Storms is a heartfelt coming-of-age tale where eight-year-old Annie Ryan faces the emotional turbulence of family, loss, and identity during a storm-ridden caravan journey across 1970s Australia. What inspired you to tell this story through the eyes of an eight-year-old?

I felt that it would have more of an impact if it were told by the person who was the same age, rather than as a retelling from the benefit of the perspective of age. These events happened to the child, not the adult, and as time passes, we tend to gloss over events. I didn’t want that for Annie. These events were real for her, and they needed to remain that way.

How much of Storms is drawn from your own life, and what was the most difficult part of the book to write emotionally?

The book is a fictionalised account of my own experience as an 8-year-old travelling in a caravan with the rest of the family. Most of the events are real, with a few exceptions. For example, my stepfather didn’t die until I was pregnant with my fifth child; however, in Storms, he does meet an untimely end. The most difficult part to write emotionally was the sexual assault scene. My original draft had it all in graphic detail, but this was for my own benefit and was my way of expunging the event from my life. I was then able to sit back and write it so that it would still have an impact, but the graphic detail was no longer there. Although it was emotionally draining to write, it was also cathartic, and those particular demons were banished.

The metaphor of storms is used throughout. Was that a conscious framework from the start, or did it evolve as you wrote?

Yes, indeed it was. It was a stormy time from the perspective of the weather, which became a metaphor for the events of the whole year. Just like storms have their calm centres, so too did that year. This only made the turbulence of the key events stand out more. And like all storms, the storms of that year did end in rainbows and sunshine – literally and figuratively!

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

That’s a very good question! I find myself at a bit of a standstill now, overwhelmed by all the stories I have in progress, and unable to focus on just one. I’d like to write Annie’s sequel, Snake in the Grass, and will do that soon. Before that, though, I hope to have a collection of Private Investigator/Detective stories ready for May 2026, but I will have to get a move on if I am to do that!

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