Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello authors. I'm Joanne Morrell, children's and young adult fiction writer and author of short nonfiction for Authors. Thanks for joining me for the Hybrid Author Podcast, sharing interviews from industry professionals.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: To help you forge a career as.
[00:00:14] Speaker A: A hybrid author both independently and traditionally publishing your books.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: You can get the show notes for.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: Each episode and sign up for your free Author pass over at the Hybrid.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Author website to discover your writing process.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Get tips on how to publish productively.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: And get comfortable promoting your books at www.
Let's crack on with the episode.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: Hello authors. I hope you're all keeping well in whatever part of the world you reside and listen to the podcasting. Today's interview is with Rose Lane on Searching for Home, writing untold stories with a debut author and WeChat, her travel memoir the Last Tibetan Kingdom, grown out of her travels and nursing work in Nepal. Balancing diverse professional and writing experiences, research, voice and cultural sensitivity in the book being selected for the Australian Writers Centre Hard Copy Program, Rose's overall writing advice to authors and much more so on my author adventure this week. You might have seen me on social media. I was at the Fremantle on Sunday for the Big Book Market, which was part of the totally lit festival that Fremantle put on. And yeah, great festival as far as I know that was the only, only sort of event that I went to and I shared a stall with Karen Cunningham. Shout Out Karen. And I've known each other for a while and it was, it was good, it was a good laugh to share a stall and I highly recommend it. If you're an author out there and you're thinking about going to any of these events to sell your books, it is real good to go with somebody so you can have a bit of banter. But we didn't have to pay for anything. You know, it was, it was a good day. We, we had good fun. Unfortunately it was a little bit of rain so we got moved inside the town hall which kind of, you know, there's less traffic than if you're outside and other people just come across and see what you're sort of selling. And I obviously had my women's fiction book there and my non fiction books and interestingly enough I didn't sell any women's fiction and I sold all nonfiction. I had these aspiring author packs which is my author fears on how to overcome them and freelance writing quick tips for fast success short nonfiction that were together in a bundle with a pen I sell which says write now on it like W R I T E.
And yeah, I guess because it was A big book market and you attract readers who want to obviously buy books, but you also attract a lot of writers and authors. So those seem to market to. Yeah, that kind of audience that was coming through, which was interesting enough, sold a bit and you know, caught up. Some people shout out Reno, shout out Fiona Cosgrove. And these are all authors that I'm familiar with and met and a few other authors that I'd never heard of before. And of course I bought books as well as presents. So spending my earnings but you know, giving back to the community. Community is what it is. But yeah, it was great. Great. I'd highly recommend that if you are thinking about doing markets. For me personally, I've done the big Christmas kind of creative market that was a big thing, a big one and a big fee for it and that just wasn't worth it. And I'd done a smaller market that was just, just a random market on a certain night and that just wasn't worth it. And so I think when you get events that are specifically book orientated, you're actually getting your target market coming through. So I would recommend that you, you do that. But obviously if you're selling a book with a theme, Karen was telling me women's night market and that had worked out quite well. And so, I mean you've got to put yourself out there to try. So I absolutely recommend that you, you do that. It's all trial and error. Overall, positive experience though, good fun. I have got some upcoming speaking gigs next week, so if you are around. South Perth Library Tuesday, October 14, 4 till 5pm Discover Roblox in Writing and Saturday, October 18 at Morley Library Discovering the power of podcast. So come and see me there if you're around.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Thorn Creative where beautiful websites for authors are brought to life.
No matter what stage you're at with your writing, your stories deserve a dedicated space to shine. Whether you're just starting out or have a bookshelf full of bestsellers, your website is the hub of your author business. Finding everything you and your books offer together, Thorne Creative can nurture all aspects of redesigning your old site or start afresh. From the initial design, they can provide ongoing hosting and maintenance to marketing your books online. Saving you time, money and stress trying to wrangle your site yourself. An author website built by Thorne Creative can easily direct readers to your favorite retailers, your publisher or simply set you up to sell to them direct.
The options are endless. Thorn Creative have worked with many authors across all genres and know what goes into good, functional working author websites. To sell books, head on over to thorncreative.com websitesforauthors to read author and publisher testimonials and to see what they offer and some of the sites they've created.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Rose Lane's writing is inspired by the untold stories of people and places. She has traveled to both London and Nepal as a nurse and has written for multiple publications on topics ranging from anti war activism to music and disability awareness. The Last Tibetan Kingdom is Rose's first book and was selected for the 2017 hard copy manuscript Development Program at the Australian Writers Centre in Canberra. Welcome to the Hybrid Author Podcast, Rose.
[00:06:03] Speaker C: Thank you, Joanne. I'm very excited to be here.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: We are so honored to have you. Thanks for joining us. Quite a bio you've had. But can you take us back to the beginning on how you came to be a writer?
[00:06:13] Speaker C: Well, like most writers, I was a very keen reader as a child, and I used to even set my alarm like half an hour early to get up so that I have time to read before I had to go to school. I love that.
But I actually distinctly remember lying in bed one morning as a kid thinking, oh, that's what I'm gonna do when I grow up. I'm gonna write stories. That's it just sort of came to me. That's okay. Yeah.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: That's incredible.
I can't remember that being a big reader as a child. And I have to laugh because the books that I loved are actually getting repurposed. I found it in the. My Kids, you know, the magazine they bring home from school that they can choose the books.
[00:06:52] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: Scholastic or something. And they're repurposing what I used to read as a kid again. Now I'm just like, oh, my goodness. But I.
You sort of had that inkling from a young age to go into storytelling, so. No, that's fantastic.
[00:07:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: Well, today's topic is on writing untold stories and chatting about your new book. So your writing is driven by untold stories of people and places. And the Last Tibetan Kingdom grew out of your travels and your nursing work in Nepal. What was the spark that first compelled you to write this particular story and how did it evolve into a book?
[00:07:28] Speaker C: Well, in 2010, my husband and I took our three boys to Nepal. So they were, at the time, they were 12, 14, and 16. We decided we wanted to go somewhere challenging but not dangerous, just to show them that not everywhere in the world was as comfortable as Australia, that not everyone lived as comfortably as we did. So we signed up with an organization called Project abroad. And they placed us with a family. And so we lived with this local to Nepalese family in Patan, which is just south of Kathmandu, for a month. Wow. And it was winter. It was December, so it was pretty cold. There was no heating in the house. It was all very basic. My husband and the boys went and worked at a school. And because I had my nursing background, I worked with disabled children at a center. It was like a center where parents bring their kids who have disabilities and they spend the day, they're doing activities and whatever. But it was very basic. And I think during that time must have been. I can't remember exactly when, but I discovered that there was this walled city on the Tibetan plateau, really remote. Never heard of it. This place called Lo man Tang. It's 700 years old. Had hardly changed in all that time. It still had its own king and queen. And so I was fascinated by this place I'd never heard of. And I tried to find something to read about it. There was only one book that had ever been written about it, and that was in the 1960s. Wow. There was a guy called Michel Peacel who was a French adventurer and writer, and he managed to get permission from the king because no one was allowed in there. Foreigners weren't allowed in there till 1992. Wow. But he managed to get permission to travel up there. Was very dangerous at the time because the camper guerrilla fighters were still in that area fighting against the Chinese who had invaded Tibet. So it was a very precarious journey for him.
But he went there anyway. He wrote this book about it, and it was still really the only book in existence. And there was very little on the Internet about it. And in the end, I thought, God, I really want to go and see this place for myself. I really want to know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But because it was. I mean, there's a road being pushed through there now, but it was a very difficult place to get to. It's a restricted area, which means you have to pay US$500 just to go there. You have to hire a guide, you, you know, and all the extras. The other thing is, I don't have very much stamina. I knew I couldn't possibly trek there. Like, it would take two weeks there and back. Wow. So I just thought, I can't do. I'm never going to be able to do this. But then my family home was sold in 2013. That was the place I grew up in. And I was just devastated. I mean, I always knew it was going to happen. But it was kind of like it was the only house I'd ever grown up in, and now it was gone. And I was really sort of taken by surprise at how much it upset me. But driving out of that town, my hometown, for the last time, I just thought, I need something to aim for. And so I thought, right, I'm going to get to this place.
Just going to make it happen.
So I. Because I knew I couldn't walk it, I thought, well, I'll ride a horse.
Even though I wasn't a horse rider.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: I love that. I just. I feel like it's just. A lot of people talk about writers being curious and it comes from that. But that even just a time or no one's heard of, you're very brave as well. Do you know what I mean? It's like entering the unknown, like such an adventure. What awaits you on the other side? You've no idea.
In a completely foreign place. That's fantastic.
[00:11:10] Speaker C: Yeah, it was. It really was an adventure. Yeah. So I had to have horse riding lessons so that I knew something about how to ride a horse. And we had a guide. We had an assistant guide. We had a boy who looked after the. We had two horses, one that carried me, one that carried our bags. So it was quite the expedition, really.
Yeah.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: And I just think it's amazing that you take that family trip as well to show your kids that. Did they appreciate it, you know, those ages?
[00:11:37] Speaker C: I think. I think they do now.
And they did. Look, they did enjoy. My middle son absolutely hated it when he got there. And to be honest, we all. The first night we arrived in Kathmandu, we'd never been to a third world country.
Nepal is very poor. And we arrived there late at night. It was like 11:30 at night. And I don't know if you've ever been there. It's just.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: My parents have. Yeah. And they talk about it like it's one of the most.
[00:12:04] Speaker C: It's just chaos. Yeah. And at night, there's people all over, you know, walking all over the place. There's cows wandering on the road, there's smoke. And it was just. We thought we'd arrived at some vision of hell. What have I done breeding my children here? It's terrible.
And I could. All I could think of when we got to the hotel, such as it was, was, how can I get out of here now? How can I back out of this? Because it was just. It was terrifying. And my middle son just.
Yeah, it took him a while. He had a bit of a meltdown in the first week. But he pulled it together and by. By. We ended up being in Nepal for seven weeks and by the end we kind of really grew to love.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: What an expedition. Oh, that's amazing. And obviously you've, you've had so much from it and a book as well come out of it, so that's just lovely. No, I absolutely love it. And obviously you were pract. Practicing nursing there and you've been a nurse in London too, which is.
[00:12:54] Speaker C: I worked that. Yeah, that was a long time ago. It was London. I was there in 1993. I, I just worked there for a while and I, I was. By the time I got to Nepal, I wasn't working as a registered nurse in Australia anymore. But because I had that experience, that's just with the placement that I got.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, you've done the nursing in those both places. And you know, you've obviously written journalistic pieces as well. How have those. They're quite different professions as well. You know how of those and shaped your writing experience and the way that you've approached this book, your voice and the cultural sensitivity of it.
[00:13:31] Speaker C: I think working as a nurse because you. Everyone gets sick. It doesn't matter what color they are, it doesn't matter where they're from. It doesn't matter if they're very rich or whether they're homeless. Everybody gets sick. And I think working as a nurse, you get used to dealing with people with all different kinds of people in different circumstances when they're very vulnerable.
And I think that's given me the skill to sort of meet people wherever they're at. Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: No, it would. And sort of. Yeah, like a firsthand, firsthand acknowledge and experience of a place on a really personal level as well as professional. You've probably written from that kind of voice, you know.
[00:14:07] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, the nursing in.
Well, it wasn't really nursing. It was more just caring for these children. But that was extremely challenging because there was no resources at all. And I'm talking no, not even pencils and paper.
So everything I had to provide. I took some jigsaw puzzles, I bought crayons, I, you know, I provided everything. And you just had to sort of come up with stuff to occupy these kids who, who had things that we wouldn't see in Australia because children obviously have better care here. Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Well, you know, that's where like imagination comes in and creativity, isn't it? You know, like you have to use what's around you and come up with stuff like Y Like, dare I say it, back in the old days.
Yeah. Or technology or something like that when, you know, everybody was outside and enjoying life. So.
[00:14:58] Speaker C: Well, I mean, you couldn't even rely on the electricity being on all the time because back then cabman is better now. It has, I think it has electricity 24 hours a day. But when we were there, they had load shedding, which got worse in winter, and I think we had about maybe six hours of electricity a day. And it would just randomly go off because they would shed it. Like the different sectors would get their turn of having electricity.
Sometimes there was a generator, sometimes there wasn't. Yeah, it was. You couldn't rely on anything. Yeah.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: My goodness. Hey, I bet you appreciate it so much now you've come back. Yes, well, yeah, the book, you know, the Last Fit and Kingdom. Was this the manuscript that you won? You know, the Australian Writer Center Development?
[00:15:40] Speaker C: Well, it was, it was, yeah, it was. The, the hard copy program used to be run in Cambria, Strand Writers Center. Unfortunately they lost funding like so many other things, so they don't run it anymore. But they used to run it. One year would be non fiction, one year would be fiction. They used to alternate. And I sent my manuscript in and I was one of the people chosen. And it was probably because the manuscript was originally my master's project. Right. So it took it from being a master's project to a book.
And we had Nadine Davidoff, who's a very accomplished editor in Australia. She ran a three day workshop for us and she was really the one who challenged me to talk about why I've written this story. And I said, oh, well, I just wanted to see this place and write about it. And she said, no, no, there must have been more to it than that. Yeah.
And I ducked and weaved a bit, but she cornered me and said, no, no, no, you have to have to have had a reason. There must have been more to it. And that's when I really thought, well, that's when I decided. When I left my hometown, I was really upset. I needed a goal. I needed somewhere to aim for. And that's what just gave me the impetus to like, right, I'm going to do this journey. So that, that's why that became a journey in search of home.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it's kind of like almost. It sounds a little bit similar, you know, with the, the Eat, Pray Love that, that premise where she's off to find. I think it's find.
[00:17:11] Speaker C: Find a purpose finder.
Yeah. I think I just needed. I wasn't trying to find myself. It was more.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: No, not in your case. It doesn't sound like. No, but there was something you needed. Something it sounds like, to focus on and aspire from. From something.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to get me out of that sort of depression I'd kind of s into, I guess. But I just thought, right, I'm going to get there. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'm. I'm going to do it. No, I love that.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: I think that's fantastic. And especially because you did it.
[00:17:41] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Did it. No.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: That's amazing. So how did the, how did that opportunity with, you know, the hard copy development program, how did that help the manuscript? Sort of.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: Well, as I say, yeah, Nadine sort of challenged me and subsequent to that, so it also put me in touch with other writers and really it was probably the best thing I ever did because there was a whole bunch of us and we came together for a three day weekend and then a couple of months later we came back and we had all these industry professionals talk to us about, about publishing and all the aspects of writing, I guess. But it's just, I think always good to get with other writers who are having the same experience because, I mean, as you would know, writing is a very solitary, lonely gig and you just kind of, you know, sitting there talking to a void most of the time.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Is this any good?
[00:18:33] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And people around you who aren't writers, don't they, they just don't, they don't understand. I mean, how could they? Yeah, so that, that was what was really good. And as a result, I got Nadine to do two further edits on the, on the manuscript. And so she kind of shaped it into the book it is now, I guess. But the other thing is that during my master's degree, my supervisor was Patrick Holland, the Australian author. Right. Who I really love. I love his writing and so, and he, so he was really very important in that process as well. Yeah. Fantastic.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: Well, it sounds like, you know, the writing was all good with the masters and things like that. How's your publishing adventure been? How have you found that?
[00:19:18] Speaker C: I was really only just starting out because the book doesn't come out till October, but yeah, it's. Yeah, it's a big, steep learning curve, but yeah, it's good.
Yeah.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Oh no, that's fantastic. You know, you've, you've such a unique story. I absolutely love it. Rules. Do you have any general advice you want to draw upon? Would. To Give to other writers, especially in your genre. Even about the writing, publishing, or just inspiration or get out and meet other writers.
[00:19:43] Speaker C: Yeah, no, definitely try to connect with other writers, especially not necessarily in your genre. The thing about Hard Copy is we were all writing nonfiction books so that we had sort of that similar thing. I think fiction's a whole other thing, which I don't generally get into. But, yeah, connecting with other writers because we all stayed in touch online and we still do.
So that's always been a thing. So you've always kind of got that support. You've got people to bounce ideas off, all that sort of stuff. People say, oh, you must be so brave that you did that trip and everything. Not really. I think you just gotta decide to do it and back yourself. Yeah.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: I think it's because it's like you said, it's quite an obscure, mysterious place. That's the difference. And if there's only one piece of literature about it, you really are, you know, that's why it's brave, because what is there, you know, what.
[00:20:32] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: What are you going to be met with? I guess. And that one piece of literature that you did have, did it go into. How does it differ from your book? Did it go into detail?
[00:20:41] Speaker C: Well, I mean, he. There was nothing. There was nothing to go on it. There'd been a couple of people who'd been as far as Low Mainteng maybe sort of back in the. Before him, maybe the 40s, because it was an inaccessible area. Both Nepal and Tibet were closed. Nepal wasn't open to anyone until the 1950s. So there was scant information for him that this place existed. And he had to get together. He had to gather people who were game to go up there, given that there were these camper gorillas there. He also didn't know how long it was going to take. He didn't know what he would find.
They had, you know, they went by yak caravan to carry all this stuff. So it's. Yeah, he was met. He really was met with a. A medieval place. So this is the 1960s. But the king and queen that they had, the people there, they were aware of the outside world. But he. He has a map in his book of just like a semicircle and that's the Kingdom of Blow. And then other countries, I think England, America, and I can't remember the other one are just these floating islands sort of below it. That's it. That was their vision of the world.
That's in the 1960s.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: It spins me.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: I.
[00:21:54] Speaker C: It does.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: And they've got. It's just that area that's got their own king and queen.
[00:21:59] Speaker C: Well, they don't anymore because. So Nicole got rid of their monarchy in 2008. And the king and Queen of Low, Kingdom of Low, they still were there, but they kind of lost their. Their authority. But with the people of Low themselves. No, but the king died at the end of 2016, and they have a.
An adopted son. He's actually their nephew, but he's not going to become king because I think it's moved on from that. And, you know, there's a. There's a paved road. There's a road already being pushed through to the border with Tibet, down then that'll go down to India. It's eventually going to be paved. They're looking at getting rid of the restricted fee. So a lot more people are going.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: To be going, it sounds like.
[00:22:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it's going to be opened up and developed, which is. Which I guess is great for the people who live there because they had no access to health care or anything like that. But. But it means that that place will.
[00:22:55] Speaker A: It's going to.
[00:22:56] Speaker C: Its mystery, basically. Yeah.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: Yeah, that's it.
[00:22:59] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, I'm glad I saw it when I did.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know, one of the first people probably.
No, no, no.
[00:23:08] Speaker C: They'd get a few tourists up there, but. Yeah, certainly not a.
Yeah.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: No, that's amazing. Well, we'll find out when we can, you know, discover your book as well, soon. But can you tell us a bit more about your book? Like what? You know, can you tell us?
[00:23:22] Speaker C: Well, I. It talks. I talk about my growing up in my family, which wasn't always a happy thing, which meant that when I, when we lost the. When I, when the family home was sold, I was kind of. I was really upset, but it was not a place I ever felt. Felt I belonged, basically. I never felt I belonged in that family.
And so I talk a lot about that and then that experience of saying, right, I need something else to focus on.
And I talk about my family throughout the book as well. So the. Probably the biggest event that happened in my family is a child that was born before me. He was. Would have been two years older than me. He died when he was 10 months old and quite suddenly and I was born 15 months later. So it wasn't a great situation, I think, to be born into. And I talk about it and it was a big secret in the family.
It was something that no one was ever allowed to talk about, which is kind of A common story, I think, in.
[00:24:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so.
[00:24:21] Speaker C: Yeah. At that. Around that time, people just kind of moved. So we won't talk about it. We'll just move on.
Yeah. And so I was just. Always grew up with this sort of secret there that I was certainly not privy to because I wasn't there when it happened, which meant. Which I think meant that's why I always felt like I really didn't fit in very well.
So I talk a bit about that throughout the book and I weave that through the trip because one of the. One of the. This might be a bit of a spoiler, but one of the fascinating things about Low Mainteng is you may have heard of sky burials in Tibet, where they. Yeah. Well, because the ground's very hard, there aren't many trees. They dismember the bodies when they die and leave them out for vultures to eat. Right. Which is horrible.
But in Los Angeles, something else.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. In Lomontang, if a male child dies before he's produced any offspring or before there's been any offspring produced in the family at all, I think the grandchildren, they wrap them in salt and bury them in the wall of the house.
So that child was very thick. Stone walls, I have to just point out, but they put them in the wall. And then once there is a next generation, I think it has to be a male. I can't remember. Then they take the body out and dispose of it. It. So.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:25:51] Speaker C: It's pretty interesting. Yeah, yeah.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: Is. My goodness.
[00:25:56] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: So your voice comes through your story throughout the different, you know, different tellings as well.
[00:26:03] Speaker C: So that's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. Yeah, yeah. I just. I just relate it back to, you know, what it was like growing up, that secret and, you know, what. What happened there and how it affected my family and. Yeah.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: And since writing it, have you found, like. I know that I write and without meaning to, but definitely my thoughts and feelings come out on the page for a lot of different things, whether it's fiction or whatnot, which really surprises me. But I find at the end of writing something. Have you found a bit of catharsis from sharing all this or not?
[00:26:33] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess, because it was not something I ever talked about and. Well, we weren't allowed to. Yeah. I guess I can sort of think and talk about it more freely. I mean, it. You know, it's still a secret amongst my siblings, I think, and they. I don't know how happy they be with me talking about it, but, you know, it's my story.
[00:26:57] Speaker A: Well, that's it. I know that's. So do you feel it's like. Is it like part memoir? That's what you do you refer.
[00:27:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess it is. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it is, yeah. It's part memoir. It's a travel memoir. Yeah.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Did you have any.
Did you have any issues with sharing information about the place or anything like that? Because there is limited. Or not so much now or.
[00:27:19] Speaker C: Oh, no, not now. No, no. About. About Lo Mantang itself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. I mean, it is a tourist destination. It's just that it's an expensive tourist destination. So it's not somewhere where someone on the Gap here can just. Yeah. You know, go on a bit of a trip up there. A lot of French people, this very well known place. But because. Probably because of Michelle Pizzle, because he. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:44] Speaker A: There you go. Well, it sounds absolutely fantastic, Rose. Really excited and you know, your first book of many, I'm sure to come. So that's great.
[00:27:53] Speaker C: Are you.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: Do you have details to share, where it's going to be or not? Not yet.
[00:27:57] Speaker C: So it's going to be. Well, it'll be available on Amazon. It'll also obviously you can order it through your bookshop, which is always a good way to go. Yeah. The usual places you can get a book. Yeah.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: That's amazing. Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing all you have. It's been wonderful.
[00:28:12] Speaker C: Really special thanks for having me, Joanne. I really enjoyed it.
[00:28:22] Speaker A: So there you have it, folks, the exceptional storytelling from Rose Lane, whose work is out now and you can go see for yourself. Don't you just want to go out and have an epic adventure like Rose? I know I do. Next time on the Hybrid Author podcast we have Kindness begins within Annie Kwan on writing the Finch who Lost Her Wing. Annie Kwan is a lawyer who runs a construction company with her husband. She's passionate about teaching kids and volunteers at her daughter's primary ethics program. Annie believes that being kind to others can only start when one is kind to themselves first. The Finch who Lost Her Wing is her first children's book. She's working on more children's books and also a novel. Annie lives in Sydney with her girls husband and two cats. And that's coming up next on the Hybrid Author. I wish you well in your author adventure this week. That's it from me. Bye for now.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: That's the end for now.
[00:29:04] Speaker A: Authors, I hope you are further forward in your author adventure after listening and I hope you'll listen Next time, remember.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: To head on over to the Hybrid Author website at www.hybridauthor.com to get your free author pass.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: It's bye for now.
