Pamela Cook introduces a Writes for Women Rewind episode featuring award-winning Victorian author Favel Parrett discussing her novel There Was Still Love, inspired by family memories and set across Czechoslovakia and Australia from 1938–1981.

Parrett explains her “simple on the page, layered underneath” style built through extensive drafting (often 15 drafts per scene), using memory as non-linear snapshots, and writing in a child’s voice to preserve gaps and subtext. 

The conversation covers dialogue that relies on silence and mood, weaving motifs like suitcases and food, creating embodied emotion, the intensity of a reclusive routine while writing, and Parrett’s four writing tips: focus on the work first, believe it’s possible, seek feedback at the right time, and read.

SHOW NOTES:

Writes4Women

www.writes4women.com

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Instagram @w4wpodcast 

Favel Parrett 

https://www.favelparrett.com.au

Hachette Publishing "There Was Still Love" 

https://www.hachette.com.au/favel-parrett/there-was-still-love

Pamela Cook

www.pamelacook.com.au

Facebook @pamelacookauthor

Instagram @pamelacookwrites