"For a long time I lived within a few minutes' walk from the Balwyn branch of the Boroondara Library, on Whitehorse Road. Many years ago my publisher had asked me to write a book about how to write fiction, and the deadline was looming. I wanted to construct the book with a short story at the end, while the chapters leading up to this would refer to the issues involved in writing that story. I wanted the discussion of writing the story to be authentic in the sense that I wanted to be really writing it at the same time as I was commenting on it. I had absolutely no idea what the story would be about.I booked a small room high above Weir street in the Balwyn Library for a few days. With just notebook and pen and portable typewriter I sat there looking down into the gum trees, and onto the road, and at the medical centre across the street. Beneath and behind me was the weight and inspiration of rows and rows of shelves of books. I seemed to be floating above the books, and looking lordly down on the world outside.
I observed the arrival of a red car at the medical centre, and suddenly there was my story. The title of the story is simply 'The Man in the Red Car' and the book is 'Not Now Jack - I'm Writing a Novel'.
The Balwyn Library is deeply implicated in the very fabric of the book, and I recall the experience with great affection and a kind of wonder."
Carmel Bird is a primarily a writer of fiction. Her first collection of short stories was published in 1983, since when she has published novels, essays, anthologies, and also books on how to write.
Carmel Bird is a primarily a writer of fiction. Her first collection of short stories was published in 1983, since when she has published novels, essays, anthologies, and also books on how to write.
Visit her website at : http://www.carmelbird.com/
