The Bay Post/Moruya Examiner profiles the hobbies of people in our community each week in the feature, ‘Get on your hobbyhorse’. Do you have an interesting hobby? Email journalist Josh Gidney at josh.gidney@fairfaxmedia.com.au or phone him at 4472 6577.
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CATALINA author Jan Reid’s love affair with the written word began early.
“I grew up around books, and I remember when I was about five looking up at Gone With The Wind in my Nanna’s book case and being absolutely so attracted to it,” she said.
Ms Reid, now 55, was one of three daughters of a farmer and a school teacher living on a property west of West Wyalong and would read as often as she could, including under the bed covers with a torch when all the other lights went out.
“I read all the classics, like Heidi and Pollyanna,” she said.
She still prefers books in the same state as they were back then.
“I prefer paper; I love the feel of it,” she said.
“I love the smell of old books; it always reminds me of my Nanna.”
Yet it was only in 2012 that Ms Reid decided to get onto the other side of the ledger and start writing books.
“I have always wanted to write but didn’t think I had the ability,” she said.
Ms Reid completed a Diploma of Professional Writing at the Australian College with a High Distinction, and wrote her first novel, Deep Water Tears, in 2013.
The romance, with Indigenous themes, is set in rural Australia, and it has received great reviews on book website Amazon.
Its sequel, Grace, is on the verge of publication.
“Romance is one of my least favourite genres, and here I am writing a romance novel,” she said.
“This was my first novel and I thought this would be an easier one to tackle.”
Ms Reid’s rural background has been invaluable to her writing.
“I go on my own experience and fictionalise it,” she said.
Despite this, living on the Eurobodalla coast is also vital, and she has lived here since 2001.
“I have to be by the sea to write,” she said.
What she learned in her diploma course is also useful.
“You’ve got to have a plan for your book, a skeleton,” she said.
“A lot of writers give up because they don’t.”
Despite her newfound love of writing, Ms Reid hasn’t lost any enthusiasm for reading.
Along with countless books in paper form, she has a Kindle (a hand-held electronic device for reading books) with 500 books on it.
“I live for reading and writing,” she said.
“Books take you to places you can otherwise only imagine.”