I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Matraville - between Long Bay Jail, ICI Industrial Estate and the Malabar Sewerage works. I had a wonderful childhood playing cricket, tennis and footy in the street with the kids of the neighbourhood. Mum made lots of chocolate cakes and she worked at the drive-in, so we went to see films a lot. Dad was always working in the garage and making things around the house. He used to get on his bike, put one kid on the front, one on the back on his shoulders and we'd squeal as he rode up and down the street. We always ate dinner together, and there wasn't a TV in the kitchen then, and no Playstation or Wii. My parents were very family oriented. There was a lot of love in my house. Of course, we fought too, but that's what all kids do, don't they?

 

My Mother was born on Erambie Mission Cowra - Wiradjuri country. Most of her family is scattered around Tumut, Brungle, Griffith and Sydney. My father's family are all from Austria. He was from a little village called St Michael in the Lungau, Salzburg.

 

I worked at a chicken shop when I was still in school and then a department store on Thursday night and Saturday morning. My first job out of University was writing comic scripts for Streewize Comics. I then set up my own consultancy business doing social research and media / PR. I went back to University and did my PhD and continued to do research projects. In 2001 I landed a job as Communications Adviser for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council. In 2004 I started at Macquarie University as Writer in Residence and in 2005 moved into Deputy Director role. I am now a full-time writer.

 

An airhostess, a nun, a movie star, and / or a journalist.

 

My family, friends, purpose, my own evolution as a human being.

 

Helping people understand the diversity and reality of Indigenous Australia in the 21st century. Helping to raise awareness about literacy issues in Indigenous communities. This is why I am a Books in Homes and an Indigenous Literacy Day Ambassador.

 

Can you describe one of your proudest moments?

I have a couple, but one would have to be the day in 2001 when I graduated with a PhD in Communication and Media from UWS. I was the first Aboriginal student to do so in the University's history, and it was a day that I celebrated with my family and close friends. My Dad was a carpenter, and he was all decked out in a new suit and bought me every piece of memorabilia available on the day. His pride in my achievement (which was really his and my mother's achievement, because I wouldn't have been there without my parent's hard work and support) made me even prouder.

 

What are your favourite things in life?

Chocolate, reading, writing, chocolate, walking and swimming (to burn off the chocolate), laughing, shopping, being with friends and family, chocolate, positive people, chocolate, drinking icy cold water, lying at the beach, exploring new cities and chocolate

 

Where is your favourite place in the world, so far?

That's hard: definitely my hometown Sydney for its soul and coastline, New York for its energy and Paris for food and shopping!

 

Going to the Blue Mountains with my Dad in my Mum's green VW beetle

 

Outwardly I was confident but inwardly full of self-doubt.

 

Gene Autry - the singing cowboy. I was 5 and he was on the telly.

 

The times I've disappointed the people I love.

 

Trying to rap and having 400 students laugh at me. I have no musical ability whatsoever.

 

I don't cook much, but when I do, I like to make a kangaroo curry, chili con kanga and kanganese (roo Bolognese).

 

Masses of salt'n'pepper squid shared with friends and family.

 

My computer - I write, email, and play on Facebook and occasionally I'll churn out a book.

 

Probably something along the lines of: 'thoughtful, generous, fun, always on the go, too hard on myself, impatient'.

 

Jokes based on race or disabilities.

 

Pink (and black).

 

Icy cold water.

 

Oprah - of course. She's the most successful broadcaster in the world and is genuinely interested in the stories of everyday people. I could learn a lot being her for a day.

 

Bennelong's second wife Barrangaroo - she was strong, feisty and committed to her people.

 

Other than my Mother - I'd say lawyer and author Terri Janke for her intellect, her ability to write and sing, her peaceful aura, and the fact that she's totally likeable and gorgeous!

 

I am the most impatient person I know.

 

The inability to empathise with fellow human beings.

 

Failure - but I rarely think about it.

 

I'm collecting a piece from every Tiffany's store around the world.

 

The beach, a breeze, a book, a companion and a cocktail.

 

Life's journey is the ultimate.

 

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Humility is so overrated; I think everyone should just brag about themselves endlessly. Did I tell you about this fabulous book I just wrote?

 

Strong, capable intelligent women aren't supposed to be concerned about those things are they?

 

Right now. Every day I wake up and wait for something wonderful to happen, and inevitably it always does. Even if it's just a quick chat with a friend on the phone. So many things are precious, we just need to recognise them.

 

The ability to sing like Aretha Franklin.

 

Being the first Aboriginal person to graduate with a PhD from the University of Western Sydney.

 

A Tiffany's bracelet my father gave me for my 37th birthday. I wear it every day.

 

My parents.

 

I nearly ran my car off the road the last time Knights in White Satin came on the radio. I hate it!

 

With dignity and surrounded by those I love. Or, so dramatically I make the news and have a huge glamour photo on the front page of every newspaper in the country!

 

My brothers Mark and Josef are hilarious - just ask them!

 

 

A long, long time ago, before email, I was the world's greatest pen pal. I used to write epic letters, simply because I loved to. It seemed I had enough to say to fill a book - well about six of them...

 

I just started writing, and kept at it. I'm still learning. I surround myself with capable writers and try to sap their knowledge and skills with every coffee or meal we have. I wished I could do something, anything, that came naturally, but alas, I'm the kind of person that has to constantly practice.

 

What do you love about writing?

The chance to use creativity to escape, to heal, to write the world I wish we had, and also to make social change. I am at my happiest when I'm punching the keys.

 

A good writer will make their reader feel something: empathy, sympathy, fear, anxiety, relief, sadness, uplifted. A great writer, I think, will make me laugh out loud when reading their work. Jonathan Safran Foer does that for me. As for my favourites, my bookshelves are full of Australian authors, and when I grow up I want to be able to write like Rosie Scott, Kathryn Heyman, Linda Jaivin, Mark Ragg, Alex Miller, Terri Janke and Kim Scott.

 

People I know and have conversations with give me inspiration. I love writers like Alexis Wright, Melissa Lucashenko, Alex Miller, Rosie Scott and Larissa Behrendt.

 

Things that are important to me - social justice, human rights, Indigenous issues, the human condition, how we relate to each other, relationships between friends.

 

I enjoy the change of voice, pace and structure. Poetry is less structured for me, and is about making quick social points about an issue. The children's book allows me to go back to a younger voice and play with language, and the chicklit novel lets me be very creative with scenes, storyline and characters. I'm moving among genres to see if I can do one well, and when I find one I'm good at I might stick with it!

 

On writing: Write every day and read widely across genres, geography, gender and culture. You will get a feel for what you think works on the page and it will help you define your own style and voice. Join a writer's centre and the Australian Society of Authors to make contacts, get professional development and to learn about the industry.

 

On publishing: Get your manuscript looked at by a professional before you send it to a publisher - don't waste your time or theirs not having done that. Don't give it to a relative or friend, unless of course they are editors. You need objective, professional advice. Look at the books in the store / library and see who publishes the kinds of works you are writing. Then check out their websites to see if they accept unsolicited materials and to find out the process for sending your manuscript in.

 

On selling a book once it's published: I'm lucky, I have a background in PR and a PhD in Communication and Media, and so I know how it all works and I exploit the media if I can when it comes to selling books. I will go on any radio show (OK, wouldn't do Jones or Laws) and do any paper anywhere if it means reaching a bigger reading audience, and hopefully selling a few more books.

 

On what to write: I think lots of people can write, the hard thing is writing something at the right time and something that other people want to read. Something that is different, that fills a niche, that has a good storyline and is well written. And a hook that the media will run with. I launched Not Meeting Mr Right on Valentine's Day so there was a hook there, but of course the difference was that the heroine - while following the formula of boy meets girl - had complications in her search for Mr Right.

 

I don't tire of book launches, who would? You're the centre of attention, there's a party that someone else mostly pays for, and you don't have to clean up. It's true, I sometimes get tired of the same questions, but it's all part of the process of writing and publishing. I want people to read the words I've agonised over to get on the page. Therefore, I have to do the work to make the book move out of the warehouse and onto the shelves.

 

 

I was approached by Scholastic who wanted to have a wholistic view of Australian history in the series, and not necessarily an Anglo / Eurocentric view, or one that only considered the 'glorious' or 'feel good' moments that of course we need to celebrate. Writing about the Stolen Generations was important to me for two reasons:

 

Firstly, because there was no material whatsoever on the issue of child removal policies written in a format accessible to young people in the classroom, making it easy for teachers to omit teaching it as part of a history class. To give a complete picture of the significant moments in Australian history post 1788 - it is essential that such an important, albeit tragic, part of Australian history is taught. I believe we have some wonderful moments and some dark moments in our history, but they need to be embraced and understood from the schooling years on. Writing Who Am I? The diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937, gave me an opportunity to transport the reader to a particular moment in Australian history that is still impacting on many Australians today. Secondly, my own Grandmother was taken to Cootamundra Girls' Home at the age of 6, and then went to the Home of the Good Shepherd in Ashfield before she was put into service at the age of 14. I don't know one Indigenous Australian who hasn't been affected by the policies of protection. And those of us who have an ability and platform to educate and inform on the issue, and want to make some social change through understanding the consequences of such policies, feel compelled to write, sing, perform etc about it.

 

I hadn't written much fiction previous to this novel, but I was truly grateful for the format. It gave me limits which were useful for the first novel for young people. I also appreciated the goal of the novel, as explained by the publisher: 'To transport the reader through the voice of a young person at a particular point in Australian history'. I really enjoyed the process of reading books for young people to look at voice (it was a bit hard to remember back to that age). Having said that, I did draw on a lot of my own memories as a young Koori being harassed on the playground, and was able to use a lot of that material in the book.

 

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Eileen Stevens who spent 9 years in Bomaderry Aboriginal Children's Home

 

The 1930s setting was a bit of a problem, and that's where I had to research books from that period and find relevant terms and slang words. And the editor also picked things up, for example, at one point I had Mary use the word 'ballistic' in relation to how angry her teacher was. It was pointed out to me that perhaps that word wasn't used in the 1930s and I had to find something more appropriate. I'm told that there's a dictionary of terms over the various decades, but I don't think I've ever seen it. I also got a couple of cousins about Mary's age to read drafts of the manuscript to give me feedback on the language. I had the word 'assimilation' in the text, and they just said, 'that's too big a word' so I had to amend the text accordingly. And the discussion then became Mary saying of her conversation with Dorothy, 'She used a really by word starting with 'A'. It is much more realistic for a 10 year old to have it that way.

 

 

It's a book about a gorgeous, intelligent, capable young woman who momentarily forgets that her single life is fabulous without the need to compete with many of her contemporaries who are married, mortgage-holding mothers. In her desire to meet her own Mr Right and prove she can have it all, she embarks on a very strategic journey where she finds a few undesirables, a couple of complete losers, some appreciated sex, and one or two potential husbands. The outcome of her strategy is what is most surprising though.

 

Of course! I am gorgeous, intelligent and capable!! Seriously, for the most part, the book is fictional. But I don't believe in pure fiction. I think all writers bring something of themselves and their life experiences to the page, and there is material in the book that has been inspired by my own tragic love life. Yes, I have been stood up, dumped by email and tried internet dating. (But I've never done a SWOT analysis about being in a relationship. Perhaps I should!)

 

As a Koori woman living in Sydney, home to the largest gay population in the world, finding a man to marry 'black or white' was always going to be a challenge. After a decade of dates from hell, being stood up and put down, cheated on and lied to, the mere thought of meeting a decent guy was almost laughable. But analysing and researching how to do it was fun and exciting! Trying to find Mr Right myself gave me lots of material for a book that I knew single women the country over would relate to. I have written and published about the politics of identity, the Stolen Generations and Indigenous issues generally. But I also want to write about other aspects of my life. I shop for bras, menstruate, queue for toilets in nightclubs and shop at Tiffany's whenever possible. These are things many women do, black or white. So I wrote a book that I'd like to read, in the hope that other women would chuckle over it and nod in agreement at how desperately hard it is to meet Mr Right, in Sydney, in the 21st century.

 

What was your writing process - did you write it from front to back or more randomly? Did you know the ending before you started writing the novel and did it change as you wrote it?I wrote a plan with chapter headings like: Hen's Night, Dates from Hell, A wedding, and so on. I wrote about 20,000 words in 10 days because I had the material in my head and I just needed to sit down and get it on the page. I thought I had the ending on about day three of writing - she was going to end up with Marco. In fact, I think in the first draft given to the structural editor, she was with Marco, but of course that changed.

 

My agent Tara Wynne recommended I have a consultant editor - Nicola O'Shea - do a structural edit for me. As a writer I can safely say it was one of the best investments I have ever made. The manuscript went from present tense to past tense; we lost chapters but gained 20,000 words. I can't recommend enough sending your manuscript to someone whose job it is to edit and assess. When the manuscript went to Random House I was given a wonderfully talented publisher named Elizabeth Cowell. An absolute star, she would go through all the comments she had to ensure I was happy with her suggestions and I worked on what I thought was best for the novel, taking on board her skills and knowledge. I can't wait to work with her again.