The buzz about … STEVIE NICKS Spotlight on … JOANNA NELL
THIS ICON IS HAVING A MOMENT ONLINE RIGHT NOW AND RELEASING NEW MUSIC THE AUTHOR AND DOCTOR DISCUSSES WHAT INSPIRED HER LATEST NOVEL
Even though her career has spanned more than five decades, Stevie Nicks has never been more relevant. For starters, one of her most beloved and recognisable tunes, ‘Dreams’ (the 1977 track she sang with Fleetwood Mac), has recently become a TikTok phenomenon. So far, the 22-second video featuring the song has racked up more than 41 million views.
That clip has introduced a whole new audience to Nicks, who’s now 72, and while the star has an impressive body of work to her name in addition to ‘Dreams’, she’s still creating new music now, too.
New single ‘Show Them the Way’ is her first new music in six years. Appropriately, in the lead up to the US presidential election, Nicks explains the track was – indirectly – inspired by politics. “I was watching documentaries about the fight for civil rights and the dreams of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy. I was hypnotised,” Nicks says in a statement accompanying the single’s release. “One night I had a dream,” adds Nicks. “I was invited to a party, to play piano and sing a few songs.
It was a benefit and there were political people there. It felt really important.”
The documentaries and her dream inspired Nicks to write again. “I felt that this was its time,” she says of the song. “The chorus goes, ‘Please God, show them the way.’ I hope this song and its words will be seen as a prayer – a prayer for the US and a prayer for our world,” adds the star.
In addition to the single, Nicks – who counts British artist Harry Styles as one of her closest friends – is releasing 24 Karat Gold The Concert (out October 30). The live album features her most enduring tracks, including ‘Rhiannon’, ‘Edge Of Seventeen’ and ‘Stand Back’, and was recorded during her 2017 tour, which she brought to Oz.
“That was my all-time favourite tour,” says the singer. “I got to sing my songs – and tell my stories for the first time.”
(‘Show Them the
Way’ is out now)
For her third novel, Sydneybased author and GP Joanna Nell tells the story of Hattie Bloom, an 89-year-old woman who winds up in a nursing home after a fall but dreams of escape.
Here, Nell reveals how her work in medicine inspired her to share the stories of ageing women that society may have forgotten but who still have a lot of life in them yet!
As a working GP, how do you manage to find the time to also write novels? It’s certainly easier since my children have grown up and become more independent. I’ve found that juggling two careers is possible only because writing and medicine use very different sides of my brain – one creative and the other more logical and protocol driven. In that respect, they complement each other and are surprisingly re-energising.
How did you make the leap from doctor to author?
I’ve always been a writer but between working full-time as a doctor and motherhood, I’d never dreamed I’d be able to write an actual novel. It was only when I was forced to stop and lie flat on my back for six weeks after a tenpin bowling accident that I had time to really examine my life and set myself some new goals.
Your novels are about women hitting their golden years and are worried about losing their independence. How has your work as a GP influenced your books?
Being a GP is a very privileged position and although my characters and their stories are all fictional, their hopes and fears are inspired by the everyday experiences of the people I meet, including my patients. Through my job, I’ve noticed that women often enjoy a new lease of life once their childrearing years are behind them. What they struggle with, however, is the thought of becoming a burden on their families, which is ironic considering all the years they sacrificed in the caring role themselves. Why do you think your main character Hattie will resonate with people?
I think Hattie will resonate with the 40 per cent of the population who are introverts and value their own space and company, especially with a neighbour like Walter! I imagine she’ll also find sympathy from anyone who hates the idea of being told when to eat and what time to go to bed after a lifetime of making their own decisions. Hattie’s story reminds us that people in nursing homes still have a lot of life in them. Do you think this is even more important during a pandemic?
Sadly, the crisis in aged care is decades old and has only been highlighted by the pandemic. The greatest challenge for people living in nursing homes appears to be the loss of connection and lack of human touch. In the book, I wanted to show through the reclusive Hattie that it’s never too late to discover the joy of friendship and community.
(The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home is out Oct. 27)