Today I am featuring an interview with Goldie Alexander, an Australian writer.
What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?
My main character is Ruth. She is fictional.
When and where is the story set?
This young adult story is set in Melbourne Australia in 1954, during the Cold War. It’s both a spy story and a romance.
What should we know about her?
In 1954, Melbourne is still reeling from WWII, the Cold War sees suspicions running high and the threat of communism and spies are imagined in every shadow. Jewish schoolgirl, Ruth, is trying to navigate her own path, despite her strict upbringing and the past that haunts her family. A path that she wishes could include her first love, Patrick, but the rich, Catholic boy is strictly off-limits.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?
Not being given the freedom to pursue her own romance.
What is the personal goal of the character? She wants her family to be safe, but she also wants Patrick, a Catholic, and therefore strictly forbidden. She also wants to study medicine but her mother thinks this is pursuing too high an ambition.
Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it? The established title of this Young Adult novel is “THAT STRANGER NEXT DOOR”. The publisher is www.clandestinepress.com.au
Here is a little more about it:
“When a mysterious woman moves in next door in the dead of night, Ruth becomes convinced that she is none other than Eva or Evdokia Petrov, a Soviet spy and wife of famous Russian defector, Vladimir Petrov. Could the woman who Ruth starts an unlikely friendship with really be the most sought after woman in Australia? Will Ruth’s own clandestine meetings be discovered? How does the Petrov Affair, as it became known, impact the life of one ordinary girl and her family?”
When can we expect the book to be published?
This novel is to be launched at the beginning of June at a Writer’s Festival in Melbourne Australia.
Here’s how to contact Goldie and a list of her publications:
GOLDIE ALEXANDER
Out Now::
Neptunia ( middle school fantasy) http://www.fivesenseseducation.com.au
Penelope’s Romance: (adult fiction) http://www.boroughspublishing group.com
Coming Soon:
That Stranger next Door:(Historical Fiction): Clandestine Press
Cybertrix 2043 (middle school science fiction) http://www.fivesenseseducation.com.au
In Hades(YA verse novel) Celapene Press
golowd 