Today the book of my heart hits virtual shelves around the world and I couldn’t be more proud or thrilled.

April’s Rainbow is special. Really special. I adore it to the point of obsession, and am ecstatic that at last you’ll have the chance to meet my darling hero Tristan and the woman he comes to love like no other, and perhaps fall for them and their incredible journey as hard as I did.

This is a story about grief, courage, art, landscape, love, family and so much more. So very much more.

I bawled while writing this book. I laughed occasionally too, did silly stuff, reminisced a lot, and gave it all my heart. Now, as has come tradition on book release day, here I am to share a few of the secret goings on behind the story.

Enjoy!

SIX SECRET THINGS ABOUT APRIL’S RAINBOW

1/. I was so obsessed with April’s Rainbow during writing that I sang about it non-stop to the tune of Siete Horas, a song by Spanish band BeBe, replacing the words siete horas with Ap-ril’s Rain-bow, followed by a tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. This song is the theme for the cooking show Made In Spain, featuring chef José Andrés, and is such a happy sounding thing I couldn’t help but pinch for my own use.

2/. Major Mitchell’s commemorative cairn that sits alongside the highway opposite the property of Rainbow was based on one at the top of Muntham Hill, between Casterton and Coleraine in western Victoria. Except the real cairn isn’t one at all, more a squat obelisk and dedicated to settler Edward Henty rather than the explorer Mitchell. Somehow I had memorised it differently, despite having driven past the site a bazillion times.

The Edward Henty memorial at the top of Muntham Hill, western Victoria

I blame brain confusion between this memorial and that dedicated to great horseman and poet Adam Lindsay Gordon at Coleraine, which looks more like the one I imagined for April’s Rainbow, and is also really cool. If you ever come to travel this beautiful part of the world, stop and take a look. The plaque describes how Gordon rode in the Great Western Steeplechase in the years 1862-1866. This is the point where the race, which was first run in 1858 and was about four miles long, crossed the road.

Concerning the race, Gordon wrote:

On the fields of Coleraine, there’ll be labor in vain.

Before the Great Western is ended, the nags will have toiled & the silks will have soiled.

And the rails will require to be mended.

The Adam Lindsay Gordan commemorative cairn at Coleraine, Victoria.

3/. I wrote the first draft while listening almost exclusively to Afterglow by INXS. To me, that’s what Tristan was like – one touch from April and he would follow her anywhere. On the playlist for the second draft was The Unforgiven I and II by Metallica, I See You by Mika, Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bizkit, I Can See Clearly Now by Hothouse Flowers, and Goodbye My Lover by James Blunt. A rather eclectic mix!

4/. April’s Rainbow has been in my head for well over twenty years. I used to do a lot of driving in my pasture seed sales rep days which gave me plenty of time to daydream. I imagined hundreds of stories but two were so powerful they embedded themselves in my heart and never left. One was April’s Rainbow, the other you’ll have to wait for!

5/. April’s Rainbow is the fastest book I’ve ever written. The first draft was just over 40,000 words (it’s shorter now, thanks to the wonders of editing) and I completed it in 13 days. If only all books could be like this! But the truth is that this book was written in my head a long time ago, all I had to do was type it out.

6/. If Tristan was real and I wasn’t already attached, I’d marry him.

I hope you enjoyed these secret things, but more than anything I hope April’s Rainbow finds a place as deep in your heart as it has in mine.

If you’d like to read an excerpt, you’ll find one on the April’s Rainbow book page on this website. You can also download samples from the ebook retailers, but I know you want to grab a copy right now. Oh yes, you do!

To purchase your copy of April’s Rainbow, simply clickety-click on your favourite retailer below:

Amazon.com | Amazon.au | Amazon.uk

iBooks

Kobo

Nook

For those who prefer print, I have a special offer: Personally signed copies of April’s Rainbow delivered to your Australian postal address for $15, payment via Paypal. Simply email me using the Contact page of this website and I’ll shoot you the details.

Today is a day of celebration. There’s fizz in the fridge for later this afternoon, when I’ll raise a toast not only to April and Tristan and their stunning property Rainbow, and to those who helped bring this story to life and to shelves, but to you, my lovely readers, for supporting me and reading my stories. Thank you.