The best part of writing Burke and Wills was …

Discovering just how bountiful the documentation on it was, how rich and varied the stories, and how they all meshed together to make this extraordinary Australian saga. When I began, I frankly didn’t quite get just why the story has entranced successive generations of Australians. I get it now!

In three words Burke and Wills is …

Compelling Australian drama.

When I’m not writing I …

Am fomenting revolution, with the Australian Republic Movement.

The book that changed my life was …

Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Knocked me out. I had no idea that literature could be so absorbing.

The next Australian story I want to tell is …  

A secret at the moment – but it’s a story that’s even better than Burke & Wills!