Oh, you sound like my kind of person!

What genre do you write, and what is it that draws you to this genre?

The genre I write is contemporary, but living on the fantastical edge of today. I found the closest genre is probably Slipstream.

I’m drawn to it because it’s a tangential take on our world. I like presenting a world that could be a mirror of the one my reader lives in, but adds a fantastical element that is intriguing, drawing people in.

What would you say has been your steepest learning curve on your path to publication?

Learning to write for my primary marketplace – the USA. I wrote my first manuscript – a story about reality TV and churches, called Pastor Swap – and entered it into Genesis, the unpublished competition through ACFW. I felt confident about my 20 years’ corporate writing experience and didn’t get over the first hurdle. The judges questioned my basic handle on English and wondered how I got through school. They didn’t know I was Australian, but the good lesson was it shouldn’t have mattered. So I’ve gone back to the drawing board with spelling and grammar, to deprogram my Australian English (we use UK English), and learn to write like an American.

It’s far more than just learning to type with an accent.

Lol. Or cutting the ‘u’ and substituting ‘z’ for ‘s’, presumably. 😉

What is the most daunting thing about being a debut author?

The sense of putting your work out there for everyone to read and enjoy or otherwise ignore. I’ve been writing professionally for nearly 30 years but the sense of rejection, editing, or missing the point that I’ve learned to manage in the corporate sector is nothing compared to when it’s your work. Your baby.

What has been the most encouraging thing you’ve experienced as a debut author?

Possibly the way other authors have rallied around me, a debut author, and the way I’ve been able to contribute to their writing journeys as well. Working with my mentor – Jim Rubart – has been great as between us we’ve won six Christy Awards. They are all his, but he’s been behind me since we connected.

And my visit to the ACFW Conference in Nashville in 2018 was a chance to meet some of the big names – all great people who encouraged me and offered to help the best way they could. There were people I met who had written anywhere up to 65 books (compared to my one) and they couldn’t have been happier for me. It was such a feeling of welcome.

I get the feeling that’s one of the best (and most unique) things about the Christian fiction world in particular. Even as a blogger, I’ve benefited from that. <3

Briefly share your book’s life story. When was the story conceived, and how long has its journey been to release day?

I’m the type of person who wants to talk about the deeper things in life rather than just small talk, so issues like the concept of dealing with baggage have always been a part of conversations I have. I guess it was just there not too far under the surface.

The Baggage Handler itself was borne out of rejection. My first manuscript – about reality TV and churches – finaled in a range of fiction awards but I couldn’t get industry interested in it. Someone suggested for my next novel maybe I should focus on “life lesson” stories. I read a couple of stories like that, then at 9pm one night, I was reading when The Baggage Handler arrived. It pretty much downloaded into my head. When I next checked the clock it was 1am, and I had the story, the characters, plot, twists, structure – almost everything. That hasn’t happened before or since with books 2 and 3, but I’m glad it did with The Baggage Handler. 

That was in January 2017. I signed with the Steve Laube Agency in August 2017 and HarperCollins Christian Publishing contracted me in March 2018. When you add another 12 months to get to the launch date of March 2019, then it’s been two-and-a-bit years. Just looking at that number leaves me thinking it hasn’t been that long… but in the middle of that wait, it was interminable.