Eavesdropping played an important part in Candice Fox’s development as a storyteller.
The daughter of an enthusiastic foster-carer, she spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil from the cops and childcare authorities who frequented her Bankstown, Western Sydney home.
“We got our first family computer when I was 12,“ she said.
“It would have been around then that I started experimenting with writing. I’d always been an intense dreamer, not particularly because I was whimsical, but I became distracted and detached very easily.
“My home life was very chaotic and I was deeply anxious at school, so I made up little stories to escape into. I found writing brilliant for this, because I could really hone in on my fantasy world, leave the real world altogether for long periods of a time.“
After 10 years of honing her craft – which included a period of tutorship by James Forsyth – she found success with her debut novel, the Australian Crime Writers Association Ned Kelly Award-winning Hades (2014).
The following year, Hades’ sequel, Eden, won the Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel, making Fox only the second author to win these accolades back to back. Several of her subsequent novels – Fall, Crimson Lake, Redemption Point and Gone by Midnight – have also been shortlisted for the prize.
In 2015 Fox began collaborating with international crime-writing powerhouse James Patterson. Their first novel together, Never Never, set in the Australian outback, went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in the US and also topped the charts in the UK. Their subsequent novels Fifty Fifty, Liar Liar and Hush Hush have all been international bestsellers.
With more than 10 novels published in just seven years, Fox has quickly become one of Australia’s most successful authors.
Fox will be in Noosa next month as guest for a literary lunch.
Her latest thriller Devil’s Kitchen is the definition of nailbiter, as a female agent goes undercover in a New York firefighting crew that is far more dangerous than the fires they fight.
A literary lunch with Candice Fox will be held on Friday 19 April at 12pm at Noosa Waterfront Restaurant, which includes a two-course lunch and welcoming glass of wine.
Cost $90 per person.
Bookings essential on 5448 2053 or info@anniesbooks.com.au
Write on the Coast has also scheduled a crime writing workshop with Candice Fox on Saturday 20 April at Peregian Beach.
For workshop bookings, visit writeonthecoast.com.au
