New York Times best-selling author Kelly Rimmer on Orange, writing, and running a book shop

With more than a dozen novels published since the turn of the century, the Mullion Creek resident has sold more than two million copies worldwide.

Titles include: Things We Cannot Say (2019), The Warsaw Orphan (2021), The German Wife (2022), Truths I Never Told You (2020), and Unspoken (2019).

In July, 2022 Rimmer purchased Orange's last surviving independent bookshop, Collins Booksellers on Summer Street.

"Books are more than a product ... it was really important to us that the store remained local - that's part of what makes it special," she told the CWD at the time.

Kelly Rimmer is the subject of this week's 'Five questions with ...'

I've been lucky enough to travel the world at times throughout my career but I always do my best work at home.

Fiction authors are in the business of observation and imagination, and although life is plenty busy, living in the Central West gives me just a little more time to breathe, to stop and pay attention to the way the world works.

Plus, is there anything more inspiring than the colours of Orange in Autumn? Or the taste of the coffee in any of our fine (and numerous) coffee shops? The way gum trees wave in a breeze? The scent of the air at Federal Falls after rain?

There's magic in the air here in Wiradjuri country - I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I've published contemporary and historical novels but when I first started writing I imagined I'd write speculative fiction or maybe dystopian or sci-fi stories. Maybe one day I'll return to those roots!!

I'm still amazed to have been published in the first place. Everything after that has been cream on top!!

My proudest moments over the years are ones that are difficult to share because they are moments of connection with individual readers.

When someone picks up one of my books and sees something of their own experience captured on the pages, or finds their heart or mind changed by one of my stories and takes the time to get in touch to let me know, that's the very best feeling in the world.

There's a thriving, passionate community of bookworms in Orange.

Some come into the store looking for award winning literary fiction or poetry collections and some come in looking for fantasy or crime novels or steamy romance, and sometimes we have customers who walk out the door with a stack of books in hand that encompasses a huge diversity of genres.

Anyone who thinks print books are dead just needs to see the excitement on our customer's faces when they find just the right book, or when they come back in to tell us about their last great read!!

There's no doubt in my mind that Orange is a community that values shopping local, especially when it comes to great books and stories.

Irena Sendler, Janusz Korczak, Emanuel Ringelblum, Violette Szabo and Diana Rowden - all incredible historical figures I've encountered through research for my novels.

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