Tell us about yourself.
I'm a global award-winning lawyer, speaker, MC and now award-winning author. I have a background working as a corporate lawyer and have been a professional speaker since 2020. I'm also the Executive Director and Licensee of TEDxHobart. My book is titled 'A Way With Words' and it became an Amazon Best Seller in 5 categories in its first 48 hours on sale, won a Best Indie Book Award, and 2nd Place in the Inspirational category at the Royal Dragonfly Awards.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up and continue to live in Hobart in Tasmania. It's a small town and in a place like this, you can meet a variety of different people – it's always critical to know how to communicate with different audiences and this was been critical when writing my book.
What was your journey to getting published like?
Fairly smooth. I worked with the amazing team at Rethink Press who made it an easy and fun process.
What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
Flipping everything from "we" to "you" and ensuring the consistency of writing in that way. As I wrote a business book, I needed it to sound like I was speaking with the people directly.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Planning out what your book will look like is the best thing you could ever do. It allows you to know where you're going and you can see the direction of what you're writing from a holistic perspective. This works really well for a business book and I'd imagine planning out a fiction book would make sense also so you can follow the story and trajectory of the characters.
What’s a fun fact about you that your readers might not know?
I do the occasional bit of micro-influencing where I've been the feature for an airline, promoted an App, been involved in a commercial for a wedding venue and promoted the opening of a new hotel – a strange but really fun way to do different things aside from being a lawyer/speaker/author.
What’s your guilty pleasure book or genre?
I love thrillers. Being able to follow a story, an adventure and guess what the ending might be makes a long flight a little more fun.
What’s your favorite quote about writing?
{“That's the thing about books, they let you travel without moving your feet.”
—Jhumpa Lahiri
When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
Usually drafting contracts, providing legal advice, travelling or speaking at a conference!
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I loved the Enid Blyton books as a child. Something particularly special about those books that is inspirational 🙂
What has inspired you and your writing style?
I want to write how I speak. Although I'm corporate, I've always wanted to be relatable and someone who speaks in a real and authentic way. My style is generally conversational, clear and I try to make it fun.
How do you deal with negative reviews?
I know that not everyone is the audience for me, and that's ok. With every negative there is always a positive. At least someone read the book and took the time to share their thoughts I guess haha
How do you connect with your readers?
I love people hear from people who have read the book. Whether people want to find me on social media such as Instagram or LinkedIn, it allows them to have a direct line of communication to engage with me.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I'd love to explore a whole new genre – maybe a book of short stories or a fiction book.
Are there any Easter eggs or hidden messages in your work?
My book does something a little different. I have a character that is almost like a protagonist called Kevin – this is kinda unusual for a business book but it made writing the book really engaging and fun as I knew I could add in some Kevin content to help round out a point I was making.
How do you approach writing dialogue for your characters?
I try and get into their head and develop an avatar for what they're like.
If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
Writing a book is something I never thought I could do, and I'm so proud to have made it happen. If it's something you want to do, there is nothing stopping you.
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.