Missing persons – Has the book made the reader more aware of this important subject and created more empathy towards the missing and those missing them?

Mental illness – Are we today more knowledgeable and compassionate towards those with mental illness or are we still just as ignorant and is the stigma still there?

80s song references – Does this help to take the reader to the time and place in the book and invoke emotions/nostalgia?

Sex workers – Has the book made the reader more sympathetic to how people find themselves in this line of work or do we continue to see these people as bad people, not people who have made bad choices?

Sexual abuse of children – How far have we come in exposing and preventing this insidious crime?

Drug use – Scarier now or when the book was set in the late 80s? With ice and other designer drugs now in use, are these drugs worse than what was around back then?

The simple act of stealing her friend’s mail changes the course of Annabelle’s life dramatically, was this the beginning of the end for Annabelle’s future choices?

There are many hints of what happened to Annabelle as a young child behind closed doors, although largely the adults in Annabelle’s life remain oblivious, how important is it to speak to our children about feeling safe and giving them skill to get themselves out of dangerous situations?

Do you think Annabelle’s risk taking was learned or was she simply born this way?

Big John and Lins rescued Annabelle and provided her with a safe haven, what could they have done differently which might have resulted in a different outcome?

Bessie rescued Annabelle when she reached Kings Cross – was Annabelle fortunate or unfortunate that Bessie entered her life?

Rhiannon McVee is quick to investigate Annabelle’s disappearance and appears to leave no stone un-turned. How is it that she was still unable to solve the case?

What was your favourite storyline within the book and why?

Did you understand who the characters of Anna and Belle were right from the start or did it take some time for you to realise who they were?

This is a great question and I get asked all the time.

“The best lie is the one that has an element of truth, so it’s good to include something real in your fiction.” Renee Conoutly , Australian writer

I describe Write About Me as ‘not crime not fiction but that dangerous place inbetween’.

Athough inspired by my first cousin Ursula Barwick who disappeared after she boarded a train bound for Sydney in 1987, it is a fictional novel about a teenage runaway called Annabelle. What happens to Annabelle is pure fiction, not fact about Ursula. The readers of Write About Me know what happens to Annabelle and see her journey through her eyes. But sadly, none of us know what happened to Ursula after she reached Sydney.

When I published Write About Me I decided to share the story behind the story because I wanted people to know Ursula wasn’t just a two-dimensional face on a Missing Persons poster. But most of all I wanted the world to know what it’s like when families and friends, investigators, school teachers and friends of friends have to go on with their lives while their missing person remains missing. I was also hoping that somebody, somewhere might come forward and help our family find some sort of end point in regards to her disappearance.

The book resulted in NSW Police taking a fresh look at Ursula’s case, and although we haven’t found clear answers yet, it has given fresh hope to us and to other people in the same situation as ours. So the answer to the question is yes, Write About Me is fiction even though the characters and meaning behind every single word come from a very real place.

A twenty-something girl from the Australian outback with her eyes set firmly on being a detective. Her career starts in the late 80s at Kings Cross Police Station, amongst a dominant male police force who see so many people go missing that one missing person just blends in with the next. But Rhiannon’s no pushover, and doesn’t take no for an answer when she’s on a case. Off the job Rhiannon is like any normal girl in her twenties, she loves to party, she loves her family and she loves her cowboy who waits patiently for her to return to her outback home. Rhiannon McVee is also the detective I have created as my own fairy godmother, who I wish was in our lives in 1987. It’s people like Detective Rhiannon McVee who make our lives better and help us find our missing loved ones. And when we do, she’s there to help us pick up the pieces.

Fictionalising a real life experience the way I have, gives me some distance and allows me to explore the experiences of others. All my characters have something important to say about missing persons. For example, one of my favourite characters is Rhiannon McVee. I’m so captivated by her I’ve created a detective crime mystery series in her honour. Through her experiences and those of the people she’s looking for, I’m able to convey the issues and feelings that surround missing people. Rather than get dragged down by my own experiences missing Ursula, writing fiction helps me channel my energy into a reinvigorated search for answers. Through my books I am giving a voice to Ursula, and to all of those who are missing.

Location is extremely important when you are piecing your story together. While I write I see the scenes play out in my mind like a movie, and location plays such an important part. Both Kings Cross and the Australian outback have a real sense of mystery about them. They’re intriguing and although vastly different, evoke similar feelings for the reader. The outback is such an isolated and lonely place, and with that comes a sense of foreboding and danger. Kings Cross is so small size-wise compared to the outback and it’s busy and hectic and noisy, but has the same sense of foreboding and danger. I love moving from one space to the next in my books, as both provide dramatic backgrounds for my characters.