Author LEIGH CUNNINGHAM recounts how her vivid imagination and way with the written word has led to great rewards - both personally and professionally.
TF: Best thing that's happened since moving to Singapore?
LC: The low tax rate allows us to live comfortably in a one-income household, enabling us to enjoy a more balanced lifestyle. Although I'm a lawyer by profession, I've always been interested in writing. But I was only able to focus on writing after moving here. If we hadn't moved, I wouldn't have started.
TF: You won a silver medal at The Mom's Choice Awards® (MCA) for your first two children's books, The Glass Table and Shards. Tell us more...
LC: It's an important win as it sums up the essence of both books. When awarding, the MCA considers originality, educational and entertainment value and how morally sound and inspiring a book is. It's good to know my novels made the mark.
TF: Where did your initial inspiration come from?
LC: My husband Steve and I were sailing around the Whitsunday Islands and he recounted a dream of people swimming in a lake and then sitting at a glass table. Inspired, I conjured up an image of a glass table with children sitting around it, at the bottom of a lake - The Glass Table was born. I had written the outline by the next morning! The sequel, Shards, continues the story and a third instalment is in progress.
TF: Any adult books in the pipeline?
LC: Yes, two in fact. Rain is a multi-generational family saga which chronicles the lives of four women from three generations of the Wallin family. It spans four decades and is set in provincial Australia and Luanda, Angola.
Being Anti-Social is "chick lit" in style and focuses on Mace Evans - a professional woman in her late thirties, labelled as anti-social by her older sister. Mace then embarks on a journey to understand if she was born this way, or if her attitude is the accumulation of years of unfortunate encounters. Both books are set for release in 2011.
TF: Any favourite authors?
LC: I like the wit and sarcasm of Oscar Wilde and appreciate George Orwell's profound awareness of social injustice - Animal Farm is my all-time favourite read. I also enjoy Joseph Heller's satire - Catch-22 is a brilliant concept. JD Salinger's Catcher In The Rye is another favourite. And I like John Steinbeck's novels for the way he deals with the plight of the impoverished, racism, loneliness and prejudice. There's one common theme with all my favourite authors - controversy and conflict followed them throughout their lives.
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Born in Queensland, Australia, Leigh Cunningham is a self-confessed storyteller who favours harmless embroidery of the facts. A professional lawyer, Leigh spent the majority of her career as a senior executive for various public companies in Australia. Upon moving to Singapore six and-a-half years ago, Leigh pursued her longstanding passion for writing. She describes her writing style as all or nothing - a matter of writing and nothing else from start to finish. The Glass House and Shards are available exclusively at Times Bookstores. www.leighkcunningham.com
Posted Mar 2011
