Jack’s Promises Novel: Memories of Western Queensland, Australia

It’s funny what you bring home from a trip. Sometimes it’s a photograph or a book. In my case, it’s a drink coaster from the Isa Hotel in Western Queensland.

I have a house in the Landaise forest in south-west France, where I prefer to write. It’s a quiet place. Deer wander among the trees, and the days tend to move at their own pace.

Most evenings, just before dinner, I pour myself a small whisky. The Isa Hotel coaster is usually close at hand, and whenever I look at it, I think back to my time in Queensland.

I was there researching Jack’s Promises (novel) while travelling around the country and visiting the places that would find their way into the book. I loved those days. There’s a difference between reading about a place and actually being there, seeing the distances, feeling the heat and getting a sense of how people live. It helped me understand the country I was writing about.

I came home with plenty of notes and photographs, but somehow this little coaster has become one of my favourite reminders of the trip. It doesn’t look like much, and I doubt anyone else would give it a second glance. But it takes me straight back.

If you’re looking for my Jack’s Promises novel set in Queensland, you can find my book on Amazon.

And I’m not finished with Queensland yet. I’m now working on Central Hotel, another novel set around Cloncurry and Julia Creek. This time, the story is about a woman trying to put her life back together, but who ends up losing her family in the process.

I’m looking forward to getting back into that world. I already know the country a little better, having spent time there for Jack’s Promises, but every story brings its own questions, and there’s still plenty for me to discover.

Meanwhile, I’m back in the forest, with the deer outside and my whisky beside me. The little coaster from the Isa Hotel is still there, quietly reminding me of some very happy days on the other side of the world.