[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello authors.
[00:00:01] Speaker B: 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 to help you forge a career as a hybrid author both independently and traditionally publishing your books. You can get the show notes for.
[00:00:20] Speaker C: Each episode and sign up for your.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Free Author pass over at the Hybrid.
[00:00:24] Speaker D: Author website to discover your writing process.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Get tips on how to publish productively.
[00:00:28] Speaker E: And get comfortable promoting your books at www.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: Let's crack on with the episode.
Hello authors.
[00:00:45] Speaker F: I hope you're all keeping well in.
[00:00:47] Speaker C: Whatever part of the world you reside and listen to the podcast in Today's.
[00:00:51] Speaker F: Interview is with Johan Dutoy on When.
[00:00:54] Speaker C: Only Today Matters, Writing Truth, Emotion and short fiction and WeChat personal experience in his short story collection When Only Today Matters. What inspired the title and how the theme of living in the moment resonates across the eight stories, Balancing emotional tone across short fiction, Writing stories fueled by injustice and frustration while others carry a whisper of hope, identity and displacement, shaping the way Johan tells stories or the kinds of stories he feels cold to tell Finding your writing voice through a writer's group Collaborative publishing with broadcast books Johann's advice for emerging authors interested in hybrid or community based publishing paths and much more so in my author adventure this week.
[00:01:44] Speaker F: I feel rather heavy today as it.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Is, and I thought I would just.
[00:01:50] Speaker F: Touch upon that because it's not a, you know, you don't always bounce out of bed in this business or just in general and be ready for the day. You know, there's more days like that than there's not. But not every day is there massive amounts of energy, especially if you've perhaps not slept very well or there's other things going on. So I just wanted to touch on how I felt with feeling a little bit tired probably at least one day.
[00:02:16] Speaker C: Of the week, one or two days.
[00:02:17] Speaker F: At least where I feel tired and.
[00:02:20] Speaker C: It'S juggling energy zipping between this business.
[00:02:23] Speaker F: The hybrid author, being writer, book marketer, podcaster, speaker and all the other bits to the business to doing some physical shift work at the Sellers, to being a full time single parent mom.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: Listening to my body on these days is imperative.
[00:02:38] Speaker F: I drink a lot of coffee and I do occasionally drink energy drinks and there's things that I do to gain more energy sometimes when I feel lethargic. But then there's these days where I can notice that I can have the drinks and I can do all this stuff, but I need. I'm actually aware of what I need, which is just to rest.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: I'm still completing tasks, nothing too strenuous.
[00:03:02] Speaker F: I'm not pushing myself crazily because I've noticed, especially with these days, that it's.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: Better to listen to your body.
[00:03:09] Speaker F: Maybe that means taking time out, reading, resting, just going at a slower pace.
[00:03:16] Speaker C: Rather than pushing yourself to go faster.
[00:03:18] Speaker F: Or get more done or, you know, getting in a tiz about certain things. I've found if you listen to your.
[00:03:24] Speaker C: Body go slow, go at the pace.
[00:03:26] Speaker F: It wants you to, the next day I'm back to full of beans and more energy. And yeah, not bouncing off the walls per se, but you're just back into that more momentum. So there is a difference where some days I'm quite wide awake, probably around 4ish, I start to hit a wall around like 5:30.
So sometimes to get going can be a bit hard. But then I do notice a heaviness around my body and on those days it's best just to go slower and then the next day you're back to bouncing. So I don't know who else maybe feels this way, but I hope that whoever's out there listening, don't beat yourself up. If like me, you, you've got a lot of stuff that you need your.
[00:04:09] Speaker C: Attention and need your focus, it will.
[00:04:11] Speaker F: Get done and it'll always be there and you're just doing the best you can and that's fine. But prioritize yourself and your health as well. Like I'm a gym goer and I like to be outdoors and I like to go for walks and things like that. But even today I could push myself and you might get more energy from that, you generally do. But I can feel within myself that no, today I need a rest day in terms of being on the go and things like that. And that's fine because tomorrow I'll be back to the regular. So what I'm getting at, I guess is listen to yourself, be kind to yourself and know that everything that is on your to do list, your work for the week will get done.
But you need to prioritize you as well.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: So at the cellars this week I.
[00:04:58] Speaker F: Have been learning about food and wine.
[00:05:01] Speaker C: Pairings, which is good.
[00:05:03] Speaker F: It helps me be able to make recommendations to people based on what they're eating and what will go nice with that. Such as, you know, sparkling goes well.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: With smoked salmon and freshly chucked oysters.
[00:05:14] Speaker F: Everybody knows that's a celebration drink. Whereas Riesling is more paired with Asian foods. White blends are sort of Australian cuisines. So I'm learning lots. And I'm also learning a lot of different varieties of wine I've never heard of before. That some of them, I have trouble saying, like, managed to figure out how to say this.
Viognier. Viognier. Viognier is a white blend and I think that one goes with spicy chicken.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: I can't remember.
[00:05:44] Speaker C: There's so much to it.
[00:05:45] Speaker F: So, yeah, it's quite interesting learning about that. And I think that one is French.
I'm getting there anyway. I'm getting an education. This is the point of being at the cellars.
[00:05:55] Speaker C: And so this week I got to taste.
[00:05:58] Speaker F: It's another point of being at the sailors. I get to the educational side, but I get to do wine tastings which obviously working have to spit out. But I like all wine tasted a.
[00:06:07] Speaker C: Couple of Grenaches this week. One was from McLaren Valley, which is Australian.
[00:06:12] Speaker F: The bottle was quite young. It was around about $25 and pouring out.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: It was a very see through red.
[00:06:21] Speaker F: Almost like a little cherry red. But you could see through it, it was quite clear, like a Pinot Noir, as a lot of people were saying.
And it tasted quite maraschino cherries was one of the things they said. Or popping candy, like quite quite, you know, I guess sweet, you could say. But. And then I tried another Grenache and this was what was interesting was because apparently a lot of grapes varieties you can't get like, you know, there's. So there's Grenache and these were from two different countries. The other one I tasted was from Spain.
And that one, you can make them different. That one was very dark. I loved it actually. And that was only about $30 more, kind of vanilla Y tones and leather and stuff like that. Just delicious. But the same, you know, grape, but done two different ways. And apparently with Grenache you can do that, whereas something with like a cab salve or something like that, you can't.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: So I'm finding it really, really interesting.
[00:07:19] Speaker F: All this stuff, if you're listening, you're thinking, why is she harping on about wine? On writing, sort of publishing career, podcast. But you know, this is all part of my author adventure. It's tied into my freelance writing, my book writing, romance novels set in a vineyard, all of it. So, you know, our outside experiences elsewhere shape our writing so it is relevant. And I'm sure there's a few wine drinkers listening.
Reach out if you are and you.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: Know, maybe I can make some recommendations.
[00:07:45] Speaker F: Other than that, I have signed up for a big book event which is in person event. Shout out to Karen Cunningham for sending that my way. The pair of us are hopefully going to team up to get a stall together.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: It's a big event, I think in.
[00:08:00] Speaker F: Fremantle, in Perth I did a couple of market stalls. Anybody who's a long time listener of the podcast knows from last year. I did a big one at the end of last year, which was an artisan one.
[00:08:10] Speaker C: I did a smaller one in January.
[00:08:12] Speaker F: And I didn't really find them worth it. But this is different in terms of it's actually a book selling event. It's for people who are selling books.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: So the people that are coming to.
[00:08:23] Speaker F: Buy are coming to buy books. So it's completely different for a marketplace.
[00:08:27] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:08:28] Speaker C: I'm interested to see how this fares.
[00:08:30] Speaker F: And how it goes. I'm hoping to have a finished work by then, but it's not going to be published. I'll have one women's fiction book and two non fiction ones, so again, we'll see how this goes. But yeah, it's exciting. Another thing what's nice about having a writing community is that people flag different events that are happening and everybody supports each other, especially in the indie space, which is lovely.
[00:08:49] Speaker C: Besides that, I've just been busy catching up with emails. I've had a lot of varied opportunities coming my way, which is great.
[00:08:56] Speaker F: That's another thing about just putting yourself out there.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: People find you and then there's different.
[00:09:01] Speaker C: Chances and different things.
[00:09:02] Speaker F: Yeah, we'll see what comes of it.
[00:09:04] Speaker C: I love how wide this business is.
[00:09:06] Speaker F: And all the different things it brings. You know, there's lots of challenges, it can feel like a hustle, but it's.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Very varied and I like that.
[00:09:15] Speaker F: I don't want to do something that is the same every single day.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: 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 to help you forge a career as a hybrid author both independently and traditionally publishing your books.
[00:09:38] Speaker D: You can get the show notes for.
[00:09:39] Speaker C: Each episode and sign up for your.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Free author pass over at the Hybrid.
[00:09:43] Speaker D: Author website to discover your writing process.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: Get tips on how to publish productively.
[00:09:47] Speaker E: And get comfortable promoting your
[email protected].
[00:09:54] Speaker C: Let'S crack on with the episode.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: Thorn.
[00:10:03] Speaker D: 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.
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[00:11:21] Speaker A: Johan Dutoy grew up in a remote community eight hours drive from Cape Town in South Africa.
He immigrated to Australia with his family in 1994.
Through membership of a writers group, Johan found an opportunity to write short fiction.
[00:11:38] Speaker C: His two collections, Meandering Road and When Only Today Matters have been published in collaboration with Broadcast Books.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: The eight stories chosen for When Only.
[00:11:48] Speaker C: Today Matters were shaped by Johann's personal journey.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: The human truth element came from a.
[00:11:54] Speaker C: Place of gratitude or a sense that tomorrow may be a better day.
There are stories fueled by injustice and.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Frustration, others with a whisper of hope welcome to the hybrid Author Podcast, Johan.
[00:12:07] Speaker E: Thank you, Joe. It's good to connect with you.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: We're absolutely thrilled and honored to have you. You've obviously written some beautiful works and we're going to talk about those today. But can you bring us back to the beginning? And you started with a writers group, but what led you into writing in the first place?
[00:12:24] Speaker E: Yeah, probably going back about 20, 25 years.
I was very committed to a career in management and interestingly enough, I started off my working career as a journalist for two, two and a half short years, but I had a bachelor's degree in commerce, so I thought I needed to repay my parents with a career that was relevant to the degree. But anyway, about 25 years ago I remember going for a walk one morning and I was thinking, you know, life is good, but there's still something missing. And I think some creative inspiration was probably what I realized I may have been missing in my life. At the time I joined the Writers Studio in Bondi. It was at the time under the direction of Roland Fishman, and the first course I committed to was Unlocking Creativity and that led to a first draft novel and script course and I completed that, but inevitably, career gets in the way. I did, I did complete the first draft of the novel. And then in 2008, I was invited into a writers group. They were all amateur writers like me, and it started with a picture and we wrote a story which was either about the picture or inspired by the picture.
And in an anonymous vote, the winner gets to choose the next picture.
And we, believe it or not, that was in 2008. Seventeen years later, we're still going.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing. Every single member, every.
[00:14:10] Speaker E: Well, the hardcore of the team is still there. And there've been new members, new writers, some published authors, few script writers. People come and go and I think it depends on their work circumstances or where they are in their careers.
And so by 2020, I had probably amassed about 60, 70 short stories.
And it was Roland Fishman at the Writers Studio who introduced me to Bernadette Foley at Broadcast Books. Bernadette has a career in publishing, but she now runs a small independent consultancy.
I shared some of the stories. I was delighted that I received a positive response from her.
She introduced an editor and that led to the publishing of or the publication of Meandering Road, which was the first collection of short fiction in 2022.
And I was a little anxious, but I received positive feedback and encouragement from far and wide, not least benedet to keep going.
And I think it also triggered new enthusiasm for reading. I became. I've always been an avid reader, but I started not just reading more, but reading, pursuing different authors.
I discovered authors like Colson Whitehead, the American author, closer to home, Charlotte Wood, so suddenly exposed to new voices.
And I also became a student. I just found the time and the passion to embrace the George Sanders book, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, and also suggested that I study Mastering Process, which is a book by an English author, Elizabeth George. All of that was extremely helpful and that's probably in a nutshell, how I became an author.
[00:16:14] Speaker G: Amazing.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: Well, that's fantastic. I can't believe your writers group's still going as well. I think that's amazing. I too started out my writing career going to the local writers centre as well.
I'm not still going, though. That was only a short while. And yeah, shout out Bernadette Foley. She has been on the podcast, actually, I think it was maybe a year or so ago and I couldn't tell you what episode it was a while. But she's a lovely lady and she's very experienced in what she does. So I can imagine your experience with her has been second to none. But you know, we are talking today about your specific collection, your new one, When Only Today Matters, which I just love the title and you draw, draw deeply from personal experience here. What inspired that title and how does the theme of living in the moment resonate across the eight stories that you've got in the collection?
[00:17:06] Speaker E: When I did Today Matters is also the name of the title story in the book and it's essentially based on the life of David Anderson as a homeless man.
I won't give much more away than that other than David Anderson ended up living on the street and he sacrifice a career and his family in the process.
That story was actually inspired by an experience as a volunteer at the Wayside Chapel on Christmas Day several years ago.
And if you look at the eight stories, the characters are all on their individual journeys, but they're all encountering life's challenges along the way.
Sometimes brutal, but never without a whisper of hope.
And I think when once we decided on When Only Today Matters as the feature story, it's a novella length story in the book or one of two novella length stories in the book. Once we decided on that, it became more obvious which of that short stories were appropriate to include with that as the lead story, if you wish.
So you know. Yeah, that's how it came about and that's the essence of Win Only Today Matters.
[00:18:29] Speaker G: Yeah, that's amazing.
[00:18:31] Speaker E: When, when I started seriously committing to When Only Today Matters, I at the time joined the Sydney Writers Room and they were in an office just directly across the right from St. Mary's Cathedral.
And so what I did on the Monday morning, I checked in there, left my laptop and started walking. So every Monday morning or every Monday I would spend a half a day, if you wish, on the road and I walked through Surrey Hills, Redfern, Downinghurst, and in my imagination I assumed I was following sort of a daily routine of David Anderson, took lots of photographs along the way and all of that was really useful homework and preparation for the story.
So yeah, I think that that explains When Only Today Matters.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: The inspiration from the story, as you said, came from your volunteer work. The other pieces in the story that were chosen in concurrent with that, was there much inspiration behind those ones or were they more creative?
[00:19:37] Speaker E: They all came from those pictures in the writer's group.
[00:19:40] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:19:41] Speaker E: And yeah, there's, there was, there's one story in the book from the writers group which was the first time in the 17 years that somebody suggested a moving image.
Right. So it wasn't a typical photograph or picture, unfortunately. These Pictures cannot really be published with the stories because they were sort of randomly selected and it would be a nightmare to get approval for that.
[00:20:08] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:20:09] Speaker E: But yeah, I think just once I discovered, once I felt that there was an opportunity to be true to the voice of David Anderson in, in When Elder Day Matters, it was became. It became easier to choose the other stories that we felt would be appropriate for the book.
[00:20:32] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:20:33] Speaker E: You end up without, for good reason. You end up with a wide genre or variety of genres across 60 odd short stories against different pictures.
But I like to believe that when, if you read the eight and even the poem which is motivated or inspired by my childhood, even the poem I think makes sense if you read them together with When Only Today Matters.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's absolutely gorgeous. And you know, you've mentioned some of the stories are fueled by injustice and frustration, but they carry a whisper of hope, which I really love that. How do you balance emotional tones like that when you're writing short fiction?
[00:21:18] Speaker E: Yeah, I think it's a good. Interesting question.
Feel is like a dance, you know.
And as always, if you, if you focus on the character and the voice as a starting point, then anything is possible after that.
But there's something interesting that somebody mentioned to me the other day.
She, the woman who I know, I've known for a long time, a friend of the family said when she read the stories she could hear my voice.
[00:21:54] Speaker G: Yep.
[00:21:55] Speaker E: Which is interesting. Yeah, I never thought about it like that.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Having immigrated from South Africa and now calling Australia home, how has your sense of identity and displacement shaped the way you tell stories? You know, the kinds of stories you feel compelled to tell.
[00:22:11] Speaker E: At the beginning, as I said, my focus has always been on character, voice, place, antagonist.
And after 30 years, I think of my readers as Australian. 30 plus years and with an Australian voice.
So the vast majority of stories capture Australian characters, Australian situation and journeys.
But that doesn't mean that they haven't gone walk about it elsewhere. In Mandarin Road, there are several stories that probably reflect the time I spent traveling in the United States in particular. And I have been able to explore other voices in that way. It's a funny little episode which has not made its way into any of my stories. But I think I was at an airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it was shortly after 911 and there was the security at the airport domestically, which is unbelievable.
[00:23:22] Speaker G: Imagine.
[00:23:23] Speaker E: And so I went into the men's bathroom and at the wash basin next to me, a guy came up and he had like a 1960s hairstyle. And I just watched Watched him while he wet his hair. And then he took out a brown comb and very carefully combed his hair. And right at the end he flicked it so that it formed like a wire.
Yeah, I can picture himself in the mirror. And he was clearly very happy with what he'd seen.
And he left the bathroom.
And I'll never forget that moment. It must have been at least 25 years ago.
So, yeah, so I hear Australian voices and most often that's where I start in terms of character and place in particular.
Although in When Only Today Matters, the second novella length story is a South African story and from 1976 and during pretty much the darkest days of apartheid, I think.
And it was very much inspired by real life experiences, by what was happening around me. And I was old enough to be very aware. So I revisited that period in my life in that story. All these eight stories and probably many of the others I've written leave the readers or read it with a question rather than a happy ending.
And I didn't know that I was doing something that, that. That has been recognized at writing schools. This whole notion that a novel shouldn't have a beginning and an end. Like Richard Flanagan, the Australian author.
Book Question Seven. And I remember when the book was launched, I sat in town hall and he rationalized why the book leaves you with a question rather than happy ending or an answer.
And yeah, I thought, oh my goodness, yeah, that's right. And you know, I. Reflecting on what several of the stories that I've written, I realized that without me being aware of it, it does leave you with a question rather than an answer or a happy ending.
[00:25:53] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: It's quite a powerful way to end it though I can imagine some people might be a bit infuriated. But at least the story probably percolates and lives on with.
With the reader and their own thoughts to answer the question, I guess, or you know, conversation.
[00:26:08] Speaker E: Yeah, I respect the frustration sometimes because I've had some of the feedback I've had has been they want to know what happened to him, what happened to her next.
So I'll read two pieces from the From When Only Today Matters and other stories. So the first one is from When Only Today Matters.
I've mentioned earlier that the homeless man's name is David Anderson. So I'll read the last bit. On the path leading to the opera house, we stop to buy ice creams from a young man with a cart. Under a blue and white striped umbrella, we find a bench facing the harbor where we sit licking our vanilla ice Creams from cones. Is this the way it's going to be, dad? Chloe's question is not in a demanding tone. I know exactly what she means. With your help, it feels that I'm putting my life together slowly, one stitch at a time. She laughs and says that's lovely. I mean the stitch path. We finish our ice creams in silence, watching a ferry cross the expanse of calm water.
So I just thought I'd leave it there.
[00:27:25] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:27:28] Speaker E: So from that hopefully you will gather that Chloe and David, their journey has been. It's been troublesome and rocky, but they're at the point now where they can sit down, enjoy an ice cream and looking forward to how life may be different or going forward.
And rather than from the second novella length story, which is a South African story I like to read from, I'll read the second piece from a short story in when only today matters.
The story is called Tale of the goat herd and I have. I know for myself this is the most rewarding story that I've written. I've done nothing that has given me as much and I just personal joy and satisfaction as the story.
This is close to the end of the story, so I'll read this piece.
Ayelet, the Jew and the lema from Palestine, two sisters from two mothers turned to face one another with open palms. Their foreheads touch as they look down at their feet in the desert toil.
The two women embrace, whispering prayers, then silence.
They turn away slowly, as if they are clinging forth to this moment. They start walking towards Jerusalem. The sun is lower now, almost ready to say goodbye. The goats have gone ahead.
I follow, leaning on my herded stick over my shoulder. The two fading mirages move with the same rhythm. I hope for Ayelet and the Lima there will be a tomorrow together under this one sky.
[00:29:19] Speaker A: Oh, that's absolutely beautiful. Your voice just paints an absolute picture. And you've got a lovely speaking voice as well. A lovely reading voice. You'll have to do audio.
An audiobook version.
[00:29:32] Speaker E: Yeah. So those were two very different voices.
Yet I think to one of your earlier questions, once you have the character and the voice, I think emotionally they travel in parallel universes and they make sense in relation to fueled by injustice and frustration. But there's always a whisper of hope.
[00:30:01] Speaker A: Thank you for reading that.
[00:30:03] Speaker E: One last piece about this national void will take you back way before, probably before you were born, Joe, but we spent some time in New York and there's a story in Meandering Road called taking you home which was triggered or inspired by that visit and what was happening in New York City at the time.
And it's probably again on a very short list of the 70 odd stories that I've written.
One of the ones, one of those closest to my heart.
So that's in Meandering Room.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: Beautiful short stories is obviously you mentioned you'd written a novel, but you seem to do the short stories. Is this because of the writers group?
[00:30:47] Speaker E: Well, that was the. You know, that's a discipline. There's a word cap in the writers group. One and a half thousand words. So when the stories were rewritten, when I had the opportunity to rewrite the story stories in collaboration with Bernadette Foley, obviously it went beyond the word cap. And these two novella length stories in particular have been around for quite some time. And yeah, they're not recent stories. In fact, both the story, the life story of David Anderson and the story during apartheid era South Africa would have written probably originally. The first drafts would have been 15 years ago.
They've always been there. And I just selected those two on direction, under direction from Benedict to develop them further.
[00:31:37] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: So novella length, is it about like 7,000 words or more? 15, yeah.
[00:31:43] Speaker E: First drafts were probably around 15,000 words. So yeah.
[00:31:49] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:31:49] Speaker A: Fantastic. So there's two novella lengths in the book, the collection, and then the rest are. How long are the other stories?
[00:31:57] Speaker E: The others are probably on average about 1 1/2 thousand words.
[00:32:01] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fantastic.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: Now, so, you know, it sounds like it's been a positive experience publishing with Bernadette and a collaborative process. How have you found your hybrid author journey?
[00:32:13] Speaker E: When I went to the writers studio the first night in Bondi, I walked up the stairs and at the top of the stairs there was a handwritten poster that said, writing is what writers do. And I'll never ever forget that.
Other than also that downstairs was an organic food store and it was a bitterly cold night. And I remember the poster and the organic hot chocolate from downstairs. So the writers group opportunity gave me, it was a terrific opportunity to the discipline of at least five stories per year.
And that really helped me to develop a writing habit. I would say the writing discipline came a little bit later after I connected with Bernadette.
So since we over the last seven, eight years, I probably write about six to eight hours a day.
And the writing, researching or reading.
And yeah, I know it doesn't happen unless you sit down and commit. The introduction to Bernadette was really, you know, what turned me into, I say it cautiously, an author because these are, I still feel these are Modest efforts, but that would not have been possible without her support. She introduced an editor and she developed and managed the process through to the delivery of the books, including facilitating their design, the COVID design, and first with Meandering Road and now also When Only Today Matters. Again, I think encouraged by Benedet, I became a member of the Australian Society of Authors asa and that's been really helpful. I participate in a number of online events and I think they, they have a really interesting program to support and educate writers. So that's been extremely helpful. The distribution of the first book, Meandering Road was also facilitated through the isa. They introduced me to a distributor. Right. Yeah, yeah. And that, that allowed me to worry about whether if I presented at a. A local bookstore or any bookstore, there was a distributor connection that I could. That could form part of that introduction. Local area and community marketing has been really rewarding and again, I was sort of directed by people who have done it before, particularly if you're working without the benefit of a national or international publisher. The libraries in the area, Local and other sort of slaves by the Sydney of Sydney, for instance, they're terrific because they have so many libraries. So if you, if they accept the book, they will distribute it into, for instance, Green Square or Marigold, all the libraries they can control.
So there has been made libraries pretty much my focus and above all, as I said, if you commit the time, you just dig deep and keep going, as would be my, my recommendation.
[00:35:40] Speaker G: Yeah, that's it.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: It's not going to get done unless you sort of get it done, isn't it?
Do you, do you write like pen and paper or computer or how do you get your words down?
[00:35:51] Speaker E: Just computer.
[00:35:52] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:35:53] Speaker E: I just, I.
I have quiet space in the house which my wife finds sometimes frustrating and annoying.
If the doors close, it means don't interrupt. But yes, I'm fortunate I have space available. And then. Yeah, I was a member at the Sydney Writers Room for about the year leading into the publication of When Only Today Matters. And that was very useful.
It was really.
It was useful in that you meet other writers who come into the room for exactly the same reason, same purpose. And you know, beyond that I would.
And I mentioned that earlier, the.
My appetite and for reading has been.
Has been stimulated by. Since I've certainly. Since I've. Since Mandarin wrote.
[00:36:52] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:36:53] Speaker E: And I've discovered authors that. And by way of example, Carlson Whitehead, the American author of. I've read everything that Carlson Whitehead has written and you know, the Underground Railroad is probably the book that I'll never forget that. I recommend to anybody. But, yeah, sort of Life is a writer. I think what it's allowed me to do as a reader, what's enabled me to do as a reader has been equally rewarding.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: Fantastic. Well, you've shared so much with us, Johan. Thank you so much for joining us. And I know that everyone's dying to know where they can discover your collections and everything you do on and offline.
[00:37:38] Speaker E: Thank you so much. So the website, which is just Johan Detoire. Johan Detoy, One word.
The book is available from Booktopia and also Amazon for the version.
Australian book lovers on their website now. And if I can add, we launched the win only today, Mathis, at Harry Harto in Mossman. The manager was.
Was beyond supportive. Oh, great.
[00:38:12] Speaker G: That's good.
[00:38:13] Speaker E: They continue to support both titles. So both titles available from Harry Hartoff as well.
[00:38:19] Speaker G: That's amazing. Yeah.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: So it sounds like, you know, the book's been well received and.
Yeah, it's doing really well.
[00:38:26] Speaker E: Yeah. And once again, I'll just go back to, you know, Benedict Ferdi's influence and support.
I've been in good hands and I've been very well advised along the way, and that's probably my story.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: Thank you so much for coming on. It's been an absolute joy to talk to you and hear about how your collection was inspired. And you really do have that storytelling voice going on, even just describing your experiences and moments. There's things the organic hot chocolate and there's things you drop in just in conversation. So, yeah, I highly advise an audiobook narrated by yourself. I think that would be really good.
[00:39:03] Speaker E: Yeah. I think that I would require a woman's voice for several of the stories. In fact, in the first book, in Meandering Road, it was. One of the other comments that I received was how many of the characters were women's voices.
And I didn't necessarily think about it at the time. It was just. That's what the picture inspired me to do.
[00:39:29] Speaker G: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: And I like that. Like, did you stop at any point when you were writing that to think how would a woman think, feel or anything? I suppose with having Bernadette and your wife, you probably ran the stories past people. You know.
[00:39:46] Speaker E: Wife and two daughters. Yeah.
A lot of women's voices around and maybe strongly influenced by my mother. Yeah.
[00:39:55] Speaker G: Wow, that's great.
[00:39:56] Speaker A: That's fantastic. Well, again, thank you so much for coming on and sharing what you have, and the collections are just fantastic. So congratulations.
[00:40:05] Speaker E: Thank you. Just because of your potential audience, I cannot Recommend enough.
This book by George Sanders.
[00:40:13] Speaker G: Okay. Yep.
[00:40:14] Speaker E: Which is the title is A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.
As you know, he's the author of Lincoln in the Bardot and he teaches at Syracuse University, teaches creative writing. This entire book is essentially, I think it's probably close to a year's curriculum.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: Right.
[00:40:36] Speaker E: Based on race, based on short stories by Russian authors including Tod Story and Chekhov, Tolstoy, Godel. It is a beautifully written book and you don't feel like you're studying, but you are.
[00:40:53] Speaker G: Yeah. Okay.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: No, that's great. That's a really good resource. So I can link to that as well for anybody who's keen for that. No, that's great. Thank you so much for sharing that.
[00:41:01] Speaker E: Yeah, thank you very much and I appreciate your time.
[00:41:05] Speaker A: Yeah, no, thanks again.
[00:41:13] Speaker F: So there you have it, folks.
[00:41:14] Speaker C: The truly whimsical and brilliant Johan Dutoy.
[00:41:17] Speaker F: If you want to read exceptional writing.
[00:41:19] Speaker C: Check out Johan's short collections, published by.
[00:41:23] Speaker F: The lovely Bernardette Foley from Broadcast Books.
[00:41:26] Speaker C: Next time on the Hybrid Author podcast, we have Writing Kids books inspired by the Natural world with Casey Whitelaw. Casey is a marine biologist, educator and children's author with a passion for connecting children to science and nature through storytelling and education.
Growing up on the coast of Victoria, Casey spent her days beachcombing, surfing and exploring the rocky shores.
As a child and still as an adult, she was fascinated by the rock pools teeming with life, eagerly learning the names of all the creatures she discovered.
[00:41:56] Speaker F: Her passion for the ocean led her.
[00:41:58] Speaker C: To the World Heritage listed Sharks Bay Marine park in Western Australia, where she had the incredible opportunity to work with the famous monkey Maya, dolphins and loggerhead sea turtles. Inspired by her work and dedicated by nurturing the next generation of ocean warriors, she's turned her enthusiasm into pages by diving into the colorful world of picture books. So that is next week's episode with Kasey.
[00:42:21] Speaker F: Absolutely.
[00:42:21] Speaker C: Another gem, as are all my episodes.
[00:42:25] Speaker F: I feel, I just love, love connecting.
[00:42:27] Speaker C: With the guests that come on.
[00:42:28] Speaker F: They're just exceptional people and I hope.
[00:42:31] Speaker C: That you get a lot from listening.
[00:42:33] Speaker F: I wish you well in your author.
[00:42:35] Speaker C: Adventure this next week.
[00:42:36] Speaker A: That's it from me.
[00:42:37] Speaker G: Bye for now.
[00:42:38] Speaker E: That's the end for now.
[00:42:39] Speaker B: Authors, I hope you are further forward in your author adventure after listening, and I hope you'll listen next time. Remember to head on over to the Hybrid Author website at www.hybridauthor.com to get.
[00:42:52] Speaker D: Your free author pass.
[00:42:53] Speaker E: It's bye for now.
