I wonder, what if Tessa was being stalked?

Would you like to hear how Silver Clouds came into being?

Well, read on if you do. Now’s the time to stop if you don’t!

I was listening to the ABC afternoon program many eons ago, and I heard a story about two rings that were found on the edge of a waterhole in the north of WA. Now, normally there wouldn’t be too many raised eyebrows about a find like that, except that it was strange. They were together, no clothes, no cars and more importantly, no bodies close by. So why had those rings been left there? It looked like it had been done on purpose.

While I was listening to this story, the ABC presenter, Barry Nicholls, asked listeners to text in with the first paragraph of a story. I don’t remember how many did, but I suspect a lot because most people have wonderful imaginations and are fascinated with this type of mystery.

What that question did was get my creative juices flowing, and I wondered what would happen if I tried to write a book around that small mystery.

So how to do this? Well, I asked lots of ‘what if’ questions.

‘What if there was a girl who lived in London and was struggling with an alcohol dependence?’

‘What if she originally came from the middle of nowhere?’

‘What if she had a close relationship with her aunt?’

‘What if she had something in her background that made her never want to go home?’

and ‘What if she was being stalked and that stalking followed her back to Australia when she was brave enough to return?’

The last two were the most important questions, and I set about to answer them the best I could.

When Silver Clouds was finally published, I did an interview with the ABC presenter, and he asked how the idea came about. I asked if he remembered the story and he did.

My answer: ‘Well, that’s the book about the rings, not just the first paragraph.’

Funnily enough, over time, when I’ve told this story, I’ve gone back looking for a news story, but I haven’t been able to find it. There is a great story in 2021 that you can read here, but that’s too late for Silver Clouds, because that was published in 20013.

And on another note, Silver Clouds was supposed to be titled Silver Gums. In fact, I still call the book that title from time to time. When I submitted the book, my publisher at the time, Louise Thurtell, said that wasn’t a good title, because there wasn’t silver in any gum trees. On the Nullarbor there is, and I asked how many photos she wanted to see. None apparently, because that wasn’t the real reason the title wasn’t liked. What the publishers wanted was a title that gave a silver lining, as such. So, Silver Gums became Silver Clouds.

Have you read it?