Catriona Rowntree earned the title 'Australia's most travelled woman' after more than 18 years at the helm of Australia's favourite travel show, Getaway. In addition to her media roles, Catriona is always involved in community work. She is a passionate advocate for Australian wool, Landcare and children's charities. When not in an aeroplane, Catriona lives with her husband and two children on their farm in rural Victoria.

What were some of your favourite books when you were growing up?
Both my Nan and Mum instilled a love and value for reading in my brother, sisters and I. Weekend mornings would be bundled up in Nan’s big bed with a pile of books for her to read to us. Each night, Mum would read us a story then Dad would follow this up with ‘an imaginary (ie crazy, funny, bananas) story. My point is, we all just love to read whatever we can get our hands on. But I will admit, that at around the age of 9 I became obsessed with Ghost Stories. My favourite being a book The Phantom Cyclist that I was awarded as a ‘Good Progress’ prize one Speech Day (Mum gave them a tip off about my interest). I still have it, I still get chills and I love that!

What’s your favourite kind of travel/holiday read?
So much depends on the company and the location. Recently on a Getaway trip to South America, I needed a break from the heavy history I was devouring and dipped into the fantasy world of the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho’s ‘Brida’. Just adored it’s message. But if I’m on holiday with my family, I kinda love a good memoir or biography, to learn from another’s life can be wonderful.

What can you tell us about your new book, A Grandmother’s Wisdom?
‘Cheat notes on life’, that’s what I believe you can attain when you are willing to listen and learn from our elders. Why not make the navigation of your journey easier, by picking up some tips from someone who’s already sampled it. My Nan was like the oracle of Delphi to me, offering guidance, advice and support, but in a completely non-judgemental way…so I thought maybe I’d share her story to you.

What inspired you to write A Grandmother’s Wisdom?
Don’t look at me. I thought I’d be writing a travel tips, or Lovely Lobbies of The World kinda book. But I had a publisher contact me and say she’d loved how over the years, I’d often refer to the advice my Nan would give me. I didn’t even know I talked about her so much, but we had such a symbiotic relationship…anyway, the publisher wondered if the two of us would consider writing a tips style book, sharing the advice, my Nan had given to me. We just thought we’d jot some stories down for my teenage nieces, I hoped the challenge would be a distraction from her ailing health, I prayed it wouldn’t end up being a memoir.

Considering the personal nature of your book, did you find it challenging to write at times?
Near impossible. Not only did my co-author and subject matter pass away half way through writing, but I gave birth to my second child soon after, I went back to work, my Father became ill. It was just too much. Everytime I tried to go to my room to write my babies would want to be magnetised to my thighs! It was an emotional and phyiscial challenge…but Praise the Lord I finished it! Allelulia.

What was your best experience while writing A Grandmother’s Wisdom?
Finishing it! Is that too honest? I just couldn’t bear to feel these strong emotions for another day, but I knew I had to honour my Nan, I had to document for my Mum and my own children the story of this remarkable woman.

Of all the wisdom you received from your Nan, which do you think has been the most valuable during your adult life?
In hindsight, her daily example of being so kind to others, her patience and dignity was so inspiring.  

What are you hoping that readers will take away from A Grandmother’s Wisdom?
That being loved by one person can be so empowering, love can make you bold. It doesn’t have to be a Grandparent; it can be the faith of a good friend, a wonderful colleague, but knowing you have that one person in your corner, being that one person is sometimes all you need.

Do you have any plans for another book in the near future?
That’s up to you, the reader. I’m keen if you are.

Honey Brown lives in country Victoria with her husband and two children. Her book, Red Queen, was published to critical acclaim in 2009 and won an Aurealis Award, and The Good Daughter was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award in 2011.

What were some of your favourite books when you were growing up?
As a teen I enjoyed trashy romance novels. Although I do remember reading Rich Man Poor Man and wishing it would never end. It swept me away and felt like my first grown-up novel.

After you suffered through a horrific accident that left you a paraplegic, what was it that drew you to writing?
Because it was such a dark period in my life I don’t remember my exact thoughts or making a firm decision to write. It was natural perhaps to use creativity as an escape and also as a way to connect again with myself.  

Which authors do you believe have been the most influential on your writing style?
JM Coetzee, EB White, Tim Winton, Hemingway.

What have been some of your most memorable experiences as a writer so far?
Winning the Aurealis Award, attending the Miles Franklin Literary Awards dinner, and answering the call that started it all – from the ABC, telling me that my story (Red Queen) was runner up in their unpublished manuscript competition.

Do you have any quirky writing habits that surface when you write?
If I’m writing dialogue I often mutter the conversation, or make the same gesture as the character. I imagine that would look pretty weird to anyone watching me work. I wish I wrote more light-hearted stories because I’m giving myself some serious frown lines.

What can you tell us about your new book, Dark Horse?
It’s about a woman and her horse trapped on a mountain with a dangerous stranger. I wanted to explore the idea of having to survive alongside a person you are afraid of. If fleeing or fighting isn’t an option, what sort of games would you play, and what lies would you tell, to stop the dangerous person knowing that you are afraid?

What inspired you to write Dark Horse?
I’m always inspired by lots of things – visiting local wilderness, reading about real life crimes in the paper, conversations, images, small things and events that come together to form an idea.

What are you hoping that readers will take away from Dark Horse?
I hope they’re entertained, and the characters seem real to them, the story feels true, and that my writing creates strong visuals that linger in their mind.

Do you have any plans for another book in the near future?
I’m writing my next book at the moment. While I’m in the creative mode I don’t like to talk about the story, I find that if I tell too much it takes the heat out of it and I lose the burning desire to get it down on the page.

Do you have any advice that you would like to offer aspiring writers?
Respect your reader. Write a ripping yarn.

View the book trailer for Dark Horse here:  http://youtu.be/sbkGjjary8g

Maurilia Meehan lives in a country town in south-eastern Australia, where she feeds red rosellas in the mornings and chases away huge white cockatoos at dusk. She is the award-winning author of five novels and many short stories, and her work has been translated into French and German. Her first novel was a finalist in The Australian Vogel Award and her second novel was a finalist in the prestigious Miles Franklin Award.

Why did you decide to become an author? Is writing something that you have always been passionate about?
I read so much that writing seemed a natural overflow, a way of continuing conversations with the authors. Then one day I clearly pictured a non-existent book I’d like to read, and so I started writing it myself. Writing was the best way I found to lose myself in another world.

What were some of your favourite books when you were growing up?
Alice in Wonderland, The Famous Five, What Katie Did (I named my daughter after the heroine) and from the age of eight The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley. I kept reading it over and over until I got to the part where a character says that you shouldn’t hit children. That was the climax for me. It was accepted back then to hit children, but here was someone who said it was wrong and I loved him for it. Perhaps unconsciously I learnt from that to give voice to ‘minority reports,’ the points of view of sidelined voices either from the past or the present-- usually women.

Do you have any quirky writing habits that surface when you write?
The smell of fresh ink in a bottle makes me want to sit down to write. I love to write first drafts with a thick-nibbed fountain pen, not the cartridge type. Then I use a retro orange type-writer for more drafts so I don’t get headaches from the screen. And I have a very small writing table otherwise I fill it with too many distractions.

What have been some of your most memorable experiences as a writer so far?
The joyful opportunity to follow up any type of research I feel like, with no restrictions. And then the conversations with so many interesting readers, book enthusiasts and other writers. Such conversations as this one!

What can you tell us about your new book, Madame Bovary’s Haberdashery?
We meet best friends, Odette and Cicely, who share everything, from being fans of Madame Bovary, the first sex and shopping novel, to sharing the same boyfriend in a ménage a trois. The two women live far from the Great World of brilliant marriages, career success, and getting and spending, in a world where everyday reality may be illusion. Cicely is an obsessive knitter and erotic novelist with no knack for relationships with men, Odette is a potter whose romantic adventurism puts her life in danger. Odette goes missing, and Cicely, who has read far too many Miss Marple stories, sets out to find her. It is not a straight detective novel, be warned, but rather for those readers who enjoy a joke about detective novels…and other things literary.

What was your most enjoyable experience while writing Madame Bovary’s Haberdashery?
My research. For my other titles this was more academic. Fury involved women in the French Revolution and The Sea People an early settlement at Sorrento, Victoria. But research for MBH was a dream. It involved rereading and thinking about Madame Bovary, and researching the life of Agatha Christie. Also, in the name of research of course I had to read all Christie’s novels. Before that I had never read any mysteries and it was a real pleasure for me to discover them.

And the worst?
About halfway through I was always tired in the day because of waking up at night with ideas that I had to write down. I have a special pen with a built-in light by my bed, but I always forget to put paper there. And then all the scraps of paper with illegible notes from the night before that I have to sort out!

What are you hoping that readers will take away from Madame Bovary’s Haberdashery?
That sounds a bit as if a novel is a class or a self-help weekend doesn’t it? It will differ according to what each reader brings to the novel, and that, hopefully, will include a suspension of disbelief and a sense of humour. Reading is a two-way process.

Do you have any plans for another book in the near future?
Oh yes, quite a prolific period for me-- for a change! I have Princess Diana and the Poison Pen on the go, and after that Mary Magdalene and the Bridal Chamber. I would also like to see Adultery reprinted under its original title, A Woman’s Guide to Married Men.

Do you have any advice that you would like to offer aspiring writers?
Chain read both fiction and non-fiction. Read books mentioned in the book you have just enjoyed, or books by the same author. There are plenty of Lists online too, other people’s favourites, to work through. And while you are actually writing, disconnect your computer from the internet, especially from pop-up messages! Even go retro and try using a typewriter—it will slow you down so much that your writing will necessarily become more concise and thoughtful.