An interview with Rose from When She Was Gone, and a Kindle special offer!
Plus events galore and all my latest news.
Hello my reader friends,
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks emerging from my writing bubble and getting back into the swing of book events. First of all I went to the southwest of WA, where I spent some time in Dymocks Busselton for Dymocks Giving Day, encouraging donations that go to buy books for disadvantaged children. And then I headed to Margaret River library, to do an in-conversation with a lovely local author Ana Brawls - where I was delighted to have about half a dozen men in the audience (I usually only get one or two).
I always feel obliged to explain to people that my head might be a bit foggy as I move between books, but in fact it was very easy to get back into the world of Blackwood and Rose - in part because I had just been working on a synopsis of what a sequel story might look like for those two. At the moment I’m writing that for the TV people I’m working with rather than suggesting it as a follow-up book, as I’m busy working on my UK mystery, but you just never know when it might be the right time to bring Rose and Blackwood back (and Angie and Charlie of course!)
And then this past weekend I visited Clarkson library for a ‘Writers of the North’ celebration, with Holden Sheppard, Josephine Wilson and David Allan-Petale. It’s our fourth year doing this special event together, and there’s nothing like spending time with other writers to make you feel either a) less insane or b) at least there are others in the asylum with you! I love hearing Holden, Dave and Jo discuss their work and the stories they’re passionate about - all three of them leave their hearts on the page in their own unique ways. And we always laugh a lot while talking about the rollercoaster ride of writing and publishing!
Writing Updates
Writing has been slow in the last fortnight, as my routine has been a bit disrupted - always a challenge. I wish I were a steady little robot writer and could pump out my desired word count daily, but life constantly gets in the way. However, I have some big work days scheduled in the next fortnight, although my eldest daughter has just told me she’s beginning to get sick, so we might be a germy house soon. Wish me luck!
Listening Reading Watching
I’m in the middle of two brilliant books at the moment. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is such a romp of a crime mystery (full of brilliant descriptions) that I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to pick it up. And I’m listening to Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity, which is like music to my ears so far, as Cal discusses the importance of slowing down while remaining productive so that we don’t burn out. Highly recommend both of these.
I enjoyed Hostage on Netflix too, although I’m beginning to feel these limited ‘high-stakes’ drama series are coming off as a bit ‘paint by numbers’ and I want more in-depth character development. Which leads me to Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, which I also watched on Netflix after reading an article about it, and which troubled me so much I’m currently writing a whole article around the ethics of storytelling for my Resilient Author readers. More on that soon!
As always, I’d love to hear from you with any good book or viewing recommendations!
An interview with Rose from When She Was Gone
One of the joys of working with fiction is being able to revisit the worlds we create when the opportunities arise. During the promotion for When She Was Gone I was asked to write a Q&A as though I was interviewing my main character, and it was so fun to talk to Rose outside of the novel! If you haven’t read When She Was Gone yet, I hope this whets your appetite, and if you have then I hope you enjoy this little extra from me and Rose.
This interview with Rose Campbell took place eight years before her daughter Louisa went missing with two young children from the wealthy and powerful Fisher family, an event in Australia that garnered worldwide attention. We have pulled this from the archives to share it with you now, as the fallout from that event continues to make headlines.
Thanks for talking to us, Rose. What is your book about and why did you write it?
I wrote Behind Closed Doors to highlight the stories of those living in the terrifying circumstances of domestic violence or coercive control. Unless you’ve lived with that kind of stress and fear for years it’s very hard to understand it, and I believe there needs to be deeper empathy across society for victims who keep returning to these situations. I also believe that rather than simply stigmatise the perpetrators we have to work harder to try to understand their behaviour, not as a sympathy exercise but as a way of deconstructing their behaviour, so we can keep working to change this: because the statistics are already alarming, and with the pressures in society right now these are likely to get worse.
We’ve noticed that the pushback has been intense… and you’ve received some vicious trolling online. How are you coping with that?
Many people feel threatened and triggered by the idea of their partner leaving – and by someone like me who advocates for this to ensure the victim’s safety. Ironically, I’ve been on the other side of this situation. too. After my own separation my husband took my daughter and moved away and I have found it very difficult to stay connected with her over the years. But I’ve never considered violent intervention as the answer to my problems.
Can we ask you about Joseph Burns, the man who murdered your partner?
I … I … Out of respect for Tristan’s family, I’d rather not talk about that.
What do you want to say to all the people who have personally targeted you?
My work is all about getting violence in personal relationships to stop. Surely you want that too? I’m happy to listen to critique, but threats, while unpleasant, won’t stop my work. They just remind me of the scale of the problem and how the victims feel, and make me more determined than ever to keep talking about this.
Will you be writing another book?
Not for a while! I have my own work to do and I volunteer at Safehaven and have a seat on the board. I’ve said everything I want to say for the time being. It’s important for me now to stay focused on practical action.
How would you like to think your book might make a difference?
I just want people to understand the different layers of complexity involved in these situations, so we can all try to intervene and help before things get too bad. And I mean having difficult conversations with offenders too, and encouraging them to seek help – we can’t just demonise them and expect this problem to change. It’s all about kindness really – and tackling violence in all forms from that perspective, not turning a blind eye to it. This is vital because we seem to be moving further away from a culture where we try to understand the complexity of such situations. So while I realise there’s an irony in having to fight for a kinder, safer world, I’ve decided that whenever I’m called to, I’m willing and ready to do just that.
When She Was Gone is currently $4.99 on Kindle right now in Aus/NZ, but the deal only lasts for another week, so get in quick! Or for more buying options, hit the buttons below.
I was also in awe of Evelyn Hardcastle! What a concept, and what a book. I enjoyed his second one Devil and the Dark Water too - basically Sherlock Holmes on a ship!