Ten Terrifying Questions with the authors of The Pick-Up!

Actors Fiona Harris (SkitHouse, Tangle, The Beautiful Lie) and Mike McLeish (Utopia, Keating the Musical) are a talented husband-and-wife writing team. Their first novel, The Drop-off, was a popular favourite among bloggers and reviewers, and their latest book, The Pick-Up, has just been released. They live in Melbourne.

Today, Fiona and Mike are on the blog to answer our Ten Terrifying Questions and tell us about The Pick-Up. Read on …

Fiona Harris

1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

MM: I was born and raised in Melbourne and attended Melbourne Grammar, which set me up perfectly to drop out of my BA before the end of first year uni.

FH: Born and raised in the western suburbs of Melbourne (Williamstown) and schooled at Mount St. Joseph’s Girls College in Altona.

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?

MM: At twelve I wanted to be a pop star, because I was twelve. At eighteen I wanted to be a pop star with a burgeoning career in movies as a side hustle, because it’s important to diversify in the arts. At thirty I wanted a nap, because legitimate priorities start coming into focus in your thirties.

FH: At 12 I wanted to be a writer and actor … same at 18 … same at 30. When I was a young kid my two favourite things to do were to curl up on the couch with my nana and watch old black and white movies, and to read every Enid Blyton book I could get my hands on, both of which contributed towards me deciding what I wanted to do with my life very early on.

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don’t have now?

MM: That talent equals success.

FH: That the world revolved around me and my first-world problems.

4. What are three works of art – this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc – that influenced your development as a writer?

MM: Always so tricky, so I’ll go with the first three that come to mind.

1. Tom Waits’ 1975 album Nighthawks at the Diner. When I first heard it I was completely taken by the wordplay, his use of language and cadence, and the fluidity between the music and the storytelling. Apparently, Mr. Waits doesn’t rate it amongst his favourite work, but what the hell would he know?
2. “The Sun Rising” by John Donne. I remember studying this poem in Year 12 (I think) and being struck by how sexy I thought it was, for all I knew about sexiness at 17. Some of my fellow nerds and I would recite it to each other while we were hanging out (on any given Saturday night at my parents’ house – ain’t no party like a poetry party!), pretending to be the protagonist of the poem, chiding and teasing the sun for believing it could match the power of our passionate love. Then, once we were all super hyped by poetry, we’d hit the clubs and get crazy, obviously.
3. Deadwood. I’ll always be a fan of a TV show that can make foul profanity sound strangely eloquent.

FH: Stephen King’s book, On Writing, Robert McKee’s book, Story, Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical, Hamilton (thought I’d keep mine short after Mike’s answer!)

5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a novel?

MM: The sheer breadth of possibility. You don’t have to be bound by any convention and your imagination can take the lead, as long as you’re willing to address your imagination’s typos in the next draft.

FH: I love the long form structure of a novel and being able to take a deep dive into the character’s lives, backstories, thoughts and feelings. It’s hugely satisfying and fulfilling as a writer to be given the opportunity to do that. To create and fill in an entire world. I come from a scriptwriting background and when I was writing short form sketches for television I found it deeply unsatisfying and didn’t enjoy it at all.

6. Please tell us about your latest novel!

FH: The Pick-Up is a hilarious, poignant and sometimes scandalous look at the lives of three friends – Lizzie, Sam and Megan. A few years ago, these three parents formed an unlikely friendship at school drop off and their lives are now inextricably intertwined … for good or bad. Newly divorced dad, Sam, is navigating the “delights” of online dating. Single-mum Megan is contemplating a slightly inappropriate relationship and busy midwife Lizzie is flat out juggling four kids and an absent husband. But when they decide to embrace their inner parent helpers and volunteer for the grade six camp, things really get chaotic.

Mike McLeish

A cross between Marian Keyes and Liane Moriarty, this book is about friendship, community and forgiveness.

MM: The Pick-Up is a sequel to our debut novel, The Drop-Off. It’s in a similar vein as the first book – comedic but with a lot of heart and a few surprise twists and turns – but this time we’ve given all our principal characters much more to deal with. We’ve upped the stakes on their day-to-day lives and allowed ourselves as authors to dig deeper into their insecurities and their fears. That said, it’s still a funny, feel-good book!

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?

FH & MM: A renewed appreciation of a community they may have taken for granted, especially in the wake of this past year and a bit. We hope that it might encourage someone to connect more with their local community. We also want to provide some soul-soothing escapism.

8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?

MM: Fiona Harris, because nobody works harder. I’m going to steal a turn of phrase from one of her publisher’s when describing Fiona: “A surplus of talent and a deficit of ego.”

FH: Stephen King is my ultimate hero. His (MANY) books have kept me enthralled, engaged, terrified and intrigued for decades now. He is quite simply The Master. Oh … and Mike. (his answers in this questionnaire alone should make it obvious as to why)

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

FH: To write and put out a novel every year of my life from now until my dying day, with every novel being significantly better than the last. And to keep learning more about writing as the years go on because the learning curve is endless.

MM: Become the first breakthrough pop artist aged 40+ (with a movie star side hustle by the age of 50).

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

FH: Write. Every day. Just sit down and write. Even if it’s terrible and even if it’s hard, which is all the time. I promise you, the more you write the better you will become at doing it, and the easier it will get to tap into that part of your brain that finds the words and the sentences and the story. Read Stephen King’s On Writing and Robert McKee’s Story (Seriously, that’s all you EVER need to read on how to write) and then just actually write.

MM: Write something that you’ll be happy to live with for a long time. Then there’s the excellent Japanese proverb: Beginning is easy, continuing is hard. Worth remembering! The exciting spark of that initial inspiration only takes you so far. Live it up while it’s there, but don’t expect it to hang around for too long.

Thank you for playing!

—The Pick-Up by Fiona Harris and Mike McLeish (Echo Publishing) is out now.

The Pick-Up

by Fiona Harris and Mike McLeish.

Lizzie, Sam and Megan are very different people who became best friends over good coffee and good laughs at school drop-off.

Single-mum Megan is contemplating a slightly scandalous relationship. Newly divorced Sam is navigating the 'delights' of online dating. And Lizzie is flat out juggling four kids and an absent husband. As if that wasn't enough, this year the trio have decided to embrace their inner parent helper and volunteer to go on the annual school camp...

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