Do you have any writing rituals?
If I haven’t been writing for a while, I write my morning pages, which is just a brain dump of whatever is in my head. That clears it out like a good blow of the nose.
I might also do ten minutes of meditation, especially if I am in the creative phase of making up words.
I make sure my phone is off and in another room, and then I sit down and have to do at least an hour, preferably more, before I can do any other work for the day.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
A bit of both really. I initially like to find the voice, and that can take a lot of words. But once I have the voice I am happy to plan – not every detail, but the overall architecture. Sort of like deciding which way to drive from Sydney to Brisbane, but not where you will stop for lunch or wee breaks.
How do you feel about the book now it’s out of your hands?
Relieved! I am also so moved when I read a message from a reader. There is this great little poem by Sean Thomas Dougherty, ‘Why Bother?’ Because right now, there is / someone / out there with / a wound / in the exact shape ‘ of your words.’
As you were writing, who did you have in mind as the ideal reader?
My sister Allison. The book is basically written to her.
If The Eulogy was made into a movie, who would you see playing the main characters?
Ooh, I love fantasising about this. Sandra Oh has to be in it, right? Maybe as the mum? Apart from that I really don’t mind!
What is your number one rule for writing?
Just keep going.
What element of your writing brings out the grammar police in your editor?
I am truly terrible with tenses. When did this or that or the other thing happen, exactly? My editors and I had to make multiple timelines to sort that out!
Do you have a favourite writing place?
I wish I was the type of person who could write in cafes. I am best in my little office, with the blinds down. Which is where I am right now.
Are you reading anything at the moment?
I am reading This is not a book about Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan, which is making me laugh out loud with satisfying regularity. I was on a panel with Tabitha Carvan and Cadance Bell, hosted by Tom Gibson, at the Canberra Writers Festival a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. I also just finished Cadance’s memoir, The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody. That was funny, sad and excellent in every way.
What are you working on next?
I am working in a nonfiction book about how to live a spiritual life without religion. I studied a Masters of Theology in interfaith studies and was ordained an interfaith minister after my sister died. My peers became hospital and prison chaplains, that sort of thing, but for me it was always about writing and death. I became an independent funeral director, celebrant, and author.