Tea Drinkers Galore

Long-term residents of Melbourne, like myself, are very familiar with that city’s world-famous coffee culture. But, despite their traditional coffee pot shape, the silver pots in front of my daughter and I contained tea and extra boiling water.  (This was a special birthday celebration - hence my glass of champagne.)

High tea for two, in Melbourne

I was raised in a family of tea-drinkers, where the pot was warmed before adding the tea leaves and the water was added to the warmed pot straight off the boil. We used a tea strainer and a teapot cosy. We emptied the teapot of its cold contents by tipping the dregs onto acid-tolerant plants in our garden.

As an adult I never make coffee at home, only tea, but as I live alone I’ve succumbed to the convenience of tea bags.

The characters in my stories tend to be tea-drinkers too. Take these examples from ‘Retreat into Paradise’. In Chapter 3, city-slicker Hannah wakes up to her first morning in the country:

Needing a mild injection of caffeine, she made a cup of tea. Her friends back in Melbourne, all coffee-drinkers, often laughed at her old-fashioned ways. The melodious warbling of the magpies enticed her outside, to listen to their glorious welcome to the new day. She sat at the corner of her balcony, cradling her cup, still in her nightshirt and flip-flops, still a bit forlorn despite the magical sound of the birds. Beyond the pool and the valley below, little wisps of mist defined the course of the river in the distance.

It was all so different. Should I unpack, or should I get out of here? What was I thinking? She recalled last night. Instead of feeding a friendly cat, I’m suddenly dealing with a spitting cat … Pat. She scanned her surrounds. How will I cope with country life? Snakes in the house. Spiders in that pool. Those big cows of Pat’s mooing over there. From her corner position she could see them, and she glared in their direction as she took a sip of her tea, as if glaring would make them vanish from her sight.

The hot liquid sliding down her throat and the early morning light bathing the serene landscape gradually soothed her. She remembered why she’d come to Wallumatta Farm. She’d managed to deal with Alex, to dispatch him from her life. She could deal with Pat. Good old Pat. Of course she could. Philip? Perhaps not. He was far more attractive than any man should be.

View from Hannah's Balcony

In Chapter 4, Hannah’s new neighbour Pat calls in unexpectedly:

‘Hello, Hannah. Since it’s too hot to be out in the paddocks at this time of day, I thought I’d take you up on that coffee offer.’ She surveyed Hannah’s sweaty face, dirty damp clothes and dusty boots at the same time as she sniffed the air. Her eyes swivelled towards the freshly turned earth and pointed to the new garden. ‘Been busy, I see. Philip will be impressed.’

‘Just beautifying that particular patch for my own pleasure and enjoyment.’ Hannah had no wish to enter a game of competition over Philip. ‘I’ll put the kettle on. Coffee, or would you prefer tea?’

‘Tea, thanks.’

‘Tea bag okay?’ Pat nodded. ‘Wait here on the verandah, in the shade. I won’t be long.’

A few minutes later Hannah returned bearing the tray with two bone china mugs of tea, milk in a jug, sugar in a bowl, a box of tissues for wiping sticky fingers and a small plate of sweet temptations. Indulging her own sweet tooth, she’d purchased a few assorted slices at the bakery while in town. Cut into quarters, they made tempting bite-sized offerings. Her mother had taught her something about style as a hostess, even if her cooking skills were a bit rusty.

Pat stared at the tray resting on the table. ‘You like to play ladies, I see.’

Hannah decided to let that sharp comment go through to the keeper. They took their cups and settled into an awkward silence.

To read more of this amusing story, get your copy of 'Retreat into Paradise' here.

For updates on her books, follow Louisa Valentine on Facebook.

Retreat into Paradise - Fact or Fiction?

Yea is a delightful country town set in beautiful countryside around 110km north east of Melbourne. In the late 1980s my then-husband was keen to ‘go farming’ in the district and we bought a 147 acre paddock. It contained an old boundary fence, a small dam, and a few well-established trees.

We agreed on a ‘deal’ at the start of our adventure. ‘Okay’, said this inner-urban author, ‘I’ll help you realise your farm dream, but I’ll stick to the garden. The animals are all yours.’ Famous last words. Pretty soon I was roped into chasing cows and driving the ute across steep grassy slopes.

We progressively built a shed in which we parked a caravan as temporary weekend accommodation, then a second shed for hay storage, and eventually we built a large house.

Farm at Yea

As city slickers (we both had senior full-time roles in the finance sector) we had to learn the ropes as farmers, and our patient teacher-turned-friend throughout the next 15 years was our next-door neighbour, Pat Drysdale. We were in our forties and she was considerably older. Pat and I enjoyed many laughs, often at the macho ways of men around cattle, and some years into our friendship I promised her that one day I’d write a book about her.

The real Pat Drysdale

But first I needed to expand my writing skillset beyond the non-fiction style required by the business world. As a compulsive reader I'd always been keen on the escapism of mysteries and historical romances, but as a writer I’d been imprisoned for years by the concept of the literal truth. To free myself up, I joined several romance writing groups known to provide excellent training in their craft and obtained valuable feedback by entering several competitions. In the end, for this first attempt at a novel, I compromised between fact and fiction.  

Unfortunately, by the time I had much of an inkling about 'how to write a novel', Pat Drysdale had left this world. Sadly, I’d left my run too late for us to giggle together about her proposed starring role - but it was not too late to write an actual story.

‘Retreat into Paradise’ is dedicated to Pat. But how could I create a character where she was the teacher but the story carried narrative tension? How could I shape the rather mundane if amusing events in our daily lives to create a story of possible interest to others?

I came up with the concept of a love triangle, where the characters were in their twenties and thirties. Their interactions drove the story. Settings for romances usually need to be over-the-top, so I used exaggeration and embellishment to describe the cast of characters and the physical attributes of our farm.

After the pressure of exercising my powers of imagination, it was comparatively easy to build a genuine adventure into the story - the discovery of a new world. For a start, all of the scenes with the cattle really happened. How could you not fall in love with these beautiful animals? 

Angus Cattle

What's more, we did have a tiger snake intruder under the fridge in our shed. We did run over a wombat at night on the Maroondah Highway near Yarck and wait for hours for a tow truck. I did side-swipe a kangaroo on the Melba Highway. Our tree plantings did attract koalas to our property. We did have a resident bird of prey. We did climb Mt Buller and frequent the Merrijig pub. We did walk across the cracked-dry landscape of Lake Eildon when we should have been drowning under 20 metres of water. An amazing thunderstorm did break our prolonged drought. The Black Saturday bushfire did occur (not while I lived at Yea), as did a fatal head-on collision on the bridge at Murrindindi. Later I witnessed the Westpac rescue chopper in action when it landed at a road accident scene near another home of mine. The challenge was to make these experiences relevant and meaningful within a coherent, flowing story.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter, from https://rescuehelicopter.com.au/

The idea for Philip’s internal conflict originated in the convict heritage of many Australians. My earliest forebears arrived as convicts on the First Fleet in 1788 and in the 1790s, and I was proud of their subsequent achievements. My ex-husband’s convict forebears arrived from Ireland in 1815, convicted of making base money (counterfeiting) and, although they too made good in their new homeland, he was very sensitive about this ‘stain’ on the family name. It was not something to brag about at corporate dinner parties!

Needing to dream up the names for my characters (other than Pat’s name), I went for names consistent with those in a real family. My own. Easy to do when you are a family historian, able to draw on an abundance of interesting names in earlier generations, such as my great grandfather who happened to be a bank manager named Philip Boulton.

Philip Boulton, 1852-1895

Because I was trying to disguise the farm's specific location, to make my story more generic as a rural romance yet make it sound more Australian, I named the farm after Wallumatta Road where my parents once lived at Newport in Sydney.

All that effort finally came together as my first novel, and here’s some of the reader feedback:

• An excellent story, with twists and turns that keep you guessing. I started it Christmas night and finished it Boxing Day, so easy was it to read, loved it.
• Romantic fiction is not normally what I read but I was already familiar with Louisa Valentine’s writing as Louise Wilson, author of some very acclaimed family histories, so I gave it a go and it was well worth it. It is a jolly good story.
• An enjoyable read with great descriptions of country life in rural Victoria.
• I enjoyed the characters in the book and all of the twists in the story.
• It was a great holiday read.
• I enjoyed this romance for many reasons including its wit and humour. It has the requisite amount of sexual tension as well as some very interesting aspects of life on a cattle property.
• I thought for a while - when it got to the slightly racy bits - that it was shaping up to be Fifty Shades of Yea !
• I found it very hard to put down. It is beautifully written and the story very believable.
• I am half way through your book and loving it! As a 50-year-old Yea local, I particularly enjoy the local references- Hamilton Island, Horace the fencer, the Rotary Club Art Show, a young Pat Drysdale, the local hospital with the helipad opposite and the Yea PS Skipping Team! I have recommended it to everyone!
• Termed fiction but containing so much fact! I had an idea you may kill off the hero with a twist somewhere, but he survived to ride into the sunset! Loved it all and am now about to find your next one.
• An American reader, unaware of the concept of 'outback Australia', gave the book five stars for 'clean relationship-building, working out differences, overview of cattle operations in the outback'.

Grab your paperback or digital copy of 'Retreat into Paradise' at your favourite online retailer using this link.

Then, why not try my second novel, 'Trading Secrets'? Set in Sydney's financial markets and an infertility clinic, it can be ordered here.

Or my latest novel 'Still Waters Run Deep', all about two young couples struggling with lives not going according to plan, available here.

I continue to grapple with the question - am I writing ‘romances’ or ‘women’s fiction’? With three novels completed, I’m still not sure. They are not 'girly love stories', to quote a male cousin. It’s the quality of the developing relationships between kind and loving people that interests me, and is what I focus on as a writer. But, as the heroes and heroines in my novels have a happy ending, technically my stories fit the 'romance' genre. 

If you're a Babyboomer like me (born in the years 1946-1964) or a Gen Xer (1965-1980), my daughter’s age group, you are bound to connect with the worlds portrayed in my books, but I'd be very happy to hear from younger readers who also enjoy my stories. Connect with me by following my Louisa Valentine Facebook page. Or check out my website, which I share with my alter ego Louise Wilson.

 

The Love Triangle - Philip, Hannah and Pat

An amusing love triangle drives the story in the Australian rural romance 'Retreat into Paradise'.

In Chapter 1, as Philip explains the duties he expects of Hannah in her new role as the caretaker of Wallumatta Farm, she hears about Pat:

‘You don’t need to know much. My neighbour knows what to do. Just call her.’

‘Her? Do you mean the same neighbour that feeds the cat?’ Hannah could barely suppress her surprise. A woman who knew all about running a farm? It astonished her that this hunk of masculinity relied on a woman for such a non-traditional role.

‘Yes. Pat. She grew up on the farm next door. In fact, my property used to be part of hers. Or rather, her father’s, before he died.’

‘Oh, I see.’

Hannah didn’t really see, but she guessed she might eventually cotton on to Pat’s role in the scheme of things. Judging by her name, popular in Hannah’s mother’s day and earlier, Pat was bound to be one of those grizzly old-timers populating the Australian countryside.

A week later, in Chapter 2, at the end of a long, hot and confronting day, Hannah meets Pat at the local pub:

‘What’s easy to deal with?’ A woman’s voice intruded.

Hannah looked up to see a walking advertisement for a top fashion house. A pair of frosty eyes glared down at her. They warmed when they turned to her dinner companion. ‘Didn’t expect to see you here tonight, Philip.’

‘G’day, Pat.’

Hannah nearly choked on her wine. This was Pat? Young. Gorgeous. And making eyes at her handsome neighbour.

Pat said, ‘I thought you were heading off overseas. I was just beginning to wonder what to do about the cat.’ She stood so close, she loomed over him.

He rubbed his neck, twisted at an angle to see her, and pushed back in his chair. ‘You know I wouldn’t have gone without contacting you. And in any case, my trip’s been deferred for a week or two.’ His face creased into a smile. ‘I’ve actually got some good news for you. No need for you to feed the cat now. Meet my new caretaker, Hannah Stockton.’ He turned towards Hannah. ‘Hannah, this is Pat Drysdale.’

Pat nodded curtly at Hannah. ‘Saw an old car pull into Philip’s place a while back. Is that yours?’

‘‘Fraid so.’

Philip interjected. ‘Pat, you never miss a trick, do you?’ He turned to Hannah. ‘See, told you that Pat’s a good neighbour. Old habits die hard. She’s always kept a good eye on my place for me.’

‘And I’ll continue to do so. After all, I live here.’ Her tone implied that she didn’t expect to see Hannah lasting the distance as a resident caretaker.

Hannah’s dominant intuition kicked in. Pat had clearly set her sights on Philip and wasn’t going to help her, an interloper and city girl, with the cattle. In her effort to escape Alex, now she had four new things to fear … snakes, swimming spiders, the cattle and Pat’s animosity. Philip should have known this Pat arrangement would never work.

To find out what happens next, grab your copy of 'Retreat into Paradise' here.

Follow Louisa Valentine on Facebook or visit the website she shares with her alter ego, Louise Wilson.