Golden Books. Mr Men. Doctor Seuss.
Many of us had our parents introduce us to
reading with these books and as it was with me. My mother has always been an
avid reader, encouraging me to read from an early age.
Hadamar is dedicated to her – she taught me to see the world in a different
light.
I was also lucky enough to have wonderful
teachers, many of whom introduced me to Literature’s classic tales. When my
second grade teacher read Charlotte’s Web
I cried, and learnt the power a story has to move us. Later, I read The Hobbit as it was on the bookshelf at
home. It took me a while to read The Lord of the Rings, the red eyes of the
Mordor horses on the cover scaring me too much to read it until I was older.
My writing journey began in Year 9. Like
all students, I had to complete a creative writing assignment. Like many
students, I left it to the last minute and had no idea what to write about. My
sister was listening to Pink Floyd. I liked their song, Learning to Fly. I liked the film clip too. While I totally
misinterpreted the lyrics, I came up with an idea for a story where a
fourteen-year old Native American boy had to hunt a buffalo by himself and
return with it to his people.
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| New Novel, Hadamar The House of Shudders |
Handing the assignment in, I thought nothing
more of it. However, my teacher decided to submit mine (and others) work into
the Sydney Morning Herald Young Writer of the Year competition. While I did not
win, I was awarded with a Highly Commended.
I dabbled with a little bit of writing here
and there over the next few years, but only poetry (usually written about girls
I liked).
I went to the United Kingdom when I was 19
after enrolling in a University course that I did not like. Not knowing what I
wanted to study, I thought I would see some of the world. After working several
menial jobs, I was offered a job with the installation section of Sky TV. It
was this exposure to the media that made me think about writing. I enrolled in
a Bachelor of Communications, studying Journalism and Literature.
I entered the media industry but quickly
realised it was not for me. I wanted to write more substantive pieces. I wrote
several (still unpublished and needing substantial work) manuscripts but I was
fortunate enough that my parents’ neighbour was a proof-reader for some of the
bigger publishing companies. He gave constructive criticism but encouraged me
to pursue writing nevertheless. I sent much of my work to various companies and
literary magazines and, while I had a few bits and pieces published, I was mostly
told that my work was good but not for them.
My first major break came when my mother’s
best friend, Robyn Caughlan, informed me that she wanted to write a memoir. I
offered to do it for her but, at the time, she had designed the gown for Miss
Teen Australia 2007, Ashleigh Seymour. Her father, Peter, was a former NSW
detective who was also looking to tell a story of one of the murder investigations
with which he was involved. Robyn told Peter about me and he contacted me.
Seven
Bones, my first published novel, was the result. I
had never really considered true crime as a genre that I would write in and,
after dozens of drafts, we finally had the manuscript accepted (after some not
very pleasant rejections). Indeed, I was told that the script was poor, I
should think about something else apart from writing and the story was not at
all interesting.
Professional people were telling me I
wasn’t good enough. I considered quitting.
However, Big Sky Publishing saw the
potential in the story and took the book on.
It went on to be my bestselling book thus
far.
Since that first novel in 2011, I have written
nine other books including biographies, true crime and historical non-fiction.
Jason Foster is an author, poet, journalist and History teacher at Jamison High School in Sydney’s western suburbs. He holds a Masters Degree in History and is currently studying a Diploma in Languages (Spanish). He has taught in Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain and Argentina. He has been published in American History magazines, Australian travel magazines and poetry anthologies in the United Kingdom. Seven Bones is his first major true crime novel. Hadamar The House of Shudders is his latest novel.
Ingrid Marchand’s only sin was to be born black.
Horrifying institutions like Hadamar are where the undesirables – including the mentally and physically disabled and children – are systematically tortured, gassed and executed. It is where Ingrid is humiliated and brutalised and will encounter a depth of hatred the world has never seen before.
On the brink of starvation, can Ingrid survive the horrors of her incarceration and help bring her tormentors to justice?
Hadamar is a gripping tale of survival in a world of hatred, horror and insanity.