Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.
In 1987, when I was in Year Eleven, Sale of the Century held auditions for its first-ever School Kids edition. I caught the train from Gosford to Hornsby and then cadged a lift to Artarmon. Worth the effort for my big break. The first part of the audition was a pen-and-paper general knowledge quiz. I flew through with flying colours. I don’t want to sound too conceited, but I think I was the highest scorer. The second phase required contestants to ‘buzz in’ and answer questions live. I completely bombed. I am pretty sure the kid who beat me went on to become the Sale of the Century school kids champion.

Why did you choose the themes in your book and were you aware of them from the start?
In a way, the themes in the book chose me. Seekers, Sinners & Me is the story of my late husband and me walking the Camino to Santiago, told through the framework of Jack’s cancer and our consequent brushes with mortality, our tea plantation, cheese factory and other Hare-Brained Schemes, and structured according to our episodic progress across Spain. The themes of the book are life and death, joy and grief, commitment, gratitude and love. I was aware of the predominant themes right from the start, but the process of writing and honing the stories brought them into focus.

How difficult was it for you to write this book? Did you face any obstacles?
The actual writing was a thrill and a relief. My husband was very ill at the time, and the little snippets of time when I had the chance to write were an enjoyable break from a pretty stressful routine of caring, admin and logistics. The writing breaks also provided opportunities to escape our grim reality at the time and re-connect with the wonderful adventure we had shared just 6 months before.

Do you always write in this genre or do you like to break out of the box?
This is the first piece of writing I have successfully published. I have tried to publish some shorter pieces in the past, also travel writing with a strong vein of life, love, relationship and revelation running through it. I love travel writing for the opportunity to hone stories of new discoveries, as a framework for understanding past experiences and expectations, and hopes and dreams for the future. I have written some fiction and I would like to try more of that.

What are your writing habits or idiosyncrasies?
I am an inveterate note taker. I have learnt from bitter experience – when a great idea visits you, write it down. On whatever is to hand. Wherever you may be.

What would you do differently next time?
Publishing Seekers, Sinners & Me was my first experience shepherding a work through to publication. Next time I think I would be much more effective and efficient navigating that process. I don’t think there is one particular thing that I would do very differently, but having a better understanding of the process would help me tighten it all up, and move through the steps less hesitantly.

With hindsight, what would you say to yourself as a fledgling writer?
I would give myself permission to write, and to prioritise opportunities to write. Even though it can feel difficult to justify taking time to work on a personal project that has an uncertain future, especially when there is plenty of other work to do, I would stress the importance of trying to make the time.

If you worked with a professional editor, what was the experience like?
I had a great experience working with a professional editor. I really valued the opportunity to pressure test the writing – to add more context and back-story where necessary, to round out the meaning and implication of various passages, and to fact check anything that I hadn’t already fact-checked. It was so great to have another mind analysing the internal consistency and connecting threads of the manuscript overall.

What’s next for your writing?
I have two book ideas that I would love to start workshopping. The first is a spiritual-political-thriller, hopefully with lots of jokes. The second is long-form non-fiction in the field of law and corruption, hopefully also with plenty of humorous threads.