Between the Dances by Melbourne author Jacqueline Dinan is a collection of short stories from more than 300 women across Australia.

“It’s a real range of stories in a real range of areas,” she said. 

“It’s really inspiring, an eclectic mix of stories.”

Dinan wanted to create “a book for women to read about the war” and she says Between the Dances is a way for women to get into the war genre without having to be a war buff.

“There are stories in there that are funny or cheeky,” she said.

“I’ve written this book for women like me.”

Castlemaine woman Lin MacDonald is one of the central Victorian residents whose story is told in the book.

"I joined the WAAAF (Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force) when I was 18 years old and I had two and a half years on a station at Tocumwal as a wireless operator," she said.

"Being wartime it was a sad time, but perhaps some of the best years of my life."

Mrs MacDonald said the war was a great time for women as it opened up all sorts of career paths.

"There had been few occupations for women about that time before the war. You could be a nurse or a school teacher - there were not many places open to the average woman," she said.

"This really opened up the world to them."

But it wasn't always easy, with Mrs MacDonald saying the women lived a pretty harsh life, sleeping in huts with no heating or sheets.

One memory she recalls is sharing tinned peaches and apricots from "one of the lasses' mother" who worked for a fruit cannery in Shepparton.

"It was the greatest luxury you could have believed," she said. "They were beautiful."

After the war, Mrs MacDonald became an air hostess for Australian National Airways before she married her husband, Donald, and moved to Castlemaine.

The couple owned McDonalds Pharmacy in town for more than 30 years before Mr MacDonald passed away about 10 years ago.

Other central Victorian women to feature in Between the Dances are Norma Binks, Susan Vickers, Audrey Stewart and Isobel Lister.

Isobel's story also features in an exhibition to be launched Saturday, April 18, at the Bendigo Library at 11am.

The exhibition, Women of the War, tells the stories of 14 women who worked in a variety of fields, mainly during WWII, at home and abroad. 

The Bendigo Youth Choir will also perform a special song, Women of the War, written by the choir's assistant conductor Gail Godber, about the women.

The choir also performed the song at Dinan's book launch at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance.

“It was just absolute magic,” Dinan said.

“There was about 40 war women in the room and they were smiling and crying.”

About the book, Mrs MacDonald says "it’s excellent to have the stories on all the work the women did in the war". 

"They all did a fine job," she said.

To find out more about Between the Dances and where you can buy a copy, visit www.eventive.net.au