Father Lost Child Found follows three amateur sleuths — one searching for answers about her father’s death, one searching for a mystery woman who left a child in her basket, and one searching for extraterrestrials. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

As is often the case, a confluence of factors shaped the development of the story. Some ideas were sparked by things I’d heard or experienced personally, while others came from readers of Alone with a Tasman Tiger.

The opening scene of Father Lost Child Found was directly inspired by a conversation I overheard at Brisbane railway station while waiting for a train. A young man, freshly released from jail, was talking about his experiences. He mentioned that his father wasn’t in the picture anymore. I felt for him — his honesty, his observations — and thought he’d make an interesting character. He became the unlikely hero of my opening chapter.

I also received feedback from readers who wanted to know what happened next to Galina, the heroine of Alone with a Tasman Tiger. She wasn’t (spoiler alert!) the winner of the survival competition, but she won readers’ hearts. That encouragement got me thinking about her future.

Around the same time, I heard a radio segment about eulogies — those speeches at funerals where people sometimes say things they perhaps shouldn’t. I had great fun researching this and knew I wanted to weave a scene like that into the book.

Expanding the synopsis a little… Galina’s father died in an accident on an oil platform twenty-four years ago — on September 11, 2001, in fact. During a eulogy for one of his former colleagues, doubts are raised about the true cause of Aleksandr Ivanov’s death, setting Galina on a dangerous search for the truth.

I was also reading two brilliant novels by Terry Hayes — I Am Pilgrim and The Year of the Locust. Both are fast-paced thrillers, the latter edging into science fiction. They made me want to write something equally pulse-pounding.

Then there was an interview I heard on ABC Radio’s Conversations, where Sarah Kanowski spoke with a radio astronomer about the possibility of life on other planets. That definitely fired the neurons. And, over coffee one day, a friend and I started talking about the mysterious crop circles near Tully, first reported sixty years ago — circles that can’t easily be explained away by pranksters. That conversation sealed it.

What aspects of the human condition do you find most interesting — the things that make for great fiction?

Loss is something most of us experience at some point. You never really get over it — you just learn to manage it, if that’s the right word. Certain triggers can bring the pain rushing back.

Loss often leads to vulnerability, which is another universal theme. When we feel vulnerable, we become risk-averse — but without risk, it’s hard to escape an unhappy or stagnant situation.

And then there’s forgiveness. When someone wrongs you, the question becomes: can you forgive them? That decision always carries consequences for both sides.

What themes were important for you to explore in this book?

Identity – Who am I? I even toyed with calling the book Daughter. Drummer. Sailor. Spy. — a nod to John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Spying – What it requires, what it costs, and what it demands of a person. The secrecy, the deception, the time away from home — and the toll that takes.

Secrets – Discovering that someone you thought you knew was living a double life. Perhaps they weren’t an oil worker after all, but a spy.

Connection and relationships – With family, and with doing what you love. Galina leaves the survival competition in a new relationship forged under extraordinary circumstances. Can it survive the real world? Seb has already taught her to swim — now he wants to teach her to sail.

Motherhood – For Charlotte, it’s about what it truly means to care for a child, and the sacrifices and choices that come with that role.

Where do you see your characters after the book ends?

Each of the three amateur sleuths undergoes a profound transformation through the events of Father Lost Child Found. They’ll each carry those experiences into their futures — but you’ll have to wait for the next book in the series to see how those changes shape their careers and their lives.

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