Welcome to my first blog post. Thank you for your interest in my book – Beautiful Façade. You are either reading this post as a subscriber or someone who has landed on my site.
It’s been a little over two months since I released my book baby into the world, and what a hectic time it has been. The launch party had a date change due to COVID restrictions. However, we got there in the end and had a fabulous night.
As this is my first post, I thought it would be apt to include a portion of the speech I gave at the launch, which provides some context to the creation of this story.
“The initial idea behind Beautiful Façade first came to me on our honeymoon. We were in the South of France, David was still asleep, and I on the balcony, staring at a castle, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette (you know, normal Frenchy behaviour). I started to think about a girl who'd experienced a traumatic event, then met a boy that helped her through it. But the boy had his demons and had to leave her. Years later, they found each other again. I wrote a song with that idea in mind, which is featured in the book's Falls Festival section.
Since then, Beautiful Façade has been a long, slow labour of love. Gradually I fleshed out the plot, characters, setting until eventually, I started writing. I'd only written about 20,000 words when Noah was born. Then nothing until he was around 4-5 months old. It was around then that he started regularly waking for a 4 am feed, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Now I get up at this time every morning to work on some aspect of writing. Each step of this journey has taken ages, as I've had to work it around the rest of my life and learn as I go.
In regards to the actual story, I used inspiration from many sources and my own life experiences. Obviously, I live in Perth; I've been to Melbourne several times and road tripped around Tasmania twice. I've also been to a gazillion music festivals, and David used to be in a band, so those aspects were easy to write about. For the last ten or so years, I've worked in community services, and over that time, I've seen, heard, and dealt with mental health issues, substance abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence. I’ve draw on that experience and knowledge rather than retold someone else’s story. I also used inspiration for the backstory from my childhood. But mainly in regards to setting rather than actual events – let's be clear on that – I'm ok!
They say for your first book, write what you know, as most of the time is spent learning how to write.”
What I failed to include, and only thought of later, is how much this entire journey has helped me grow as a person. I’m stronger and braver for it. And anyone who has put themselves out there creatively, I’m sure you will agree, the process is terrifying.
As you can see from the photos, this wasn’t your usual book launch party, but I wanted to do something that fit with the story. Thanks to everyone who attended 😊
Keep an eye out for my next post and have a wonderful day xx