5 Questions from Cronulla Library...

On Tuesday April 12 I'm doing a book signing and reading at the Cronulla Library (details here) just south of Sydney. In preparing guests for my visit, the library has asked me to answer a few questions... I've knocked them up quickly below.

1. What are you reading right now, are you enjoying it?
I’m currently reading Lisa Heidke’s Claudia’s Big Break. Set in Santorini and focussing on close personal relationships – with friends and lovers – it reminds me of my time in Greece some years ago, and also the shared experiences we have as women in relation to matters of the heart.

2. Tell us a bit about your favourite book
One of my all time favourite novels is Terri Janke’s Butterfly Song. The book is a love story, a legal lesson, a comment of the contemporary lifestyles and responsibilities of young, educated Indigenous people today, and a treasure-trove of eloquent and elegant writing.

Narrated by Tarena Shaw, soon to be graduate of law, Butterfly Song as a romance novel tells the love story of Tarena’s grandparents - guitar man Kit and Francesca his frangipani princess, and how their eternal love is symbolised in the butterfly brooch carved by Kit for his lady.

Butterfly Song is also a crime novel as the brooch was stolen in the past, which leads Tarena to research and defend her first case, without yet receiving her uni marks. In terms of learning about aspects of the law, Butterfly Song is a gem of a text, as we also get a simple lesson in native title and the Mabo decision, while learning of the angst of Indigenous law students dealing with prejudice and ignorance in the university environment.

I think it’s a great role model story for young Australian women.

3. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I write every day but when I’m not doing that, I’m exercising (at the gym or walking locally in whatever city I am in), or catching up with friends and family, shopping, eating chocolate, enjoying the sun.

4. What's next for Anita Heiss? (Give us a clue about your next book...)
My next novel revolves around the lives of five Aboriginal women born and raised in Mudgee (NSW) who find themselves in their 40s all living in Brisbane. The story focuses on the joys and challenges of life-long friendships and personal and societal expectations on women.

5. If you could have dinner with two famous people who would they be & why?
I’d love to have dinner (but someone else would have to cook) with Oprah because of her extraordinary life story and positive outlook on life. She is the reason I keep my gratefulness blog.
I’d also like to dine with J. K. Rowling, another amazingly talented and accomplished woman whose life journey hasn’t always been glory and glamour. Of course, I’d be asking her for writing tips over dessert!