How does a life-long city dweller in her middle years find ‘love at the end of the road’, particularly when that road threads through the backblocks of New Zealand and winds up at a sheep and beef farm on the Kaipara Harbour?
Rae’s memoir tells that story — a story that begins with a blind date. And while the road to love has its challenges and heartaches, the setting…
Well, just look at the stately old Batley House. Magnificent. A boarding house in the late 1800s and in then 1970s a home for solo-parent children. But then along came Rae, finding Love at the End of the Road.
At home…Batley House
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
Often a massive bowl – more than a litre – of Pacific Oysters the farmer has just plucked out of the harbour.
(Yum!)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Trackies – yay! I went for a run today… more of a run/walk, but only my dog was looking.
Tell us what you buy when you walk into a fish and chip shop.
(Nah, only teasing you. Sorry Rae, you now I had to :)))
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). How about over there in the north of New Zealand. What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
I love my Aussie Akubra – bought when everyone I rode horses with in LA wore wild west cowboy hats.
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realised that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
When my job didn’t involve writing as promised, but fending off creditors while the company went noisily down the gurgler, I immediately trained as a journalist.
Oh – and that wasn’t the question: After signing my contract with Penguin and I daydreamed through three motorway off-ramps. I was a danger on the road.
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview?
Were you nervous when your memoir was published?
How would you answer that question?
I lived on Rescue Remedy and my ‘scary’ list included: Things I haven’t worried about.
At a recent conference I attended two community leaders – a bloke and a dame (a real one, dubbed by the queen) – spoke movingly about leadership, saying a key attribute was strong emotional health. If I’d always been a steady six or seven, which is probably where I sit now, there’d likely be no memoir. Truth is, in my troubled 20s I sank lower, then I devoted much of my 30s to the hugely rewarding upward climb.
Fun stuff…
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’m still fascinated by Madeline Albright – can I spend time with her rather than swap?
(Sure you can.)
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
Feed you and tell a joke. There was a tourist and a prostitute…
(At last, someone wants to feed me. See, that’s why we clicked as critique partners. She gets me! Now start shucking those oysters, Rae.)
Jenn’s trivia: Rae, from across the Tasman (journo, fiction author, non-fiction author)was the first person to read my work, back when I was tense about my tense. (Still am!)
We were introduced by a critique partnering program. But as much as we hit it off, sending that first manuscript to someone other than family terrified me.
I still think sending your not quite there yet manuscript, knowing it needs work, is a bit like walking into a fitting room with that size 12 bikini while only one month into the diet!
More about Rae…
Both Rae and I are sea changers, dog lovers and we’re also not afraid to grab hold of a second chance at life and love when one comes our way. Her memior will show you that (and a whole lot more).
Love at the End of the Road: Finding my heart in the country
Soon after returning to her hometown in Northland, New Zealand to work as a journalist, Rae meets farmer Rex Roadley through a rural dating service.
Rex’s beef and sheep farm at Batley, on theKaipara Harbour, has been in his family for almost a century. These days the only evidence of the spot’s fascinating historic past is a magnificent two-storeyed villa standing alone on the point.
Neither Rae nor Rex are youngsters and their love affair, developing relationship and life together go through many twists and turns before they eventually marry.
Meanwhile Rae, a lifelong city dweller, learns to cope with mud, managing a large house and garden, the intricacies of farming, and the frustrations of life in New Zealand’s backblocks, all the while getting to know the locals and an assortment of animals – from wild kittens to wild bulls.
Rae’s charming story is beautifully written from the heart. Not only does she find love with Rex, but she finds out more about herself than she ever knew. Woven through her account is the story of the great house itself at Batley and the history of the surrounding countryside.
Love At The End Of The Road is published through Penguin Books.
For more about Rae and her writing: www.raeroadley.co.nz
Thanks Rae. Have a great holiday.