Which town is that?

I’m very excited- it’s getting closer to the release of Morgan’s Law and I can’t wait to see this beautiful cover out in the shops!

I’ve been asked about the locations in North Star and Morgan’s Law so I thought I’d tell you a little bit more about them.

I grow attached to my little towns, Widgerry in North Star and Negallan in Morgan’s Law.

 You won’t find these two places on the map, but both are very much made up of bits and pieces of real places. As a reader, I know I picture places in my head based on the descriptions I read of people and places—but I thought I’d give you an idea of the places I was thinking of while I wrote and created my little towns. Please feel free to keep your own visions; after all, reading is all about the way we imagine!  

Widgerry is set somewhere around Goondiwindi, in QLD. The real North Star (yes, it is a town!) was the inspiration for the property used in the book and holds a very special place in my heart. It’s too small for Widgerry, but some of its characteristics are mixed up in there for sure.

The race day in Widgerry is reminiscent of so many country towns big race days—just about every town has one at least once a year and having been to a few, the Sedan Dip in Julia Creek is one example, I really wanted to include this exciting event in a book. They’re such a huge social event and a chance to let your hair down.

In Morgan’s Law, the majority of the story takes place in the local pub, The Royal. Pretty much every town in Australia has a Royal, but this one is a combination of two pubs that are in my area. The Star hotel in Macksville and the Bowra Hotel in Bowraville. These pubs are both gorgeous old buildings with so much history that every time I go inside I almost feel like I’ve stepped back in time—perfect for the backdrop of my book!

The streets are also important and always feature in my books. The main street of any country town is always where the character of a place comes out. In my neck of the woods, we’re still lucky enough to have a lot of the original architecture still standing and its very easy to imagine what life was like a hundred or more years ago. The main street of Widgerry was a bit of a mix of a few places—some it was based on Bowraville, the small place just outside of where I live now, where my grand parents had their farm and where I spent the majority of my childhood.

The main street for Negallan, on the other hand was based on a small place we stopped in to have morning tea on a trip back from Emerald one day. I’m fairly sure this little town was called Springsure in central QLD, but I didn’t realise that was the place that would come to mind once I wrote the story so I didn’t pay much attention to it! I must go back though and double check one day! Many of the features of this little town are in various scenes throughout Morgan’s Law.

Well I hope that gives you a little bit of insight into the places behind the towns and I hope you fall in love with Negallan in Morgan’s Law, as much as I did!