When I read about the Book Length Project Group, I thought it was exactly what I was looking for, and joined up. I’m so glad I did. I can’t believe the expertise and experience within the group. Not to mention the talent! The discussions, encouragement and support really help when tackling a lengthy and complex project.
Currently, I’m nearing completion of a first draft of my first novel. It has the working title 'Ida's Children', and grew out of a short story I wrote in 2010. In 2011, I homeschooled my boys and looked after sick parents, but I returned to writing the novel in 2012.
The story centres around two sisters: one who is childless, while the other conceives easily, bearing child after child. The novel touches on issues of child abuse, what is a good mother, the expected roles of women, and the impact of giving up one's dreams. It is set in rural Tasmania from the 1920s up to the present day.
At school, I found English and creative writing difficult, so I stuck with Maths and Science. I found them more straightforward: you were either right or wrong. No articulating of opinions and backing them up with quotes from the text. I pursued the scientific pathway and became a doctor. I loved that world: where decisions can mean life or death, literally; where you witness life beginning, and where you see it end; where people tell you things they’ve told no other person. I will never regret choosing Medicine as my career.
I married and had four children and eventually found myself torn between work and family. Our hectic life was unsustainable and I quit work. It wasn’t an easy decision, but family life is much smoother and happier now.
As soon as I knew I was stopping work, I enrolled in an online writing course (less intimidating than face-to-face). A couple of my children had won writing awards and I wondered if perhaps I could write, too. It was so pleasurable to unleash my creative side. It had waited for over four decades to emerge, and towards the end, it was banging against my skull, begging for release. Now it’s out, its relishing its freedom like an unbridled horse.
Apart from my family and writing, I also love classical music, the ocean and the Australian bush. I walk every day through the bushland around Allen Park, making sure I at least glimpse the sea. For me, it is ‘nature’s antidepressant’.
I have recently started a blog, which you can find at: louise-allan.com. Feel free to slip over and take a look.
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