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Have you always wanted to write? What was your inspiration for writing Rain? Who is your favorite character in Rain and why? What elements of Rain are based on reality, if any? Where did the idea for The Glass Table come from? There is an environmental theme in The Glass Table. Was this intentional? Who are your favorite authors or books and how have they influenced your writing? You don't have children, but you write children's books. How come? |
Have you always wanted to write? English was my best and preferred subject at school, and as my husband, Steve will attest, I am a bit of a storyteller. I favor a harmless embroidery of the facts to make a story more interesting for the listener. In the early years of our marriage, Steve would correct these 'paddings', ruining what was otherwise a perfectly good story. Consequently, he became known as Captain Boring. At school (Rockhampton Girls' Grammar School) in Year 11, I was relaying events from my weekend to a group of girls. The audience grew larger as did my story. At the end, one girl asked rhetorically, "For real?" To which I confessed, "Well, no..." and my moment of fame ended sans the glory and reverence as the 'crowd' dissolved faster than an ice cube in Cloncurry. I learnt from this that one should never let the truth get in the way of a good story—it is to everyone's detriment. So, after reading any part or all of my current and future works, you find yourself wondering if a storyline is autobiographical, the answer is most likely "no". It may be based on a skerrick of reality, but will be embellished beyond recognition although there are some stories in Rain that survived intact. What was your inspiration for writing Rain?
Michael Baden is my favorite character without a doubt. I enjoy his viewpoint, especially on women and how he believes they are responsible for everything bad that happens to him. But I also empathize with him. I understand where his pain comes from and how it manifests in his relationships. As far as characters go, Michael has provided me with the most joy to write. There are also a lot of my husband's traits in Ethan Marsh, so he is easy for me to love.
What elements of Rain are based on reality, if any? Quite a lot really, but again, embellished beyond recognition. For example, my father was in the Air Force, and we did grow up in a house like the one Michael and Helena built in Orchard Road. The spider incident in Chapter 48 did happen as described, and Basil is based on our childhood pet, Dusty. Of course I also had to mention Mirriwinni (Chapter 7) where we spent our school holidays. If you are curious about a particular storyline, just ask with a post on my wall, and I'll be happy to explain its origins or source.
Where did the idea for The Glass Table come from? From a dream Steve had while we were on a sailing holiday in the Whitsundays. We were in our bunk staring up at the stars, when he told me about his dream ie the mere two seconds he could recall: people were swimming in a lake and then they were seated at a glass table. Since he did not mention that in the dream, the swimmers were adults and the glass table was in a boardroom, I assumed the glass table was in the lake, and so the story emerged this way. This is quite typical of spousal communications ie incomplete information (from male) = assumptions (by woman) = man and woman in different orbits.
You dedicated The Glass Table to your nephews, Jack and Jordan, and there are two characters in the book with the same name. Are the characters based on your nephews? Yes, Jack and Jordan in The Glass Table and Shards are based on my nephews in looks and personality. Jack is the mature, wise one (I often go to him for advice), and Jordan is the king of one-liners. He will not let matters rest until he is satisfied with the outcome, eg the carp sub-plot in The Glass Table. Jack and Jordan are not brothers in the book and live entirely different lives to the real Jack and Jordan, and of course, as far as I know, the real Jack and Jordan have never lived in a river as child spirits, although Jordan does like to swim in their pool in summer. They're much older now—teenagers living teenage lives. There is an environmental theme in The Glass Table. Was this intentional? I never started out to write a story with an environmental theme—it was always a mystery/thriller with a touch of fantasy. However, as you tell a story about twelve children living in a river, you need to consider their living conditions ie what would it be like to live in a river as a child spirit. The children learn that what humans do above, beside and near the river affects their living conditions and upsets the greenie witch who cast the spell. For example, when it rains, rubbish from the streets flows into their river, and a development on the riverbank affects the ecosystem of their river home. I hope it is an interesting, fun way to explain the realities of our diminishing freshwater supplies, and is more of a suggestion for readers than a lecture, which may or may not influence later thoughts and attitudes.
I read your bio. You talk a lot about death—your brothers and the Mackay sisters. How have these moments affected you and your writing? Death affects you in a profound way, and since writers tend to write about what they know, death does feature in all of my books. In The Glass Table, Jack hikes to Lake Como after running away from home because he thinks his parents no longer care about him after the tragic death of his little brother. As a child, when a sibling dies, there is no way to understand what happens to your world, but as an adult you can see the experience with a different perspective. Judith and Susan Mackay—that was 40 years ago and I have not forgotten them. Just recently I saw a documentary on the Beaumont children who disappeared in 1966. That case still intrigues me.
Who are your favorite authors or books and how have they influenced your writing? I wish I could say that I am an avid reader of the literary greats eg Faulkner, Beckett, Conrad and Joyce however, I rather enjoy more irreverent, modern, non-literary works that make me laugh, such as Who Moved My Blackberry? I am a huge fan of Oscar Wilde—his wit and sarcasm is the standard to which I aspire. As a tribute, Oscar features in my novel, Being Anti-Social since the main character similarly believes the words of Oscar Wilde are almost biblical in their value. I also like Mark Twain for the same reason. Of past greats, I like John Steinbeck and JD Salinger. I love Animal Farm by George Orwell, and since it is only 120 pages, can be read while cooking dinner or doing ab curls. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is also an all-time favorite, and is featured in my novel, Rain.
You don't have children, but you write children's books. How come? I write whatever germinates. The Glass Table is the second book I wrote, but the first to be published because at the time, the Global Financial Crisis hit and only children's books had anything of a market. I don't feel compelled to write a particular genre and stay there without distraction. All of my stories though have the same theme—relationships. My next novel Being Anti-Social is more chick-lit than saga, albeit it's more for the late 30 age group rather than women in their twenties. PS: although we don't have children of our own, we do have 15 nephews and nieces and five sponsored children: Oscar, Dolon, John Paul, Jefferd, and Sarita-maya.
You met and married your husband when you were very young. What is the secret to staying happily married? #1 criterion for a happy marriage is mutual respect—everything flows from it eg trust flows from respect, not the other way around, in my opinion. #2 criterion is to have fun. We laugh a lot for the most part of every day. We don't take ourselves seriously, and there's no place for ego in our home. If you can't laugh at yourself, your flaws and idiosyncracies, you won't do well at our place. For us, this seems like a good way to always know humility.
What does the "K" stand for in your name? Did you add this to sound like JK Rowling? Do you have any nicknames? "K" is the legitimate first initial of my middle name, Kayrene. I did not want to use my middle initial as I do not like my middle name however, my preferred website address, without the K, was already taken. Kayrene is a name my mother created. Her name is Catherine although she was called Kay for many years, and my aunty was Irene = Kayrene. As I understand it, the K in JK Rowling, stands for Kathleen, which is not in fact JK Rowling's middle name—she does not have a middle name but had to choose an initial, and since Kathleen was her beloved grandmother, K was it, and what a legendry initial it has turned out to be. I have several nicknames that have been with me forever. To my brother, parents, nephews, sister-in-law, friends etc, I am Leighzie or Aunty Leighzie. When we were young kids, we all had an "ie" ending to our names eg Johnnie, Paulie, Leighzie, Markie. When we were older, it turned into an "o" eg Johnno, Paulo, and Marko, however I remained Leighzie. Steve has two nicknames for me, not including Schmoopy Poopy (adapted from the genius, Seinfeld episode, the Soup Nazi). Mostly, he calls me Leo. Now you may think that this might logically follow from that childhood era when "o" was added to our first names, but not so. It comes from a character created by Paul Hogan on his TV show, The Paul Hogan Show, which aired in Australia in the 70s-80s. Children please look away at this point while I explain ... Leo Wanker, played by Hogan, was an inept daredevil stuntman. You can watch Leo's stunts on YouTube. I have no idea how this nickname became associated with my good self however it stuck, and has been with me nigh on thirty years now. Steve also calls me Baldrick, Balderico or Balders for short. This originates from a British sitcom series, Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder (me Lord), and Tony Robinson as his dogsbody, Baldrick. Since I am now a fulltime writer, and unemployed/unemployable, Baldrick/Balders legitimately reflects my current station in life. This nickname was recently expanded to Baldrick Blowtorch. When sending an email from his Blackberry, Steve typed in "Balderico". The Blackberry suggested "Blowtorch" as the correct spelling, so now I am Baldrick Blowtorch (BBT). It has a super-hero ring to it. Some favorite lines from Lord Blackadder: "Baldrick, if a hungry cannibal cracked open your brain there wouldn't be enough inside to cover a small water biscuit!" "Baldrick, you wouldn't recognize a subtle plan if it painted itself purple and danced naked on a harpsichord singing 'subtle plans are here again'." "I fear the words "I have a cunning plan" are rapidly marching towards this conversation with ill-deserved confidence." "As a reward, Baldrick, take a short holiday ... did you enjoy it?"
You seem to leave the story open at the end of Shards for another book in the series. Is that the plan? It's a definite possibility. The story, in my mind at least, has other places to go and I have drafted an outline for a third book, tentatively titled, A River Somewhere. Same goes with Rain—it also has the potential for a sequel. I imagine this would require some time living in Luanda, Angola, which doesn't really interest Steve. |
30-year RGGS school reunion Class of 1979
Friends from school days: Nicki, Cooki and Debbie
Dusty, or Basil in Rain
The Whitsundays - a truly beautiful part of the world.
Jack(L) and Jordan (R), young men now.
Jack, back row (R) Australian team (2009)
Sarita-maya from Nepal
Celebrating Steve's 50th at Koh Samui, September 2010
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