Lisa Fuller is the author of the new YA novel, Ghost Bird. She is a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, and is also descended from Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka peoples. She won the 2017 David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer, the 2018 Varuna Eleanor Dark Flagship Fellowship, was a joint winner of the 2018 Copyright Agency Fellowships for First Nations Writers, and placed second in the 2018 Feminartsy Memoir Prize. Lisa has previously published poetry, blogs and short fiction, and now works as an editor and a publishing consultant.
Today, Lisa’s on the blog to answer a few of our questions about her writing. Read on!
Tell us about your book, Ghost Bird!
LF: Stacey and Laney are mirror twins living in country Queensland. One night Laney vanishes, leaving Stacey with terrible nightmares and her family scouring the local bush. When the police refuse to help, and the family keep coming up empty, Stacey realises she has to follow where her dreams lead – to places and with people that are completely taboo.
This is your debut novel (congratulations!). Tell us a little about how you came to be a writer.
LF: Thanks! I’ve always written, but I’ve never had the confidence to say I’m a writer. It took postgraduate study to push me into the writing world in earnest. From there, I joined the ACT Writers Centre, and two local writers groups: Us Mob Writing and the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild; went to writing workshops and classes and slowly grew into it from there.
You’re also the first young adult writer to win the David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer. How important is it to you to be able to read and write young adult novels?
LF: When I was writing Ghost Bird I didn’t think it would be YA because there’s a lot of mature content in it. Later I found how open YA is, how willing these works and readers of YA are to tackle complex and difficult topics, and it fired me up. Reading was so important for me as a teenager, it was my escape and my safe place, and I wanted to be a part of that.
Are there any YA books or authors that have been particular inspirations to you?
LF: How long have you got? Melissa Lucashenko, Jared Thomas, Tony Eaton, Lili Wilkinson, Isobelle Carmody, Ambelin Kwaymullina … and on and on.
Which books do you have on your TBR pile right now?
LF: I haven’t been able to read for fun since I started my PhD. I keep buying books and putting them in my TBR pile and I’m up to four piles! I’ve got books from all the above writers, plus more in all the genres I love, from narrative non-fiction all the way through to paranormal romance. After I’m done, my reward will be to just read!
Ghost Bird is a book with strong elements of Indigenous culture woven into its story. How important is it to you to be able to tell your own stories about your community?
LF: Growing up there was nothing to read that I felt I could relate to (my small-town library didn’t stock Melissa Lucashenko). I gravitated toward speculative fiction because it dealt with issues I was dealing with like othering, racism, etc. With Ghost Bird, my hope was to write something my nieces, nephews and cousins could feel connected to and proud of, and I hope I’ve done that.
We hear you’re also completing a PhD in creative writing. How’s that going? Can you tell us anything about it?
LF: It’s going well, thanks! I’m doing oral and archival history research with/for my mob, and another novel will come out of it. Right now it’s shaping up to be a YA novel set back home as well, but that could change. I recently threw out the 47,000 words I had of a crime novel because the plot wasn’t working. I’ve only got months to work it all out … wish me luck!
What is the biggest writing challenge you have ever faced?
LF: Facing down my own inner critic so I could find the courage to finally finish a manuscript and send it out into the world. It ended up being messy, but worth it.
What is the best writing piece of advice you have ever received?
LF: Just write! Figure out what works best for you and go do that.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
LF: Right now I’m working with the team at black&write! on my middle-grade book, Washpool. And I also have a children’s picture book contracted to Magabala Books that I’m excited to start working on. With the PhD … I feel tired and excited looking at all that lol.
Thanks Lisa!
Thank you! I hope you like Ghost Bird as much as I liked writing it 😊
Ghost Bird
Stacey and Laney are twins - mirror images of each other - and yet they're as different as the sun and moon.
Stacey works hard at school, determined to get out of their small town. Laney skips school and sneaks out of the house to meet her boyfriend. But when Laney disappears one night, Stacey can't believe she's just run off without telling her. As the days pass and Laney doesn't return, Stacey starts dreaming of her twin. The dreams are dark and terrifying, difficult to understand and hard to shake, but at least they tell Stacey one key thing - Laney is alive...
Comments
No comments