Patrick Lindsay

Feature Author - March 2008

Patrick Lindsay Click Here for a Podcast of the event








Fromelles: An evening with Patrick Lindsay



In partnership with Andrews Bookshop

Join bestselling author Patrick Lindsay for a talk about his new book Fromelles.



Fromelles is a narrative of a great unsolved WW1 mystery - the disapperance of hundreds of Australian Diggers after an attack near Fromelles in North-Eastern France on 19 July 1916.



Patrick visited Ivanhoe Libraryon Thursday 27 March 2008 @ 6.30pm - 8.00pm



Patrick had his books for sale and signed on the evening



For more information about Patrick please visit his website at http://www.patricklindsay.com.au/

Fromelles is published by Hardie Grant Books


Author Interview

Patrick's answers to the Yarra Plenty Regional Library 5 quick questions

Q. Can you tell us why you became an author?

I had been writing professionally for 30 years (as a newspaper reporter, TV reporter and presenter and documentary maker) and through that time I’d always wanted to be an author so I could tell the stories I thought were really important and a part of our nation’s Dreamtime. But I’d never had the courage to break out and do it fulltime. After the Sydney Olympics I realised that if I didn’t take the punt then, I probably never would. I’m now writing my twelfth book and I haven’t looked back. I see them as pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up what it means to be an Australian.

Q. What is your all-time favourite book? How would you describe it to other readers?

I think it’s still Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. It’s the story of a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp who is faced with the ultimate nightmare decision of having to choose which of her two children goes to the gas chamber. It brought home to me the genuine power of the novel.

Q. Where or from whom have you been inspired or given ideas?

I get ideas from all around me. I’m a good observer and I watch and listen for the people, stories and events that are changing lives. I’m especially fascinated with the wisdom of our older people and the perspective it brings. I’ve learned a lot too from my children.

Q. What is something fun from your childhood that you can remember about yourself?

I grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches and I’m still captivated by the sounds and smells of the sea. My earliest memories are of blue skies and crashing surf, the smells of the ocean, sea weed and sun cream and the squealing laughter of kids. Then there were the tadpole hunts and the choko fights. How lucky we were!

Q. What advice would you give to new writers?

Listen and watch and learn from the best. Then back yourself. But, above all, write … don’t talk about it, do it.