Tinkerbell’s Tearful Tale

Paula Xiberras

When I spoke to novelist, screenplay writer and criminal investigator Annie Hauxwell this week she told me that in early 2000 she enjoyed a visit to Tasmania doing ‘the touristy’ things such as Port Arthur and previous to that in 96 she found herself in Tassie looking at purchasing a country house in Derby. That didn’t come to fruition and instead Annie eventually settled in a country house in Castlemaine Victoria.

Annie is however visiting Tassie this week as part of the Get Reading events and is very keen to see MONA and a whisky distillery as well as talking about her books, including her most recent ‘A Bitter Taste’. Unfortunately the visit is only for two days and her schedule may not allow any further investigation of what she sees as the darker unexplored Tasmania

Although its raining quite badly in Castlemaine while we chat (although those aren’t Annie’s exact words) she enjoys being an Aussie. Originally from England her two novels are set in her hometown, London and the gritty world of crime. Her protagonist Catherine is very much based in London which is how her readers like it but in her present third novel will visit Moscow as part of the storyline.

Annie never set out to be a crime writer, but as a beginner writer and career crime investigator, she took the often repeated advice to write about something you know and beginning this adventure into writing which she saw as something akin to climbing a mountain staying close to what was familiar seemed the right approach. It was only later that she was informed by her publishers that it takes at least four or five books to garner a readership and so she found herself committed to a series on her strong, but sometimes flawed protagonist, Catherine Berlin.

We first meet Catherine in ‘In her blood’, and Annie has loosely based some of Catherine’s stories on her own real experiences such as a loan shark operation.

Annie continues to work as an investigator because it keeps her grounded, communicating with real people, and in fact she tells me is due to return to her day job soon.

In one point of ‘Bitter taste’, Catherine Berlin, jaded, notes that fairies don’t exist and children should not be told fairy stories. The novel originally written as a screenplay included more extensive imagery that lended itself to be read like a dark fairytale.

These connotations considerably toned down in the novel still see it retain some aspects of the dark fairytale with young girl ‘Princess’ harassed by a real world ‘ogre’
|
It is bleak in Catherine’s world with girls like Princess living the life of the homeless and transient of London finding dwellings in abandoned containers. Annie subconsciously made these living conditions a pertinent part of her story and it was only later on a train trip in London she saw the sad edifices, googling them when she arrived home, confirming the validity of what she had visualised for her story.

It Annie’s attention to details like these in he novels, so scrutinised by her readers that keeps her on her toes.

Recently, her creation of a character called Bella who is Catherine’s neighbour drew an extraordinary response from readers who not having encountered the character before asked where she had been. Annie was busy writing a back story for the character on the very day I called her.

Annie’s books have been optioned by a London company ‘Cowboy productions’.

You can meet Annie in Tassie as part of the get reading campaign.at
Scottsdale, TAS- 19 Sep 2013, 2:00 pm
Launceston, TAS- 19 Sep 2013, 6:00 pm
Kingston, TAS- 20 Sep 2013, 2:00 pm

and ‘in her Blood’ and ‘Bitter Taste’ are out now published by Penguin.