Writer of Uplifted

1. Other than the theme for the anthology, what was your inspiration for your short story?

My story was inspired by real life events. My father was a keen hang-glider pilot when I was growing up and in my teenage years I did some hang-gliding training with him. Unfortunately, I never became a pilot myself, but I still get a thrill out of flying. I am the one with my nose or phone camera pressed to the window on the aeroplane, while everyone else is reading, sleeping or generally treating the plane as a flying bus.

2. Did you learn anything from writing your story? Is there something you hope people will learn when they read it? 

Writing this story allowed me to reflect on life and relationships. I hope that it will inspire others not to give up on close family relationships that have been damaged, and to see that these can be restored, in time.

3. How did your character/s come to you? Were they difficult, were they easy?

The main character is loosely based on myself. We moved from a coastal area to a country area when I was younger than the main character, and I remember missing my beach home for many years. However, not being a teenager at the time, I had less angst than the main character. The father is similar to my father, but the character developed his own quirks as well.

4. What kind of writing style or preferences do you have? Are they similar to your short story?

I enjoy writing in a way that helps people visualise or feel like they are experiencing the events. To help achieve this, I tend to write about places and situations I have either personally experienced or witnessed. Most of my writing to date has been short stories and poetry, but I have also recently enjoyed the challenge of writing a middle-grade fiction book, which is currently in the editing phase.

5. Do you have a favourite genre that you love to read?

I am unusual in that, as an adult, I often prefer to read books written for 12-16 year olds. Books set in historical settings are appealing, as I prefer to learn about history through the eyes of a character which brings it to life. Although I enjoy adventure stories and fantasy fiction stories, the most important part of a story for me is not the exciting climax, but seeing the characters grow in maturity and discover new things about life and themselves throughout the story.

Growing up, I loved Anne of Green Gables and other books written by LM Montgomery, and other childhood classics like Heidi, Black Beauty and What Katy Did. I enjoyed reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series by CS Lewis, the series about ballet by Lorna Hill (A Dream of Saddlers Wells) and Jean Estoril (Drina) and books by Noel Streatfield and Edith Nesbit. Like most young children, I went through an Enid Blyton stage too, loving the adventure series and the Naughtiest Girl and Mallory Towers boarding school stories. Australian authors I enjoyed include Ivan Southhall and Eleanor Spence. I own many of these books and still revisit them like going back to see old friends.

I have five children and have enjoyed experiencing new authors as they have discovered them. My eldest son introduced me to the Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan, and I have just completed reading the first series of Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan that my teenage daughter and younger son also enjoyed. For my own pleasure and research into modern middle-grade fiction I have recently read and thoroughly enjoyed novels by Cecily Ann Paterson, Deborah Kelly and Nova Weetman.

6. Without giving too much away, could you tell us a little about your short story?

My story begins with a teenage girl remembering a time when she was close with her father, when she would watch him hang-glide on the sand dunes near where they lived. It quickly shifts to the current time when she discovers they have to move away from her beloved coastal home to the country. This causes a rift in her relationship with her father, which is healed in an unexpected way.