An early love of books has led to a passion for storytelling for DJ Blackmore.
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“Writing is not about you – if you have a story, you’ve got to share it otherwise you may as well have not written it,” the Kurri Kurri-born and bred writer says.
After the success of her debut novel, Charter to Redemption in 2014, Blackmore is set to release the sequel next week.
Folly will continue the story of Emma Colchester and Tobias Freeman as they continue to build their lives in colonial Newcastle in 1822.
Emma arrived in Australia with the promise of marriage to a man she had not met and Tobias came to Australia as a convict desperate for redemption and hope.
Blackmore knew before she had even finished writing Charter to Redemption that there would likely be a sequel, as she felt that her characters’ stories weren’t finished just yet.
Since the release of her debut novel, Blackmore has been interviewed by ABC Capricornia and was a finalist in the Contemporary Romance Writers Opening Hook competition.
While growing up in Kurri Kurri, she visited a few local colonial places with her family such as Grossmann House in Maitland, Old Sydney Town and Morpeth.
Blackmore said these visits “spoke to her” and she knew that she wanted to bring the past back to life.
Realising at the age of 14 that she wanted to be a writer, Blackmore’s father told her that to be an author you had to be either “really lucky or really good”.
It was Blackmore’s parents that instilled in her a love of books – her father used to bring her home a book at the end of every work week, while her mother used to read to her when she was younger.
Around town, Cessnock locals are likely to see Blackmore on the sidelines of a dirt track meeting, as her husband is Australian champion rider Paul Caslick.
In 2018 Blackmore is set to release her first contemporary novel titled Central to Nowhere, which will be set in central Queensland.
Folly will be released on October 2. The first lucky reader who sends the author an email through her website djblackmore.com.au could win a signed copy.
