Liminal Spaces: Katelin Farnsworth

This month’s blog features an interview with Katelin Farnsworth. Katelin talks about the manuscripts she’s written, the challenges of getting published and what keeps her writing.

DESCRIBE YOUR WRITING JOURNEY SO FAR

I’ve really been writing my whole life and have always wanted to be a writer. I probably started taking it seriously in 2014, when I went to TAFE to study. I write literary fiction and am most interested in family drama, grief and loss (and all the varying ways it can manifest). I have a certificate IV in Professional & Creative Writing from Box Hill TAFE, as well as a degree in Professional & Creative Writing from Deakin University. I started writing my first manuscript in 2014, when I was 24, and have since completed three more (with others started but abandoned!).

 TELL US ABOUT YOUR MANUSCRIPTS

All that Blue is about a boy called Alan and follows his teenage years, exploring cycles of family abuse. It’s a novel about anger and what’s beneath anger, including guilt, and forgiveness, and it is a portrayal of a family learning to rebuild. 

Little Gem - When Elsie is six months pregnant, she sees their unborn daughter, Gemma, on the driveway. Elsie and Gemma quickly become close, as mothers and daughters do. However, while their bond strengthens, Elsie’s marriage to husband, Klaus, starts to crumble. Gemma is desperate to stop her mum and dad from getting a divorce but is there anything she can do?

Found Again – Tessa’s ten-year-old son Frankie is dead. But Tessa refuses to believe it. He must be out there somewhere and she’s going to find him. Found Again explores the intersections between grief, death and moving on.

Helen Hope – After losing her husband in a devastating bushfire, Helen moves to the coastal town of Mana for a fresh start. But things are not as they seem. Infused with heart and centred on the power of kindness, Helen Hope is a story about learning to trust and finding your place in the world again after a traumatic event. 

 WHAT HAS HAPPENED WITH YOUR COMPLETED MANUSCRIPTS TO DATE?

I’ve probably submitted to every publisher in Australia (and been rejected by them all!). 

All that Blue was the first manuscript I ever wrote and I was (and am) so proud of it. It taught me a lot about how to write and structure a book, as well as showing me I could write a book. An extract of All that Blue was published in The Victorian Writer back in 2016. The manuscript received some publisher attention but I couldn’t quite get it over the line. It’s still very dear to my heart and I hope to see it find a home one day. 

Little Gem saw me sign with my first agent which was a very exciting time for me. It had some publisher interest as well, with some lovely feedback, but it didn’t quite suit any of the publishing houses we pitched to. It’s still sitting in a folder in my computer. Little Gem was a lot of fun to write. It really flowed out of me and I’d love to find a publisher for it one day.

Found Again was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize in 2020 and I really thought publication was going to happen but, unfortunately, it just couldn’t find anyone who loved it enough. It received some kind feedback from publishers and I won a mentorship in 2021 with the Australian Society of Authors. I’ve been rewriting it under the guidance of an amazing mentor and I’m really happy with how the rewrites have been going. The rewrites are still underway and I hope to have it completed it by the end of year. I will then start pitching it again.

Helen Hope was recently shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize 2022 and we’ll see what happens next…

 WHEN YOUR MANUSCRIPTS DIDN’T GET PICKED UP FOR PUBLICATION, HOW DID YOU RESPOND?

Rejection is tough and it can hit you very differently, depending on where you are in your life and what’s going on at that specific time. Some rejections have been really difficult for me (a lot of tears, hopeless feeling, wanting to give up completely) and other times I’ve felt stoic and strong. Even though, logically, you know rejection isn’t personal, it can sometimes be hard to believe and I think it’s easy, for me at least, to spiral into some really negative thoughts. But the writing always brings me back. Ultimately, I write for myself – I write to understand myself and my place in the world – and so the writing always sustains me. For me, I think it’s important to let myself sit with the rejection, to acknowledge my feelings and not be afraid of feeling them. I also like to have some chocolate, some wine, buy myself flowers, a new book, before getting on with my next move.

 WHAT MAKES YOU RETURN TO THE PAGE DESPITE THE CHALLENGES IN GETTING PUBLISHED?

I don’t write to be published. Of course, I long to be published and I want that book deal more than anything but it’s not why I write. I write because I love to write. I love the way it makes me feel. I love telling stories and making up characters and meeting new people on the page. It’s so simple. I write because I can’t not write.

 WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BENEFITS OF GETTING PUBLISHED?

Getting published means getting an audience, which to be honest is equal parts thrilling and terrifying. But I’d love to share my stories with people, have my books out there, and be able to connect with readers.

 DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF WHEN TO GIVE UP TRYING TO GET A MANUSCRIPT PUBLISHED?

Honestly, not really. I don’t think I ever ‘give up’, as such. I keep writing, rewriting, redrafting, editing, thinking, reimagining. I’m always working on something and that helps me through. The manuscript might not find a home right away but I always have hope that the next one might be the one that will resonate with a publisher – and the others might then find their place later. I don’t see putting something aside as ‘giving up’ either. The time wasn’t right but that doesn’t mean it never will be. And if it isn’t, maybe that’s okay too. But I don’t frame it as ‘giving up’ – it’s all a process.

 WHAT HAS WRITING (AND TRYING TO GET PUBLISHED) TAUGHT YOU?

It’s probably an overused word but writing has taught me resilience. It’s made me stronger in a lot of ways. But it’s also taught me that writing isn’t everything. For a long time, I felt that writing and getting published were the only things that mattered and if I didn’t get a book deal, I had failed somehow as a person. It sounds ridiculous when I say it but it was truly how I felt. The pressure I was putting on myself was immense. But writing isn’t everything and it shouldn’t define who I am or the way I live. I will always write because I love writing and I will continue trying to get published – but I can’t let it be my reason for being. So I think that’s been a huge lesson and something it’s taken me a while (years) to realise.

 ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO OTHERS TRYING TO GET PUBLISHED?

Keep going. Keep writing. Believe in your stories. You always have more to learn. Don’t let ego get in the way. Read. Go for walks. Talk to people. (Sorry, that’s more than one!)

 FINALLY, WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’ve been working my way through Anita Brookner’s books – she’s an amazing character writer and I find the way she writes about loneliness really comforting. I’ve also just finished reading The Writer Laid Bare by Lee Kofman, which I recommend wholeheartedly – it’s a really fantastic look into the craft of writing, how to write with emotional honesty, and find your authentic voice. I love the way Kofman writes and I think this is a book I will come back to again and again. Up next I’ve got Al Campbell’s new book, The Keepers to read.

Katelin recently posted a blog on her website about getting a new idea for a manuscript, dealing with rejection, and the joy of writing. You can read it here:

https://www.katelinfarnsworth.com/post/handwriting-a-manuscript-and-other-things

Katelin Farnsworth grew up in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria. She lives with her husband near the hills and when she’s not writing, she loves to drink tea, bushwalk, camp, and spend time in nature.