Understanding

Nudges in the boardroom how’s that little wife of yours – you old dog? Significantly raised eyebrows – grizzled and wild. It’s good natured, cheerful envy. No secret that money and power tends to draw the birds. He wheezes slightly as he treads the narrow alleyway to the coffee shop they all like now. Standing about, legs braced wide, the shoulders of dark, Saville Row repeated over and over. Most of them from Lloyds... a few barristers. Shiny pates, heavy, creased faces nodding over glasses of strong brews. Glasses wrapped in napkins... why wrap a hot glass in a napkin when a cup would... oh, never mind. It’s what they all like now. Like standing... it’s what they do now.

The complacent air is a fabrication, of course... eyes alight with the next chance – as hungry and eager as they were at twenty. Twenty... Veronica’s age. His chest feels a little heavy again, the wheeze not quite gone. He sips his macchiato, buys some time. Does she love him? Is he a typical old fool?

A few streets away she steps out of a steam room. The women-only Roman Baths... beautifully appointed. She unwraps her long hair, drops both towels. Tall and slender, the shape of fashion, she steps into the blast of a cool shower, skin tingling. Later she steps back onto the street with cheeks aglow. Passing a gleaming window she is arrested, seduced. She pauses, one hand raised, almost touching that spotless glass. It touches instead her lips. After a brief struggle she is inside the shop, stroking the soft fabric.

At home she carefully dresses. He will be home soon. Make-up pretty but natural, touchable. She wants to be touchable. Silky blouse, nothing underneath. No jewellery, just her wedding ring. She knows he worries that she (gold digger) cares only for his success. Well...she wants very simple things – she wants him to look after her. She wants a few babies to cherish. Carefully she packs away her little purchase, a tiny suit, soft plush, the feet like little paws, ears on the hat.

He folds the paper down. Watches the drizzle run down the window. Hardly any point having a driver in London – I could read the paper in this jam even if I were driving myself! Looks at his watch. Feels nervous about home, ribald laughter echoing in his ears. It’s only with the fellows that he worries about Veronica. When he’s with her, he never feels like this. Hormones! They laugh at him Pheromones! It’s not like that... is it?

Making Way

Have you ever noticed how many nautical turns of phrase are used in everyday life? Full steam ahead; the bitter end; a safe harbour... back on deck. Is it a colonial thing? Born of our history? Does it happen in landlocked nations?

In Crisp Whites, other members of her cohort are drawn to Nina’s warm nature and inner strength, and she becomes a confidante for their amazing stories. She is the discoverer of secrets; the one they turn to when it all goes to hell. Her sympathetic presence and ready shoulder disguise her own secrets and deepening confusion. At sea for six weeks, Nina tries to sort out her complicated feelings. The cohort steps ashore in Tasmania for a weekend of freedom from the ship and, in a series of misadventures, Nina finds herself literally fighting for her life in the back streets of Hobart.

Nina and Adam are drawn closer by this awful experience, but what hope exists for their love? As Initial Training draws to its climactic ending, tough decisions will have to be made. The experiences have changed Nina so much. What does this mean for the life she has left back in Brisbane?

The Magic Trick

As I polish and consider each paragraph of my second novel, I have the distinct feeling I am being watched. It’s not the commuter with whom I am sitting knee-to-knee... a tanned, silver-bearded dude in a yellow plaid shirt (at this hour!) with the Beach Boys playing so loudly on his ipod that I can hear the lyrics. It is a gaze that beams from the imperfectly closed door somewhere in the hippocampus. Behind this door a small group gathers... three so far, with a fourth gathering colour and depth. Soon this gang will become impatient. “Oi! What about us?” they will call to me.

The calls will get louder and more strident until I must begin their story...or I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else.

The state of my books is a lot like the state of my children. I have one close to launching, another still learning to put his sentences together (he’s pretty good at it, too) and taking afternoon naps. Do I feel another gathering depth and colour in some other room? Maybe...

Crisp Whites (my eldest book-child) follows New Entry Officer Course 25 through many adventures. Whether they are learning to handle weapons, fight fires, march straight or survive at sea, this tightly knit group are there for one another. Real dangers exist in the world of military training and, more than once, Nina finds herself in high risk situations.

The greatest risk, however, may be to her heart. Despite the fraternisation rules, inevitably there are crushes, chemistry and liaisons among the group – some of them wonderful and others disastrous. Despite her long marriage, Nina finds herself drawn into a completely inappropriate fascination with Adam, a nineteen year old trainee pilot. Adam is hiding a tragedy of his own and, despite his better judgement; he cannot stay away from Nina. Striving to hold him at arm’s length, she is forced to examine her own thoughts on love, marriage, obligation and joy.

Flooding

It has been an oddly wet, dank and dripping kind of Autumn here in south East Queensland... three quarters of the state flooded (and it’s a big state) and it has been a challenge to get to work. It seems to be drying out at last... the nappies are snapping on the line again and a generation of cane toads (shudder) have debuted in the puddle outside the fence.

Like an unblocked drain, pre-production of Crisp Whites has also picked up a bit at last. I think I am being passed to my eighth department... internal layout and cover design are next...

Crisp Whites tells the story of Nina Yusof’s initial training when she joins the Navy – the most life-changing six months imaginable. More than once, Nina feels doubt – what has she gotten herself into? All of her assumptions about herself; her life, her work and the nature of love, are turned upside down. She is challenged, exhausted and far from home, but she is tougher than she realises. Thrown together with a delightfully motley crew of men and women, Nina and the rest of New Entry Officer Course 25 must overcome enormous physical, mental and emotional hurdles... luckily there is plenty of pranking, flirting, and some ill-considered melon liqueur to lighten the load.

Characters!

Is there anything more fun than trimming and moulding and sleeking a character until it leaps off the page and takes the plot off in an unexpected direction? Sometimes I front up to the keyboard and think to myself ‘where will the story go today?’

This happened regularly while I was writing Crisp Whites. Based (very) loosely on my experiences when I joined the Navy, I found myself needing to create meatier back stories for the characters... things that I may have not had a clue about with regards to some of the real folk I spent time with... Of course, once a character has a detailed back story, they have motivations... and away goes the story! To find that some plot twist eventually wove together other happenings was often a wonderful surprise to me.

Crisp Whites tells the story of Nina Yusof’s initial training – the most life-changing six months imaginable. More than once, Nina feels doubt – what has she gotten herself into? All of her assumptions about herself; her life, her work and the nature of love, are turned upside down. She is challenged, exhausted and far from home, but she is tougher than she realises...

Need a break from the every day? Run away to the Navy with Nina!

Crisp Whites Coming Soon!

I am a Brisbane (well… Burpengary) mum, currently working at Energex. I spent six years as an Officer in the RAN and I was a school teacher before that. On my huge work commute I write novels on a carefully balanced netbook...

Crisp Whites, tells the story of Nina Yusof.

Irish Nina and Greek Stavros are living an ordinary Australian love story. They have survived the fallout of their cross-cultural marriage, and have stuck together through highs and lows. Their lives now seem stable and secure.

Nina is a hard worker, a faithful wife and a joyful mother... but she is also restless. She craves something... and it turns out to be adventure.

Making a radical detour from the main road of her life, and in the face of her husband’s doubts, Nina joins the Navy at thirty-three...