October 29, 2014
Best-selling Australian author Nicole Alexander dropped into Kingaroy Library on Tuesday morning to share the stories around the creation of her latest epic novel, “The Great Plains”.
Nicole was born and raised in northern NSW and lives on the property selected by her great-grandfather in 1893.
Her first novel, “The Bark Cutters”, was released in 2010 to great acclaim. The family saga is the highest-selling debut novel in the rural literature genre and was shortlisted for an Australian Book Industry Award.
But she admits that writing the generational story that spans more than 150 years was a tough task.
“I thought perhaps I should have written something a bit easier as my first book but I persevered,” she said.
Since then Nicole has published four more Australian fiction novels: “A Changing Land”, “Absolution Creek”, “Sunset Ridge” and, now, “The Great Plains”.
She also found time to complete a Masters in Creative Writing from Central Queensland University.
“The Great Plains” is another epic narrative, this time linking Oklahoma to western Queensland.
“It is the story of two families, in Australia and in America,” she said.
Nicole travelled to the United States to learn more about the countryside she planned to write about and, more importantly, what it was like more than 100 years ago.
The story also provides an opportunity for Nicole to interweave two ancient cultures into the narrative, linking Native American and Aboriginal themes.
The first half of the book is set in Oklahoma and the second on a sheep station on the Condamine during the 1930s.
After taking her audience through a snapshot of the story, Nicole answered questions before signing books for fans.
