NARRAWONG author Maya Linnell has just released what is sure to be another award-winning book - Kookaburra Cottage.

Maya has previously written a series of four books following the four McIntyre sisters and has now started a new series based in the wine growing area of the Limestone Coast.

The book is set in Penwarra - a small country town winery, with all the typical country characters (we all know them) from the well-meaning but meddling match maker - to the ever so reliable handyman/builder - to the country show that causes all sorts of anxiety and stress for the committee members battling to keep it going.

The perfect setting for a catch up with Maya Linnell for Kookaburra Cottage was at Suffoir Winery at Macarthur.

J.F        Firstly, this is another sure-fire winner, Maya. Thank you so much for including a little of me on your front cover. Is this going to be the first book of another series?

M.L      Thanks Jodi, I was thrilled to have your quote on the front cover of Kookaburra Cottage.  It’s set up just over the border in the Limestone Coast, an area I know well, having grown up there.

J.F        Kookaburra Cottage has just been released to the public - so what are you working on right now?

M.L      The second book in this new series and brainstorming the third. They’re in very different stages of the process. I start with a scene and then add characters, then structure - it’s a process that evolves as characters adjust and react to situations.

J.F        I noticed in the new book that you give a little cameo appearance to some characters from your first novels - a nice touch.

M.L      I couldn’t resist mentioning the McIntyre family. It’s just a little cameo, but it was nice to pop them in when those characters have been so loved by readers.

J.F        There is a whole new cast of characters in the new book. Where did the inspiration come from?

M.L      My mother is from Derbyshire and I wanted to bring in that connection with the main male character, Connor, but also, I know so many people with partners from overseas. Wine making is such an international industry that it was easy to add that diversity. The book was always going to be based in a winery, and we meet April Lacey, who has big plans for Lacewing Estate. Young Archie Wilkin just jumped onto the page with his troublesome lambs and his green thumb, and the rest of the characters as I wrote and redrafted.

April’s home is based on a little cottage between the vines in Coonawarra that I’ve driven passed a hundred times. Her fixer-upper project was inspired by our own journey as owner builders, but also by an article about a beautiful stone barn renovation in Tasmania. Images from that article guided my description of Kookaburra Cottage B&B.

At the time of writing, my children were learning piano during lockdown - so I incorporated that into the plot. I kept thinking - what sort of person would I want teaching my kids? Someone who’s patient and who encourages and isn’t going to up-sticks and run off when things got tough. So, that became Connor - a blond haired, British, piano playing winemaker.

J.F        Your characters become so lovable - and it’s easy for the reader to connect with them as they struggle through genuine life issues – was that always your goal?

M.L      It’s funny, I feel for my characters and relate all their struggles and I write things that matter to me without specifically meaning to. The first draft is quite loose - I don’t always have the structure right - but by the time I have 100,000 words I realise that ‘ah ha, that was what they (the characters) needed to learn to grow.’ Character start as a skeleton - and as I progress, I add flesh, muscle and hair and begin to see what he/she looks like.

I always knew I wanted April to question her place in the winery, as she is not a winemaker – so she had to forge her own way. The characters make plans and set goals and then have doubts about whether they can achieve them - and like real life, there are roadblocks, complications and layers. As an author you want your characters to have a history that moulds their dreams and impacts their future and the choices the make.

J.F        In so many ways, this book reflects the challenges of different generations in farming. The resistance of the older generation to adapt to new practices and technology. It is something we can all relate too.

M.L      Yes. Generational differences are universal, no matter what the business or industry. The winery is under financial pressure and April wants to jazz up the premises and attract new customers. She’s torn between making changes and keeping her set-in-his-ways father from losing his lifetimes work and has to trust her instincts to secure the family’s future.    

J.F        You are going to be so busy now promoting your new book. What’s on your agenda?

M.L      I have book launches planned in libraries and bookshops in Portland and Casterton, Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Frankston, Warrnambool, Colac and Mortlake and then finish off the tour in South Australia. Most of the launches are ‘in conversation’ style events and I can’t wait to have Catriona Rowntree and various author friends hosting them.

Local support has been so important – it’s always great to have a hometown crowd. I love mentioning local settings or landmarks in my novels – places like Portland, Byaduk, Dunkeld, Woolsthorpe and Tower Hill - and the feedback from reads shows that they get a kick out of it too. 

J.F        I had the great pleasure of getting an advanced copy of Maya’s latest book, and like all four award winning books, before Kookaburra Cottage, it did not disappoint.

This book reflects our country characters perfectly - you will identify with the journey.