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Q: Can you tell us a little about you, the person? C’mon, share a little of you, the private person.A: I’m a country girl, growing up on a Central Queensland cattle station. As a child my world revolved around horses, books and the bush, and these are still passions of mine. I’m also a lover of country and rock music, my favourite artist being rock singer/song writer/guitarist John Fogerty, who manages to combine a little of both genres.
Q: What name do you write under? Is it Heather Garside & why or if not, why not?A: Yes, I do write under Heather Garside. Probably because I hope to sell a good number of my books locally, so although it would be tempting to hide behind a pseudonym, it wouldn’t help sales!
Q: When writing, where do your ideas come from?A: I was inspired to write The Cornstalk after reading a history of a tiny Central Queensland town called Banana. It was a busy teamsters’ town in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and the anecdotes I read really appealed to my imagination.Sometimes something in another novel I’m reading will spark an idea, but mostly I find my ideas feed on each other. That’s why I find it easier to write novels than short stories.
Q: Do you spend a lot of time marketing yourself and with what amount of effort?A: Recently I’ve spent quite a bit of time marketing, contacting review sites, doing interviews etc. Once I have copies of my book in hand, I plan to contact local newspapers for publicity and do the round of bookstores and newsagents, asking them to stock my book.
Q: Do you have a website and if so, what is the address?A: I do have a website, which I try to update regularly. The address is www.heathergarside.comI also have a Myspace site at www.myspace.com/heathergar
Q: As for entering writing contests on a regular basis. Do you think they are still necessary for published writers?A: Unfortunately many of them seem to be closed to published writers, but of those that aren’t, I’m sure it can only be beneficial to enter. I certainly intend to enter my novels in any suitable contests for published books.
Q: When looking for a publisher, how important is it to send out query letters and how important is the letter itself?A: A professional query letter is extremely important, if the publisher is to be sufficiently impressed to ask to see your work.
Q: How did you get published? By that I mean, what exact steps did you take? Some people have no idea and how to go about it and need to know, step by step, what they should do.A: I began by attending writing workshops and joining writing organisations such as RWA, and entering their contests. Being an isolated writer, I’ve had a couple of mentors through the Isolated Writers’ Scheme who helped a lot. I submitted to numerous publishers before The Cornstalk was accepted, but meanwhile I was learning my craft. I’m now a member of an online critique group, which I find of enormous benefit.
Q: Is there any advice, that is a little bit different, that you’d like to give new writers?A: Remember to learn from the books you read! Study the techniques used by your favourite authors. It can help you to decide what works and what doesn’t.
Q: Okay, so you have a book published. Now what?A: I imagine the next six weeks is going to be busy with promotions. Before long I’ll also have edits and galleys for the follow-up novel, A Hidden Legacy, which is due out in November. Meanwhile when I have a spare moment I’ll continue with my present work-in-progress, a contemporary story with flashbacks to the past.
Interviewed by Sarah Cook, July 2007
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