We’re turning a bit away from romance this month and hosting some authors new to us, who write other fiction and some non-fiction. We think our guest bloggers are phenomenal, and believe you will, too. Comment, and let us know what you think!
NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
GK: Skills of the Warramunga is my third historical fiction novel in a series of books covering the 1940’s period, specifically World War II and the aftermath of war. This novel takes place during the first half of 1946 on the Malayan peninsula at a time of turmoil following the defeat of the Japanese. During my career in the resources industry, I spent quite a lot of time in Malaysia, as well as the other South East Asian countries, and the region is well known to me. As with my other novels, except for the really bad fellows, the fictional characters in the book are mostly based on the variety of people I worked with over the years, during my long career.
NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
GK:From personal experience, I am very familiar with most parts of the Malayan peninsular depicted in the novel. Research was focussed on the actual historical events leading up to the April 1946 creation of the Malayan Union by the British Military Authority. These historical events are a backdrop to all the action and drama which takes place throughout the book.
NA: What is a fun fact about writing your book?
GK: The greatest fun, to me, was remembering the weird and wonderful people I worked with around the world over a long career of 56 years and casting them as fictional characters in my books. Although they all have fictional names, some of them have been able to recognize themselves.
NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
GK: I have retired recently after a 56-year career in the resources industries, a career which took me to all parts of the world
NA: What started you on the path to writing?
GK: My retirement started me on the path to writing. Rambling around in my head were memories of the exotic places where I had worked as well as the people I had met and worked with. I decided it would be fun to include all those memories into works of fiction. For the first time in many years, I actually had plenty of time on my hands.
NA: What do your friends and family think about you being a writer?
GK: I think, in general, they were all quite surprised. My wife is very happy about it as she was worried that, after a very active career, on my retirement I might become a terrible nuisance with nothing to do. Writing certainly keeps me out of mischief.
All my friends tell me that they have really enjoyed my books. I hope they are not just being kind. I have won some awards, so perhaps my novels are not too bad.
NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
GK: Both, to a certain extent. I usually start off with a lot of research so that the succession of historical facts is correct. Then with the historical events running along in the background, my fictional characters become involved in the action. The fictional actions are not planned too far in advance but evolve as I progress further into the story.
NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
GK: There are, of course, many rewarding experiences including multiple maximum star reviews, accolades from many of my readers, the odd award and the joy of completing a novel and having it published.
I would say, however, the most rewarding experience has been to find out that someone like me, who has only ever written multitudes of technical reports, can actually write historical fiction that is entertaining.
NA: What do you like to do when you are not writing?
GK: I closely follow the various careers of my children and I spend quite some time talking to my grandchildren and following their exploits on the athletic fields and swimming pools as well as their successes at scholastic endeavours and jobs.
For myself, I was never in one place for long enough to become any good at golf and, due to age, I’ve given up tennis. I now play lawn bowls regularly at our local Bowls Club.
I am also a part-owner of the Egelabra Merino Stud, a major family-owned sheep and cattle enterprise in central New South Wales. I spend some time on the telephone discussing the property with brother and cousins, particularly in this time of drought when we have had to move quickly to get all our cattle and some of our sheep on agistment to other parts of Australia where rainfalls have been good.
NA: Why did you choose the shirt you have on now?
GK: I must confess, I didn’t go to any trouble choosing it. It was on top of a pile of newly washed clothing and was the easiest shirt to grab early in the morning.
NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the morning?
GK: Since I’ve retired, I don’t have an alarm clock anymore. When I wake up, the first thought that usually comes to me is, since I have already won my OBE (Over Bloody Eighty), how lucky I and my wife are to still be so fit.
NA: Strangest place you’ve brushed your teeth?
GK: That would definitely be in Chara, near Udokan, in the Transbaikal region of Siberia. It was February, 1992 and the temperature was -54 degrees C. The only water that wasn’t frozen was ice being boiled in the kettle for tea. I had to clean my teeth with dry almost-frozen toothpaste before going to bed.
NA: What are you working on now?
GK: I am working on a new historical fiction novel which is completely different than my first four books. It takes place in the first half of the 1800’s and is based on the actual voyages by my great-great-grandparents from England to Australia and the trials and tribulations of settling in Australia at that time. There were occasional droughts and depressions which tested the settlers of that era.
I am lucky to have many of the original letters from my great-great-grandmother as well several early histories of my family. The meeting of my two great-great-grandparents was very romantic and after marriage they weathered good times and bad raising sheep, cattle and children in the bush country. Real pioneers! It is historical fiction, as I have added some conversations and events which may or may not have happened exactly the way I have written about them.
The working title of the new novel is, “Scent of a Foreign Land.” It is taking longer than I expected because it is so different for me. I have completed about 60% of it. I don’t expect to have it published before mid-2020.
NA: What is any question we didn’t ask that you would like to answer?
GK: I suppose a question would be – what is my third novel about?
The events take place during the first half of 1946 when former army officer, Jamie Munro, and educated half-aborigine, Jack “Jacko” O’Brien, who head the Commonwealth Investigation Service in Darwin, are called on to assist in the rescue of Colonel John Cook, a senior operative of MI6, who has been kidnapped by unknown bandits into the jungles of Malaya.
During the recent war, Jamie and Jacko had worked in intelligence operations with Colonel Cook during the desert campaign in North Africa in the Second World War, as the Afrika Corps threatened Egypt.
The pair with Jacko’s half-sister, Sarah, a full blood aborigine, originally from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, arrive in Kuala Lumpur in the aftermath of war to find that they not only have to contend with the impenetrable jungle of the Malay peninsula, but also with a large murderous and subversive organisation of Fascist criminals whose aim is to disrupt the 1st of April 1946 creation of the Malayan Union by the British Military Authority, foment an uprising and take over control of the country. All the inherent bushcraft skills of the Warramunga are needed to prevent catastrophic mayhem on the Malayan Peninsula.
Hi Greg, a fantastic interview. Your incredibly interesting life has given you such enviable backgrounds for your books. Keep us in the loop with Scent of a Foreign Land.