Today I have the great pleasure of interviewing debut author Rae Cairns. We discuss her new thriller The Good Mother, her Ned Kelly Award shortlisting and the experiences that led her there. And, thanks to Harper Collins Australia, one lucky reader in Australia will win a paperback copy.

Disclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission.

Q&A with author Rae Cairns

Thanks so much for having me on the blog!

The Good Mother is the story of Sarah Calhoun, a regular Sydney soccer mum, keeping terrifying secrets from everyone she loves. 

When two men from Northern Ireland hunt her down, she’s forced to return to Belfast to testify at a murder trial – where her past catches up with her. Caught in the crossfire of an obsessive policeman and a brutal IRA executioner, Sarah faces an impossible choice: lie and allow a killer to run free, or tell the truth and place her children in the line of fire.

With her family and innocent people at risk, Sarah must find the courage to fight for the truth. But righting the wrongs of the past just might cost her everything…

During the final years of Northern Ireland’s violent conflict, known as ‘The Troubles’, I worked in Belfast mentoring disadvantaged youth, many children of paramilitaries such as the IRA and UVF. I was in my mid-twenties and dating a charismatic guy who swept me off my feet. Until an acquaintance let a horrifying fact slip. It turned out my boyfriend was a dedicated paramilitary member. I broke things off immediately but I was left with so many questions. What if I hadn’t found out about his allegiance until much later? What if the relationship had never been real, but just a ploy to gain information? What would happen if our paths crossed today?

Years later, when I finally put pen to paper I used these questions, and my experiences in Northern Ireland as a springboard for the story.

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I grew up on ‘the wrong side of the tracks’, raised by a single mum in a housing commission area, but I was fortunate. My Mother made education a priority, even arranging for my sister and I to attend schools out of area because they were better resourced. But locally I saw how a lack of interest and connection could stifle education and limit the opportunities of young people.

I enjoyed performing but I’d worked in the industry since I was eighteen months old. My first gig was as the face of Velvene, on their shampoo bottles and in the print ads. By my mid-twenties that career had run its course. I now wanted to actively contribute to giving underprivileged and disadvantaged children, like my childhood neighbours, a voice. Fortunately, my Degree in Performing Arts was useful for this, as music and drama are brilliant mediums for expression of lived experiences and ideas, and very effective ways to connect across cultures.

I’ve always been a storyteller of some sort – a singer, an actor, a director and even as a mentor of disadvantaged young people – but I really wanted to explore the eighteen-year-old idea for The Good Mother in written form. I enrolled in a creative writing course at The Writers Studio to get the story down then went on to complete a year-long mentorship with Kathryn Heyman, through the Australian Writers’ Mentoring Program, to learn how to write.

When a friend rang to tell me that The Good Mother had been shortlisted for the 2021 Ned Kelly Best Debut Crime Fiction Award I didn’t believe them. I’d entered the book believing it didn’t stand a chance up against traditionally published books, especially when there were so many extraordinary debut titles to choose from. 

Being shortlisted for a Ned Kelly Award changed my life. Two weeks afterwards, I signed with Cameron’s Management, and one week later I was offered a two-book deal with HarperCollins. All of a sudden, I had a team of industry professionals at my back, each one an expert in their department. I felt excited, a little in shock by the influx of emails and offers, and amazed that my life could change so completely almost overnight.

For me, writing and publishing has always been about learning as much as possible from the experts in their area then striving to do the absolute best I could do at every stage of the process, from the writing to editing to cover design to publishing and marketing.

I had to be brave and persistent. Not just on the path to publishing but with the work itself. I can’t tell you how many drafts I did of The Good Mother but the final two were with my editors at HarperCollins. The version out on the shelves now contains 10,000 new words and additional scenes. 

The Hush by Sara Foster was my standout read of 2021. I told all my friends to read it, even insisted it be our book club’s first read of the year! It’s a multigenerational female-led thriller set in the near future about a dynamic group of women fighting to overcome a terrifying conspiracy that goes right to the heart of the British Government. The way Sara Foster weaves the intricate stories had me in awe, and yet for all the nuances, nothing was lost in pace. As Dervla McTiernan said it ‘is the book I wish I had written’.

I’m excited to say I’m about to hand in the completed draft of my second novel to HarperCollins. All I can tell you for now is the story opens with a budding journalist receiving a call from her terrified sister who has awoken, trapped, in the boot of a moving car.

Thanks so much for joining us today Rae. 

Thanks again for having me.

Get your copy of The Good Mother from: 

If you’d like to find out more about Rae Cairns and her writing, visit her webpage or connect with her on Facebook.

Paperback Giveaway of The Good Mother

Here is a chance for one lucky reader to win a paperback copy of The Good Mother. Entry restricted to Australian mailing addresses only, close midnight 20 April 2022.

You can improve your chance of winning by:

• retweeting this Tweet (+2 entries)
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Do not forget to scroll down to the bottom of this entry form and press the SUBMIT button!

This article The Good Mother: Author Rae Cairns Interview + #Giveaway was originally published on Booklover Book Reviews.