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Writer Bryce Courtenay has no plans to slow down
Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:53pm EST
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By Belinda Goldsmith
CANBERRA (Reuters) - From being raised in an orphanage in South Africa to becoming one of Australia's most commercially successful authors, Bryce Courtenay's life sounds like the plot of a novel and he has no plans to slacken the pace.
Courtenay, 75, was in advertising until he began writing full-time in 1989 with the best-seller "The Power of One," written after one of his three sons, who had hemophilia, died aged 24 of AIDS contracted through a blood transfusion.
Since then, he has released another 17 novels with the latest, "Fishing for Stars," a sequel to last year's bestseller "The Persimmon Tree," following the adventures of Nick Duncan, a wartime sailor who is torn between two contrasting women.
Courtenay spoke to Reuters about writing and his total dismissal of retirement:
Q: Why did you opt for a sequel this time?
A: "With "The Persimmon Tree" I wanted to tell a love story. I have been terrified of telling a love story as men don't read women correctly but I thought I would attempt it. When it appeared to work and people loved the two protagonists involved I became interested and thought what would happen as they got older. I wondered if I could continue this love story. I became fascinated by these two opposite viewpoints they represent."
Q: The women are so different?
A: "Totally. I have a plunderer and an eco-terrorist on my hands. I made them fall in love with the same guy so these two are at each other and represent extreme opposite points of view."
Q: Is it hard to write from a woman's perspective?
A: "Hugely. I tremble at the knees when I think about it. Whether we like it or not, the opposite gender to my own think and react differently -- but not badly in any way."
Q: Your books have mostly been set in South Africa and Australia. Will that continue?
A: "It is more now the Pacific region as that is where we belong. I write about my own backyard, my own people."
Q: So Australia is home, not South Africa?
A: "The African novels were novels that dealt with my growing up there that I knew I needed to get off my chest. I see myself as very Australian. It is very doubtful that I would write another book about South Africa."
Q: You've written 18 books in 19 years. Any chance of stopping writing? Continued...
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