This was my second novel, the style and tone are very different than my first. That’s intentional. I realise that successful authors pick a style and stick with it until they build a loyal following but I’m not quite ready for that yet. My first novel, Starting Over, was the story I had to tell. When I finished that book I sat back and wondered what I wanted to tell.
Life’s Journeys may not be it, but maybe it is. I did like writing it. I purposefully wrote it in the first person, present tense. That was partly to try my hand at that style, but also to hopefully bring the reader into the moment with Sophie, my protagonist. I enjoyed writing it but I confess to feeling that writing in the first person limits my ability to add perspectives that, as an author, I want to sneak in. In this book that was fine because this really was Sophie’s journey, but it will be a while before I find a story which draws me back to this style for its telling.
I wrote Life’s Journeys while living in the tropical city of Darwin. My office wasn’t air conditioned and, as I wrote about Sophie enjoying the milder climate of Sydney, there was just possibly a hint of jealousy.
And, before you ask, no, I am not Sophie. I drew on some of my less-than-fantastic experiences in IT and the Merger & Acquisitions roller coaster when I wrote Life’s Journeys, but her thoughts are her own, her choices are her own, and her journey is definitely her own.