ShortBookandScribes #BlogTour #GuestPost by Jodi Gibson, Author of The Memories We Hide @JFGibsonWriter #LoveBooksTours
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Memories We Hide by Jodi Gibson. I have a fabulous guest post about setting by the author to share with you today. My thanks to Kelly Lacey from Love Books Tours for the place on the tour.
Can you trust your memories?
Laura Murphy thought she could, but that was before she returned home.When 27-year-old Laura returns to her home town ten years after the tragic death of her then-boyfriend, Ryan Taylor, she isn’t prepared for the nostalgia and memories that resurface. After discovering a newspaper clipping alluding to the fact that there may have been more to Ryan’s death than first thought, Laura is compelled find out what happened that fateful night.
Reconnecting with childhood friend Tom Gordon, she begins to unravel the blurred lines of truth and memory. But Tom holds a secret of his own. Not only is he facing losing his family farm, but what he knows could destroy any chance of a future with Laura.
Will Laura have the strength to confront her memories? Or will Tom’s secret be the key to unlocking the truth?Dealing with the complexities of friendships, love, depression and the consequences of secrets and split-second decisions, The Memories We Hide is a compelling story exploring how memories can’t always be trusted but how they can set you free.
The setting for The Memories We Hide –
Country Australia, but not as you might imagine! by Jodi Gibson
When I came up with the idea for The Memories We Hide, the setting was one of the first things that came to mind.
They say write what you know and living in such a community I loosely based the location on the area I live in Victoria Australia.
I knew that I wanted it set in a small town in country Australia, where the main character, Laura, grew up. It had to be a close-knit community with a small township in a rural cattle farming area.
Many from outside Australia picture rural Australia as the outback. Images of red desserts, blue skies and kangaroos possibly spring to mind, but Australia quite diverse in its landscape. Yes, much of the country, particularly the centre is just like that, but in many regional and rural areas it is a kaleidoscope of landscapes.
From the rustic bush with its silvery gum trees, through to mountainous regions, and then the treelined river flats and rolling hills and valleys. We are very lucky to have such rich landscapes ripe for stories of all genres.
Banyula is the fictional township in which The Memories we Hide is based. Banyula is an aboriginal word meaning ‘many trees’ and was perfect to describe the river flats and lush paddocks that I envisaged as the setting for Tom’s Angus Farm.
There’s certainly something to rural Australia that makes it perfect for storytelling. The vast countryside, the diverse weather patterns from drought to flood, and of course the people.
Life in regional Australia is simpler, and communities tighter. But that doesn’t make them immune to the social issues and problems that are faced by those in the cities.
In some ways the country areas are more prone to the stresses of life. Depression, anxiety, and stress are felt by the whole community and often has a flow on effect.
For those who may not have read something set in the Australian countryside other than the traditional rural outback setting, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the beauty of Banyula and most of all, the characters.
Thank you so much, Jodi. It sounds like a very special and lovely setting.
Jodi Gibson is an Australian women’s fiction author of both contemporary dramas, and light-hearted romantic comedy. She lives on a mini-farm with her husband, daughters, two golden retrievers, one horse, eight chickens and a cat who rules over them all.
Jodi has been making up stories in one way or another since she was young. However, it wasn’t until recent years and after wearing many career hats, that the desire to get the stories out of her head and onto the page, won her over. In 2019, she realised her dream releasing her debut contemporary drama novel, The Memories We Hide.
When she’s not writing, you’ll find Jodi with her nose in a book, or in the kitchen baking and dreaming of her next travelling adventure.
