Local news for local people
An author at the library
April 17, 2025
Thursday, April 10, saw about twenty people gather at the Oberon Library for a talk by Orange author Leesa Ronald. Leesa has just had her first novel, "Special Delivery", published and she was there as part of a very busy promotion tour to tell us how the book came about.
Author Leesa Ronald.
Leesa grew up on a farm in Central West NSW and "used schoolwork as an excuse to avoid sheepwork". After studying Media & Communications at the University of Sydney, she worked in magazines before moving to corporate communications. She is married, with three young children. (Part of the book was written during maternity leave.) One thing she learnt was about the advice given by some "experts" that if you write 1,000 words a day (like you can in journalism) you can rip out a 100,000 word novel in three months. Those people have never actually written a book, and even if that level of productivity were possible there's a long path between manuscript and a printed book with professionally designed cover art.
A few years ago I wrote a book that sold a large number of copies. The shortest part of the process was producing the first draft. It then went back and forward between me and the editorial and design staff at the publisher for what seemed a lifetime. The thing is - they were the experts in how to get a book to market, but I was just someone churning out words.
PB
While the book is set in and around Orange, it isn't autobiographical except in the sense that it draws on the author's experiences and the people she has met over time. She said she wanted to write a RomCom novel, with the term being defined in dictionaries as something which is "about love and is intended to make you laugh". It's a crowded genre but reports from those who have read the book suggest that Leesa has succeeded. (A review of the book will appear here in the next few weeks.)
Leesa has two more novels in the pipeline, and as her first has just been released this suggests that her publisher likes what she does and is prepared to bet that she can keep doing it.
An interesting point that Leesa made was that her contract with the publisher says that no more than 5% of the content can be generated by AI. This is a sign that at least one publisher is resisting the idea that AI is good enough to produce original work. (Spoiler - it isn't.)
The event was organised by Friends of Oberon Library (FOOLS), who have two more author presentations coming up in May. Keep an eye on What's On for dates and times.
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