My rom com novel, Love Unleashed, is (very loosely) based on my own story. It’s about Brynn Wallace, a Bigambul woman who goes to New York dreaming of working in publishing, only to end up working in a doggy daycare. It’s sweet, funny, sexy and has lots of cute dogs.

The book formed part of my PhD thesis, which looked at Indigeneity and intersectionality in the romantic comedy novel. Again, I was inspired to do this research as a way of creating change in the publishing industry, to make other authors think about how they’re representing marginalised identities and to help readers think about picking up more diverse books.

Intersectionality is so important in storytelling. It’s so hard to pick up a book like a rom com that’s supposed to be fun to read, only to find a part of your identity being made the butt of a joke – or worse. I want to see writers think more about experiences outside their own and make sure these identities aren’t made fun of or turned into tropes so that even if a book doesn’t reflect our own experience, it doesn’t make us feel marginalised.

Why is it important to offer different types of heroines, especially in the rom com genre?

There are a lot of straight white women in romantic comedy (and definitely in chick lit – which is a term that dropped out of favour in the 2010s), but the thing is, everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in a love story because everyone is worthy and deserving of love.

One of the big things I want to achieve is to show other Indigenous people that they can write in whatever genre they like. So far, it’s just Dr Anita Heiss AM and me writing commercial romance in this country, but there are people like the deadly Skye Cusack, a writer out of Naarm, who I think we’ll see as published romance writers soon. I’m working with a few different places and people to encourage more writers to have a go, and I’d love to see some more higher degree by research (HDR) students at UQ working in the area too!

What is your favourite romance trope?

I adore the ‘second chance romance’ trope because I think it’s a tricky one to do well. I’m also a ‘fan of fish out of water’ stories because I love throwing my characters into unfamiliar situations and seeing how they react.

Do you have any upcoming novels or research you can tell us about?

I’ve just had a young adult romance come out. I wrote it with my tidda Brooke Blurton (once a Bachelorette) and it’s called A Good Kind of Trouble. I’m also working on a book set in the Love Unleashed universe. Research wise, I’m working on turning my PhD work into a monograph, so I guess watch this space!