In the Back Paddock with ... Cathryn Hein

Welcome to the final blog in February Focus on Rural Australia. I'm thrilled to have Cathryn Hein as my guest blogger today. Cathryn is here to tell us all about Mount Gambier, Promises and Heart of the Valley.

Hi, everyone, and thanks, Juanita, for inviting me on Mission: Romance. I’m absolutely delighted to be here.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m glad the 2012 is finally settling into stride. We’ve experienced an amazingly busy summer. Christmas involved a rushed trip to the north Queensland boonies for a lovely but abbreviated break with my wonderful in-laws, then I had the final edits and proof reading of my May release, Heart of the Valley, to complete with another writing deadline on top of that, and if that wasn’t enough, we had to pack up our house and move interstate. Phew!

So I’m very glad it’s now February and I can get back into a routine.

I’m also glad to be living in Melbourne, even if it’s only for a few years, as I’m now only four or so hours’ drive away from my family. As Jim and I tend to move around a lot due to his job, it’s nice to have somewhere to anchor yourself to and for me, even though it’s been years since I lived there, Mount Gambier still echoes of home. And no wonder. My family have been there for generations and are considered part of the town’s pioneer history, having first settled in the late 1850’s, not long after foundation. I suspect that long exposure to the local air and water has affected our genes. We couldn’t let it go if we tried.

Mount Gambier is situated just across the Victorian border in South Australia’s south east, almost half-way between Melbourne and Adelaide if you follow the coast. The town’s main claim to fame is its magnificent Blue Lake, a crater lake which transforms from a dull, uninspiring grey in winter to an incredible electric blue in the summer. It’s quite a stunning sight and visitors are always amazed, and I have to admit that it still gives me a tingle of awe when I see it.

Back in the days when I rode exercise work casually for a local racehorse trainer, we used to take the horses past the edge of the lake and out to the flat rural lanes on the other side of the crater. The beauty and quiet pleasure of those mornings was incredible. You could see for miles, and the soil around the extinct volcanoes of Mount Gambier and Mount Schank is highly arable, perfect for vegetables, dairying and beef cattle. With all the different enterprises the landscape appears a patchwork quilt of earthy, fertile colour, and the air redolent with agricultural productivity.

We were living overseas when I finally made the decision to stop dabbling and write seriously. I’d been in France for two and a half years and hadn’t once returned to Australia in that time, and so was feeling more than a bit nostalgic for home. Writing about rural life, about the stoic, hard-working people who make the country such a special place, was my way of reconnecting with the places and people I love, and I drew heavily on my memories of the town where I grew up. Looking back on that first (unpublished) novel, it still makes me smile how much I romanticised the landscape. No horrible sideways-falling rain or gelid winter wind whistling straight off the Southern Ocean in that book, just a glorious, never-ending spring.

Harrington, Aaron and Sophie’s home town in Promises, is a little more honest than the utopia of that first book. Like Mount Gambier, Harrington is located in South Australia’s south east, but Harrington is smaller, and doesn’t have a crater lake. What they do share, besides the weather, is an economy based on agriculture and timber production, and an old cemetery built on one of the most prime pieces of land you can imagine. I don’t know what Mount Gambier’s forefathers were thinking when they started to bury their dead on the side of the Blue Lake crater but I’m guessing they weren’t property developers. I’m glad though. The view from Lake Terrace Cemetery is stunning and I don’t mind sharing with ghosts.

As far as I know, there’s no Aaron doppelganger living in Mount Gambier, either now or in the past, which is just as well because I’d probably go a bit weak-kneed and dribble infatuated nonsense if I met him. I’ve always had a soft spot for rural good sorts and Aaron is a very good sort indeed! Country boys are so wonderfully earthy and straightforward, although in Aaron’s case he’s more than a bit tortured by his past, poor darling. Plus I think we girls are a sucker for a good, practical bloke – I know I am. One who can not only fix things and wrestle livestock, but who looks mighty fine in a pair of moleskins, with his shirtsleeves rolled up and eyes glowing bright and humour-filled under the brim of his hat. Ahh.

When you move around a bit like we do your perception of home changes. For me, home is wherever Jim is. I know it sounds a bit sappy but without him places become just that – places. They don’t resonate with all that’s important in life – love, family, friends, contentment and laughter. And I think that’s why Mount Gambier will always echo in my heart. I may not have lived there for a long time but those memories are still well and truly alive.

Which Australian place resonates in your heart? Is it the home where you grew up or perhaps a special location where something momentous in your life occurred? I’d love to hear your stories, plus leave a comment and you’ll be in with a chance to win a signed copy of my debut novel, Promises. Entries close midnight Friday, 24^th Feb. Australian addresses only, sorry.

Thanks again, Juanita. It’s been a lovely visit.

PROMISES BACK COVER BLURB

 "A father with something to hide, a jockey with a taste for blackmail, a man with an agonising secret ... and a young woman in love, defying them all.

Sophie Dixon is determined to leave her tragic past behind and forge a bright future on her beloved farm. While looking to buy a new horse, she is drawn into her neighbour Aaron Laidlaw’s orbit, despite the bad blood between their families.

As the racing season unfolds, Sophie and Aaron’s feelings for each other deepen. But Aaron is torn, haunted by a dark secret he fears can never be forgiven – especially by Sophie.

Sophie believes herself strong, but the truth behind her mother’s death will test her strength, and her love, to the limit. She’s been broken once. No one wants to see her broken again. Least of all the man who has grown to love her.

From an exciting new Australian voice comes this compelling story about love, loyalty and forgiveness."

If you’d like to know more about Cathryn and her books, please visit her website. You can also keep in contact via Cathryn’s blog, on Facebook and also via Twitter.

Promises is available from your local bookstore, chain stores such as Big W, and from online retailers. You can also buy the ebook on Kindle, and from KoboBooks, Borders.com.au, Booktopia and other ebook sellers.

Cathryn’s second rural set romance, Heart of the Valley, releases in May.

I hope you've enjoyed our snapshot of Rural Australia at its best. Read my review of Promises here. 

And the winner of a signed copy of Promises, as drawn by the special random number machine is:

NATALIE!

Natalie, please contact Cathryn via email at cathrynhein@gmail.com to claim your prize.
Congratulations and we hope you enjoy reading PROMISES.