Full Transcript for Caroline Johnston goes behind the scenes in Our House on Jakaranda Laan

yeah. Caroline: in like this hot South African weather, and I'm thinking, whoa it's like another level. Anna: I know. actually, so my son's school used to have as part of their week, their school week. on a Friday they would actually have War Cry practice. So it part of Caroline: Wow. Anna: their school day was to have War Cry practice. And whenever it was War Cry day, Lille would always come home when he'd lost his voice. And it's like whenever there's the, whenever they have the rugby matches, then it's like the kids all lose their voices. And I mean, it's just so great. It really is quite a thing to watch. the, one of the local radio stations ran a best war cry competition amongst all the different schools and so it was like they all had to submit their war cries and I think my son's school did, thinking they won one of the categories a couple of years ago because they are quite, Caroline: Wow, that's brilliant. Anna: the school is quite full on. But the Caroline: Yeah. Anna: really quite funny thing is that after the Rugby World Cup was held in South Africa a few years ago, in whatever year it was, all of the teams had obviously come over and what happens is the teams do a lot of their, the international teams do their training often on school fields, you know, so that's what's available. So a lot of the teams came out and they kind of interact with the schools. So then the schools adopted various different war cries that were based on the anthems of some of the international teams. So lot of them are the Six Nations teams. So there's a couple of them. My son's school is based on the Northern Ireland or the Irish anthem. Caroline: Mm-hmm. Anna: One of the schools is based on the Scottish anthem and they've rewritten it Caroline: Hey. Anna: with their own school. It's really, really quite funny, you know, that you get all these boys, they've got no idea the background to the song that they're singing, but they're all singing these Caroline: Yeah. Anna: proper rugby anthems, but with the words for their schools. It really is very, very fun. So I think you captured that incredibly well, whenever you wrote that. I thought that was really great. And then what other aspects of Nobois? Caroline: yeah. I think it's just sorry Yeah, no, I was gonna say as well, just I think in general, which I think I kind of I mentioned it in the book as well, is just the energy like I think Southern Hemisphere in general brings Anna: Yeah. Caroline: to sporting competitions and obviously we're very aware of like New Zealand have their hackas and the South Anna: Yeah. Caroline: Pacific Islands have their hackas. Anna: Yeah. Caroline: And that's like a huge thing for us when we go to see international rugby matches. Also, look, Scotland rugby top. Woo Anna: I Caroline: when we go and see Scotland playing Anna: Yeah. Caroline: against some of these teams, we just love seeing those hackers and just Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: those it's such a it's a lovely cultural aspect that comes in and so Anna: Yeah. Yeah. Caroline: I think there's just that I think we miss that in the Northern Hemisphere 'cause we just don't have it to the same extent at all. I mean Anna: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Caroline: When I did go to see Glasgow rugby playing, we did have a dance in Highland Cow, so in a kilt. So you know. That is great Yeah. It was a mascot, not a real one, but yeah. Anna: That's quite impressive. That's quite good. That would have been even better if it was a real one. Caroline: I'm sure you could. Anna: my gosh. So how did you find... I've got monkeys walking past my garden here. So how Caroline: Talking about South Africa? Anna: did you find writing... about a place that you've not really visited, but how did you find incorporating that into your story and kind of grasping some of the culture and the context and that sort of thing? Caroline: I'm not gonna lie, I was very nervous about that. Anna: Hahaha Caroline: so thankfully, again, because we chat so much, then I've been able to pick up a lot from you. also when we lived in Amsterdam like 20 odd years Anna: Okay. Caroline: ago, there was always a lot of South Africans, like more the Afrikaans people who were like we come up for a year or whatever. Anna: Yeah. Yeah. Caroline: So that kind of from then I guess it's given us an awareness of South Africa just because of having hung out with people Anna: Yeah. Caroline: in our twenties who were from South Africa. I say the rugby connection kind of helps as well. Also it's so handy when your editor is South African because then I knew Anna: True, so can point things out. Caroline: I could easily ask Alison questions, but also I knew then giving her the manuscript, she would be able to pick up things that had got wrong or Anna: Yeah. Caroline: missed out or whatever. Anna: Yeah. Yeah. Caroline: and then of course there's YouTube and I always say I just find it hilarious the Anna: Yeah. Caroline: kind of videos you can find on YouTube. And I just think Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: people like post such boring videos, but they're so helpful for us as writers. Like I discovered this Danish couple who every Anna: Yeah Caroline: time they fly somewhere basically video the approach to the airport Anna: I will! Caroline: Then video walking through the airport, obviously not when they're going through the security part. And then Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: video walking out of the airport. So even just for having your characters arrive in Cape Anna: Ha Caroline: Town, you can find a video that shows you exactly what that looks like. Anna: That's actually really good. yeah, that's actually very good, very good. And how did you find working with the other authors, some who do know South Africa and some who don't, and did you find that that was, obviously when we were in Scotland, it was very much kind of you were having to spearhead the answers to lots of people's questions. Caroline: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Anna: Whereas this time, did you

find that people were, trying to develop their kind South African aspect to their story quite well or do you think that a lot of the people were maybe missing that side of it and you know how did you kind of feel that ever all the other authors kind of navigated the South African side of things? Caroline: Yeah. I think so. What we do is we have a group chat that people can jump in and ask questions and Anna: Hmm. Caroline: stuff. And so that's really helpful because some people would maybe ask a question that you're like, ooh, that's a good question. And Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: so you can all learn together. But then we had two authors in particular. So we had Vida who Anna: Mmm. Caroline: has the next two books. Two books! What? Anna: Yes. Caroline: coming in the series and she was brilliant because she prepared a document with here's some like South African phrases and things Anna: yeah, yeah, yeah. Caroline: and so that was really helpful just to put a few of those in Anna: Yeah. Caroline: and then no this is chair Anna: Yes, I noticed there were quite a few nice little brews in there. My brew. I was impressed with that. Caroline: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anna: That was good. Caroline: and now that's terrible. I'm so bad with names, I've just forgotten the name Anna: Francine. Caroline: of the author who Francine, yes, who produced this huge document that gave us Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: loads of information about the area and the kind of because she writes books based in that kind of area, and so that was really helpful. As well as you're got the spreadsheet that you always start. Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: that gives us some of the local businesses and things. So that was really helpful. Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: The other thing that was really helpful, having read some of your South African books as well, but Anna: Yeah. Caroline: also Ashley, who's one of the authors in our house, Anna: Hmm Caroline: she's got some fabulous books and they're all based in South Africa. So reading those books was Anna: Yeah. Caroline: just really nice, just to help kind of get you in the mindset of it. So I Anna: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Caroline: mean we're so lucky, we've got so many resources. Anna: Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Caroline: Even from within the group, it was brilliant. Anna: No, that's great. So now the one thing that I found with reading your book that was really great, it's like, and you sipping your tea there. We haven't had our cuppa conversation. Caroline: Hello, our tea chat. Anna: I'm on water so far this morning. Well, I'd only just finished my breakfast, so now I'm on water. So Caroline: okay. Anna: whereas you're on the tea, I see. Caroline: I'm always on the team. Hello. Yes. Anna: Although when Caroline missed me she said that she was going to go and make herself a cup of coffee and I thought well that's quite strange, doesn't normally drink coffee, maybe she's had a change of heart and is drinking some of the good stuff but she said no. Caroline: No. My phone auto finished the sentence, which I don't like it doing that. It was quite rude of it Anna: You Caroline: to do that anyway. But then it put in the wrong word and I was like, see? Doesn't know me at all. Like, why would you pick coffee over tea for me? So yes, I am drinking my usual Scottish blend tea, so yes. Anna: Lovely. Very, very nice. So the one thing I really enjoyed with your book is you always, I think with most of your, yeah, all the books that I've read of yours, they are brilliant, feel good, like really enjoyable reads that are just really lovely to kind of settle down with over a weekend. It's really great. But you always have a little... something that's a little bit more nitty gritty in there. So I obviously won't give all of the details, but there's a character that Joshua comes across who is really in need of some care and assistance because of a situation at home. And it really struck me that you often incorporate those kind of... quite potentially difficult to read type things in a lot of your books. And is there like a motivation for that or does it just sort of crop up as you're writing? Like is it a very deliberate, is it a deliberate decision that you make when you, you that you set out to write or does it just sort of crop up because that's life? Caroline: Yeah. I think as a combination of things I didn't set out to have that specific storyline happen. Anna: Hmm. Caroline: it just kind of presented itself almost as I was writing. But I think for me, so part of Joshua's story is as well as doing is halftime rugby and halftime Anna: Hmm. Caroline: helping out with a local youth charity who go in and Anna: Mm. Caroline: like work in the local schools and do like the holiday clubs and things. And I think for me because I kinda got involved with helping out with youth stuff at church from when I was eighteen onwards Anna: Mmm. Caroline: until just a few years ago. And the thing that really struck me, especially when I was eighteen and starting out and I would host stuff, living a farm and so we had all these kids who would come up and we'd do like Bible study with them. And all those kids were from a local housing estate and they all were, yeah, pretty a lot of sad situations going on and difficult Anna: Yeah. Caroline: situations. Things that I can't relate to at all. Anna: Yeah. Caroline: But I think even if you can or can't relate to it, you're there, you're in the world, you're around people, people who just Anna: Yeah. Caroline: need something to be beside them and just look for, yeah, just that person who's a bit older than them. Who they can just trust and spend time with. And so Anna: Yeah. Yeah. Caroline: that's what Joshua realizes he's about as well as the book goes on, as well. But yeah, Anna: Yeah. Caroline: so it was a bit of a combination of I knew there was going to be the youth side of what he was doing. Anna: Yeah. Caroline: But then yeah, the character just was like, okay, let's

have more of my story. Anna: Yeah, yeah, I think that's really good and I think it's, we've spoken before about Christian fiction can sometimes be a little bit overly overly sweet and optimistic and not very realistic perhaps. Whereas I think that's something that you really bring to all of your books. It's like you do, you bring that kind of optimism, fun loving bit of story, but then there's always that undercurrent of actually, but for some people life's not great. And Caroline: Mm-hmm. Anna: sometimes all we're called to do is, as you say, just be available. And I think that's what's really great in The Fall Back's Tries. know, Joshua doesn't... sail in like a superhero with a cape to kind of rescue the situation and actually he struggles with the fact he can't rescue the situation and I think that the way that you helped him to process that if you like I think is really valuable for readers to be able to say you know we actually don't have to have all the answers and I think that was a really great aspect of the story and of his personal journey of growth you know I thought that was really great. Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Anna: Yeah. Caroline: No it was I no, I loved writing Joshua. He was yeah, he was he's just a fun character. Anna: Yes, it's very fun. It is. Yeah, yeah. And then also you draw on the parable of the talents in this particular story. Now, is utilizing something from, a, do you often hang stories around, a section of the Bible or a story from the Bible or a verse, or how do you normally go about doing that? Caroline: Yeah, so I always have in all my books there's always like a Bible verse or a passage that is the verse of the passage kind of for that book. but what I normally do is I kind of I'll write a very rough first draft first of all, and then once I kind of get to see how the characters play out and what they're about, then I'll Anna: Mmm. Caroline: kinda think and pre about, okay, what's the Bible's passage that goes with this or sometimes I'll have like in some of my books I've had that first and then the story comes alongside it but definitely for Anna: Yeah. Yeah. Caroline: this one and a few other books I kind of get the characters first and then it's like right what do they need to know Anna: Yes. Caroline: and so for this one for both Joshua and Lowry they needed the parable of the talents they needed to think about their passions and their giftings and their talents and Anna: Yeah. Caroline: where they were and how they were going to use them. So yeah And then I I was saying to I think when I was doing the the blog interview with Denise Anna: Yeah. Caroline: as well, all these great resources for finding out more about our house authors and books, and Anna: Yes. Caroline: I was saying it almost becomes like your own personal Bible study because Anna: Yeah. Caroline: you take this Bible passage and you're emerged in it for like a few months as you help your characters work through it. So then you all Anna: Yeah, yeah. Caroline: end up learning so much yourself. So yeah, I learned. Anna: Yeah, I know, I think that's a real aspect of writing or creating. You know, we've spoken before about the thing of creating with God, not just for God, but actually with him. And I think that's a real example of what that looks like, is that it's like... you know, God gives us the passage or the idea or the concept and the theme that we start to write around. But then as you say, in order to write it well, we actually end up digging in and God actually then puts his finger on things in our lives that's like, well, have you thought about this for yourself? You know, I know that often mine is about, you know, my story is often based around identity and significance and those kinds of things. And the number of times that then I write something and I think, but do I? So I really believe that for myself, you know, and it's quite, yeah, Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. Anna: it's quite a challenge, isn't it, to be able to communicate that in a story, but at the same time to allow God to be working in us as the writers, what it is that he plans. And I think that also adds an authenticity to the story when other people read it, because it's like, you're not just speaking from somebody else's Bible notes. Caroline: Yeah. Exactly. Anna: It's like you actually have kind of worked it through yourself and created it, know, kind of and figured some stuff out for yourself. It's like people often, I was at a book event a couple of weeks ago and people were like, you know, do you, is there any aspect of yourself in all of the characters you write? And I was like, well, not Caroline: Like yes. Anna: really. There isn't in a specific character a copy of me, but in everything else it's like, came from my head, so presumably that's something that's going around in my brain, and that's the kind of thing that is sort of happening in my heart, so obviously that's what I'm gonna write. But it's quite interesting, isn't it? Do we model our characters on ourselves, or does it just, it just becomes different aspects of our own character that gets put onto the page? Caroline: Yeah. I I definitely think there's a part of us in every character we write, Anna: Yeah. Caroline: to some extent or another. Anna: Yeah, so yours is the secret, I should have been a rugby player. Caroline: Yeah. Anna: gosh. Yeah, Caroline: Mess my calling Anna: exactly right. Exactly right. So the fallback to Try is coming out on Amazon on the, what will the date be? The 20th, is it? Caroline: twenty first of August. Anna: Yay, that's really good and it's available in ebook and paperback. Caroline: Yeah. ebook is available as of twenty first of August. The paperback, Anna: huh. Caroline: I'm hoping, will be ready by the end of the month. So yeah, it should be soon. Anna: Okay, okay. Yeah, that's great for those people who like to, their books on paper, have to buy some real books. And any other Caroline: Yes. Yes. Anna: comments

that you have? know, any other, how you found doing a third Our House and, you know, whether you kind of, whether the Our House series is something that you feel has become integral to your writing, to your writing life. It won't go away. Caroline: yeah, I have loved I have loved being part of our house. I'm gonna say I'm kinda glad we're taking a break after this one. Anna: Yeah, I have. Yes. Caroline: I think when you're doing your own thing, you can suit yourself with the timings and you can adjust timings, whereas Anna: Yeah. Caroline: but maybe it's a good thing to have to have a book come out at a certain time. Anna: Yeah. Caroline: But the thing I always love is I just love chatting with people. So I really love with each series, there's been different Anna: Yeah. Caroline: authors that have really stood out is being, yeah, really willing to be part of the community and yeah, just getting to know other authors from around the world has just been so much fun. Anna: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Caroline: and I think as well being part of a multi-author series felt like that's what proper authors do. So it's Anna: Yeah, yeah. See you've arrived! Caroline: it's been quite kinda like, can I do that? And I could only do it because you were leading it up. But it was like but it's been yeah. It's been great. Yep. Yep. Anna: Yeah, yeah, encouraging everyone to get their books out. Yeah, yeah, that's wonderful. Okay, well it's been very nice to chat. I think we've got another few little chats coming up. I think we're going to be chatting with Denise, Denise Darling from Australia at some point. Caroline: Yes. That'd be amazing. Anna: And Vida who we mentioned, she's writing two books so we can't have a chat to her right now because she's... Caroline: Yeah. No. Anna: a little bit swamped with books. She's another South African Caroline: Yeah. Anna: author. I think we've got Christine, who's in America. I think she's keen to chat at some point as well. And I think there's maybe a couple of the other South Africans who might join the party at some point. So that'll be quite good. Caroline: Yeah. And Danielle and I'm sure Amy. Yeah. Anna: yes, that's right, Amy in America as well. So we will try and... It might not be every week that we get out another episode, but we'll definitely be more regular than once a month just because we'll have plenty to be able to chat about with everybody. It's very exciting. Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. So many authors. Anna: like, I know! It's like, these books are releasing one week after each other. It keeps readers busy. It's lovely. Alrighty, well, Caroline: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Anna: we'll chat again soon whenever we meet up with, I think our next person will be Denise. But thanks everybody for listening. Caroline: Yeah. We'll be back to three people the next time. Anna: Yeah, we'll be back to three. It'll be so nice. But it's lovely having just the two of us chatting. I think our last three has actually been just the two of us. It's been quite cool. And I did think today Caroline: It is It has. Yep. Anna: I'd give you the tropical South African background of the trees behind me and stuff like that. And there were monkeys, but they've gone. Caroline: Did they take the hint? It ran away. Anna: Yeah they did. no, there's one walking across the grass now. But yeah, they've just met mostly, which is nice. Okay, well, lovely to catch up with you, Caroline, and to hear all the news Caroline: Okay. You two. Anna: of the Fall Backs try, and I hope that you have great sales, and that also, just so your readers are really touched by the story, because I think there's, as I say, there's the feel-good side of it, but there's also the deeper story, which I think will resonate with people as they read. So, good. Okay. Bye! Caroline: Yeah. Thank you. Yes. So we'll speak to you all again soon. Bye. Thanks so much for joining us today and we can't wait to chat with you again soon. So get your cup is ready and come and join us.