Two homegrown western suburbs authors have taken the plunge, publishing debut novels together.
Fiction writers Jo Vraca and Belinda Missen joined forces to unleash their books on the world via a joint-launch party in Footscray this week.
Footscray’s Vraca said her debut novel, Floating Upstream, was a coming-of-age story set in 1970s Melbourne and rural Victoria.
“It’s the whole idea of being first-generation migrants in the western suburbs,” she said. “A lot of what I write is based in the west, places like Sunshine Plaza.
“I write about topics like domestic violence, love, kids growing up. For me, it’s really about strong women, real women with problems, like everybody else. It’s quite honest and quite in your face.”
Missen, who grew up in Werribee, said the heroine of her debut novel, Red, travels from Australia to London in search of a man with whom she had a short affair during Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations.
“I write contemporary romance. When you say to people you write romance, they think Fifty Shades of Grey – but, no, I don’t take myself too seriously. I have a lot of fun with the genre.”
The pair launch their debut novels at Footscray’s Littlefoot Bar, 6-8pm on Thursday. They will be available at the launch or via www.jovraca.com and www.belindamissen.com
