So who is this Kirsty Brooks?

Hello. I’m a writer and author in South Australia. The weather is good and I’m here with my two birds hanging out in my study. I try not to work on the weekends but right now I’m working to deadline, so in typical fashion I’m distracted by setting up this blog.

I am the author of four titles (so far) in the Cassidy Blair series, called The Vodka Dialogue, The Happiness Punch, The Millionaire Float and The Lady Splash, and two non-fiction books called Hitching: Tales from the byways and superhighways and Mad Love. Lady Luck is the first in the Phoebe Banks series and I’m currently rewriting the original manuscript for the sequel, called Bossy Boots. I’m enjoying researching this because all my novels are set in my hometown of Adelaide and for this one I went to stay in the gorgeous town of Mildura, on the Murray River.

My latest novel, The Lady Splash, was published in July. And I’ve been really lucky to get a great new cover design for this (it’s very pink) and some nice reviews. Sometimes it’s a bit nerve-wracking having a book out there in the public eye and it’s really interesting to get feedback from people who aren’t my family/friends and who aren’t being plied with vodka cocktails.

I recently received the Russian version of The Vodka Dialogue which was really really wonderful, even though I couldn’t read it. The best bit was the kitschy gorgeous cover, the fact that it’s hardcover (hardly any books are published in hardcover these days) and in Russia my genre is ‘Glamour’. My dear friend and fellow writer, Eva Sallis, read some of it to me and it sounded great, but that’s just because she’s so clever and can speak a couple of languages. She has more birds than I do, and her magpie sleeps in the bathroom.

When I finally save up enough for a house deposit (this is tricky) I can’t wait to have some more animals in my life, firstly a dog who can get along with my birds: Jones (my cockatiel, who is a wonderful curmudgeon but has been a great companion – writers spend a lot of time alone) and Charlie, the honeyeater I raised from a fledgling when friends found him fallen from the tree, who is very attached to me know.

Both birds hitchhike around on my shoulders and come when they’re called. As you can tell, I love animals. So my priority is to get my dog from the dog’s home at the Animal Welfare League shelter. My family has rescued quite a few dogs from there and they’ve all been amazing.

I am the director of Driftwood Manuscripts, have a Journalism Degree, and an Advanced Diploma in Professional Writing at TAFE – where I also teach. I have some great students and really enjoy talking to other people who love reading and writing as much as I do. Reading is great escapism but it also lets you experience life in someone else’s shoes, something I love, and that I have found useful in learning compassion and so forth.

One of the best things about being a writer is going to writers’ festivals, not just because you get to stay in great hotels like The Windsor in Melbourne, but because you get to hang out with other writers. As I’ve said, it can be a lonely profession so it’s nice to be able to talk to other people who do the same thing that I do. A couple of years ago I was awarded the Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship (I bought my first washing machine with some of the prize money and she’s called Babs).

I am currently writing the next Cassidy Blair novel, The Tequila Bikini, and reading the latest Elizabeth George novel. I’m listening to a band called Gauche from Sydney and looking forward to taking a week off work in November to do some lazy reading/walking/sleeping/bird watching.

Thanks for reading this slightly rambling introduction. In Adelaide it’s the beginning of spring and the blossoms and daffodils and jasmine are out and it’s the most beautiful time of the year.

All the best

kb