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KYLIE Orr drew on her experience as a mother of young children for her new book, ‘The Eleventh Floor’.
The Melbourne writer will be in Wangaratta this Thursday, May 2 to speak to locals about the book, which tells the story of first-time mum Gracie Michaels. After booking a night alone at a
luxurious hotel, aiming to recharge amid a routine of sleep-deprived child-rearing, Gracie instead wakes in a room she doesn’t recognise after an encounter with a man who is not her husband. Then she sees something she wishes she hadn’t, and is drawn into a crime. To speak out jeopardises her marriage, but her silence threatens her son, her sanity and her safety.
Described as a ‘darkly compelling and twisty psychological drama’, the book is the second of Kylie’s ‘domestic suspense’ releases through HarperCollins imprint HQ Fiction, following her debut, ‘Someone Else’s Child’.
She will visit Wangaratta Library on May 2 from 6.30pm to speak to local readers about the book and her writing journey, in an event supported by Edgars Books and News.
The mother of four said while ‘The Eleventh Floor’ was not autobiographical, she did recall all the feelings of new motherhood, including the sleep deprivation. “My children did not sleep well
when they were babies; my youngest is now 13, but the experience is still etched in my brain,” Kylie said. “I wanted to talk honestly about those feelings around motherhood – that was one issue, because people often interpret that as you saying you don’t love your children, which is just not right. The idea came from a friend who goes away for a week a year by herself, which seemed very strange to me, but I actually wish I did that – just to have that time of not being responsible for anyone but yourself. Women’s safety was the other issue I had in mind. Writing is the way I try to understand the world, so channelling my feelings into a story was the best way I could fi nd to approach this issue. I have three sons and a daughter, so I am very conscious of wanting to raise good men, and I feel there is no way women can have equity when we don’t feel safe.”
Kylie said the genre of her first two novels was not deliberate. “They were just the stories that came to me,” she said. “But I do read a lot in this genre, I’m drawn to these kinds of stories.”
She is looking forward to hearing local readers’ views on the book.
“It’s interesting how people respond to Gracie; she does make some pretty bad decisions in this book, and while some people are quite empathetic towards her, others are outraged,” Kylie said.
“The topics of my books are dark, but my author events are fun; I like to have a bit of a laugh, and I love meeting readers – aside from actually writing, it’s my favourite thing about my job.”
It will also be a chance to speak about her path to publication, which began after she had her first child and decided to pursue her love of writing, and led years later to her two-book deal.
“I treat it like a full-time job – from social media to writing a newsletter for subscribers, to sometimes staring out the window trying to work out a plot point,” Kylie said.
Wangaratta author Jodi Gibson will be in conversation with Kylie during her visit to the Wangaratta Library on Thursday, May 2 from 6.30pm, and Kylie will also visit Benalla Library on Friday, May 3 from 10.30am.