‘Rip out the sex chapter!’: Steph Vizard on her career switch from lawyer to rom-com writer

“Don’t wait for permission.” Her dad is an Aussie showbiz veteran – but Steph Vizard was terrified of following her own passion, until a life-changing moment made her reassess.

I had a very lucky childhood. But one of the greatest gifts that I was given as a kid is something I’ve only just become aware of. My dad (Steve Vizard) passed on his life philosophy – obsessively follow your interests and passions and never wait for anyone to give you permission to create something.

I grew up thinking that pursuing a creative life was normal. When I was a kid, my dad was the host of a late-night TV show on Channel 7 and ran a production company that made shows like Sea Change. One of my earliest memories is of wagging school to run around the Arts Centre while the full Melbourne Symphony Orchestra rehearsed The Carnival of Animals, which Dad was narrating.

Running in the family … Steph Vizard with her dad, showbiz veteran Steve Vizard, plus son Teddy and their dog Pozy. Picture: David Caird

In our family imagination was everything. As a kid I was obsessed with Peter Rabbit and so Dad suggested I give him a call. He told me that if I dialled our home phone number (that should have been the red flag, I was a very gullible child) Peter Rabbit would answer. And it worked! I never, for a minute, suspected that on the end of the line was my dad, a man with a talent for accents and voices.

And Dad cultivated our creative interests. When I fell in love with musicals Dad took me to every show that came through Melbourne. Most were a triumph, though we still giggle about the time he took me to Hair. I was ten and was pulled onto the stage for the finale, Let the Sun Shine In, with the entire naked cast. I was a voracious reader and every Saturday the two of us went to Borders (yes, this dates me) and spent hours browsing. When I wanted to have a go at painting Dad took us to Bunnings, bought us sample pots and let us loose on the garage walls.

Carrot and trick approach … Steve Vizard used fatherly pranks to cultivate his kids’ interest in creativity, long before Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit hopped out of book pages and onto the big screen.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my four siblings all followed creative jobs and hobbies. My sister Mad is a voiceover artist with a side hustle in floral sculptures that have been featured in Vogue. My brother Tom writes and makes short movies. My brother Jim taught himself how to cook banquets that use ingredients I’ve never heard of. And my sister Liv teaches media in the Northern Territory.

And I was the only non-creative in the family. Which was fine. Except the thing was, I had a creative dream. On the mornings with Dad in Borders I’d fallen head over heels in love with romantic comedies, books with glitter on the covers that were about the endlessly fascinating lives of women. At the back of my mind I wondered if one day, maybe, I could write one of these books and entertain other people the way that these books had entertained me.

But I was afraid. I was scared of the vulnerability I needed to write a compelling story. I was scared of people I knew reading a sex scene (and if you know me in real life please rip out Chapter 25 of The Love Contract). I was scared of failing.

Sex scene warning!!!!! … Steph Vizard with a copy of her new romantic comedy The Love Contract (friends and family, turn away now). Picture: David Caird

But then I had a daughter. And when she was four months old I had an idea for an enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy. And I also had something to say. I was inspired by all the brilliant women in my life to write about the challenges of trying to be all the things. I suddenly deeply understood that to be a mum takes a village. And so I began to write, and by the end of my maternity leave I’d written a draft of The Love Contract.

Because looking at my baby girl I realised that I was more afraid of not showing her how to at least have a go at following her dreams. I wanted to give her what my dad had given me – the belief that if you have a crack and work really hard then sometimes your dreams can come true.

I found out that I’d won the Banjo Prize and that The Love Contract would be published the same week I found out that I was pregnant with my second child. The day I bought my new son home from the hospital was the same day I received the first printed copy of my book. I put them together in the bassinet and took a photo. And then I sent it to my dad.

A single mum, her neighbour and a whole lot of fun … The Love Contract, by Steph Vizard, has been described by one critic as ‘adorable and realistic’ and ‘a delightful, heartwarming read that left me with all the feels’.

The Love Contract by Steph Vizard is out now, published by HarperCollins.

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And check out our Book Of Month: The Visitors, by Jane Harrison. You can get it for 30 per cent off the RRP with the code VISITORS at Booktopia. T & Cs: Ends 30-Sep-2023. Only on ISBN 9781460761984. Not with any other offer.

Originally published as ‘Rip out the sex chapter!’: Steph Vizard on her career switch from lawyer to rom-com writer