Author Harvest ‘bales up’ Dawn Barker

I’m so excited about  Dawn’s debut novel – out NOW – I’m putting the blurb right up front so you don’t miss it.

  Fractured – all their dreams have shattered.

Tony is worried. His wife, Anna, isn’t coping with their newborn. Anna had wanted a child so badly and, when Jack was born, they were both so happy. They’d come home from the hospital a family. Was it really only six weeks ago?

But Anna hasn’t been herself since. One moment she’s crying, the next she seems almost too positive. It must be normal with a baby, he thought, she’s just adjusting. He was busy at work. It would sort itself out. But now Anna and Jack are missing. And he realises that something is really wrong…

What happens to this family will break your heart and leave you breathless

Just reading that sends shivers up my spine, so you’d best feed me because food comforts… (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, doc!)

What treat have you whipped up for me today, Dr Dawn?

Jenn, I’m very much a tea person, served in a pretty pot.

(I like tea. I like how the tea leaves  after you’ve drained your cup create shapes. Sometimes I see rabbits and faces… Kind of like ink blots. Not that there’s anything wrong with that — right?)

So about that comfort food, Dawn?

For special guests, I show off my Scottish background by baking a pretty good  – if I do say so myself – shortbread. Sprinkled with lots of sugar of course…

(Ock, mon! A wee bit o’ Scottish shortbread never hurts. Sorry, that’s the McLeod part of me coming out! Not that I have a split personality or anything – okay?  Speaking of split (or Fractured!), Hachette is very clever designing your covers with alternate sides of the face.) 

At home …

My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

There are no gnomes in our garden, I’m afraid, although my three little girls tell me there are fairies in amongst the bushes. I think that beats gnomes any day.

(I think fairies win, hands down!)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

We have lots of fruit and veggies growing at home, although very few of them survive the hot Perth summer! At the moment – it’s 37c outside – the only things still going are grapes, lemongrass, cherry tomatoes, chilli, mint and lemons. Actually, that sounds like a good combination. Thai prawns and a mojito anyone?

(Yes please!)

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

Anyone whose house has a balcony, a view, a playroom and a full time nanny so I can sit and read a book with a pot of tea without my children clambering all over me!

Country curiosities…

The big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

You should know better than to ask a psychiatrist a question like that! I’m interested in why you ask that. Why do you think the chicken crossed the road, Jenn?

(*gulp*)

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

In 2010, my manuscript for Fractured was chosen for the Queensland Writers Centre/Hachette manuscript development programme. In some ways, this was more significant than the day that Hachette offered to publish it, as it was the first acknowledgement by the industry that I wasn’t just dreaming, that there was something in my writing and that my story that was worth pursuing. Of course, since then there have been many moments in my publishing journey where I’ve had to remind myself that I am actually now doing what I’d only dreamed of before!

(I’m so excited Fractured and House for all Seasons are coming out together. Not ‘coming out’ as in … well, you know… Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I have three very young children, and so for me, finding the time and space to write is a constant challenge. I try to write every day, but there are some days when I have to remember that I can’t do it all.

Fun stuff…

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

The protagonist in Fractured is very similar to me in many ways. I deliberately created a main character that readers could relate to and see elements of themselves in, because the experiences of the family in my novel really could happen to any of us.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

I’d love to be Truman Capote at his prime: living a literary life in New York when writers were really celebrated, hosting The Black and White Party, hanging out with the jet set. But a week would be long enough. I like peace and quiet. I’m usually asleep by 10pm, and I don’t think Mr Capote was…

(Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).

I’m afraid I’m not very weird at all. I spend my day playing with the children, running a house, and trying to fit in some writing and exercise. I think on that scale, I’m a 1.

(Hmm, I reckon only a psychiatrist can say that and get away with it!)

Dawn says you can buy the book in all the usual places: Booktopia, Dymocks and Fishpond! But she likes people to try their local bookshop first.

For the ebook version: http://www.booktopia.com.au/fractured-dawn-barker/prod9780733629853.html

Catch Dawn on Facebook, Tweeting as @drdawnbarker and on her website: www.authordawnbarker.com