ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

I’m starting a new occasional series here at ANZ LitLovers: it’s called Meet an Aussie Author.

The plan is to contact Australian authors that I’ve featured on the blog and ask them some open-ended questions, to complete any way they like.

My first Aussie author is Catherine Harris, who has not long released a fine collection of short stories titled Like Being a Wife. 

Catherine Harris’s short stories and essays have been published in Australia, Canada, England and the USA. She won the Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize for short story in 2009. Her short story collection, Like Being A Wife, was shortlisted for the 2009 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for an unpublished manuscript, and you can see my review of the collection here.

This link will take you to Booko, an Australian search site, where you can find where to buy a copy of Like Being a Wife at the best price.  (Booko automatically includes delivery fees as well, if applicable, and calculates a total cost of the book.)

Overseas buyers, you will need to contact Catherine’s publishers at Random House for information about how you can get a copy. 

So, without further ado, here are Catherine’s answers to my questions – thanks for participating, Catherine!

1. I was born … approximately nine months after I was conceived.

2. When I was a child I wrote … my name in upper case on all of my paintings.

3. The person who encouraged/inspired/mentored me to write is/was … not aware of their effect on my work

4. I write in…  my study at the computer, and sometimes in the car, talking to myself, which can be embarrassing at traffic lights.

5. I write when… I feel like it and often when I don’t.

6. Research is…. half the fun.

7. I keep my published work in … a dedicated bookcase.

8. On the day my first book was published, I… visited it at my favourite bookstore and then took myself out to lunch.

9. At the moment, I’m writing … as often as I can.

10. When I’m stuck for an idea or word or phrase, I … get incredibly frustrated, or I go out for coffee until I figure it out, or both (usually both).

Isn’t that an interesting thought, that one of us might be inspiring an author – and not know that we are doing it!