Kayte Nunn – Desire Revenge & Courage

Kayte Nunn is an international bestselling author of historical fiction whose latest book, The Last Reunion, tells the story of five women buddies who served in the Australian Auxiliary Service in the Second World War in Burma. They meet up at a New Year’s Eve party after decades apart, and a thrilling tale of desire, revenge and courage unfolds. This unit was a ‘forgotten’ women’s unit, attached to the Fourteenth Army, and serving closer to the front than any other women’s unit in the Second World War. To mark Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, and to honor all women who served in World War II, we've got three E-Book copies of The Last Reunion to Giveaway to three lucky readers. (Enter below.) Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in Binge Reading today Kayte talks about inspiration and perspiration in the creative process – where each one fits – how fellow writers have encouraged her along the way, and how writing has a lot in common with running a marathon. Yes, if you don’t like the idea of running a marathon, maybe writing isn’t for you. If you'd like to win a copy of The Last Reunion enter the draw on the link below. Offer closes April 30. ENTER ANZAC DAY DRAW (Anzac Day - celebrated in Australia and New Zealand on April 25 - honors servicemen and women who served in wartime in the same way Memorial Day and Armistice Day do in other places.) Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: How Kayte moved from magazines to fictionWhy she prefers historicals to romanceHappy endings are importantWhy writing is similar to running a marathonThe success of Aussie writers internationallyHow Jilly Cooper saved her as a teen Where to find Kayte Nunn:  Website: http://kaytenunn.com/books/ Facebook: @kaytenunnauthor Twitter: @KayteNunn Instagram: @kaytenunn2 What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. But now, here’s Kayte. Jenny Wheeler: Hello there Kayte and welcome to the show. It's so good to have you with us. Kayte Nunn: Thank you very much. It's lovely to be here. Introducing author Kayte Nunn Kayte Nunn - historical fiction author Jenny Wheeler: You have got a good back list that we will get into a little later, but the story we're particularly focusing on today is the latest one you've published, The Last Reunion. It's a dual timeline story split roughly between the present day and 1940s Burma, and it highlights the bravery of a little-known war-time women's unit in the Second World War. First of all, how did you come across this remarkable little slice of unknown history? Kayte Nunn: Actually, it's rather prosaic. On Google. I had never heard of them either until I started thinking about where I would set this novel. I knew I wanted to write about a friendship between a much younger woman and an older woman, and a friendship that doesn't start off terribly well. I also wanted to write about netsuke, which are these little Japanese toggles men used to wear on the sash of their kimono to hang little pouches from where they might keep their tobacco or their writing implements. The magic of Japanese netsuke They are now highly collectible, and years ago I was working in London as a temp in an art agency, art gallery. I was working in the Far Eastern Asian department and came across them. Magic netsuke have become valuable collectibles I was absolutely fascinated, so when I started to think about what I might write for my next book I knew I had that in the back of my head, and it was something I always wanted to write about somehow and include in a novel. Then I started thinking about where, and how I could incorporate that. For a while I thought maybe I should set it in Japan in the 17th century, and then I thought, what about in a time of war? The Second World War has been covered quite a lot in terms of the war ...