Karly Lane lives on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Proud mum to four children and wife of one very patient mechanic, she is lucky enough to spend her day doing the two things she loves most – being a mum and writing stories set in beautiful rural Australia. Her bestselling novels include North Star, Morgan’s Law, Bridie’s Choice, Poppy’s Dilemma, Gemma’s Bluff, Tallowood Bound, Second Chance Town, Third Time Lucky, If Wishes Were Horses, Six Ways to Sunday, Someone Like You, Fool Me Once, Something Like This, Take Me Home, Once Burnt Twice Shy and the bestselling Callahans of Stringybark Creek series – The Wrong Callahan, Mr Right Now, and Return to Stringybark Creek.
Today, to celebrate the release of her nineteenth novel A Stone’s Throw Away, Karly Lane is on the blog to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions! Read on …
Karly Lane
1. To begin with, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?
I’m a country girl through and through. Born in Kempsey NSW and spent a lot of time moving around regional NSW and QLD.
I went to lots of schools starting at West Tamworth, Wauchope, Murwillumbah and finishing high school at Parkes in Central Western NSW.
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
At twelve, I wanted to be married to Bryan Brown and own a sheep property, possibly influenced by watching the Thorn Birds TV series!
At eighteen, I was already out working as a bank teller, despite being the most un-mathematical (is that a word?) person alive. Then at 30, I was sticking people with needles working as a pathology collector before, eventually, becoming an author.
3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don’t have now?
That at 18 I pretty much knew everything, and I really didn’t know why everyone was complaining about this adulting thing being so hard … I soon figured it out!
4. What are three works of art – this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc – that influenced your development as a writer?
The Thorn Birds, both book and mini series and The Man From Snowy River both pretty much ingrained in me a passion for Australian stories and a love of the land (as well as brumbies!).
And Outlander, or Cross Stitch, as Australians knew it when it first came out twenty odd years ago. Jamie Fraser was the first fictional character I actually felt a connection with as a reader which then made me dissect him as a writer and work out what made him so special. From that I began to work out how to form the basis of most of my characters.
5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a novel?
Well for starters, I can’t draw or sing so my choices were fairly narrow! However I do have a pretty active imagination, so writing is a great fit for me.
‘I hope they feel a connection to rural Australia and maybe feel as though they’ve just spent some time meeting characters who feel like old friends.’
6. Please tell us about your latest novel!
My latest novel, A Stone’s Throw Away has a seventy year old murder lurking in the background of the storyline and takes a look back at a lesser known campaign of WW2 and Australia’s tragic involvement in New Guinea against the Japanese.
Investigative journalist, Pip Davenport just needs some peace and quiet to finish writing her book based on one of the biggest crime bosses to have ever been taken down in Australian political history and heads to Midgiburra and her uncles farm. Instead, she accidently uncovers an old crime scene at the bottom of a dried up dam and now the whole place is a media circus.
Long buried secrets suddenly emerge bringing some hard truths for the little community to face and Pip discovers that she too must also face her past in order to move on.
7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?
I hope they feel a connection to rural Australia and maybe feel as though they’ve just spent some time meeting characters who feel like old friends who stay with them long after they’ve closed the book.
8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?
I admire all those writers out there who are consistently publishing quality stories year in and year out, that readers are waiting expectantly for each time they hit the shelf. The authors who maybe aren’t big names in the world arena, but who write their books without fanfare or dragging it out for years between the next instalment of a series, for the readers who faithfully support them.
9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?
I don’t have any ambitious goals. I’m just grateful for each book I get published and for my readers who keep asking for more! I’m lucky enough to be doing something I love.
10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Keep writing. When you finish one book, put it aside and start another. Writing only develops when you keep doing it. And try to get your work in front of as many different eyes as you can and take on board any suggestions. You don’t have to agree with them, but it’s important to keep an open mind and take yourself out of your own head space once and a while.
Thank you for playing!
—A Stone’s Throw Away by Karly Lane (Allen & Unwin) is out now. Limited signed copies are available while stocks last!
A Stone's Throw Away
Limited Signed Copies Available!
When a drought dries up the contents of a water hole on her uncle's property, the last thing Investigative journalist Phillipa Davenport expected to find was a body.
On a deadline and with a severe case of writers block, Pip doesn't have time to investigate this story - she just wants to write her book. However, the universe and her neighbour seem to have other ideas. And then there's the mysterious detective assigned to the case, who Pip is beginning to find very distracting. When the only person of interest is a ninety year old war veteran, who's unable to communicate...
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