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23
Q What are your earliest memories of
reading?
A I think at about three I was
impressed by Tolstoy’s War and
Peace. Look I don’t know, I can
vaguely remember a book about
a couple of rabbits running from
a band of gypsies. They had a
friendly donkey and a carrot on a
fishing line. I know I liked Digit
Dick on the Barrier Reef. There were
a lot of Little Golden Books like
Lil Toot about a tug boat. That’s
when I was quite small.
Q Did you have a favourite book or
author as a child?
A I quite liked the Smocker books
which was a series about a smart
alec cat. But I think my favourite
book would have been Treasure
Island by R L Stevenson. Had it all,
pirates, treasure and when I think
about it quite a lot about loyalty
and friendship and childhood;
about growing up and time
passing.
Q When was the first time you put pen
to paper to write? What was your first
piece?
A It would have been a birthday
list. I probably wanted a GI Joe
doll. I think something at primary school about my
holiday or some such blather would have been my
first proper writing.
Q Remembering back to your time here at CQUniversity as a
student, did reading/writing play a big part in your life?
[William studied an Arts degree in Rockhampton in the
mid 1980s] Or, like many young people, was university a
time of ‘maturing’?
A My time at CQUni was a hoot. I wrote articles for
a campus newspaper called Four Wind and almost
all of them were made up, so I guess a lot of the
time was taken up with writing. As for maturing,
well I am still a work in progress. I know at uni a
lot of creative thought went into partying and use
of recreational substances for societal research
purposes.
Q As an adult, what do you love about reading and the art of
writing?
A Reading is something that allows you to give
yourself an escape from life or to immerse yourself
in it more. Reading lets you know that you are
never alone wherever you may find yourself. It
helps you understand where you’ve been, where
you are and where you may be headed. It’s also a lot
of fun. Writing? Well writing is a lot of hard work
for a pathologically lazy man like me so the big plus
is just telling a story. That is why I do it I think –
to tell stories and hopefully have people read and
enjoy them.
“READING LETS
YOU KNOW
THAT YOU ARE
NEVER ALONE
WHEREVER
YOU MAY FIND
YOURSELF.”
Q Now as an author, what do you hope
your readers take away from your
writing?
A I’d like to think people would
come away from reading something
I’ve written with a bit of enjoyment
really. And not be narked off
with whatever amount of money
they have parted with to read what it
is I have written.
Q Is there a link between what you do as
an actor and as an author – just different
means of storytelling?
A Acting is a group project,
although most actors probably think
they are the centre of whatever is
going on. It’s fun being a part of a
team of people. Sometimes it can be
a bit of a bore, but then that’s the
plus of writing. Writing is a case of
being on your own by and large. If
you don’t write, you’ve got nothing.
Both things are a way of storytelling
and that is the key to enjoying them
I think.
Q Can you tell us about your new
book Worse Things Happen At Sea?
What do you hope people learn from
reading it?
A Worse Things Happen at Sea
is a book about people sharing a life together
and starting a family and living a life. That
means, lots of things I suppose, but it is definitely
not a guide to living a life the William McInnes way
or some ghost-written misery tomb. It’s a book
that I hope people may recognize a bit of their own
stories in and a way of celebrating that idea that life
is always a glass half full proposition.
In his first book A Man’s Got to Have a Hobby, William
wrote about family life in the 1960s. Worse Things
Happen At Sea does the same for family life in the
2000s. Written by William and his late wife Sarah
Watt, who passed away in November 2011, it’s
portrayed in a way that many Australians can
relate to and enjoy. The book celebrates the
wonderful, messy, haphazard things in life –
bringing home babies from hospital, being
a friend, a parent, son or daughter, and dog
obedience classes. It's about living for 20 years in the
family home, raising children there, chasing angry rabbits
around the backyard and renovations that never end. It is
also about understanding that sometimes you have to say
goodbye; that is part of life too. The book has been illustrated
throughout with Sarah’s photographs of family life and
beautiful, everyday objects.
Worse Things Happen At Sea recently took out the award
for best non-fiction book by Australia’s independent
booksellers.
INSET PHOTO: HATCHETTE AUSTRALIA
ISSUE 13