RACHAEL JOHNS
HER FAVOURITE HEROES – AND WHAT SHE’S READING WHILE SELFISOLATING AT HER WA HOME
What inspired your new novel?
Something To Talk About is about a male teacher who comes to work in a small country town and quickly finds all the single women are after him. A farmer friend of mine, who is also a teacher, said I should write about a teacher coming to town and marrying a farmer because that so often happens.
Do you always fall in love with your heroes? There has to be something I love about all of them or I wouldn’t want to write them, but I have to confess it’s the grumpy heroes I like best. On the page, not in real life of course. A real life grump isn’t appealing at all! FYI, Fergus in Something To Talk About starts out as a bit of a grump.
What is it we all love about rural romance? You mean apart from the sexy heroes who have good bodies from hard manual labour and know how to fix things? Seriously, I think it’s the community aspect – of everyone knowing each other and people pulling together and helping each other out in an emergency.
What inspired you to start writing?
I had an epiphany when I read [Helen Fielding’s] Bridget Jones’s Diary – I suddenly realised I didn’t have to write the serious fiction my uni lecturers were pushing me to, but I could write about people I actually relate to and can laugh and cry with.
How are you finding time to write with the rest of the family around at the moment?
I’m managing to write by breaking up my day into time chunks – I write for half an hour without doing anything else, then I take a break to make sure the kids are on task with their remote learning, walk around the house a bit, drink some water and of course faff a bit online.
What books are getting you through self-isolation?
So many! My current read is Saving Missy by Beth Morrey, and I’m looking forward to reading Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth and starting Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series, which I’ve had in my TBR pile forever.