Heather Garside
Australian outback novels
For historical and contemporary novels with authentic outback settings, compelling romance and a touch of adventure
I grew up on a cattle property of 47,000 acres in Central Queensland, Australia. As a child I loved horses, books and the bush. Not a lot has changed although I have also grown to appreciate the finer things in life, especially eating out!
My husband and I have a smaller cattle and grain farm close to where I grew up. We have two children, a son and a daughter in their twenties. My daughter lives in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, with her partner and works in aged care. Our son spent seven months overseas last year and is now at home. He has set up a metal fabrication workshop as a sideline to working on the farm.
In 2008 I helped compile a book to commemorate my home town's 125th anniversary, which meant having to put my fiction writing on hold for a while. I'm also one of a group of volunteers who once a month put together a newsletter of the happenings around our town.
In between farm duties, volunteer work and writing, I also work part-time at the local library - a writer's dream job!
About Me
I published a historical romance set locally when I was in my early twenties. I started another book after that but having a family interrupted the flow and I didn't seriously get back to writing until many years later. Imagine my excitement when I finally sold a historical novel, The Cornstalk, to Wings ePress. A few months later Wings purchased its sequel, A Hidden Legacy.
The good news kept coming, with my short story Coming Home selected for inclusion in the RWA's 2006 Little Gems anthology.
At the moment I'm trying to find a home for my latest offering, a contemporary novel with flashbacks to the past. As well as being a member of the Romance Writers of Australia and the Queensland Writers Centre, I belong to a local writers' group which meets once a month. We've published two books of short stories, Boots At The Door and A Taste Of Fear. I've had several short stories and a couple of poems included in these anthologies.