How did you take your ‘ idea ’ for a book from inspiration to product ?

I had a dream . I had a deadline .

I had a dictum ( courtesy of Mr Mark Twain ). And here it is :

“ Twenty years from now , you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn ’ t do than by the ones you did do . So throw off the bowlines . Sail away from the safe harbor . Catch the trade winds in your sails . Explore . Dream . Discover .” in 30 days ’ challenge . Twelve months later , and another 50,000 words , House for all Seasons was ready to submit – or so I thought .

My first publisher submission ( while not successful ) did attract the attention of a literary agent ( my dream agent , in fact ) and in September 2010 – the day before my 50th birthday – I signed with Curtis Brown Agency . Hoorah ! Deadline met !

Now what ?

Feedback from my agent encouraged me to rework certain parts of the manuscript , expanding and growing the story and the characters far beyond what I ever thought I could . I also took the time to develop my author platform . I knew that to cut through the clutter , an author had to have :

The deadline was a milestone birthday that was startlingly close . I was getting older by the second .

I ’ d already made the big sea / tree change a few years back . I bought a small cafe in a small town so I could get back to a simpler life , a gentler life , a life in the country . Although never having made a coffee in my life , coming from corporate Sydney I had drunk my share . I mean , how hard could it be to make one ? ( Hard ! And I now have a new respect for small business operators and hospitality workers .)

Living in regional NSW , the seasons have become my greatest inspiration and the idea of creating a story about four women , each as different as the seasons , came to me on a morning walk . There ’ s a liquidambar tree that I photographed over the course of the year ( although the photos do not do the colours justice .) What better analogy than the seasons for a story that deals with change and growth . The seasons are about contrast and contrast makes great conflict and characters in a novel .

With that kernel of an idea I glued my butt to a chair for the duration of the 2009 NaNoWriMo ( National Novel Writing Month ) and met the ‘ 50,000 words

VISIBILITY - ability to be found by readers ;

REACH - the mechanism for getting in touch with an audience ; and

AUTHENTICITY - a relatable / credible platform .

More edits ( and another 20,000 words , taking the final word count to 140,000 - phew !) the result was my debut novel , House for all Seasons , told in four parts : Tall Poppy , Surviving Summer , Amber Leaves and Wynters Way .

Now I ’ m published , I like to tell other Senior Card carrying pragmatists that publication doesn ’ t have to be fiction . Publishing contracts happen every day , and to ordinary people just like me . I ’ ve also learned the real business of being an author is not about book-signings and Sunday brunches . Mostly we ’ re hunched over a keyboard — a kind of self-imposed solitary confinement — developing addictions to coffee and chocolate and amusing ourselves with