Shannon Kelly-White: 'I wanted to write about the women who slip through history’s fingers'
RELATED COURSES
BY Maya Fernandes
30th Jun 2026
In this interview Shannon Kelly-White, author of the debut novel Billie King, shares her advice for transforming historical material into fiction.
'I wasn’t interested in strict historical recreation but more in capturing a feeling. That sense of freedom, vastness, beauty and danger that sits inside the Australian landscape and our history.'
We caught up with Shannon to discuss her time studying with us, her approach to writing multiple narrative voices and her historical fiction recommendations.
Billie King is set in the fictional town of Orilong, rural Australia in the years following the First World War, and tells the stories of Billie, Anna and Dulcie. How did you approach balancing these three narratives whilst making sure that each character has her own distinct voice?
My three leading ladies couldn’t be more different. Dulcie is a notorious bushranger wanted for murder, Anna is a former lady of the night and now struggling mother, and Billie is a wild twelve-year-old girl with an entire town breathing down her neck. So, creating different voices wasn’t tricky. It felt natural. I just had to think the way they’d think, speak the way they’d speak, and cause trouble the way they’d cause trouble. Having them as such different people also allowed for a rip-roaring clash of values, goals and arcs! The Writing Your Novel course was so helpful for that creative process. I studied under Wyl Menmuir and he gave wonderful advice about voice.
Mothers and daughters sit at the heart of the story. What interested you in exploring familial relationships, and what do you think they can reveal about the ways in which women shape one another's lives?
To be honest, I wasn't consciously trying to write about mothers and daughters. I wanted to write about the sort of women who get knocked down but get back up, again and again. We see it all the time, in the real world, don’t we? Women dusting themselves off and having another go. And very often, they're able to do it because another woman has stood beside them, believed in them or shown them the way. That’s what I wanted to capture. The beauty of one woman reaching down to offer her hand to another and reefing her back to her feet. Because that is magic. They are the sort of women I admire. And I wanted to tell a story about them.
Dulcie James is inspired by the figure of Australia's last female bushranger. What first inspired to write about this part of Australian history, and how did you approach transforming historical material into fiction?
Billie King grew from a very simple wish: I wanted to write about bad women. While looking for inspiration from the past, I realised that the women were often standing in the background of Australian history. There were plenty of stories about outlandish men doing outlandish things, but what about the women? The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write a story about the kinds of women who slip through history’s fingers. Women who are furious and brave and aren't interested in being respectable because they’re too busy trying to be free. What better character than an outlaw? From that, Billie King was born.
Research-wise, I spent a lot of time immersed in Australian bushranger lore and old stories, trying to understand how myth grows out of real places and real people. I wasn’t interested in strict historical recreation but more in capturing a feeling. That sense of freedom, vastness, beauty and danger that sits inside the Australian landscape and our history. I wanted the story to feel authentic without ever becoming dusty or distant.
While the life of bushranger Jessie Hickman was a source of inspiration, Dulcie is very much her own woman with her own story to tell. And although Billie King is set in the past, Dulcie’s frustrations remain remarkably relatable – being told who she is and what she deserves. I think many women will understand her feelings of rage.
The Australian landscape feels incredibly vivid throughout the book. How important was setting to the story, and what challenges come with bringing a historical setting so fully to life?
Although Orilong is a made-up town from inside my fat head, the high country of Australia is a very real place. I’m a country girl, and as a kid, I spent time up in the mountains riding my beloved horse, mustering cattle, drinking from the clearest springs, peering up at the twinkliest stars. I love every inch of that country. So, the ‘bush research’ has been done over a lifetime. And thank goodness it hasn’t changed much in a hundred years, so I was able to use that precious memory bank and my family’s own history of riding the mountains. I tried to capture every drop of that connection to the bush in Billie King and in doing so, the setting is really its own character.
When it came to the times and what life was like then, the beautiful people who record and share history made my job a joy. Their work provided details, narratives and imagery that shaped my view of that period, which I mixed with early twentieth-century poetry and stories to bring Billie’s world to life.
Which writers do you admire and what are some of your favourite historical novels?
My writing hero is Trent Dalton. I love the warmth, humanity and heart he brings to his work, and his ability to balance humour and darkness on the same page.
When it comes to historical fiction, I tend to favour novels that wear their research lightly. I love being transported to another time and place, but for me the characters have to come first. Some of my favourites include The Bronze Horseman, All the Light We Cannot See and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. What those books have in common is that they're deeply human. The historical setting matters, but it's never the point. The point is the people. The best historical novels remind us that while the world changes, people remain gloriously complicated!
Put simply, I love big-hearted storytelling.
You studied with us on our flagship online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course. How did your time with us shape your approach to writing?
Before Curtis Brown Creative, I had a clue about how to write, but I didn't know how to write a damn novel! The course helped me understand story in a much deeper way. It gave me a framework for thinking about character, structure, pacing and scene craft, but it never felt prescriptive. Instead, it gave me the tools to make better decisions on the page.
Looking back at my work before and after the course, I can see a real leap in confidence and skill. My writing became sharper, my stories became tighter and stronger, and I started to understand why certain things worked and others didn't. It was also incredibly motivating to be surrounded by people who were just as passionate about writing as I was. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, and finding other people to yap with is so wonderful.
And finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
At the moment, I'm busy introducing Billie King to readers, which is both exciting and terrifying!
Beyond that, I'm working on my second novel for HarperCollins. It's set in ‘70s Melbourne and follows a reluctant female criminal with an overactive conscience who unwillingly scores the job of hunting down a famous feminist. It's quite different to Billie King, but it shares my fascination with complicated women, the grey areas of life, and the choices and people that shape us.
I’m still learning and experimenting every day, and – most importantly – I’m still frigging loving writing.
Get your hands on a copy of Billie King, out now with HarperCollins Australia.
Shannon was a student on our online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course in 2022.
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