Every Thursday afternoon, while I'm sitting here with Mum, I think about my dead rellies. I call them my great great greats.
The ideas for the stories in Digging Up Dad just sort of came to me, thanks to a creative technique that has served me well over the years. The one where you make slow circular meditative movements with a sponge in a sink full of dirty dishes and let your mind wander.
While I was waiting for the burnt bits to soften, I found myself thinking about how everyone’s problems seem to be a bit bigger these days. And more complicated. And harder to fix. And when I say everyone, I'm including the planet that lets us park our cars on it.
I also found myself thinking how a lot of us grown-ups aren't feeling as confident these days about making things better. And how young people are probably noticing this. And perhaps wondering if they might be able to do a bit of making things better themselves. Not just in their own lives, also in the lives of their families, pets, teachers, neighbours, local shopkeepers, members of parliament etc.
Which got me hoping I could meet a few kids like that in my imagination. Kids who, when they find they've got a mate with a laptop and a big sink, might feel up to having a crack themselves. And along the way, even if they haven't planned it, inspire us grown-ups to be our best selves too. In somewhere between three and seven thousand words with not too many adverbs.
A big ask, you might be thinking. But I'm a hopeful author, and my characters are always hopeful too. Which they need to be. Stories are always about characters struggling with problems. So they need you, their author, to equip them with as many believable personal strengths and qualities as possible. Specially when the characters are young.
Empathy, bravery, optimism, resilience, creative thinking, the capacity for loyal and loving friendships, the ability to stay up much later than adults think they can – you can make your own list. If young characters can start out with at least some of these strengths, the problem-solving journey helps them develop even more.
It's never easy for young characters - bombarded with new experiences, maybe out of their depth, desperate sometimes - so they often use what they've got in unconventional and not always parentally-permitted ways. And this is where humour often comes in.
And hand in hand with that humour, you'll always find a character who's being hopeful.
The stories in Digging Up Dad have certainly made me feel more hopeful, which is why I put the word in the title. I also did it to remind young readers that if they come across a grown-up who’s not having a very hopeful day, sharing stories with them might just help
Digging Up Dad is available now in bookshops and libraries in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and online. Buy it here: