OUR VERY OWN KYLIE KADEN
An inspirational story about how our own My Child contributor tells us how, as an unknown mum from the burbs, she became an internationally published author.
Kylie Kaden wrote her debut novel with a baby in her arms, a toddler playing at her feet and ABC Kidschirping in the background. Now with three novels to her name, the Brisbane based mum of three boisterous boys has been described as ‘the fresh new voice in Australian Domestic Noir Fiction.’
With a background in psychology, Kylie says she never set out to be an author, and her road to publication was ‘a short path, paved with luck’. At home on maternity leave after the birth of her third son, Kylie says she needed a creative outlet – a few moments where she could escape the mundane. ‘I’d use every spare moment – waiting on the wet bench at swimming lessons, or stirring risotto in the kitchen, to craft my characters. I’d let the ideas ferment, before stealing a moment of sanity to peck away at the keys on my laptop (sometimes in the laundry so I couldn’t be found)’.
With no expectation that anyone would actuallyread her words, she simply wrote for the love of it, for the balance it gave her days at home with a sticky brood of boys. A year later, she found herself with what looked like a novel – and her debut women’s fiction was complete. Without an agent or any experience writing, her first manuscript Losing Katewas quickly plucked from the Random House ‘slushpile’ of unsolicited manuscripts, and translated internationally in Europe. Her second critically acclaimed novel, Missing You, followed a year later.
How do you juggle your career as an author with raising kids (and a day job!)?
It’s true that if you want something done, ask a busy person, as I find I make the most of my time when I know it’s in short supply. It’s amazing how much all parents cram into a day without realising it, so you become great at time management and problem solving on the fly. With a psychology background, I work part-time in the health industry, but savour the days I can hide in my office in my Ugg boots, make things up for a living, and still pick up the kids from school.
How do you maintain focus working from home, with kids?
It can be hard to be creative with someone skating over your feet demanding waffles (often with a recorder screeching in the background) but kids also enrich your life, and fill it with high emotion that’s easy to channel into your writing. I often have to pause to break up my boys spear-tackling on the couch, only to return to the keyboard with no idea what sentence I was moving or why, but I am used to the mayhem. Most mothers of boys are (along with perpetually smelly toilets!).
Many parents say it’s hard to find time to read a book, let alone write one. What advice would you have for aspiring writers?
Whatever your poison – cycling, yoga, scrapbooking, painting – it’s important to not lose yourself once you have kids, and to prioritise even just half an hour a day to do something that ‘sparks joy’ (to use an overused term!). Writing is my joy, the piece of the day just for me, and I feel I am a happier, more effective parent for taking that time to myself, and showing my kids that they, too, need to pursue their dreams.
You’ve been crowned the ‘fresh new voice in Domestic Noir’. Can you tell us more about the genre?
The label is a little obscure – think Big Little Lies or Girl on a Train. It’s a powerful genre that blends the suspense of a mystery with the depth and heart of a character driven relationship drama.
I love it when ordinary people’s lives are pried open by extraordinary events – and you bear witness to unspeakable acts playing out in ‘soccer-mum’ territory. The benign suburban settings just add to the conflicts.
Tell us about your latest release.
“It seemed simple at first – folding one lie over the next. She had become expert at feathering over the cracks to ensure her life appeared the same. But inside, it didn’t feel fixed.”
The Day the Lies Beganexplores secrets, lies and what can be considered right or wrong. It’s an emotional mystery that takes us into the heart of the intricacies and loyalties between two ordinary couples under extraordinary strain.
Wife and mother Abbi, town cop Blake, schoolteacher Hannah and local doctor Will are caught in a tangled web of deceit. Abbi has a secret. Will she be able to keep it? When the truth washes in to their beachside community, so do the judgements: victim or vigilante, who will forgive, who will betray? Not all relationships survive, nor do all residents.
It would suit those that love authors like Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes or Jane Harper. Or anyone that loves a page turner with a few good twists and moral dilemmas. Every mum deserves a break, and I encourage all parents to model reading to their kids in this digital age when attention spans seem to be shortening because of the content we are exposed to.
What inspired the idea behind this story?
I love the idea of placing decent people in a situation that starts off fairly innocent, but quickly snowballs out of control into a predicament. It’s fairly common to protect ourselves or those we love in little ways, but at what point does it become not okay? How do lies affect trust in a marriage? Lying by omission? And white lies?
Can you describe your writing process?
My writing approach is one of winging it most of the time, writing in bursts when inspired and letting the characters inform the story. I’m a ‘pantser’ –I don’t plan my books – the plot and characters evolve on the page organically and themes are layered into the story after the fact. I believe this way of writing produces a less contrived, less predictable narrative that’s therefore more satisfying.
You say that reading is an important part of being a writer. Where is your favourite place to read?
Fiction is about escape, so for me,where I am is not important because I’m teleported to the world the author wants me to inhabit. Like one of my favourite memes – books take you places when you have to stay where you are. You can be lining up at the airport and living vicariously through a character in a book. In the wise words of Stephen King, what can be better than that uniquely portable magic?
What is your best advice for other wannabe writers?
Don’t use excuses for why you haven’t begun (like needing a new laptop or having to paint the study). Don’t over think it – just start. You don’t need a degree in creative writing to be published – just a good story, told well.
And be yourself – readers yearn for honesty, for authentic characters they can relate to. And don’t try to emulate your favourite author – the best, indeed the only person who can write your story is you.
Kylie’s latest novel The Day The Lies Beganis available from Pantera Press from August 18 in eBook, audiobook and paperback form. You can find out more, here: www.kyliekaden.com.au