Back to the Beach follows a young gay man shaped by childhood longing, family tensions, and betrayal, as he leaves Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for Sydney in 1981 and searches for freedom, identity, and belonging. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The inspiration for Back to the Beach was to draw from my own experiences when faced with homophobia and prejudice growing up in the 1970s. Exploring these themes within a fictionalised setting, I hoped, would allow readers to identify with the characters and the obstacles they face in the novel. Similarly, the search for freedom, identity, and belonging is a universal challenge that everyone is confronted with at some point in their lives, regardless of their sexuality. These are central themes of the novel.

Previously, I had written murder mysteries. In Back to the Beach, I wanted to write a character-driven story that resonates with readers and sometimes challenges their preconceptions. Ultimately, though, I want readers to have fun with it and enjoy the nostalgia and the world I tried to recreate. Humour is used as a contrast to the darker themes of the book, as it does in life.

How did you approach balancing Tim’s personal coming-of-age journey with the broader social history of queer life in Australia?​

Although Back to the Beach is written in multiple points of view, Tim’s story centres the narrative. Homophobia was institutionalised in Australian society during the 1970s, and this only gradually improved in the 1980s. Tim’s coming-of-age storyline offers an insight into the prejudice of the period and the challenges anyone seen as ‘different’ faced. My intention was to portray this world in an authentic and accessible way by exploring the isolation and alienation that many people experienced growing up.

I undertook extensive research to get the social and cultural references correct in the novel. In terms of the broader social history of queer life in Australia, I supplemented my research with enquiries to AQUA (Australian Queer Archives), who were extremely generous with their time. Writing a historical novel is challenging at the best of times, but especially when it is set in a time period that is within living memory. You have to get the details right; otherwise, the risk is that any errors can distract the reader from the story.

Back to the Beach offers a snapshot of Australian society during the 70s and 80s. It is also a poignant look back at the Sydney gay scene, just before the devastating impact of AIDS, when everything irrevocably changed.

The novel is candid about desire, shame, sex, and self-discovery. What felt most important to get right when writing those scenes?​

Given that Back to the Beach is aimed at an LGBTIQA+ readership, I wished to explore all these themes in a realistic and unfiltered way. The reader demographic has to be resilient, in terms of the challenges they face as a community, and I believe they are looking for this in their fiction.

Although the novel tackles serious issues, readers should find the novel uplifting. Tim’s often difficult road to self-discovery shows how many of us have to reevaluate our inherited prejudices and preconceptions to make sense of the world. Tim’s journey portrays this as challenging, yet worthwhile, in order to be himself and have a happy and fulfilling life. Tim’s youthful optimism prevails, even though at times, he is miserable. The book’s message is that no matter how bad things may seem, things will get better.

My approach to the sex scenes in the novel was unflinching. Sex is part of life, and especially in terms of the gay sex portrayed, I believe the target demographic of the book demands honesty and a candid approach. I also felt it was important to approach the foibles and desires of each character without judgement or censorship.

Olivia and Sylvia’s chapters widen the story beyond Tim’s experience. Why was it important for you to include their perspectives?​

In writing Back to the Beach, I felt the secondary point of view characters added that sense of realism I was striving for in the novel. It is quite layered, especially considering the two timelines in which the narrative unfolds. The secondary characters, in how they respond to the changes in society in the 70s and 80s, show how the cultural shifts of the times play out. The role of women, for example, was undergoing a dramatic shift during these decades. Olivia challenges the traditional role that was assigned to women. Similarly, Sylvia, a far more conservative character than Olivia, is unafraid to stand up for herself. Many of the test readers cited Sylvia as their favourite character in the book, and she is a nod to the many strong women I knew growing up.

Each of the point-of-view characters assists in propelling the narrative along and also provides contrasts in how they see the world and deal with its challenges. These differing perspectives enrich the narrative, which would have been impossible if the novel had been written in the first person.

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