More than two metres high, it depicts a young girl on a rooftop, engrossed in a book, leaning against a chimney made of books.
asserted
it → depict → books
That young girl is a representation of me, aged 10.
asserted
girl → age → me
Throughout my childhood, I spent hours sitting and reading on the real roof of my family house, the railway station master’s residence, far from the noise and bustle of my family below.
asserted
I → spend → family
It was not only the perfect place to sit reading, it became the ideal eavesdropping position.
asserted
it → sit → ?
In my early teens, I learnt that if I clambered on to the roof, crept silently across the corrugated iron – a feat in itself – and got the timing right, I’d be above the back verandah, where most of my family’s private discussions took place.
asserted
most → learn → place
Below me, I heard my parents talk about their seven children, myself included.
asserted
myself → hear → children
I heard my sisters talk about friends and relationships.
asserted
sisters → hear → friends
My brothers talked sport and local news.
asserted
brothers → talk → sport
When neighbours visited for chats with my parents, I was four metres above, listening.
This isn’t a confession.
asserted
This → visit → parents
I now know it was excellent training to be the author I am today.
asserted
I → know → ?
Writers are always searching for the spark of an idea, a fragment of an intriguing story, a detail that will fire the imagination.
asserted
that → search → imagination
Sometimes a story springs from our own lives and experiences.
asserted
story → spring → lives
Sometimes we have to go looking – or listening – for them.
asserted
we → have → them
In my novels, I create fictional families, then set off what I call an “emotional explosion” in their midst.
asserted
I → create → midst
I’m intrigued by how different people react to a seismic event: the conflict, comedy, drama, mishaps and misunderstandings that follow.
asserted
that → intrigue → event
The woman cried.
asserted
woman → cry → ?
The man cried.
asserted
man → cry → ?
They left before they had finished their main course.
asserted
they → leave → course
Several years later, those 10 minutes of overheard conversation became the seed for my novel.
asserted
minutes → overhear → novel
I trace that back to my childhood on the rooftop, overhearing whispered secrets, local gossip.
asserted
I → trace → secrets
The people down below were sometimes amused, or shocked, angered or disbelieving.
asserted
people → amuse → ?
I loved it when someone asked, “Then what happened?”
asserted
what → love → it
It’s the question that fuels all my novels now: then what happened?
asserted
what → ’ → novels
My family home was sold years ago.
asserted
home → sell → ?
Sometimes what I overhear affects me greatly.
asserted
overhear → overhear → me
One evening in Melbourne, my husband and I booked a table at an Italian bistro.
asserted
husband → book → bistro
We were seated beside a couple in their late 30s.
asserted
We → seat → 30s
The acoustics were such that we could hear most of their conversation.
uncertain
we → hear → conversation
A world of grief and pain, I soon realised.
asserted
I → realise → grief
Their only child had died.
asserted
child → die → ?
This was their first night out since it had happened.
asserted
it → happen → ?
They were trying – and failing – to find words to say to one another.
asserted
They → try → one
The woman cried.
asserted
woman → cry → ?
The man cried.
asserted
man → cry → ?
They left before they had finished their main course.
asserted
they → leave → course
Their deep grief stayed with me.
asserted
grief → stay → me
Several years later, those 10 minutes of overheard conversation became the seed for my novel The House of Memories, the story of a couple finding their way back from a devastating incident.
asserted
minutes → overhear → incident
Most writers, myself included, try not to use family or friends’ stories.
asserted
myself → include → stories
Getting inspiration from strangers can feel different.
asserted
Getting → get → strangers
An exchange overheard on a bus, train or tram might spark an entire novel.
uncertain
exchange → overhear → novel
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
