It took a lot of people to get me here.
I am here because when I was six, my mother gave me a battered copy of Watership Down – and she has never stopped giving me books.
I am here because when I was ten, on long car rides, my father would tell me the history of the Second World War or the mostly fictional adventures of Mack the Whiskey Bottle, and my brother and I would listen, spellbound.
I am here because when I couldn’t sleep, my Ami, Anne Zigmond, would make up Enid Blyton-esque adventures about children stranded on an island, with smugglers and picnics and caves and treasure.
I am here because of a long line of storytellers in the Chapman and Auchincloss and Zigmond clans, including my grandmothers, Eileen Auchincloss and Dorothy Chapman, and my wonderful sister, Genevieve James, who has only ever had positive things to say about my work. I am lucky to have such a huge and loving family, which includes Rena Chapman, Tony James, Helen Zigmond and Naomi, Mark and Guy Sherborne, my sisters Claire Grocott and Gen and Ingrid James, their hetero lifemates Lachlan Chisholm, Dave Murphy and Chris Grocott, and my niece and nephew, Frankie and Theo.
I am here because a lovely man named Travis Franks encouraged my meandering first attempts at a novel. Vivienne Howe read the first draft of Stars Like Us and every version since then (and there have been many) and her enthusiasm meant that I kept going.
My wonderful friends Alex Chalwell, Gemma Conley-Smith, Catherine Hanrahan, Emily Jateff, Amanda Lavis, Petronella McGovern, Margaret Morgan, Vita Morgan, Ingrid Neal, Katy Pike, Alison Stanton-Cook, Lauren Stracey and Ken Ward didn’t laugh at my early drafts and gave me loving, supportive feedback. Dan Christie, Ali Cotsworth, Tristan Fraser, Rikki Mawad, Zoe Pollock and Jacqui Street kept my spirits up when it felt like I was chasing an impossible dream.
I am here because Chris Chapman and Greg Stone checked parts of the manuscript for musical mistakes and technical errors (any that remain are my own).
I am here because Nigel Featherstone and Mary Cunnane at the ACT Writers Centre HARDCOPY program were so encouraging about my writing at an early stage. The good people at Varuna and Black Inc. selected my manuscript for their Publisher Introduction Program in 2017, and Stephen Measday, Carol Major and Mark Tredinnick offered feedback and mentorship.
I am here because my agent, Alex Adsett, gave me such wise words and went in to bat for me with kindness and poise at every hurdle.
I am here because Emily Wilson saw the potential of my manuscript from all the other great entries in the Ampersand Prize, and Marisa Pintado took a chance and worked closely with me to make it better. Emma Schwarcz saw all the missing pieces. My brilliant editor, Luna Soo, polished the manuscript again and again, until it was no longer a manuscript, but a book. Jess Cruikshank did the beautiful cover with input from Penelope White, and Lauren Draper was so enthusiastic and committed in her marketing of the book.
I am here because twelve years ago, a wonderful person with hair like a lion’s mane asked me over for hot chocolate and has been my greatest ally ever since. I am here because my sunny, clever kid, Grace, chose me for her parent and inspires me with her creative mind every day. I’m here because a little white-haired legend came into my life at the perfect time, bringing joy and smiles and delightful little toes with him. My Head of Security, Roscoe, had the important job of scaring off intruders while I finished the manuscript, and is a very good boy.
I am here because of a long-limbed, freckle-faced boy who grew briefly into a kind, honest, golden young man, and who left us too soon. David, my brother, the true storyteller in my family and the best person I have ever known, when are we going to stop missing you?
Frances Chapman is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter from Sydney.
Born in Henley-On-Thames in England, she spent her childhood pinballed between continents before settling in Sydney. Several years as a journalist and social researcher gave her a healthy curiosity about people’s stories before she became a freelance writer in 2015. The idea for Stars Like Us came when, after a string of rejections for her first manuscript, she decided to write a book that her teenage self would have loved. It was also partly inspired by a photo of Justin Bieber eating chicken on a visit to Sydney. The novel won the Hardie Grant Egmont Ampersand Prize in 2018, and was selected for the Varuna Publisher Introduction Program in 2017.
Frances now lives by the beach with her family and Roscoe, the most winsome of hounds.