May 16, 2025

Race to the finish

The goalposts have moved continuously since I began writing this book, and in the beginning I didn’t even set any timeline on it. Maybe I should have done since it has dragged out far longer than I ever imagined it would, but I’ve not had the luxury of time to do little else but spend all day writing either. Or not working on the book anyway. The paid work has always taken priority. But now – today – I can say with absolute confidence that I will be able to write The End on or before the end of May 2025. Phew!


There are just a couple of interviews to edit for the In Their Own Words chapters, and finishing off the final chapter that really meant we could claim the campaign to stop a pulp mill being built in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley was over, and that the community had won it. The saga might have ended with a whimper rather than a bang, and for most people it had ended when Gunns went broke, but for those on the frontline it wasn’t over until those permits expired and the government of the day announced they wouldn’t be renewed.


Only then could we have a party, put those twelve campaign years behind us, and stop looking over our shoulders - metaphorically speaking.


So on 31st May I’m planning on putting the writing of this book behind me, although I know it’s really just the beginning. My mentor will undoubtedly have suggestions for rewrites, moving parts from one section to another – and perhaps ditching some bits altogether. But if this tome is to interest a publisher then that’s all part of the process. So I’ll look upon the next stage as akin to putting a jigsaw puzzle together and slotting things into a more natural (and readable) place.


But at least I've 'got it down' and the story is complete. And that’s quite an achievement – even if I never really doubted I’d finish it eventually. I’m only sorry there are several people who were involved but who are no longer around to read it.

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Attracting the interest of a publisher for this story of a community’s campaign to stop what would have been ‘the world’s fourth largest pulp mill’ being built was never going to be easy, but hoping the first of two 3-minute Literary Speed Dating pitch sessions will prompt at least one of the two publishers to request the full MSS. And preferably both of them. These twice-yearly Perfect Pitch sessions are offered to members of the Australian Society of Authors, and this is the first time I’ve taken advantage of them – mainly because of the need to have a completed MSS before doing so. Three minutes isn’t long to excite the interest of a publisher who is after stories in very specific genres, and who therefore needs to believe your MSS is worth investing the time needed to read it in full. I’m pretty certain I’ve excited the necessary interest, but given Jane will hear the pitches of many more optimistic and talented writers after my morning session today, there are no guarantees. That initial interest might well wane as the day goes on if other writers have written stories that sound far more intriguing – and marketable. One can never forget that aspect of publishing these days: will the book sell. I believe my story will – certainly in Tasmania it definitely will – but a wider Australian readership? That’s an unknown even if my mentor is convinced of the story’s universal appeal.  I’d certainly like to think I’ve caught the zeitgeist wave given the current widespread community unrest over AI data centres, that’s already prompting similar serious opposition, and for many of the same reasons the Tamar Valley’s community opposed the pulp mill. Environmental degradation, threats to public health, water usage – and water shortages in an era of escalating climate extremes – and the constant, relentless noise factor that’s associated with data centres, and AI data centres in particular. I’m crossing my fingers that the second pitch session will be equally positive, and that I could strike it lucky with both publishers requesting to see the full MSS. But I won’t get ahead of myself. I’ll just be keeping all fingers and toes firmly crossed for the next seven days.

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