Author Diana Thompson, who lives at the property ‘Baskerville Park’, 15km along the highway from Braidwood, recently released her second novel, Unbridled Passion, at the National Library during the inaugural Canberra Writers’ Festival.
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It’s the story of Nick Delaney, the unlucky-in-love vet of her first novel, Winterflood’s Passion (2015). Thompson describes Nick as “a gorgeous quintessential Australian” who, she says, is “based on all gorgeous vets”.
Thompson, who is head designer for Briolette jewellers in Canberra, said she had always wanted to write, but got caught up in her career and family life.
She was inspired for her first novel four years ago, during a regular commute to Canberra. Writing the novel “saved me” during “a period of great stress,” she said. Writing is “cathartic” as when she writes, she “can’t think about anything else”.
Thompson said she chose the stately Bowral, a town with literary associations, as the setting for her series because it was her “favourite place in the world,” and because her international audience “loves to read about Australia”.
The book is a mix of “Mills & Boon” and erotica. It “straddles the two genres,” and audiences who traditionally read Mills & Boon now expect a bit of “healthy sex” in their reading, she said. Thompson said she had been inspired by both Australian and American authors, including Bella Andre, Melissa Foster, Kylie Scott and Rachael Johns.
Ms Ruby’s Bookshop on Wallace Street will host a signing of Thompson’s work on Sunday, October 30 from 2pm.
