Writing Podcast Episode 708: Former ambassador Ian Kemish and his novel, 'Two Islands'

The 1990s are often looked back at fondly as a largely peaceful time. But for former Australian ambassador to Germany Ian Kemish, the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland featured largely in his job at the time. Now retired, he has chosen to set his debut thriller novel, Two Islands, during this timeframe. In this episode he shares his inspiration for the book, the real life characters and how to capture the nuances of the story and the decade. What do you do after you retire from a celebrated 25-year diplomatic career? Play golf? Take up birdwatching? No, you write your first novel. 00:00 Welcome07:26 Writing tip: Ask “why?” to being blocked10:31 WIN!: Aubrey Wants to Die by Pip Knight12:15 Word of the week: ‘Absquatulate’16:16 Writer in residence: Ian Kemish17:14 Ian describes what Two Islands is about19:34 What are the two islands in question?22:04 Remembering Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland23:30 Inspiration for the novel25:53 Why the Balkans?27:35 The inspiration for the Australian character, Anita30:01 Writing about the 1990s: distance before the internet31:22 How the story took shape34:07 Researching the book38:15 From bad poetry to diplomacy: finding his writing voice40:52 The challenges of writing fiction for the first time45:28 Landing the publishing deal47:54 What’s next?49:09 Ian’s tip for writers50:32 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.