Can you, for those who don't know
you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I’m an Australian and I’m both an anthropologist and an
archaeologist. For Americans, it’s really important to note that archaeology
and anthropology are totally separate
disciplines in Australia - like chalk and cheese.
I’ve always made up stories in my head, even as a small
child. In fact, I preferred my own company and my toys even when I was very
small, and amused myself for days.
My author journey started when I was about 12. I was
horse-mad (yes, I had horses) and wrote horse stories, longhand, on foolscap
paper.
Then I started reading fantasy. This was the early 1980s (ok,
I’m old), and I read books like The Sword of Shannara, then Lord of the Rings,
Duncton Wood, The Belgariad, The Dragonlance series...I was hooked.
From there, it was just natural that I started writing
fantasy.
Long story short, I got my first publishing contract in 2002
with Magellan Books. The following year I got an agent, and had an offer on a
novel from one of the Big Five publishers.
Unfortunately two things happened. My marriage fell apart,
and then I became very ill from a hereditary illness. I almost died four
times.
I stopped writing fiction until 2015. City of Whispers is my
first novel since 2003.
I live on a 24 acre bush property on the Murray River
in the state of South Australia. There’s no street lights, we’re about 30
kilometres from the nearest town and we can’t see our neighbours. I despise
streetlights with a passion, so this is heaven for me.
I’m married, have two children and a fabulous step-daughter
and son-in-law (who are both huge fantasy readers). We have two very naughty
dogs, Wiley and Scout.
What is something unique/quirky
about you?
I’ve lived most of my adult life in outback Australia, which
means when I’m doing fieldwork, I’ve had to camp alone. This doesn’t bother me
in the slightest. Cities are far more scary than anything you find in the
outback.
I’m of Aboriginal (Wiradjuri) descent, speak an Aboriginal
language (Arrernte, pronounced uh-RUN-duh), and have been through Women’s Law
(women’s initiation) for the Two Women Dreaming near Watarrka (Kings Canyon),
in the Northern Territory. This means I have pretty serious kinship and
spiritual responsibilities to both the land and the ladies who put me through
Law. They are my aunties, mothers and grandmothers Aboriginal way, even though
they are not blood relations as white people have family.
Tell us something really
interesting that's happened to you!
Probably the most interesting thing? Hmm. I’ve climbed
halfway up Mt Everest. That was the travel highlight of my life.
Where were you born/grew up at?
I was born in Sydney and spent some of my younger life growing
both there and in a very famous country town called Bowral. Anyone who’s a
cricket fan will know that Bowral is the hometown of the legendary Aussie
cricketer, Sir Don Bradman.
What do you do to unwind and
relax?
I exercise - no joke. Everyday, I walk or run between 10-15
kilometres. Partly I do this to unwind and I also do it to keep fit for my
archaeology job. A lot of archaeology is field surveys, where you might have to
walk up to 30 kilometres in a day.
When did you first consider
yourself a writer?
When I started winning short story competitions - then I knew
I was at a place in my writing where other people thought I could write.
Do you have a favorite
movie?
I have a few! Independence Day, LoTR, all the Indiana Jones movies
(except the fourth one), Himalaya, Amelia, Love Actually, The Day After Tomorrow, The Lion King, Avatar.
You can probably tell I have eclectic tastes.
What inspired you to write this
book?
City of Whispers came
about as I was REALLY annoyed by how so-called kickass female characters were
being written by some female writers. Snarky, stick-thin glamazons who never
seemed to train, had no muscles or scars, but were somehow experts with
weapons...and they were usually 17 years old.
So I set about creating a totally believable, kickass female
character. She’s 28 at the start of the series, snarky, ruthless, morally grey,
and a little world-weary. There’s scars, both inside and out, she’s not angsty,
knows what she wants but life keeps screwing her 50 times sideways and kicking
her down.
I was writing another book (which I will publish), and in it,
I had a minor character who was an assassin-bodyguard for an empress.
In 2016, I was out bush doing fieldwork in an Aboriginal
community called Wingellina (Google it. I assure you it’s REMOTE), and as I was
going to sleep, the idea for the Imperial Assassin series featuring the
empress’s bodyguard came into my head.
What can we expect from you in the
future?
I’ll finish off the Imperial Assassin series and at this stage
have three more series planned. Some are in the same world, but others are
not.
Do you have any “side stories”
about the characters?
Yes, I do. I share them as short stories or and extra scenes
to my newsletter subscribers.
This sounds like a great start to an Adventure Fantasy series. Love the cover.
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