Five minutes with author Petronella McGovern

Posted on 7 October, 2019

If you’ve ever lost your child in a public place, you’ll be able to relate to Petronella McGovern’s debut crime novel, Six Minutes.

In fact, it was a trip to Questacon that first sparked the debut author’s inspiration for the events in Six Minutes, which is set in the fictional town of Merrigang, just outside Canberra.

Centred around protagonist Lexie Parker’s quest to find her missing daughter, Bella, Six Minutes asks, “How can a child disappear from under the care of four playgroup mums?”

Ahead of Petronella’s upcoming appearances at Dickson and Gungahlin Libraries, we caught up with the author to chat writing a really twisty plot and how the Canberra bushfires inspired Six Minutes.

Where did the plot of Six Minutes spring from? 

The spark for Six Minutes came from two different experiences. When my son was three years old, I lost him when we were finishing up a visit to Questacon. He was by my side one minute and simply gone the next.

I was trying to stay calm but really freaking out, partly because of all the places he could hide—the roller coaster, the earthquake room and so on! With the help of the staff and the security guards, we started searching for him. I had my baby daughter in a pram and was running up the ramp, checking each floor and asking if anyone had seen a missing toddler.

Thankfully, a staff member finally found him on the top floor. He’d just wanted to look at the rockets again! I was so relieved but during that time of searching for him, I really felt what it was like for a child to go missing and to have so many fears rushing through my head.

At the same time, I was part of a wonderful mothers’ group which we turned into a playgroup. All our children were around the same age. So every Wednesday, we’d get togethe—they’d play and we’d chat. I started to wonder what would happen if a child went missing from a safe environment like this. How would certain individuals react—would they support each other?

Would the mother of the missing child blame her friends? What would happen to the group dynamic? And how would the whole community respond? In Six Minutes, I consider these questions for the characters in the fictional village of Merrigang, located just outside Canberra.

You’re based in Sydney but lived in Canberra for a number of years. Why base the novel here (or rather, in the fictional neighbouring town of Merrigang), rather than Sydney? 

Both of my children were born in Canberra and we were living there for about thirteen years. I’d started writing the novel while we were in Weston Creek—it just took a long time to finish with interruptions from work and family and everyday life!

Canberra is a unique place – it has the city aspect but also the green spaces between suburbs, and it’s bordered by national park. A police detective I interviewed for Six Minutes spoke about how Canberra is so different in terms of policing because they have to work in both city blocks and in the bush.

The fictional village of Merrigang is on the edge of Canberra and it backs onto national park and farmland. I’m interested in these fringe areas, particularly for a psychological thriller because this community is facing both the threats of the city and the threats of the bush.

I also really like the small-town feeling where everyone knows each other. In Canberra, so many people are connected or have one degree of separation. That community aspect provides a chance to write about different types of people in society—and the secrets they keep from each other and from themselves.

Six Minutes is written with the backdrop of the Canberra bushfires. I drew on that sense of community support, where people came together to help each other afterwards.

You’ve written non-fiction before, what drew you to writing crime fiction?

I love reading psychological thrillers so that’s what I wanted to write. I enjoy a good mystery but I’m particularly interested in the motivations of characters. What makes a person commit a particular crime?

In real life, we often don’t have a chance to understand a person’s thinking but in books, we can see inside the character’s head, so to speak. I find it fascinating to have different characters with different viewpoints. I feel like crime and psychological thrillers help us make some sense of other people and of the world around us.

What are the most difficult parts of writing a really knotty crime plot with all its twists and turns? How do you keep track of them all? 

There’s a theory that the author writes the first draft to work out the story for herself, and then the next draft for the reader. That seems to be the case for me. In the first draft, I figure out what’s going to happen and then in the second draft, I can hide the surprises and focus on the twists and turns for the reader.

When I’m working on a book, I try and write every day so that I can hold the story and all the subplots in my head.

For me, one of the hardest things to write was the climax and the ending for Six Minutes. While I always knew the resolution, it was tricky to work out the best way to make it happen. I think I did six drafts of the climax and the ending!

What are some of your crime touchstones and favourite reads in the genre?

I read lots of different crime books and psychological thrillers. Gone Girl was a very clever book that subverted male and female stereotypes, and set the new wave of focusing on the psychology of the characters.

My favourite English authors over the past few years have been Sophie Hannah and Gilly Macmillan. The best books in the genre comment on society and our way of life.

At the moment, there are so many great Australian writers of crime and psychological thrillers—Michael Robotham, Sarah Bailey, Jane Harper and Canberran, Chris Hammer.

In addition, we have a cross-over between women’s fiction and psychological thrillers with authors like Liane Moriarty, B.M. Carroll and Sally Hepworth. So many great books to read!

What’s on your TBR pile?

My TBR pile is very high at the moment because I’ve been promoting Six Minutes and writing the next book—and not finding enough time for reading!

I’ve also gone back to university to do a Masters in Creative Writing so I’m reading some Australian classics.

Hopefully, in the summer holidays, I’ll catch up on my TBR pile. On the top are all recent books by Australian authors–The Scholar, The Nancys, The Yield and the award-winning Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko.

What are you currently working on?

My next book focuses on another community, this time in the northern beaches of Sydney. It touches on a lot of different themes—health and wellness, divorce and family.

I’m still in draft stage and haven’t quite worked out how to talk about it yet but I guess the book asks: How can you put a price on saving a human life?

I’m enjoying writing about a new set of characters and again, taking the reader on some unexpected twists and turns.

~

Petronella McGovern will be speaking about Six Minutes at Dickson Library at 6:30 pm on Friday 11 October and Gungahlin Library at 2 pm, Saturday 12 October.

Tickets are free but please book online at library.act.gov.au/whats-on/programs-for-adults/author-talks

Feature image: facebook.com/pg/PetronellaMcGovern