Informed by a Kiwi upbringing
Diane Connell was born and educated in NewZealand and has lived and worked in Japan, France and the UK. Her latest book The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird has been described as beautifully written, heartbreakingly funny and deeply moving.
Ricky Bird loves making up stories for her brother Ollie almost asmuch as she loves him. The imaginary worlds she creates are wild and whimsical places full of unlimited possibilities.
Real life is another story. Ricky's father has abandoned them and the family has moved to a bleak new neighbourhood. Worse still, her mother's new boyfriend, Dan, has come with the furniture.
Weasked Diane some questions:
Describe your novel in three words. Funny, sad, hopeful.
Who is Ricky Bird? Ricky is a big, bright character. She's clever, funny, curious and has a tremendous imagination. Ricky is also young and vulnerable but she has a special gift. She's an extraordinary storyteller. When she finds herself in trouble it's this gift that helps her repackage what's happening and navigate her way through. Her stories are funny, sad and absurd but each of them contains a truth.
What inspired you? I've wanted to write this novel for a long time. First I had to find the courage and then it took several years of writing and editing to get it right. The book raises several sensitive issues including the issue of abuse. This is something I feel very deeply about. Iwanted to give voice to young people who have been mistreated and silenced, and to the adults who were once these young people. The challenge was to create a loveable character and a compelling story, one that would carry you, the reader, through the challenges that confront Ricky.
Howlong did it take to write Ricky Bird?
It took about four years and many, many drafts. I kept throwing out and rewriting until the story and characters felt genuine to me, until the narrative began to sing. At some point, Ricky took on a life of herown and began to guide my hand. It was as if the writing was coming through me rather than from me.
Why do you write? I grew up in a family of practical, can-do people. I now realise Iwas the artist of this family but when Iwas a child, my love of drawing and making up stories, was considered hobby material, something odd and amusing. Creativity was a quirk of nature not a foundation for a career. It was assumed I'd grow out of it, you see. But I didn't. For someone like me, the desire for creative expression is an energy, a compulsion. This drive to give form to ideas has changed and developed through years of commercial and creative writing but it's always there, a burning coal inside me. When I don't write, I don't feel good in my skin. I lose my sense of place in the world.
What is mostimportant to you as a writer? To write with honesty and integrity. I take my work very seriously but I try not to take myself seriously. When I write with a big head, when I allow vanity to get between the page and myself, the writing loses authenticity and becomes shallow or constrained. It might read well and make sense but it won't have depth, purity or magic.
Howhas your own life informed your
writing? Iwas born in NewZealand but have lived over half my life in other countries: Japan, France, Britain and now Australia. It's been an odd life, one of dramatic ups and downs. Perhaps these experiences have helped me develop compassion and empathy which I hope shines through in my work. However, the real source of inspiration, the vault of riches, is my childhood in NewZealand. I grew up in a large family in the Waikato. Family is where I learned about people and the dance of relationship.
Why is the concept of story a central
theme of this book? Weall tell stories. It's how werelate to each other and share our truth. Within my story of Ricky Bird are the many stories she creates. Ricky is young and has no control over what's happening to her. She's been discredited and silenced. Through her stories she's trying to say, ‘Look at me. Believe me. I'm in trouble.'