Do You Remember The Man From Snowy River?

Okay, what girl who grew up in the 1980s didn’t fall at least a little in love with The Man from Snowy River. I’m pretty sure most of my friends spent at least a few hours on the piano trying to learn to play “Jessica’s Theme” and possibly more hours pining for Jim Craig and his Australian cowboy swooniness. Remember when he broke the colt? Ahhh. What was your favorite part?

Picture used from Rotten Tomatoes

Well, this week, I was talking with a writer from Australia. She was giving my new book, My Fair Aussie, a quick read-through to help me make sure I hadn’t put in any stupid usages of Australian slang. (Bless her heart, right? How awesome of her is it? Thank you, Lara!) (I’ll be telling you about her clean rock star romance one of these soon days.)

Lara said the book reminded her of The Man from Snowy River (and her own crush on The Man.) Woot! Mission accomplished. I really wanted to elicit that feel, to some extent.

However, she also asked me a question–had I read the poem? What poem, I asked. The poem called “The Man from Snowy River,” by Banjo Paterson, upon which the movie’s plot was based. AND she sent me the link.

Oh, my goodness! If you were a fan of that movie, or if you’re just a fan of beautiful, exciting, evocative poetry, just read it. It made my heart soar.

Meanwhile, when I had Dillon design the cover of the paperback for this book, I asked him if he’d throw in a visual reference to the movie. We were able to locate the coolest thing: a stock photo of the movie set of Jim Craig’s cabin. >Imagine my giddy clapping here.<

It’s slightly less dramatic on the cover, but the original had a gorgeous pink sunset over the Victorian Alps north of Melbourne.

There are more stories (more dramatic) about how this cover came into existence. I’ll tell them to you soon. Meanwhile, go read that poem! It’s so good!