“IfindthatanythingelsethatI
doisjustprocrastinating.Soit’s
betterif I getwritingandthenit
figuresitselfoutasI’mgoingalong.
“AndthenI edit.I gobackandfix
things,addinthecluesandmake
thecharactersmakemoresense.
I spenda lotoftimerewriting.”
Shehadnoideahowlonga book
shouldbebutgotto100,000words
andthoughtthatfeltaboutright.
Holdingallthethreads
Thesizeandcomplexityofa book
meanstheentirestorywon’tfitin
yourheadatanyonetime.
Itgetstoa tippingpointat
around50,000words.It’shard
tostandbackanddecide:“Isthis
working?”
Self-doubt,thenemesisofevery
writer,kicksin.
“It’sa weirdprocessbecause
the art youare creating isso
unwieldyandbig,”saysBailey.
Shethoughtherthirdbookwas
strong.“AndthenI hadreally
quitebrutaleditorialfeedback,
whichI foundhardtoaddress.
Andit wasn’tbecauseI wasdisa-
greeingwiththemnecessarily,it
wasmorebecauseI waslike,‘Oh,
god,I justdon’tknowhowI’m
goingtodothis’.”
Baileyhaslikedthecrimegenre
sinceshewasa kid.Shenames
MichaelRobothamand,whenshe
wasyoung,PatriciaCornwell,who
kickedofftheforensicinvestiga-
tivecrimegenre.
“IreadTheGodfather[Mario
Puzo]whenI wasnineyearsold
andjustlovedthatwholeanalysis
ofgoodandbad,”shesays.“Ifind
thepsychologyofcrimereally
interesting.
“I think crime’s got higher
stakes.It challengesallof thehuman
emotions.WhenI’mreadinga crime
book,I knowif I likeit ornot.”
ButBaileybelievesherability
tobeobjectiveaboutherown
workis low.Shegetstoa pointin
thewritingprocesswhereshehas
noideaifwhatshehasdoneis
goodornot.
“Idon’tactuallythinkI’mthat
goodatwriting,”shesays.“Iloveit,
andI thinkI’mgoodatstorytelling,
butI’mnotstronggrammaticallyor
structurally.I havetoworkreally
hardat mywriting.It drivesmeabso-
lutely crazy, it’s really hard.
“WhereasI’mreallygoodwithpeopleandspreadsheetsandmanage-
mentandpresentationsandselling and in relationships. Plus, I also get
boredif I’mjustwriting.”Findingtime
Toomuchtimecantakeitstoll.WhenBaileytooktimeofftowrite,
shestruggled.
“IthinkI’mmuchbetterwhenI’mjugglinglotsofthingsandI don’t
gettooboggeddowninthewritingstuff,”shesays.“Icanjustturnit on
andoff,doit foranhourandnotsittherealldaystressingabouthowit’s
notcomingtogetherproperly.”
BaileystartedhercareeratDDBasanaccountexecutiveandstayed
there,workingherwayuptoa managingpartnerover 13 years,including
twostintsofmaternityleave.
Shestartedworkingona bookinherlastyearatDDBandlefttoget
it finished,usingupeightweeksoflongserviceleave,thenwentfreelance
beforelandingstintsatOgilvyanda productioncompanycalledMrSmith.
Witha draftdone,shewentlookingfora waytogetthebookpublished.
ShepitchedtoLynTranterat ALM(AustralianLiteraryManagement),thefirst
stoponherlistofprospects(itstartedwiththefirstletterofthealphabet).
“Itwasa verycleanmanuscript,”saysTranter.“Italsohadan
absolutelyfantasticopening.I wentoutwidelywithit asI hadsuchfaith
in it andsetanauctiondate.”
Theopeningtothebook:“WhenI thinkbacktothatsummersome-
thingcomeslooseinmyhead.It’slikea marbleisbouncingaroundin
there,likemybrainis a pinballmachine.”
A publishercamebackwitha pre-emptivebid:“We really want to go
ahead and publish this book and here’s the offer.”Whenshe’snotwriting,
SarahBaileyismanaging
partneratVMLY&R
Melbourne.Creative Sides