PIECES of Bendigo feature in Cassandra Austin's new book.
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The Los Angeles-based writer spent her teen years in Bendigo before her career eventually took her overseas.
The novel, Like Mother, is set over the course of one day and examines the changing relationship between a mother and her daughter.
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Austin said the book was inspired by taking her daughter to her first day of school.
"She ran off and I was unprepared how felt," Austin said. "My son had already had his first day of school but when I dropped (my daughter) off I realised I have no more kids at home.
"All of a sudden I had six hours in the day where I was no longer carrying that role (of mother). It stunned and shocked me, so I started imagining what if I couldn't let go and I started writing about that."
Austin said the two fictional towns in the book have aspects of Bendigo in each of them.
"When wrote this book, I did steal a bit of Bendigo," she said. "It was such fun to have someone driving in a car looking at ornate buildings from the Gold Rush Era and tiny bits like that. I've never done that before and it was a real pleasure for me.
"Last time I was back was in 2017 to promote my last book and then in 2018 for Christmas. Since then my folks have sold the house I grew up in and are moving."
Austin's connection to Bendigo will make her Zoom event at May's Bendigo Writers Festival more special.
"I can't get there unfortunately because of the state (America) is in," she said. "So (it's a) little Zoom discussion. The festival keeps going from strength to strength, I'm amazed at who they have speaking and the crowds that come to it, it's fantastic."
Before turning to novel writing, Austin was a filmmaker and worked in criminology.
"I still work doing scriptwriting and I edit for my husband but the film-writing process is a committee process and novel writing you get to be the complete god of the world and its a lot cheaper," she said.
"(At school) I never would have dared dream being a writer. I was at Melbourne University and was a criminologist for 10 years but from an early age I knew I wanted to write. I was obsessed with reading and loved telling stories.
"It wasn't until I moved to America that I did (write). Because I wasn't married (to an American), it was illegal for me to have a job so it was an opportunity to say 'if this is what I want to do, then I should do it."
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