Alison Booth's Blog, page 5

Researching A Distant Land

History informs and influences writers of historical fiction, and sometimes novelists aim to dramatise real historical events. That wasn’t my goal in A Distant Land, which was set in 1971, towards the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Instead I wanted to be informed by events of the period, and to this end I read numerous histories and personal accounts. Two books that were particularly inspiring were Paul Ham’s history Vietnam: The Australian War, and David McKnight’s book Australia’s Spies and Their Secrets.

After conceiving the plot of A Distant Land, I discovered several books written by war correspondents – Antipodean and American - about their time in Cambodia when they were captured during the Vietnam War. Once I found these sources – in particular the books by Kate Webb and Richard Dudman - it was impossible not to be influenced by them. They provided vivid first-hand descriptions of their experiences.

While A Distant Land is a work of fiction, the quotation at the end of the first chapter 1 of the novel isn’t fictitious, and I’d like to repeat it here. The quotation comes from the former politician, Jim Cairns, who was an important player in the Australian moratorium marches.

‘Democracy begins on the farms, in the factories and in the streets, and if people will not, often at risk to themselves, stand up for their rights there will be no democracy.’

These words were spoken to the House of Representatives in April 1970. I still find them both chilling and inspiring every time I read them.

Vietnam: The Australian War
A Distant Land
Australia's Spies and Their SecretsOn The Other Side: 23 Days With The Viet Cong
Forty Days with the Enemy

ANZAC Day

Every Australian town and city has its war memorial. The fictional town of Jingera, on the south-eastern coast of Australia, features in all my books, and it too has a war memorial - right in the middle of the town.

Like most Australians and New Zealanders, I’ll be thinking on ANZAC Day - the 25th April - of all those who lost their lives in conflicts. ANZAC Day is held by many to be the most important of Australia’s national holidays, and it marks the anniversary of the landing in 1915 of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops on Gallipoli Peninsula in the Dardanelles. A landing that would lead to a dreadful defeat and a shocking loss of life.

Australia is now a country in which one in four of us was born overseas. And yet ANZAC Day is of growing importance in the national psyche, perhaps because our new immigrants too have so much to remember.

My third novel, A Distant Land, is not a war novel. But it was set in 1971, towards the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. And it is my own memorial to the victims of war.

The novel, part thriller and part romance, is a story of intrigue and also of a deep and enduring love.

See the reviews of the book at:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Writing Your First Novel

On New Year’s Day in 2005 I began writing my first novel. No, it wasn’t a resolution for the new year, but simply a day when I found some free time. Exactly five years later - to the day! - it was published, as Stillwater Creek.

What made Stillwater Creek publishable? Hard work and some good luck -- the manuscript went to the right people at the right time. But I think the book’s setting also struck a chord: a coastal town full of eccentric characters, a place that looks charming but underneath has dark secrets.

What should people embarking on a first novel try to avoid? First, don't make your novel autobiographical. I wrote a novel in my twenties that was quasi- autobiographical and I'm everlastingly grateful it never saw the light of day! On the other hand I'm glad I got all that stuff out of my system and could move on.

My second suggestion is to write from the heart and to plan from the head. This works for me, although I appreciate that it may not work for everyone. While I map out the novel in advance, I write the first draft of any scene very fast, with a 2B pencil, letting words and ideas flow and take me where they will. Afterwards I dictate this using a software package with the wonderful name Dragon Naturally Speaking and then I endlessly edit.

Third - avoid rushing. Expect to write between ten and twenty drafts, quite possibly more, and be realistic about setting completion dates.

Fourth, get an agent – but only after your manuscript is well-polished and has been read by people you trust.

Finally, writing a novel is an obsession: people should do it if they’re driven to tell a story, not because they expect to make money from it (very few do). It will eat up big chunks of your life. But it’s also likely to lead you to unexpected places – and you may well love the journey.