Gladys Pagendam

I was born in 1946 in Liverpool, England, one of six siblings.

I began to write seriously in 1985, when I moved from England to Australia with my husband and two small children. Jacaranda Wiley published my first novel soon after - Sit Beside the Gnomon, a time travel adventure for 9-10 year olds.

My latest adult novel, Compline (2012), is published by Amazon.com Kindle Books. Life has given me two unusual experiences to write about, and both of them would give Compline enormous authenticity. Firstly I grew up as a teenager in Liverpool when The Beatles and other talented musicians were rising to fame. Secondly I left Beatlemania to become a nun in Ireland, France, Belgium and England. I combined these two experiences and wrote Compline, a book about a nun and Beatle George Harrison, applying what I had learned from my two writing majors.

'Compline', putting it simply, is a post-modern novel it attempts to dissolve boundaries at every level so that innovation can occur. It is intended to appeal to all ages. Once you have read it, try putting 'Compline' into a specific genre. You can't, and this is deliberate. I wanted to blur the boundaries of genre, time and place. It is at times really earthy and at others 'off the planet'. Nan's story emerges from diaries, letters, story-telling, memories, and poems. It is a blend of autobiography and fiction, but you never know which is which. It is about life but also about death and dying. It includes four romances, elements of crime, a ghost story, drugs,poems, valentine cards, invitations and even recipes, and its language goes from the vernacular to the mystical. Its reviewers are already commenting that when they put Compline down they are still mulling it over afterwards, wondering what is true and what is not. This is enormously satisfying to me, the author, because my further objective was to blur the boundaries between the real and imagined.

So, what was I doing between Sit Beside the Gnomon (1986) and Compline (2012)?

I wrote Maggo Ribbo, a time travel adventure for 10-11 year olds. This was accepted for publication by Jacaranda Wiley as part of a reading scheme for schools. However, the level they wanted to use it for was two years away, so they told me to keep sending it out and if another publisher picked it up, they would buy the secondary rights. Penguin said they loved it, but were not sure about the way the story unfolded via the diaries of the twins who were my protagonists. They asked me to rewrite it, which I did, and then I resubmitted it. This time it progressed through their system, reaching the very last stage in the publication process. This was to send it to someone 'very well respected in children's literature'. Penguin said they were very hopeful for it but that they would take the feedback very seriously. That person said no and so Penguin eventually rejected it. Jacaranda Wiley, meanwhile, were taken over and decided not to include fiction any more in their educational publications.

While I was waiting upon Penguin's decision about Maggo Ribbo, I wrote another children's story: Frizzy's Rainbow, a fantasy story for 11-13 year olds and the first in a series yet to be written. Though I have many glowing letters from publishers about it, I never managed to get it published either. One publisher told me she got hooked on it, took it home to read it overnight, but was terribly apologetic because it did not fit their list. But the feedback was still excellent.

For a while I put my dreams of writing professionally on hold while my children were growing up. I did not want to miss the dream I was in, chasing a dream that might not happen. Meanwhile I wrote at a more amateur level.

During that time I decided I wanted to be the best writer I could be so, while my children were studying, I began a degree course undertaking two majors in creative writing. It was the best thing I ever did. I got excellent results and I learned new ways of thinking about writing. This gave me enormous confidence for I had matched myself against other excellent writers. Furthermore my work had been critiqued, and when I received my degree I knew I could hold my own among my peers. I immediately set to work to write my magnum opus, a postmodern novel that would appeal to all ages. Compline was the end result of that dream.

As I have matured as a writer I write more for fun than for ambition. I find writing a deeply absorbing and healing process. It is a place where I can play and imagine and experience my own height and depth and breadth. I have spoken to many people who get an adrenalin rush after strenuous exercise. Though I swim three times a week for 1 hr 20 mins, I have never had an adrenalin rush. But after writing, I experience a feeling of bliss comparable to no other activity in life, I find writing beneficially addictive and I cannot imagine a time when I will not write.

My latest children's novel is the first in a series. B Bopp Goes Bim Bam Boom, a very tongue in cheek fairy story for children between 7-9 years of age.

I will be putting my children's novels up on Kindle shortly.

Other things I love:

God

People

The Red Hat Society

Reading

Patchwork and Quilting

Movies

Travel

Contemporary worship with The Salvation Army