Official Review
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1. What do you do when you aren't writing?
I am a full-time beekeeper. I spend a lot of time in the Tasmanian bush, especially from spring through summer. In winter, I spend most of my time in the workshop, making new beehives or maintaining and repairing old equipment.
2. What does your writing environment look like?
I prefer absolute solitude with no disruptions to get into the 'zone'. I like a very spartan environment.
3. Let's discuss your book Dancing on Bones. What's it about?
Although Dancing on Bones is a memoir it is also a tale about a country and its people, so it is about life. It is a life that many will recognize as having elements similar to their own but also very different because of the unique political and social environment that existed, as well as the different everyday encounters one could expect. Many people are envious of an African upbringing. Different readers will take different things from Dancing on Bones, but if I have to precis its meaning, it's about life, love and family in the face of constant challenge in a fascinating environment.
4. What made you decide to write your memoirs?
I began writing when I was living alone for long stretches on a cattle farm in Vanuatu, in the South Pacific. The farm was quite isolated and I ran a generator for a few hours every evening to keep the fridges cool. That was my window of opportunity to write but the motivation was solitude and boredom in the evenings, and I wrote initially a few pages a day which I sent to family and friends, similar to a blog I suppose. Anyway, some family members and friends felt that there was a book in my musings and, once the decision was made, the writing poured out of me as I downloaded memories. The hard part was knowing what to include or leave out but I made the decision to write everything and employ a professional editor to make the hard decisions.
5. The reviewer mentions that you remained optimistic despite many difficulties. How do you do this?
I can't really answer that. It is in my nature I suppose although I would have to also credit my family and the general can-do attitude of Rhodesians/Zimbabweans. We were always raised to problem solve.
6. Was it difficult to discuss your life in such detail?
Only my failings.
7. Is there a central theme you want readers to walk away with?
Yes. I think we are guilty of complacency. We regard propaganda as the preserve of the authoritarian regimes of the world and are smug about our freedoms, but there has always been a battle between dictatorship and democracy and we simply can't take peace, stability and freedom for granted.
8. What's next on your agenda?
I presume you mean in terms of writing. At the moment I still have a long way to go in getting Dancing on Bones out to my target demographic so am reluctant to start any new writing project. Any indie publisher will understand this. In addition, when I need to write, I have an overwhelming urge. I am not feeling it right now.
I like to end with fun questions.
9. Who is your hero?
Right now, President Zelensky of Ukraine but also Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and anybody capable of awakening a national identity that doesn't discriminate against minorities or 'other' groupings.
10. What is something that always makes you smile?
Wild animals doing weird things.
11. What is your favorite random fact?
A higher percentage of the world's population is functionally illiterate than the percentage that feels they have a book in them.
12. What are you reading right now?
Beekeeping periodicals - that's my life at the moment and I never stop learning.
