Claudia Harrison launches new book

Local author Claudia Harrison has launched her newest book, The Oldest Daughter, at Grenfell Library on 19 November and has discussed some of her writing career with interested audience members. While she came to writing novels slightly later in life, Claudia puts her writing down to a passion for reading and the motivation to explore more than what she was experiencing in her life. Speaking on how she started writing her first book, 'Leading me to you', in 2018, Claudia said there was a state in her life where she was feeling deflated, and she was getting inspiration to explore more. Born in Australia, Claudia and her family moved to Lebanon when she was young where they stayed for several years. They moved back to Australia when she was 6. After relocating to Australia, Harrison found herself caught between two cultures, later juggling motherhood and a day job, often feeling as though her writing dreams were overshadowed by the weight of daily responsibilities. In 2018, a spark ignited within her, leading her to pick up a pen and write her first book. Her first novel was inspired out of one sentence, which was drawn from her own childhood of sitting under a tree in Bankstown, and ever since then, she hasn't stopped writing. Claudia said her latest novel, 'The Oldest Daughter' is influenced by aspects of her upbringing and culture as the oldest daughter in her family. "In Lebanese tradition, the oldest daughter is pretty much the second mum and it's her responsibility to look after everyone and so I was raised to do that," she said. "So I really could put myself in Maggie's position in two ways, because there are really great elements of being the oldest daughter but there is also that resentment element of not having your own space and always having to be responsible for people under you. "So I took that stance with this particular character because I think it resonates with a lot of people having that feeling that maybe you want to be free and think for myself and have my own time and all that sort of stuff. That really resonated," she said. Claudia said she takes a lot of inspiration from life, and she sees her stories that a lot of people may have experienced in their own lives. Throughout her writing career, Claudia has self published her books, and while she admits there are some challenges with this route, the best part of it is that her work is her own and she has full creative control. "I think that's a really important thing to show people, that you don't have to be a perfect writer to publish a book. This is my story," she said. Claudia said a major challenge of self publishing is feeling whether or not your work is good enough to be published. Since publishing her first novel in 2018, Claudia said she has evolved so much as a writer. For those wanting to follow Claudia’s journey, updates can be found on her social media.

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