Water and Fire is set in the Western Australian country town of Albany, so it seemed quite fitting that I send a copy of the media release about my book's launch date to the Albany Advertiser.
One of the newspaper's reporters contacted me for a copy of the book, so that she could review it. She also wanted to interview me for the article.
I heard nothing for a couple of weeks, but I was very busy working on Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller, so I wasn't particularly worried.
Now, there was a particular scene that I'd been avoiding writing as I knew it would be upsetting, but I decided to bite the bullet and write it up. As I'd expected, I broke into floods of tears, alternately typing and wiping my eyes with tissues. When I reached a point where I could barely see to type, the tears were flowing so fast, my phone rang.
The eager reporter wanted her interview. I wiped my eyes one last time, thought of the much happier story that is Water and Fire, and gave my first newspaper interview.
It was printed in the Albany Advertiser, in full colour with the cover, and I've scanned a copy so I can share it. There's just something about seeing your name in an old-school print newspaper, isn't there?
