Holly Ringland: Best selling writer’s plan B pays off big

Best-selling Aussie author Holly Ringland didn’t plan to be where she is at right now but she’s grateful for the topsy-turvy way things have turned out.

Best-selling author Holly Ringland. Picture: Daniel Boud

When the uncertainty of Covid first hit three years ago, Australian best-selling author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Holly Ringland, packed up her UK life and relocated back to her family home in South East Queensland.

A few years on, and with another bestseller under her belt with The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, Ringland is happy to be home.

“My partner Sam (Harris) and I have lived here for three years with my folks, our five Australian shepherd dogs, 12 ducks and wildlife,” she said.

‘Deep gratitude.’ – Holly Ringland. Picture: Daniel Boud

“When Sam and I flew home from Manchester for Christmas three years ago, we came with a couple of suitcases and a return ticket. Then 2020 happened. We’re still here with our suitcases and deep gratitude that we’ve been ‘stuck’ with family through the last few years.”

Once Ringland realised they wouldn’t be heading back to the UK any time soon, she bought ‘Frenchie’, a 1968 Olympic Riviera caravan.

“Sam helped me to convert the dining table into a writing desk and the dining seats into shelves for books, stationery and a printer,” she said.

“To make the space my own, I filled my writing desk with plants and objects of inspiration to bring my second novel to life. As the world was shutting down and anxiety and fear were rife, Frenchie kept me going.”

HOLLY RINGLAND’S FAVOURITE THINGS AT HOME

Who: Author Holly Ringland

Where: I live on three acres in the Scenic Rim on Yugambeh land, South East Queensland. Inspiration: Warm, colourful, lush, tactile, inviting.

Home is: I wonder what my answer would be to this pre-pandemic. Now, after lockdowns and an unplanned three years of living with my folks, home means to me the place where I’m with my family and animals, and we are safe and able to look after each other.

Painting (artist unknown)

Lifelong sea view.

I don’t know who painted this print, but it’s been on every wall of every house Mum’s lived in since I was born, so I’ve been looking at it through my life. I love it unreservedly.

Drawing

A real treasure.

A collaborative self portrait drawn by nieces, nephews and adults, filled with personal jokes and references, drawn on the back of some packaging scrap cardboard. I treasure it.

Grade three dictionary

Strange and wonderful words.

It has Mum’s handwriting in the opening pages with my name, address and phone number at the time. The wear and tear reminds me how much I used to love reading it as a kid, fascinated by the strangeness and wonder of words.

Maternal great-grandmother’s clock

Knocked about but still clocking on,

It’s a bit knocked about, but well-loved and still in good working condition. There’s something powerful and perspective-giving about hearing it toll, knowing it’s done so in the homes of the women I descend from.

Kanalaritja

To own a strand is an honour.

Kanalaritja is the ancient, cultural practice of preparing and stringing shells, a practice unbroken through time and colonisation. To own a strand is an honour. This kanalaritja, of green marina shells, was made by Annette Day.

My dogs

Love dogs.

The love of a dog is unlike any other. L-R: Angus, Finn, Tilly ‘Teapot’, Frankie and Poppy. I do not have a favourite. Teapot sat unfailingly at my feet or within reach most days for the two years I spent writing Esther Wilding.

Nintendo Switch

Most days are spent with Mario, Luigi and the rest of the gang.

During lockdown Sam and I bought a Nintendo Switch with MarioKart, telling ourselves it would be good to play online with nieces and nephews. This has never happened. Do we play it most days? Yes.

Frenchie

Where the magic happens.

Frenchie, my 1968 Olympic Riviera caravan, set up on my folks’ property, is my Plan B writing office.

Where dreams are made.

Tending to her outside and inside brings me stress relief, and creates the writing office of my dreams.