? Marketing?

Karen – I get asked this so often and there are two main things I always tell people.
1. Just start writing. It doesn’t matter how good or bad it is, just get it down. A book is never written in one draft anyway; writing something perfect straight off is not going to happen. Just start writing and worry about the detail later – that’s the easy part. Knowing when your book is finished is the hard part, but that’s a whole other subject!!
2. It doesn’t matter how well you write, everyone makes mistakes. If you’re serious about your writing, you must engage a professional editor. Nothing takes a reader out of a good story like a silly spelling or grammatical error. More than that, a good editor can help with structure, continuity and will work with you to polish your manuscript to the best it can be. If you value your work, it deserves this much!