Visiting the Mid North Coast for a writers’ retreat, Adrienne spoke to students from Wauchope High School and Camden Haven High, at the local school’s library.

Students from various grades listened keenly and asked questions following her talk.

Maddie Magann from Camden Haven High said Adrienne’s words were inspiring.

“I enjoy reading and writing but I’ve not met an author before and what she said was valuable for me. I think it will help me with my writing, both at home and at school,” Maddie said.

Adrienne said she enjoyed speaking with the students, remembering herself as a teen.

“I loved reading and I was amazed to see where people are in their thinking during their writing process,” she said.

“For these students today, there are so many opportunities out there to expose their writing. Online and blogs are a great, cheap way for kids to find their writing community. It’s important for writers to keep at it and get their own voice and experiences down. It can take a long time to create a story.”

Adrienne knows the persistence and patience it takes to create a novel. Her first novel, the recently published Watercolours, was ten years in the making and her journey through to publication was a mystery, at first.

“Because this is my first book, my journey was a huge learning curve and I think I have a lot to share because the publishing journey is a bit of a mystery to most people,” Adrienne said.

Adrienne has written short stories and poetry, Watercolours is her first novel and tells the story of an 11-year-old boy part of the most eccentric family in a northern NSW town. The boy is an obsessive artist with a habit of drawing the stories of the people around him, and a secret conviction that the river murdered his grandfather.

Adrienne is currently working on her next novel, about a young housewife obsessed with a foreign sailor watching her from one of the coal bulkers lined up just outside her cliff-top house - an exploration of youth, ageing and the discomfort of transition.