James Gaertner

 

Today's Author Sit-Down is with James Gaertner, author of From the River.

I asked James five inquisitive questions about his novel... so read on for the origins of a lovely, leisurely story of coming-of-age along the titular river.

1. Tell us about your book in 25 words or fewer.

"From the River" is about the power of friendship, forgiveness and love in the lives of two young men, wrapped around impactful old mysteries.

2. How did you incorporate your real life experiences into "From the River"?

"From the River" takes place along a forgotten river in a small town, which, not coincidentally, is similar to where I grew up. When I was very young I would ride my bike to the river with my dog trailing behind, although every parent in town had warned their children to stay away from the river after the tragic drowning of two boys at the river in the 1940's. 

Over the years I'd seen and heard different stories relating to the town and the river. Some of the stories worked their way into my book, but in slightly different form.  

The rough story idea began to take shape over thirty years ago and at its core was the drowning of the two boys. By the time I was able to devote myself to the story I'd already established the story's location, but the drowning was demoted to an important, but secondary piece of the story and in highly fictionalized form.  I reconstructed the story around themes that were more relatable and was able to build several important, but completely fictional story lines into it, along with a couple of other real events that I witnessed as a child. 

The canoe race that takes place in the story is pivotal for the primary characters and was based upon an actual canoe race that took place on the river when I was a teenager, though the race in my book was a detailed and fictionalized event.

3. What inspired you to write "From the River"?

As mentioned already, the drowning deaths of the two boys at the river, which took place so many years earlier that few people seemed to remember its details. My sister and my mother, however,  provided me with valuable details about the drownings. Although I have a journalism background, I had no intention of doing a non-fiction story.  There was more than enough material, both factual and in the back of my mind, to create the more far-reaching story I eventually created.

4. The setting of your book is evocative. Did you need to research the setting, or do you know it well?

The setting of the book is an amalgam of two different locations along the river. The large rock located near the old North Bridge in the story is real, however it is actually located over a mile upriver from the bridge.  When I was a child and went to the river with my dog, we would hang out on the riverbank just a short distance from the bridge. It wasn't until I was twelve or thirteen years old that I discovered the large old rock along the river in a wooded area known as 'Glendale' to townspeople.  Moving the large rock, called "Burden's Rock" in the story, to a location near the North Bridge opened up a greater number of possibilities for many of the  storylines within the book and proved to be a stimulus for myself in creating them.

5. What audience do you envisage for your book? What sort of reader would enjoy it most?

When I wrote the story I envisioned my primary audience as being men of indeterminate age who might enjoy a coming-of-age story about two young men with several mysteries wrapped within it, along with an exciting canoe race for good measure.

Unexpectedly, even though the men did enjoy it so much, there was enough in the story to grab women's attention. At its heart "From the River" is a story about friendship, relationships with parents, and decades-old mysteries, but it is also a story about young love.  To my surprise, my book sales to women have been at least as high as to men, and some of the most glowing reviews were submitted by women. 

"From the River" by James Gaertner is available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Amazon US link

 Amazon Australia link

B & N link

Thanks, James!

Now... to you, the reader.

The Author Sit-Down blog is a way to find out more about books; their background, the author's view, and the way the craft works. It also acts to showcase the book for future readers. With this in mind, you are welcome to check out other posts in this blog, to follow the links and (or course) to buy the book.

Blogs survive by their readers, so please leave us a comment.

Now, to you, the writer, illustrator, or other bookish creator. 

If you'd like an author sit-down, send me an email at affatheeditor (AT) gmail.com with AUTHOR SIT-DOWN in the subject line. Nominate your project (book, series, etc) and I'll send you some questions. If you just want to talk writing in general, let me know and I'll send different questions. Author Sit-Down costs you nothing, though I do ask that participants read and comment on at least one of the other posts. 

Hope to hear from you soon!

Sally Odgers (aka Affa the Editor) 

Ben Kitchin

Today at Author Sit-Down we're talking to Ben Kitchin about an exciting new release from Brontosaurus books... Read on for Ben's answer to the questions I put to him regarding The Very Steep Hill and the publishing company that produced it.

1. Tell us about The Very Steep Hill in under 25 words.

The Very Steep Hill is a fun, somewhat suspenseful picture book with a surprise climax and denouement that no one has predicted yet.

2. Brontosaurus Books is an exciting new venture for you. How did it come about?

 

To me the picture book industry is highly subjective and there are presently many barriers to traditional participation in it as an author. I was lucky enough to get three picture books published with major publishers but I was unable to get any more of my stories up after this (and I really tried). Knowing that I had many more great stories for kids, my illustrator wife and I decided to create our own company and see how we went. So far, it’s been really interesting to be involved in the printing, marketing and distribution sides of things (which I wasn’t anticipating) and we’re learning more and more all the time.

 
3. The Very Steep Hill is fun to read. Did you deliberately write it
to appeal to adults as well as children?

 

I believe picture books for 3-7 year-olds should be pitched squarely at 3-7 year-olds, both in terms of the language used and the content covered. When this is achieved by book makers, I think the child’s enjoyment and understanding of the story will entertain the reading adult. So yes and no is my answer there!

4. How closely did you work with the illustrator for The Very Steep Hill?

 

The illustrator is my wife so pretty closely! This being said, it was perhaps only in geographical terms as I knew Megan knew what she was doing and I didn’t want to interfere. Megan wanted the book to look colourful and appealing and I think she pulled it off. Every now and again Meg would ask what I thought about this or that detail and that was fun from my perspective but generally I just enjoyed watching the illustrations come to life every day.

5. What next for Brontosaurus Books?

 

We have lots of stories that we’d like to make but we’ve recently decided Audrey will be our next title. Audrey is a tribute to giant kangaroos, the work of the Country Fire Service and their equipment and spirit. Megan is ramping up illustrating the book this week and we’re hoping for a 2026 release. Following Audrey we might make The Ginormous Space Crab or The Cheese Wizard or The Hole… I think the titles of these stories reveal the cheerful, imaginative nature of the books we’d like to make to some degree.

Thanks a bunch for having me for the sit-down. Have a great week. 

Ben 

Below, you'll find a link to the Brontosaurus Books website... check it out!

 The Brontosaurus Books website

Thanks Ben!

If you're a literary creator, and would like to book your own author sit-down, send me an email at affatheeditor(AT)gmail.com with Author Sit-Down in the subject line. Tell me which book or series or concept you'd like to feature and I'll send you five questions.

You answer them in as much or as little detail and you choose, attach one or mor jpegs and links and your sit-down will be up within a few days.

Paul Dunkerley

 

Today I welcome author Paul Dunkerley to author sit-down to answer five questions  (and a bonus 6th) about Nothing in the Dark, the first book in the Deepseek series. 

Q1. What inspired you to write Nothing in the Dark?

A. Nothing in the Dark has a unique history that began in 2015. I was working for a medical device company at the time, and during one of our full-office meetings, our Chief Medical Officer invited his medical school friend, Dr. John Leyden, who founded the Unicorn Foundation (now Neuro Endocrine Cancer Australia), to spruik the business, as they rely heavily on donations. I started to think about what kind of charity event I could hold. Initially I thought of a fun run, but for me, those two words don’t go together. Sausage sizzles are almost a fast food chain on their own, so that was out. I also considered a bike ride, but a colleague of mine had recently stacked her bike and came close to biting off her tongue. At that point, I gave up finding ways of maiming and killing myself and my friends in the name of “fun”. I’m a trained radio scriptwriter. I know how to put a story together, and I had recently completed a voiceover and broadcasting course. Then I hit on the idea of writing an audio drama of some kind and use staff as actors? I was so excited by it I planned this story as a trilogy, and those three scripts were adapted as the first Deepseek book, titled Deepseek-Nothing in the Dark.

Q2. Straker is a strong character- determined and strong-minded. Is he
based on someone in particular?

A. All the main characters are hybrids. They are part imagination and part based on the staff member who played them. Because I didn’t know what kind of acting experience people had, I wrote Cameron Straker to be played by myself, just in case I had to carry the show (thankfully I didn’t). Straker and I have some things in common. We both have the same waistline (but not the same bank balance). He shares a lot of my world views, and we have a similar diet. He has a passion for oceanography. I have a passion for aviation. His name is based on two people. His first name, Cameron, is named after a friend who passed away some decades ago. As for his surname, one of my favourite actors is Ed Bishop, who did a lot of work with Gerry Anderson and appeared in his live-action series UFO as Ed Straker, so that was a tip of the hat to him, as I would have loved to have seen him play this part were he still alive.

Q3. How did staff approach the recording sessions? Did they ham it up?

A. The staff approached their parts seriously and played it for real. They jumped on board very quickly. Our CMO was so excited by the concept he volunteered to be in it! Because I had to work around people’s personal schedules, each person was recorded separately. We had a non-recording session where they read through the script, with me coaching them. Then they went away for two weeks to practise at home. On the evening of recording, I got them comfortable around the microphone and convinced them it wouldn’t bite or sell them life insurance. On average we spent 90 minutes recording each person over a three-month period. Minor characters had their coaching on the day of recording. I will point out that since the Unicorn Foundation changed its name and database, this recording is no longer available on their site (it was a good number of years old by then).

Q.4. The book is set in the near future. How did you decide to move the
action forwards from the date of writing?

A. The first story is set in 2028, but I wrote this in 2015, so it was still a good few years off. It was mostly because I knew it would take me ages to publish, and this stopped the book from being set “in the past”. I also set it in the near future so I could introduce technologies that didn’t exist in 2015.

Q5. Action/adventure... and mildly sf. What is your own concept of the
book's genre?

A. For me, the Deepseek series is a fun action/adventure/thriller. While it does have its dramatic moments, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Q.6. How did you come up with the concept of Deepseek?

A. The Nothing in the Dark audio drama was released in January 2016. Two years later the company I worked for was bought out, and we were all losing our jobs, and as someone who is over 50, I knew it would be hard getting work. I felt the concept had legs, so I started to flesh it out into an ongoing series. Once I was made redundant in early 2019, I began writing it in earnest. The Covid lockdown was a great opportunity for me, because I just sat and wrote and wrote and tried to craft the best book I could. As I was new to publishing, I also did a tonne of research on how to do it properly, finally publishing in 2024. It has been quite the journey.

It has indeed! I've read and enjoyed all the Deepseek stories up till now and I'm hanging out for the next one.

To find out more about Paul and his books, check out the links below.

Paul Dunkerley's website

Paul on Facebook

Paul's books on Amazon AU

Paul's books on Amazon US 

I hope you've enjoyed meeting Paul (virtually) as much as I have.

If you'd like to book your own author sit-down to talk up your literary project(s), drop me an email at affatheeditor@gmail.com with AUTHOR SIT-DOWN in the comment section.

Jeanette O'Hagan

Today we sit down with Jeanette O'Hagan to learn about 

Book two in Akrad's Legacy series: 

Rasel's Song. Jeanette answers my five curious questions.

1. Rasel's Song is Book 2 in Akrad's Legacy series... How does it build on Book 1?

Book 1, Arad’s Children, revolves around the mystery of who poisoned the Kapok (Ruler) of Tamrin, while introducing the setting, the royal court of Tamra following a devastating civil war, and the main characters including Dinnis, Prince Mannok, Ista and (briefly) Rasel. This is Dinnis’ story as an outsider to the court. While the immediate mystery is resolved by the end of Akrad’s Children, the underlying threat to the royal family is not.

In Rasel's Song the murders and assassination attempts ramp up the threat to the royal family and the intensify the need for Prince Mannok to marry suitably, but that all goes astray when the prince encounters the shapeshifter, Rasel. Meanwhile, the Kapok tasks Dinnis with uncovering the identity of the assassin.

2. Do you have a continuing protagonist throughout the series? If not, how are the protagonists related (or not related)?

The Akrad Legacy series focuses on four main characters, Dinnis, his half-brother Prince Mannok, the shapeshifter, Rasel, and Lumi, the daughter of the main antagonist.  In Book 1, Dinnis is at the heart of the story. The focus shifts more to Mannok and Rasel in Book 2. In Book 3, Lumi’s Allegiance (aiming for 2026 publication date), Lumi is the focus, and in Book 4, the focus swings back more to Mannok. Having said that, Dinnis is a fan-favourite and he plays a pivotal role in all four books.

3. How did you arrive at the premise of the Akrad's Legacy series?

Initially, the series premise came through a lucid dream of a young princess standing in a nighttime courtyard and calling something wild to come, when a young man appears. This nighttime dream became my first (unpublished) novel, Adelphi. I took a long break from writing, and when I returned to it, I dusted off this first novel, and had ideas for sequels and prequels. And in the end decided to write the prequels first – the story of the young man’s parents. The premise of Akrad’s Legacy was birthed out of how they met and why things turned out as the did in Adelphi.

4. How does this series sit with your other books? Does it develop a favourite theme or is it new ground?

I started writing the Akrad’s Legacy before my other published books, even though Heart of the Mountain (in the Under the Mountain series) and Ruhanna’s Flight (a short story in Glimpses of Light) were published first.

Almost all my stories are set in the world of Nardva, a world I discovered as an eight-year-old and has continued to expand with each new story. The original stories began in the northern hemisphere of Nardva following the adventures of Awynallen. When I wrote Adelphi, I set that story in a new region - the southern hemisphere of Nardva (so literally new ground). Ruhanna’s Flight, The Under the Mountain series, the Akrad’s legacy series are all set in this southern with a connected history, but in different eras, cultures and places.

The Akrad’s Legacy series is a kingdom fantasy with courtly intrigue while the Under the Mountain series is epic fantasy adventure but with common themes of hope, forgiveness and finding one value and purpose in the world.

5. Give us a high concept (25 words or fewer) for Rasel's Song

With repeated assassination attempts, Prince Mannok must marry a suitable noble bride. Shapeshifter Rasel threatens to win the prince’s heart and disrupt royal plans.

 Rasel’s Song is the exciting second book in the kingdom fantasy, the Akrad’s Legacy series.

To find out more about Jeanette and her books, check out these links.

Website - http://jeanetteohagan.com

Amazon author link:

Goodreads author link

Facebook link: 

Thanks, Jeanette! 

To book your own Author Sit-Down, send an email to sallybyname(AT)gmail.com

with Author Sit-Down in the subject line. 

 

Skye Taylor

Let's welcome Skye Taylor to Author Sit-Down, Skye is working on a series with a most intriguing premise. Read on to hear all about the first book, Unspoken Promises. As usual, I asked five questions.

1.    1. Unspoken Promises, the first in the Bailey Island Romance series, is a split-level story told in two timelines. How did you come up with the idea of writing two linked stories in one?

 Unlike some authors, I am not a detailed plotter. I have detailed dossiers on my characters and a clear idea of where the story starts and where it will end, but the actual action is often as much a surprise to me as my readers. In the first book in this series, I started with a heroine who just lost everything: her sons off to college, her husband leaving her for another woman, the home she’s shared for the last 20 years is where her hubby grew up, so he’s given her a month to vacate. And then her boss tells her he’s moving their fun little company halfway across the country for family reasons, so no job, unless she wants to move to Dallas. Then she finds out she has inherited a “cottage” from a friend who recently died childless. With nothing else going on, she heads to Maine to check out this cottage and finds it is a large, nearly 200-year-old landmark home. When she discovers a wedding dress that had never been worn in the attic while exploring her new digs, she brings it downstairs to try on. To my surprise, the next chapter begins with a young woman wearing the same dress in front of the same antique mirror with a woman kneeling on the floor pinning up the hem. It’s 1943 and her fiancé goes off to fight in Europe. That’s how the historic story came to life.

2.  What are the names of your main characters? How did you choose them?

Kenzie Ross is my main character and I chose her name because I liked Kenzie and Ross sounded good with that name. The new man in her life is Sam Philips and he got his name from my two little angel grandsons: Sam who died of SIDS at 5 months and Philip who was killed at 18 months when an unsecured gate fell on his head at a park. For stories set in the past, I do a google search to find the most common names in whatever year and place I’m setting my story. I also have a ghost in this new series who is named after my granddaughter. Anna Rose thinks it’s fantastic that I’d give an important character her name. I also have a couple supporting characters named after friends who thought it would be fun to appear in my books.

3.      Do you prefer writing finite series or standalones--why?

Not sure I prefer either above the other. I have two standalone books, one a time travel that was inspired by an excursion to explore a deserted island I’d read the history of and one mainstream suspense that was partially influenced by the years in which I came of age during the Vietnam War. That one begins in the present with a candidate running for president of the United States who is handed a photograph during a meet and greet session that takes him back to a time he’d done everything to put well into the past and emotions he never wanted to relive. I got some serious help creating Matt Steele from my brother who did serve in that war although he never chose to become a politician.

The first book in my Camerons of Tides Way series was a standalone when I wrote it, but after pitching it to an editor at a conference, she asked for the manuscript and suggested I submit ideas for at least two follow up stories for a series. That series ended with 7 books. I also planned to make my police procedural mysteries a series. There are two books out now and one in the writing, but it’s slower going because for a mystery I really do need to have an outline and that is a major challenge for an author who writes by the seat of her pants.

4.    4. How did you choose the setting for this series?

WWhen I was vacationing in Maine a year ago, a friend loaned the first of my Tides Way series, which is set in a fictitious town in coastal North Carolina, to a friend of hers. That lady enjoyed it so much she bought the whole set. Then she found me on Facebook and asked where in Maine I was vacationing. I told her, not thinking for a minute that anyone in Florida would know where Bailey Island was, but to my surprise, she did know and ended by asking why I didn’t write a series set there. Once that seed was planted it took root and the first book came out in June with the second set to release early next year. 

5.     5. Hit us with a high concept pitch (25 words or under) for the series.

When Kenzie inherits The Captain Patrick Murray House, she dismisses tales of a ghost keeping watch on her roof but loves finding treasures in the attic that tell stories of the women who lived in this historical old mansion in the past.

OR: I like the longer version better but neither are less than the 25 words you asked for.

Comment from Sally: (It's perfectly fine to change up a question.)

 When Kenzie Ross inherits The Captain Patrick Murray House on Bailey Island she claims she doesn’t believe the stories about a ghost who mans the widow’s walk. Treasures found in the attic bring forward other stories from the past: a wedding dress that was never worn because the groom went away to war in 1943 and a journal written by a girl seduced by an engineer who came to build the bridge in 1928. It isn’t until Kenzie’s new love goes missing after a boating accident that she meets the widow who still maintains a vigil for her husband who never came home from the sea.

Here's your “Log Line” or High Concept for just the first book in the series; Unspoken Promises:

Two women, a cottage by the sea, and three generations of love and loss . . . .

 

To see more about Skye and her books, check out her website: http://www.Skye-writer.com

To check out the book, go to BUY HERE

If you're reading this in August 2025, see the cover in the All Author Cover of the Month contest.  HERE

Skye's bio:

Skye Taylor, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and published author, loves history, books, beaches and chocolate. Her published work includes: Unspoken Promises, A Bailey Island Romance, Bullseye & Crossfire (A mystery series set in St Ausgustine, FL,) The Candidate, The Cameron’s of Tide’s Way (a contemporary romance series) and Iain’s Plaid. Visit her website at: www.Skye-writer.com.  She is a member of SinC, FWA, RWA and WFWA.

 Thanks, Skye! 

Author Sit-Down is a blog dedicated to talking books. If you've written a book (or several) and would like an author sit-down, you can contact me at sallybyname(AT)gmail.com. Nominate your book and tell me a bit about it and I'll send you five questions. In the meantime, check out the other posts on this blog. Each author has an entertaining and enlightening story to tell.

 

Katie Stewart

 

Today's author sit-down is with Katie Stewart. Katie and I go way back, though we've never met in person, so I was delighted to ask her five curly questions about her new picture book, You're Too Little.

 1.     Can you remember the moment the idea for You're Too Little popped (or crept) into your mind? If so, please tell us about it.

 I don’t think there was any one moment. Pygmy possums have always been my favourite marsupial, so as I kept writing stories, I kept thinking, ‘I really should write one about a pygmy possum’. After my last book I decided that now was the time and I started brainstorming ideas. What problem could a pygmy possum have? Being considered too small seemed a good fit, so the story developed from there.

 2. Who is your protagonist?

The protagonist is Western Pygmy Possum, who like all pygmy possums is very small. I always use the animal name for my characters to avoid too much personification. Through most of the book, she’s simply known as Pygmy Possum, but the other characters are all Western Australian animals, so I needed to use ‘Western’ at the beginning of the story. It also says ‘young’, because an older Pygmy Possum would already know what she can and can’t do.

3. High concept of 25 or fewer words to "sell" your book to us?

“A tiny creature shows how important it is to know what your skills are and to believe in yourself to achieve your goals.”

4.     How has your rural background impacted your writing?

Living in the country for most of my life has brought me closer to nature, so I think using animals as characters is only natural. As a child, I was always out watching animals and birds on the river and it’s something I carried on when my husband and I  were on the farm. The themes of the stories, though, come from my subconscious after my years of teaching and motherhood. I don’t set out with a theme in mind. Sometimes it’s so subconscious that when I go back and look at it later, the theme surprises me. That is definitely the case with ‘You’re Too Little’. Yes, I was writing about a pygmy possum, so the idea of her being told she was ‘too little’ by others was the obvious plot. However the idea that she not only believed in herself because she knew what she could do, but also that she needed to use all her abilities to make it work came out without me thinking about it. I do believe that children need to learn to ‘give it their all’ to achieve their goals, but I didn’t set out to write that.

The book that most relates to my rural background is probably “When I Can Fly” which, sadly, has been my least successful book. I think people in the city saw it as a take-down of city life, when it really wasn’t. It was based directly on my second son’s experience and was more about the fact that you can really want something and work towards it, only to find that you don’t like it when you get it – and that it’s also okay to admit that you don’t like it.

5.     You are both artist and writer. Which talent is more "you”?

That’s a really good question. I always enjoyed both writing and art. I was good at English, especially creative writing, but it was Art that I really loved and Art that won me prizes. Surprisingly though, it was only because of my family moving towns that I ended up doing Art in my final two years of school. Even though I loved Art and wanted to go on to do Art after school, I’d been pressured by the school principal to choose ‘real’ subjects, so I put down to do German. But the new school didn’t offer German, so I had to do Art instead! Unfortunately, my mother didn’t see Art as a real job prospect either, so my dream of going to Art School was stymied. I went on instead to do a degree in English, hated it (how would I know what an author was really thinking?) and changed to Archaeology. By the time I finished, I’d lost confidence in my artistic ability and took a very long time to get back to it seriously. The fact remains though, that Art is my ‘thing’. Even when I’m writing, I think in pictures. I have the book spreads clear in my head as I go.

In short - if I had to choose between writing and art, it would be art every time. Even when I’m not doing a book, I’m in my studio doing something artistic. If I can’t draw or paint, I’m miserable. So art is “me”.  

Facebook:  facebook.com/KatieStewartAuthorIllustrator 

Instagram: instagram.com/katiestewartillustrator/

Thanks so much for this, Katie. I love finding out why creative people do what they do and when they do it...and how!

Author Sit-Down is a blog dedicated to talking to authors and other creatives and showcasing their creations. Because I ask different questions, every author sit-down is new material...it's never someone's existing press hand-out. If you'd like to talk about a book you've written, or just talk up books in general, drop me a line at sallybyname(AT)gmail.com with Author Sit-Down in the subject line. Also, we'd appreciate it if you read one or some of the other sit-downs and give us a comment. 

Ric McDonald

 

Today’s Author Sit-Down is with Ric McDonald, author of The Story of Job.

I asked Ric five questions about his book.

 

1.    1. Please give us a high concept (in 25 or fewer words) for what your book is about.

 

The Story of Job is a historical fiction about the life of Job Symonds from London streets to Australia covering 1868 to 1956

 2.     What inspired you to write Job's story?

 I have always been fascinated by this larger-than-life character, my great-grandfather Job Augustus Symonds whom I never met. He was born in Hanover London 1868 and died 1956 in Cairns QLD.

I did meet his wife my great-grandmother Alice who at the time frightened me as a four-year-old as she sat in a rocking chair murmuring continually and dribbling, and she passed by the time I was five at 92.

Later, stories my grandmother Eva told me of the amazing life they led from Breaksea Island in Albany to Rottnest, Bunbury and Darkan left me wanting more but by the time I realised that my grandmother had passed.

My father however was a prolific writer. He had documented the facts of the life of Job but most of my knowledge of the Symonds family came from word of mouth, from my grandmother Eva and my father Ean.

So over the years I would remember such stories and jot down the summary of each from time to time and when computers became part of my life I began to fully document the known facts of the life of Job and Alice.

Eventually I had filled in as much as I could in a document of 30 odd pages of mostly facts that I had put together by 2017. As I had retired from full time work in 2015 I had more time to devote to this task.

My initial title of this document was For the Love of Job and a lot of my thoughts went into understanding how he could walk away from a marriage of 20 odd years and start afresh with another woman.

This document was initially just meant as a family record for my family.

But this changed when my wife and I went to see a play put on in Kalamunda by the Albany theatrical group Theatre 189 performance of The Lighthouse Girl written by Albany author Dianne Wolfer.

We loved the performance and as my great-grandparents Job and Alice had been keepers of that lighthouse ten years earlier , I wrote to the producer and gave her the segment of my story from the time Job and Alice were on Breaksea with the thought it might help the actors understand more about what life was like on Breaksea.

Next I received a message from Dianne Wolfer saying the segment had been passed on to her and she wanted to talk to me about it. So we arranged a call.

In October 24 Dianne again wrote to say she had written a radio play for the Albany Bicentenary based on my story of Job welcoming his bride to Albany by lighting a bonfire as Alice’s ship passed Breaksea Island. She had called it “A Bonfire for Alice” and she sent me a copy of it. Well, I loved the story and as I read it to my wife I cried, which a 76 year old bloke does not often do, because all of a sudden these two relatives whom I had known about all my life came to life as real people in the way Dianne had told their story from that time.

A while later in early 2025 Dianne presented at the Kalamunda Library a presentation on writing historical fiction and I was hooked. I began “The Story of Job” with the support of Sally Odgers as my editor and supporter.

What I have loved about the historical fiction version is the ability to use my imagination to fill in the gaps bring the characters to life and also find ways to make the story believable as in so many lives life is stranger than fiction, Sally has been a great help in understanding this process.

 3. How did you go about researching the background for the book?

 Much of the factual backbone of The Story of Job came from stories passed down through my family—particularly from my grandmother Eva and my father, Ean McDonald. Over the years, I’d taken the time to document these family memories and cross-reference them with records, creating a foundation of known facts about Job's life, movements, and key events. I had been gathering this information long before the idea of writing a novel had taken hold.

Once I made the decision to shift from a family record to a historical fiction narrative, everything changed. The framework of Job’s life was already there, but now I began to immerse myself in the broader historical context surrounding him. I researched the periods in which he lived—the maritime world of the late 1800s, the development of ports like Albany and Fremantle, the settlement of inland WA towns like Darkan, the social expectations of the era, and the changes brought by Federation and war.

Wherever I lacked specific details, I allowed myself to make plausible assumptions based on what I knew of Job’s character—his stubbornness, his sense of duty, his love of the sea, and the emotional complexity of the choices he made. Historical fiction gave me the freedom to explore not only what happened, but what Job might have thought or felt about what happened.

One example was his experience sailing through the Suez Canal. I discovered that while the canal had officially opened in 1869, it wasn’t widely used by commercial traffic for several years. By the time Job sailed through it on his journey to Australia, it had become a well-travelled route that significantly shortened the voyage from England to the colonies. Knowing this helped me place Job within the flow of changing global trade routes and maritime history—details that might seem small, but they gave me confidence in shaping scenes with a strong sense of authenticity.

I also delved into period newspapers, shipping records, and historical accounts of lighthouses, rail lines, mine disasters, and colonial townships. Every fact I uncovered offered a new thread to weave into the tapestry of Job’s life, and every gap gave me room to imagine.

Writing historical fiction is a dance between what we know and what we believe might have been true—and it was in that space that Job truly came to life for me.

 4. How did you treat the inevitable gaps in the research?

 One of the greatest freedoms—and responsibilities—of writing historical fiction is navigating the unknowns. While I had gathered many facts about Job's life from family stories and historical records, there were still inevitable gaps: missing years, unclear motivations, undocumented relationships. To bring the story to life, I had to fill these spaces in a way that felt true to the character and respectful to those involved.

Creating the fictional characters of William and Eleanor was one way I bridged those gaps. Through them, I was able to incorporate broader elements of history—such as the end of convict transportation to Australia—while giving Job a companion and confidant who could reflect and question along with him. These characters became crucial to deepening the story’s emotional core and to grounding Job in the era’s social and political changes.

I also wove in real historical events to give structure and meaning to the timeline. For instance, when Alice makes her journey to Australia, I tied it to the real-life appointment of C.Y. O’Connor as Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia. That led to the fictional but plausible scenario of Alice travelling as a governess to a prominent family connected to O'Connor’s vision for the colony. These narrative choices helped anchor the fiction in real-world developments.

Some gaps were more personal and delicate. The love story between Job and Alice, who was nine years his senior, posed a unique challenge. It was unusual for the time, yet the available evidence—letters, family stories, and their enduring connection—suggested a bond that was genuine and deep. I had to imagine how that relationship might have formed, and what inner struggles and social pressures they might have faced.

Even more difficult was writing about Job’s later relationship with Angie. The facts show that she left her husband and four young sons to be with Job—a decision that, through today’s lens, seems almost unfathomable. To protect her descendants’ privacy, I changed her name in the novel. But more importantly, I took great care in creating a believable emotional journey that could explain such a heartbreaking choice. I didn’t want to excuse it, but I did want to understand it. What circumstances, griefs, or longings could lead a mother to leave her family behind? Fiction allowed me to explore those questions with empathy.

In the end, wherever there were gaps, I used imagination tempered by logic and heart. I always asked: What choice feels true to this character, in this time, under these conditions? If the answer felt honest, I followed it.

 5. Are you planning a website for your book? If so, give us the url. If not, where will your book be available?

 At this stage, I don’t have a dedicated website for The Story of Job, but given the unexpected level of interest and demand in just the first few weeks since I self-published, I may need to seriously consider creating one soon.

For now, printed copies of the book are available directly through me for $20 each. The Story of Job was self-published via IngramSpark, and in time it may also become available through their wider distribution channels, including major online booksellers.

The ISBN for the book is 978-0-646-72145-3 for those wishing to locate it or request it through libraries or retailers.

Thanks, Ric!

Authors and readers—if you’d like an Author Sit-Down interview, either ask in the comments or send me an email at sallybyname(A)gmail.com with AUTHOR SIT-DOWN in the header.