The Dandelion House is set a little away from the rest of Calingarry Crossing’s residents. Though it is a little tumble down and in need of repair, its character is as unique Gypsy, who once lived here. Join me as I chat with  a woman who knows all the secrets of this House for all Seasons – author Jenn J McLeod.

RH: Welcome to Writers’ Block, Jenn. In honour of your visit, I’ve reconstructed the living room of Dandelion House. I thought we’d have a little more privacy here than at the café in town, although people do have a habit of turning up at the cottage unannounced, don’t they? Feel free to help yourself to the excellent coffee and indulge in the sticky-date pudding – I’m not much of a chef so I had sexy Will Travelli send it up from the café.

JJM: Oh, I LOVE what you’ve done with the place. Gypsy would definitely give her tick of approval. (And yes, Dandelion House is a rather magical place, attracting some … umm … special people.) Ooh, sticky date pud is a fave but … are they Will’s buns on that plate over there? *wink*

RH: Well, I know most of the women in Calingarry Crossing have a soft spot for those… Your debut novel House for all Seasons has had stellar reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Congratulations! It’s the kind of book where the characters and their stories hang around long after the cover is closed (or the e-reader turned off). It is the first in a series based on the residents of Calingarry Crossing, and the next, Simmering Season, will be released on April 1^st 2014.  Share with us a little about the process of writing a series.

JJM: The response to House for all Seasons continues to turn me black and blue (from pinching myself!) especially being my debut, but also because I took a bit of a risk with the four-story structure, only pulling it off (I think) because readers warmed to the characters so much. Yes, Simmering Season will take readers back to Calingarry Crossing, but with a wonderful new cast of caring, kooky and kind of cute characters. Three main characters (each with alternating point of view chapters) converge on the small town making the perfect storm for publican, Maggie Lindeman.  

Rather than a series, I call these first two novels ‘loosely linked’ as they can be read as stand alone stories (although, given the opportunity, I would always suggest House for all Seasons first). There will be two more stories in The Seasons Collection.

RH: Oh, I like the idea of referring to them as a collection. Before we talk about your forthcoming release, let’s delve into House for all Seasons. It features an ensemble female cast – four former school friends forced by a bequest to return to their childhood home of Calingarry Crossing and confront a few truths. I was struck by how different each of the women were. Tell us a little about each of them and the extent to which the stories you created for them shaped their characters – or was it the other way around?

JJM: The overarching theme to all my Seasons Collection novels is – SURPRISE! — ‘the seasons’, basically because they inspire me. They are a great analogy for life and I love weaving the different sights, sounds, smells and sensations through my stories. Mostly I love the contrast – and contrast makes for great characters and conflict. With House for all Seasons I set out to create four female characters as different as the seasons, returning them to their hometown and Dandelion House for a season each.

From that initial concept I devised names and titled each part according to the seasons.

Tall Poppy – Poppy: a tough, ambitions journo still craving her father’s approval;

Surviving Summer – Sara: a breast cancer survivor afraid to fall in love;

Amber Leaves – Amber: a spoilt socialite addicted to painkillers and cosmetic procedures walks out on her marriage; and

Wynter’s Way – Caitlin: Dr Wynter is frustrated by a controlling family and her flat-lining life.

From that seed the story grew with some characters (especially Will and Eli and Alex – the vet) almost out shining the girls, according to some readers. I had no choice but to bring at least one of them back in Simmering Season. *wink*

RH: *intrigued* The fictional setting of Calingarry Crossing holds many ghosts for your protagonists, including the childhood secret which splintered their friendship, and the residents provide some of the challenges faced by each woman. You’ve captured the feel of a burgeoning country town and its wry-humoured inhabitants beautifully. How did you go about creating Calingarry Crossing and its residents? Why did you decide to go with a fictional setting rather than a real country town?

JJM: “Wry-humoured inhabitants.” Can I steal that, Rowena?

RH: I think you just did. *laughs* No need to steal – my gift to you!

RH: I don’t know if I could do that knowing they’d read it *gulp* I was captured by how much of the conflict in House for all Seasons is internal. Each woman has her own reasons for being troubled by Gypsy’s legacy, and when we first meet them the former friends are barely on speaking terms. Was it a conscious decision not to use external conflict as the driving force or does this owe more to the structure and/or characters of House for all Seasons?

JJM: Hmm, not a conscious thought at all. In fact, I hadn’t looked at the conflict that way until you mentioned it! House for all Seasons really was a bit of an experiment. Strange thing to say but … I was writing some very … err … different manuscripts prior to NaNoWriMo** of 2009, when I sat down and, without trying to be a writer, just told a story. During that thirty days of non-stop storytelling, I found my voice and the characters developed theirs.

RH: It seems to come down to that, doesn’t it – just tell (or show) the story. Which you’ve done wonderfully well. *itches to ask about those other manuscripts…* In House for all Seasons Caitlyn remembers Dandelion House as “The House of Wishes”. It and owner Gypsy were the centre of the girl’s lives for a while and though they’ve each moved on and barely looked back, Gypsy’s wish that each return for one season before deciding what to do with the house makes it central to their lives once more. The old house is a tapestry of sensory experiences…

JJM: Oh that is beautiful, Rowena!

RH: Thank you! *grins* Those experiences weren’t just for the four women, but for me as a reader. How much of Dandelion House is based on a real place? Why did you decide to set it a little apart from the town and make it only reachable by punt?

JJM: There once was a house …  I was aged six or so at the time, and a few houses down, on a corner and built around a giant boulder/cave at the bottom of a steep hill, was a tumbledown house that an old couple lived in. Tales of kids being chased away by a broom-wielding old man was a kind of urban myth (before the phrase ‘urban myth’ became popular!), making that house and its occupants the subject of many slumber party storytelling sessions.

RH: Great campfire story!

JJM: Why I put Dandelion House on an island? I can’t tell you. I could have tucked it away deep in the bush except that Calingarry Creek is a feature of my stories, in a way that any watercourse in rural Australia becomes a feature, the life-blood of a community. Maybe the river connection allowed me to focus on that aspect of regional Australia as well as adding mystery to Gypsy’s past. Maybe a prequel is not out of the question!

RH: Now that’s an idea. There must be lots about Gypsy that we don’t yet know. But back to House for all Seasons: for me, the strongest theme in this tale is ‘starting over’.

This is most obvious in Sara’s story, but each of the women are at a point in their lives where they need to make a decision, whether that is about career, love, taking a chance or all three. Why did you decide to write about four women at this stage in their lives? How conscious were you of this theme while writing?

JJM: Very conscious! I love writing about real women, facing real challenges, and around their forties. Obviously I relate to being *cough, splutter* around forty! I think by that age, we are wise, worldly, but also a little fearful of the future, our longevity, not to mention our bodies. We’re mostly busy trying to do it all, while conscious of losing the people around us (our young leave home and our elders tire and fade). My ‘perfect age’ was thirty-six, I think because for me that was THE BEST YEAR EVER! Then we ‘grow up’ and our decision-making and choices are clouded by sensibilities and life experiences. These days I consider the consequences of my actions and choices a lot more, unlike when I was young. Simmering Season actually deals with the consequences of choices and actions.

RH: Apart from the secret that binds the women, including a much deeper mystery which emerges as the story progresses, there are many echoes of the past in Calingarry Crossing. One of which is the war in Vietnam. It has scarred more than one resident and specifically touched the life of one of your protagonists. The conversations about Vietnam and its consequences are both touching and genuine. How did you manage to gather such realistic insight into the post-traumatic suffering of these men and their families?

JJM: I’ve watched the ANZAC Day march through bleary, bloodshot eyes every year for as long as can remember. My mum and I would sit in front of the TV waiting to spot my dad – a policeman at the time. Later, I remember the controversy surrounding the march and the Vietnam Vets because Dad did crowd control at some ugly, hateful scenes.  I was so sad and angry. My dad reads everything to do with war and we’ve had many … err … debates.  Having you highlight that particular theme in the novel means so much to me. I admit Poppy’s story makes me cry every time – still!

RH: And you’ve just done the same to me *sniffle* Your tagline is ‘Come home to the country’ and House for all Seasons certainly made this city-chick feel she was there. You’ve moved from the city to the country to pursue your dream. Share with us some of your experience as a country girl and if, or how, it has influenced your writing.

JJM: I was a city girl who landed in a small community over ten years ago. I bought a business – a café!—and what a great way to assimilate, although I was surprised by what I call a sense of celebrity that exists in a small town, with people saying things like, “Oh, so you own that café?” I still laugh about those early days with café customers eyeing off my shopping trolley, almost like: “Ooh, so you cook Chicken Tonight meals!” (I would pop a jar in the trolley just for a giggle!)

So much about small towns is sooooo true. Everyone DOES know everyone’s business (and that they eat Chicken Tonight meals!). There ARE no secrets (well, not for long anyway). I am blessed to live in the most beautiful rural hamlet and I LOVE LOVE LOVE standing outside at night staring at the stars. Did you now there is such a thing as light pollution in the city areas? (Keep an eye out for a blog from me on that.) I’ve learned to appreciate my senses and I think that has influenced my scene setting. Interestingly, book three will have readers appreciating their senses. Also, you heard it here first, Rowena. Book three has a title: Season of Shadow and Light.

RH: What a beautiful title! But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s discuss Simmering Season, to be released on April 1^st!

COVER REVEAL!

RH: Tell us a little about the upcoming release and how the two books are related.

JJM: It’s the publican’s story – Maggie. Again three strong characters, with their stories told in alternating point of view. There is a shock for readers of House for all Seasons, but it allowed me to delve into a much-loved character in more depth further on in the story. Readers will hopefully forgive me.

Back in Calingarry Crossing to sell the family pub, Maggie Lindeman has no idea a perfect storm is heading her way until her past and present converge with the unexpected to blow the lid off a lifetime of secrets.

Maggie’s past includes Dan Ireland. Now a work-weary police crash investigator, still hell-bent on punishing himself for his misspent youth, Dan has ample reason for not going home to Calingarry Crossing for the school reunion, but one very good reason why he should.

Maggie’s present includes a restless seventeen-year-old son, a father with dementia, a school centenary planning committee, a fame-obsessed musician husband, a dwindling bank account, and a country pub that just won’t sell.

Her unexpected is a houseguest for the summer. Fiona Bailey-Blair, daughter of an old friend and spoilt with everything but the truth, whips up a small storm of whispers when she blows into town.

This storm season, when a school reunion brings home more than memories, Calingarry Crossing’s publican will discover there’s no keeping a lid on some secrets.

RH: Wow. Sounds great (that last line is just crying out to star in a movie trailer…) I’m glad we’ll see more of Fiona – I imagine she has a lesson or two coming – but I’m nervous about the ‘shock’, and of course now I can’t wait for April! So Jenn, after three books (I’ve heard you’ve delivered Season of Shadow and Light to your publisher) you must be exhausted!

JJM: Three novels and one song! Yep, I wrote a song for Simmering Season and hope to have it recorded by release day – April 1. Also, there are two chapters of book three – Season of Shadow and Light – in the back of Simmering Season. Very excited!

RH: Me too. And a song! You are so talented I just may have to kill you – with kindness *offers another sticky date pudding* I hope you still have energy for our …

RH: What is your all-time favourite book/movie?

JJM: Movie: Dirty Dancing. “I carried a watermelon!”

JJM: Book: My very first manuscript attempt. It taught me so much.

RH: What are you reading now?

JJM: Nothing. Just finished The Best Man, by Dianne Blacklock. About to tee off with Lily Malone’s Fairway to Heaven.

RH: What is your favourite word?

JJM: Bestseller!

RH: What is your worst writing habit?

JJM: Getting so absorbed in the story I forget to stop and exercise.

RH: What is the best bit of advice you ever got (about writing or life in general)?

JJM: I was given a beautiful card on the launch of House for all Seasons last year and the words have stayed with me. It said … “I dreamed I walked a thousand paths. I woke to walk my own.” It’s fitting and relevant to the dedication in Simmering Season, which is very relevant to the storyline:

“To Dad—my moral compass—for letting me travel my own path through life,

for loving me no matter how I strayed,

and for letting me make my own choices even when you didn’t understand them.”

 RH: That’s lovely. We could all wish for a parent like him, Jenn. Thanks for joining us today. Where can we find your collected works: House for all Seasons and your forthcoming Simmering Season?

JJM: I got word the other day that the publisher is still doing re-prints of House for all Seasons.

So ask your local bookshop, or chain store (BigW), order from an online e-tailer, or download to your e-reader.

BUY links are on jennjmcleod.com   and Simon & Schuster Australia.

**Not familiar with NaNoWriMo?

Find out more about Jenn J McLeod at her website, on Facebook or follow her on Twitter