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Good Reading : October 2007
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OCTOBER 2007 ı goodreading 13 cover story and, fortunately, had already completed the drawings and most of the research for Antony and Cleopatra before suffering acute loss of central vision as a result of haemorrhagic macular degeneration, a condition that affects the retina. ‘The only heartbreak was that I couldn’t see well enough to do my own maps for Antony and Cleopatra,’ she says. ‘Modern map makers do it on computers, so they’ve got no style at all.’ Apart from the fact that she has diffi- culty seeing a screen, Colleen has an aver- sion to computers that is not fear-related. ‘I’m a scientist,’ she points out, referring to her previous career as a neuroscientist in Australia, England and the United States. ‘I was working on computers when they were analogue, that’s how far back I go. But I refuse to be dominated by an inanimate hunk of circuitry that says it is cleverer than I am. I would kill it! I would throw it at the wall!’ So she churns out her work on a typewriter either on Norfolk Island, where she has lived since 1980, or in the Sydney apartment, close to specialist medical help for her vision problem and other health issues including a deteriorated spine ‘I’m in exile until the doctors say I can go back, although I do go home occasionally,’ she says.While keeping busy in Sydney she misses Norfolk Island, her cat and especially her husband, planter Ric Ion-Robinson, a Norfolk Islander she married in 1984. ‘He comes to Sydney for about one week in every four but he has a business to run on Norfolk Island and besides, he couldn’t live in a city apartment,’ she says. ‘It’s not his speed. He’s an outdoorsman.’ The couple met when Colleen moved to Norfolk Island for privacy after the phenomenal success of her epic family saga The Thorn Birds, which became an international bestseller and television miniseries after its publica- tion in 1977. Since then she has kept life interesting for her publishers, as well as her readers, by genre- hopping at will.When her sight began to fail she decided to try her hand at a whodunnit, because it required less research and therefore made fewer demands on her vision than historical novels.This resulted in On, Off, published in 2005, to which Colleen is now planning a sequel, the second of the two projects in the pipeline. The first is a romantic novel – and that’s all she’s prepared to say about it for now. ‘It would alter everything if I talked about it, so I don’t,’ she says. ‘I intend to produce a final manuscript – boom! Here it is!’ Even Colleen’s publishers don’t know what’s brewing with this one. ‘They find the suspense very, very difficult,’ she says, laughing heartily at the thought. ‘But they’ve been tearing their hair out about me for years, ever since I refused to write Son of Tim!’ She is more willing to talk about the planned whodunnit that will feature Connecticut police lieutenant Carmine Delmonico, who made his debut in On, Off and of whom his creator is clearly fond. ‘He’s a very beguiling hero and people want more of him,’ she says. ‘I n do a dozen Carmines. No problem.’ Which doesn’t leave much time for Colleen McCullough’s own life story in the near future, and fans re advised not to hold their breath. Also known for her rong opinions, Colleen has no hesitation in voicing her houghts about this notion. ‘To me, my own life is as boring as bat shit,’ she declares. ‘Autobiographical writers are fascinated with their own lives, but I’m not. And if someone else wrote it I would have to dwell on it, which I’d find embarrassing.’ So, no autobiography, but no suggestion that Colleen plans to change the workaholic habits that keep her writing through the night, either. ‘You don’t stop being a writer,’ she says. ‘My ailments are not of the mind yet, knock on wood. I think of someone like Somerset Maugham, who was still writing and producing wonderful work when he was nearly 90. If he could do it, so can I.’ Antony and Cleopatra is published in hardback this month by HarperCollins, rrp $49.99 TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. I part of these conditions. 2. The promoter is Good Reading Magazine Pty Ltd. 3. Entry is open to all residents of Australia. 4. Entries must be made between 01/10/07 and 31/10/07 and be sent to Good Reading Magazine, GPO Box 3835, Sydney NSW 2001 or entries can be made at http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au 5. The draw will take place on 01/11/07. 6. Prizes cannot be transferred or redeemed for cash. 7. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 8. Any change in the value of the prize between the publishing date and the date the prize is claimed is not the responsibility of the promoter. 9. The Judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 10. The winners will be notified by mail and the winners’ names will be published in the December issue of Good Reading and will also appear on the Good Reading website during November 2007. Win This month 10 lucky readers could each win a copy of Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough valued at $49.99. To enter, tell us what country Cleopatra reigned over. Simply write your answer and your name and contact details on the back of an envelope and mail to ‘Antony and Cleopatra Competition’, GPO Box 3835, Sydney NSW 2001, or enter online at www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au Colleen has an aversion to computers that is not fear- related. ‘I’m a scientist,’ she points out. ‘I was working on computers when they were analogue. But I refuse to be dominated by an inanimate hunk of circuitry that says it is cleverer than I am.’
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