Frankie (29 page)

Unlike Frankie, I grew up in a teeny tiny town in south-west Victoria surrounded by sheep and cheese. But the manuscript for
Frankie
was written all over the world: in a frosty bedroom in the UK, in a hostel in Hong Kong with some dude asleep on the floor outside my door, in a house in Footscray, Melbourne, with a failed guide dog for company and in a crumbling but beautiful St Kilda mansion.

I spent days wandering Hampstead Heath in London, dreaming up a story about a girl searching for her missing brother when she should have been searching for herself. I wanted to write about a girl who was pissed off at the world and ready to throw punches. I wanted a smart-arsed, proactive, clever bundle of sass that made you laugh as much as she made you cry.

Along the way I've studied Creative Arts and worked as an English and Philosophy teacher, and now I work as an editor, making books and writing manuscript assessments. I've also realised that I'm crazy for cats (in a future-cat-lady kind of way). And that Nate's got it right: Morrissey trumps Curtis.

BFG-sized thanks go to the ever-helpful, ever-supportive Line Tamers – especially Rosey Chang, Marie Davies, Cathy Hainstock and Sarah Vincent. Without your advice and copious read-throughs
Frankie
wouldn't exist. Mocktails all round.

Massive thanks to the team at Penguin, especially Jane Godwin, publisher-extraordinaire, and Michelle Madden, Frankie's honorary godmother and a damn fine editor. I can't thank you enough for taking this project on with as much care and passion as you have.

Thank you Sari Smith, Kirsty Murray, Toni Jordon and Penni Russon for your wisdom and inspiration, and for kicking me up the behind when I needed it most (I'm looking at you, Kirsty). To the gang at Writers Victoria – the supportive community and well-timed vegan cupcakes you provided gave me the strength to keep going. Thanks to Alexis Drevikovsky and Kate Larsen for being more awesome than any two people should be allowed. I am especially grateful for the support of the Grace Marion Wilson Trust for their 2014 Glenfern Fellowship. Thanks to Tomas Drevikovsky and Jaclyn Crupi for fixing my terrible Italian and to Alex Adsett for your superb contract-negotiating skills.

And finally, big love to my wonderfully forgiving friends and family, especially Peta ‘Pooh Bear' Dempsey and my too-amazing-for-words mum and dad. Sorry for all the last-minute cancellations and months of MIA. Love you.

Shivaun Plozza's short fiction, flash fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in anthologies and journals including
Where the Shoreline Used to Be, Above Water
,
Text, Vivid
and
The Victorian Writer
. When she's not writing, Shivaun works as an editor and manuscript assessor.
Frankie
is her first novel.

shivaunplozza.com

twitter.com/ShivaunPlozza

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First published by Penguin Australia Pty Ltd, 2016

Text copyright © Shivaun Plozza, 2016.

Cover illustration copyright © Emma Leonard, 2016.

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ISBN: 978-1-76014-282-7