By Margaret Trudgeon AE (edvic.vicepres@iped-editors.org)
EdVic’s October speaker event held on 27 October 2022 took the form of a panel activity intended to showcase some of the work of its member writers. President Stephanie Holt acted as moderator for the event, which attracted around 40 or so registrations. Three members, chosen from a number of expressions of interest, spoke about their experiences in writing fiction books:
- The what if? kids: Beyond the attic is a children’s fiction adventure book by Sarah Lovesy.
- Ann Scotchmer’s diary is a work of historical fiction by Carole Lander, set during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic.
- Marlo, Jay Carmichael’s second novel, follows the path of a young gay man in the 1950s as he discovers the secrets of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens.
Each writer first spoke briefly about their background and how they came to write their book, before reading an excerpt.
After many years spent working in academia and drama education, Sarah Lovesy decided to write a children’s story for seven to nine-year-olds that would take them on a great imaginative journey, as part of a planned trilogy. The story features three children, and a loud purring cat called Ludwig, who find a key to enter the hidden world of Gleesphere and set off on a grand adventure.
Carole Lander is an active member of Editors Victoria and currently edits educational books and theses. Ann Scotchmer’s diary, aimed at middle-grade readers, was largely written during the COVID lockdown period and is about the time of the Spanish flu, in 1918. She used the diaries of a family member as the base for her book, fleshing out the details to present a realistic story of someone who lived through the times.
Jay Carmichael AE has just published his second novel, Marlo. When not writing, he edits medical books, particularly on psychology. His book is based on accounts of men who used the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne as a safe meeting space in the days when homosexuality was a punishable crime.
The three books all feature transformational spaces.
Sarah created her own world, making a map which she designed to cover the three books in her series.
Carole’s book is based in Nowra, NSW, which she was unable to visit while writing her book. However, she did have access to accounts and photos from the period, and her lived experience of the recent pandemic helped her imagine many of the scenarios in the book.
Jay set his book in a setting that is very familiar to many Melbournians, the Botanic Gardens, changing it into a place with a double life of its own after dark. He discovered there was very little personal information available about the experience of being gay in the 1940s and ’50s, but he was able to find images of everyday Melbourne on Trove, which helped him visualise what his characters might look like; he also spent time in the gardens to work out how events might play out.
The three writers also spoke about their experiences of being edited and finding publishers. They all seemed to find editing an agreeable experience. Both Carole and Jay discussed the different ways their own editors approached introducing segues within the narratives.
Sarah’s and Jay’s books can be found in most bookstores or online, while Carole has self-published her book, and has a website where it is featured.
Sarah Lovesy is a writer, theatre director and retired drama teacher. She is the author of The what if? kids series of children’s fantasy books. The what if? kids: Beyond the attic was released in June 2022 and published by Bumblebee Books, London.
Carole Lander is an editor and writer with 20+ published short stories in various anthologies. She has independently published one nonfiction book and several children’s novels. Her historical fiction Ann Scotchmer’s diary is available now.
Jay Carmichael AE is a writer and editor whose first novel, Ironbark, was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2019. Marlo was released in August 2022 by Scribe Publications.