ACCLAIMED author Rachael Johns will be appearing at the Mornington Library next month to discuss her much-anticipated novel, The Lucky Stars. The free event on 3 November will include a talk with Johns, a Q&A session with the audience and the inspiration behind her latest work.
The book explores the powerful bond between twin sisters whose lives are turned upside down when they are confronted with the news that they may not have long to live and spiral into different directions.
Johns, who has written over 30 books, is usually well-loved for her romances, but The Lucky Sisters takes her back to her roots of women’s fiction with her ABIA award-winning novel The Patterson Girls in 2015.
Speaking to The News ahead of her visit to Mornington, Johns said it had been the hardest part of her career as she had released two other books at the time of writing The Lucky Sisters, with promo and publicity events filling her schedule.
“Being a writer is about so much more than simply sitting down at my computer and writing books – not that that bit is actually simple either,” said Johns. “I find it hard to jump in and out of the book when I’m writing, so I think the hardest part is juggling all the aspects of author life.
“This one took about six months to draft and another couple of months to edit. That’s probably the longest it’s taken me for a while, but I think my process is changing and these days I think a lot more about how the story is hanging together and edit it as I go, not being able to move forward until I’m happy with what I’ve got so far.”
When asked about her inspiration behind the book, Johns said the idea came from an article based on the death of Lisa-Marie Presley and about how she, Elvis and others in their family died young possibly due to a genetic condition caused by grandparents being first cousins.
“That was the first seed of idea, wondering how you would live your life if you had a gene that meant you likely wouldn’t live to old age, and then the story morphed into entirely its own thing,” she said.
Johns said she hoped readers would “always, first and foremost” be entertained, but particularly she hoped the book would make readers “feel big feelings and think about who and what are most important to them and how they want to live each precious day they have”.
She also spoke of her excitement to visit the peninsula, saying “I’ve heard you have some really good wineries, and I love a really good wine, but the scenic walks look beautiful too”.
The author talk event is free from 11am to 12pm, but bookings are essential at www.eventbrite.com.au/e/author-talk-rachael-johns-mornington-library-tickets-1653170871579
The Lucky Sisters is available from 21 October.
