Nicole Alexander is an acclaimed voice in Australian rural fiction, with her new book Stone Country, her ninth historical novel, hitting the Top Ten best seller lists within days of release. Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Nicole talks about giving up a career in fashion to become a fourth generation grazier, the vivid and visceral landscapes that give her work such a strong sense of place, and the passionate emotion that drives her characters. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: What it's like being a fourth generation grazierThe power of settingLearning to live well in a man's worldWhy city slickers love country storiesThe writers she admires mostWhat she'd do differently second time around Where to find Nicole Alexander: Website: https://www.nicolealexander.com.au/ Facebook: @AuthorNicoleAlexander Twitter: @authorNicole Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-alexander-45415524 What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Jenny: But now, here’s Nicole. . Hello there Nicole and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us. Jenny: Beginning at the beginning – was there a “Once Upon a Time” moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction?? And if so what was the catalyst for it? Nicole Alexander: telling Australia's "Bush" stories Nicole: [00:00:28] There was a catalyst I guess. I grew up on a rural property surrounded with a lot of readers and storytellers. And my father used to sit around the dining room table with us and regale us with all these wonderful stories from the past. Tales that had come down through the generations. [00:00:49] And one of those stories was about the actual settlement of our property.My great grandfather selected our land in 1893 and he chose a site for the homestead near the banks of a creek in that area. [00:01:04] And in those early days he had some men with him. They spent their time cutting timber and building fences and shepherding the sheep which they'd over-landed from another property to the east. Now we're talking 1893 so as you can imagine the days and nights would have been equally long. And I always imagined that the monotony would have been quite extraordinary. That monotony was apparently only broken by the monthly arrival of the post. The magic of reading A supply rider would arrive on horseback delivering mail and other essential goods to those remoter settlers. And one thing that was delivered to my great grandfather in that first year of settlement was a book, a copy of Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. [00:01:54] It arrived wrapped up in brown paper and twine inside a saddle bag on the back of the pack horse. And you know when I think about that year. 1893, and the arrival of that novel, I can just imagine his excitement. I see him radiant, by the light of a flickering candle. Or sitting beneath fat lazy moons and the Bush stretching out around him in this really engulfing silence. That was the story I heard at a very early age. [00:02:30] And that's one of the reasons why when I got a little bit older I started considering the possibility of eventually writing about our past or history. Jenny: It sparks the question in my mind. What made your great grandfather go there?
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