How did your upbringing shape your outlook on life?
My parents and grandparents encouraged me to always believe in myself, which likely contributed to my high self-esteem. Sometimes I wonder whether it is too high and I over-estimate myself, but better too high than low, I guess.
How has your professional life as a teacher influenced your approach to storytelling and conveying scientific concepts in your writing?
It has taught me how to better explain any facts, simple and more complicated ones, in an easy-to-understand way. I can “see” the story through the eyes of a person who has no idea about the topic I am writing about and adjust my language accordingly.
As a specialist in megapode birds, how did your expertise inform the narrative of your first book, and what unique insights do you believe it brought to the conservation efforts in Tonga?
Megapode birds are so unique, because they don’t sit on their eggs to incubate them but use external heat sources instead. Also, their chicks receive no parental care whatsoever, so are the most precocial young of all birds. In my travel memoir: “Volcanic Adventures in Tonga” I try to convince my readers how fascinating it is to help a bird that uses a volcano as an incubator and abandons its chicks after hatching. In terms of conservation, you can only protect an endangered species if you know what it needs, and our research, described in that book, provided the baseline for developing conservation actions for this ‘volcano bird’ on a very remote island in Tonga.
Your writing style is often described as sensitive and warm. How do you approach capturing the emotional aspects of your experiences, and how do you think it resonates with your readers?
I feel honored that my writing style is described the way you mentioned, as I did not set out with the intention of using a particular writing style. It’s just a result of putting my experiences to paper the way I perceived them. Staying on a remote island as the only white woman and learning about traditional Polynesian culture that is so different from ours was definitely tied to a lot of emotions. I am glad that others perceive my writing about these experiences as sensitive and warm. If I go by the five stars reviews received, this writing style seems to resonate well with my readers, for that I am grateful.
The title of your book, "Volcanic Adventures in Tonga," is intriguing. Could you share what inspired you to embark on such an adventurous journey, especially during your studies in Biology in Austria?
I was a young, enthusiastic undergraduate student in Biology in Austria, keen to help endangered species somewhere in this world. Hence, when my boyfriend called to ask whether I would join him on a two-year expedition to Tonga, to help save an endangered volcano bird, I did not hesitate once and said yes, without knowing where Tonga was or that this would take me to the other side of the world. The island we stayed on was a volcano due to erupt, and our adventures were too numerous to even start listing them here. For that, you have to read the book!
Your book focuses on the expedition to save an endangered 'volcano bird' from extinction. What can you tell us about the challenges you faced during this conservation effort, and how did it shape your perspective on wildlife conservation?
One of the main challenges was living with Polynesian people whose culture is so different from ours and to be accepted by them, as we were the only white people on the island and dependent on the locals for our survival. Add to that the stifling humidity close to the equator, cyclones, stinging bugs, deteriorating equipment, lack of supplies, illness, and the imminent danger of volcanic eruptions. This experience has definitely given me a deeper admiration for anyone conducting fieldwork or conservation work in remote locations, and there are many wonderful conservation biologists all over the world who do so.
"Volcanic Adventures in Tonga" has been described as a perfect blend of fiction and non-fiction. How did you navigate the fine line between storytelling and conveying scientific facts in your writing?
For a start, I wrote the book in present instead of in past tense, as I felt that this made it easier for my readers to immerse themselves into the adventures we had. Most memoirs are written in past tense. My travel narrative is interspersed with snippets of scientific facts that are explained as I gradually discovered them as part of my adventures. Storytelling and facts are thus interwoven without separating them from each other.
Having previously written more pure non-fiction, what motivated the shift towards a memoir and adventure story format for this particular book?
While I have published many scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, I have always had an interest in conveying scientific facts to a general audience and have published magazine articles aimed at the general public. During lockdown, I found the old letters I had written from Tonga, all typed up by my mum, and so I decided to have a first go at writing a memoir and adventure story about my time on Tin Can Island.
Literary Titan awarded your book the prestigious Literary Titan Gold Award. How did it feel to receive such recognition for your work, and how do you think it has impacted the reception of your book?
Thank you for alerting readers to this award., I felt, of course, very honoured and surprised. How did this or any of my other awards or marketing efforts impact the reception of my book? To be honest, I have no idea as my publisher has not yet released any sales figures with me, and I don’t know whether this led to more people buying my book. I will find out soon.…
You co-authored a book on Australian "Mound-builders" and wrote a chapter on how dogs detect land mines for the United Nations. How do these diverse experiences contribute to your perspective as an author and adventurer?
They have given me experience as a writer, as both of these books were aimed at a general audience without the use of too much scientific jargon.
Your book also delves into South Pacific culture. How did you ensure an authentic portrayal of the local culture in your writing, and what aspects of it did you find most fascinating or challenging to convey?
This ties in with your question above about my sensitive and warm writing style, I aim to portray my experiences with local Polynesian culture the way I wrote them down in those letters I wrote from the island to my mum – authentic and uncensored. One of the fascinating aspects is the concept of the Tongan time – live in the present and don’t worry about the future. This was also one of the challenging parts of Tongan culture, as it meant that it was often very difficult to plan ahead or to find out when essential supplies would arrive with a boat, for example.
Now residing in Sydney, Australia, how has your journey from Tonga to Sydney influenced your life and writing?
This journey led me to eventually become established with enough income to take up the challenge of writing a book that is unlikely to provide much income at all. It has also solidified my knowledge of the English language, as it is not my first language, and I only started learning it in school in Austria when I was ten.
What advice do you have for aspiring authors who want to blend science and adventure in their writing, based on your own experiences?
Always, and I mean always, think of your explanations from the point of view of someone who has never heard of that topic/theme before and try to explain it to them. Re-read your sentences if they contain anything needing extra explaining, and stay succinct. That’s my writing style anyway, I probably sometimes keep it too short, as I fear boring my readers.
Given your background in both scientific research and writing, how do you see the role of literature in raising awareness about environmental conservation and scientific discoveries?
It has a huge role, at least for those people still interested in books. In our fast-living world, many people prefer videos and other visuals. But for those willing to pick up a book, an adventure story focusing on conservation issues and scientific discoveries can be much more rewarding than a pure non-fiction book that describes such topics in a more neutral way.
What has your AllAuthor experience been like so far? What are some highlights?
I appreciate the regular tweets, connections with other authors, and great book mockups. AllAuthor also makes it easier for people to find my books on Google. My special highlight was the cover of the month competition, in which my cover for “Volcanic Adventures in Tonga” made it to (but sadly not past) the last round. That was a lot of excitement, and I got a bit too obsessed about it, annoying all my friends with requests to join AllAuthor and vote for the best cover (which, of course, was mine!).
