WEAVING SECRETS, SPINNING SINS
The Worlds of Kim Wilkins

To all outward appearances, Kim Wilkins’ writing career hit the ground running. Her 1997 debut The Infernal was the first true horror novel by an Australian writer in far too many years. It proceeded to tear the speculative fiction scene in this country a bloody and ragged new orifice, and won Aurealis awards in both the horror and fantasy categories.

The Infernal was no mere overnight success, nor is its author a one trick pony. She is a true renaissance woman of the fantastique, who varies her technique with each new book and transcends the boundaries of genre. This makes her novels very difficult to categorise, and she prefers to think of them as “supernatural thrillers”, “Stephen King meets the Bronte sisters” or “gothic bodice rippers.”

Kim’s passion for the written word blossomed soon after the Wilkins family returned to Australia from London and settled in Queensland. A writer since childhood, she describes her early work as “unimaginative fantasy fiction in which an unpopular, buck toothed girl saved the world. Then I got braces and my heroines were rather straighter-toothed.”

Kim honed her skills in the years that followed, completing and discarding ten novels prior to her first publication. Very few emerging storytellers can live by words alone, and a need to pay the bills led to a thankless cycle of hospitality and clerical jobs. During this period, she vented her frustrations by “indulging an embarrassing wish to be an alternative rock goddess”. Kim’s stint as bass player for underground noise combo The Vampigs was short-lived (the group imploded before they could record anything), but her bond with former bandmate Mirko Ruckels endures. The couple live in Brisbane with their son Luka, daughter Astrid and cats Polly and Petra.

At a crossroads in the early nineties, Kim returned to the classroom. She completed her external secondary education and went on to study English at the University of Queensland, where she remains to this day as a lecturer in literature and professional writing. The campus environment was both an imaginative and intellectual stimulus, which helped her develop a strong work ethic and an ability to excel under pressure. With the exception of 2000’s The Resurrectionists, which doubled as her Masters thesis, Kim has written all her novels part time while studying, teaching and running the gauntlet of modern motherhood. Such a hectic schedule would make it difficult for most people to write a shopping list, let alone a book, but Kim thrives on having a lot to do. Balancing academic and creative demands is no simple task, and she prefers to give equal amounts of her attention to both. “I can change gears but not easily,” she says. “I tend to do six months of one (and) six months of the other. There’s not much down time, but I like to be busy.”

Little wonder that Kim takes a more casual approach to the passage of time in her writing. Many of her books shift seamlessly between past and present, with only a change of narrative voice to mark the transition. She then mixes the two periods into a hybrid of fever dream and white knuckle nightmare that leaves the reader hungry for more.

The Infernal’s dual settings of late 1990s Queensland and early seventeenth century England might seem an odd combination at first, but when the lives of struggling musician Lisa Sheehan and widowed apprentice witch Lady Elizabeth Moreton intertwine, not even a gap of four centuries can keep the consequences at bay. A series of brutal killings reawakens the two women’s bond, and Lisa’s drive to solve the mystery builds to a twist that few could have predicted. Heady stuff indeed, with the promise of much more to come.

Grimoire introduces a cabal of demon-summoning academics who meet in secret at Humberstone College (a Melbourne-based reimagining of All Hallow’s in Brisbane) to continue the work of nineteenth century magician Peter Owling and try to succeed where he failed. Holly, Prudence and Justin, three students of English literature, are all that stand between the Humberstones and their quest for ill-gotten eternal life. Even a helping hand from beyond the grave may not be enough to protect them, as Christian (the ghost of Owling’s assistant) has a dangerous agenda of his own. Broader in scope and even darker in tone than its predecessor, Grimoire is a significant step forward from The Infernal, but an unfortunate lack of promotion from the publisher meant that it achieved neither the sales nor attention it deserved.

One swift move to Harper Collins later, Kim embarked on her most ambitious book to date. The Resurrectionists grew from a premise for a short story into a seven hundred page epic whose narrator “is more like me than any other character I've written, and the story…is one of my favourite fantasies.”

Even with its autobiographical slant, The Resurrectionists contains not a trace of self-indulgence. Maisie Fielding’s desire for fulfilment in a life that has become dull and predictable is something most of us have experienced at one time or another, and this sense of familiarity with the protagonist makes her adventures all the more enjoyable. Amid much opposition, Maisie travels to the Yorkshire coastal town of Solgreve to meet her grandmother and learn more about the family history her parents would rather she didn’t know. Upon finding out her grandmother has died, Maisie moves into her empty cottage and, by sorting through her things, tries to piece together the story of a relative she never knew. Fragments of a late eighteenth century diary stashed under the floorboards reveal that Solgreve harbours secrets that would make Victor Frankenstein look humanitarian. When Maisie comes to suspect that the cause of her grandmother’s death was anything but natural, her pursuit of the truth evolves into a tale that holds a special place in the heart of its creator and remains a firm favourite among her readers.

Instead of simply measuring up to the standards of its predecessor, Angel of Ruin (published as Fallen Angel in the UK) redefines them, heralding less a change in direction than a shift of emphasis. The contemporary and historical settings are both still there, but this time Kim tips the scales toward the latter. Disillusioned journalist Sophie Black’s search for a Halloween-related magazine article leads her to a series of encounters with a mysterious old woman who has a tale to tell. This sort of frame narrative has been popular since Chaucer’s day, but Kim’s interpretation of it owes more to the Wandering Jew, “who turned up a lot in 18th century gothic novels (there's a great one in Godwin's St Leon and of course there's Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner). I loved the idea that a character had to keep repeating a story forever. It's such an interesting way of viewing trauma, and how people deal with it: telling and retelling.”

The four hundred year old family drama that forms the basis of Angel of Ruin certainly bears repeating. It sheds some apocryphal light on a sinister figure that permeates the lives of John Milton’s three daughters while it tries to influence the writing of their father’s magnum opus. The publisher’s blurb claims that “neither plague nor Paradise Lost nor the Great Fire of London” can stop Deborah Milton trying to protect her siblings from diabolical influence, but an even greater force is the compulsion to keep turning the pages. In combining an alternate history with a meditation on the relationship between sisters, Kim crafts the sort of novel that, once read, lingers in the memory long after its return to the library or bookshelf.

Next came a lengthy excursion into the landscape of European mythology and folklore. The three-volume Europa Suite may draw its inspiration from tales as old as storytelling itself, yet it is fresher and more exciting than most contemporary fantasy. Not content merely to follow in Tolkein’s footsteps, Kim uses established devices- such as the quest and the dream passage from one reality to another- as catalysts for stories that are both innovative and timeless.

Unlike many of a similar ilk, the books in the Suite “don't need to be read in order. They all stand alone, have different characters, situations, everything. They are linked only vaguely through theme.”

The Autumn Castle juxtaposes modern day Berlin with Ewigkreis, a magical realm of faeries and shape-shifting wolves, whose future depends on the fall of a single leaf. Still bearing mental and physical scars from the car crash that left her an orphan, Christine Starlight’s life is complicated even further by memories of a long absent friend. When she falls unconscious and wakes as a stranger in a very strange land, Christine gets a taste of life without the pain that has ailed her since the accident and meets Mayfridh the faery queen, who is none other than the lost girl she knew as Miranda. Renewing a childhood friendship during adult years often has consequences and, as Mayfridh treks back and forth between Ewigkreis and the “Real World”, she cultivates a dangerous liking for human pleasures- not least of which is Christine’s lover Jude. Amid heartbreaks and revelations, the main characters get both what they need and what they deserve, but no fairy tale would be complete without a blood-curdling villain. The ogre at the top of The Autumn Castle’s beanstalk is Mandy Z, an utterly repulsive sociopath whose insatiable need for faery bones lends the story a unique menace that would give Thomas Harris and the Brothers Grimm nightmares.

The most significant journey in Giants of the Frost takes us into the heart and mind of Victoria Scott as she progresses from doubt and scepticism to understanding and acceptance, of herself and the worlds beyond the rational one she knows best. While working at a remote Norwegian Sea weather station, Victoria has nightmares, notices shadows lurking outside her cabin window and senses a growing familiarity with the forest beyond, as if she has been there in a former life. This flies in the face of her resolve to ignore her mother’s superstitions but, like any good scientist, she can’t ignore the evidence.

Meanwhile, across the rainbow bridge in Asgard, Vidar (son of Odin and slayer of Fenris the wolf at the time of Ragnarok) has withdrawn from his family and only speaks with either his maid or Loki the trickster god. He is waiting for the next incarnation of the woman his father killed a thousand years before and, when he conjures an image of Victoria in the seeing waters, travels to the mortal world hoping to reunite with his beloved. Destiny is against Vidar even before he begins, and his determination to cheat its hand no matter the cost shows us the fatalism at the core of many a Norse legend.

Giants has a different ending for its US edition (“those of you who read the book can probably guess what kind of ending it is”) and along with The Infernal, Grimoire and The Resurrectionist, has been optioned for a film adaptation. None of these big screen versions have yet seen the light of day, but Kim has no shortage of opinions about who ought to be involved. “Basically, Johnny Depp could be in any of them, and I'd be a happy woman,” she says. “As for directors… one can always dream about Peter Jackson and Tim Burton!”

The Europa Suite concluded in September of 2005 with Rosa and the Veil of Gold, which earned a well deserved place in The Advertise’s top 100 books of that year. Like The Resurrectionists it is perhaps the culmination of the books that came before it, bringing the fantasy and very human emotions of The Autumn Castle and Giants of the Frost together with the historical elements of Angel of Ruin. When her uncle Vasily’s labourers find a golden bear hidden in the walls of an old bathhouse, beautiful and mysterious Rosa Kovalenka enlists the help of an old flame to find out where it came from. Researcher Daniel St Clare, still in Rosa’s thrall six months after they split, sets off with his colleague Em Hayward in tow to consult an expert. Somewhere between St Petersburg and Arkhangelsk, the travellers lose their way and become stranded in the forgotten wastes of Skazki, where people and creatures from Russia’s magical past have lived in exile since Mir (Russian for “world”) converted to Christianity. Only Em’s pragmatism, Daniel’s knowledge of folk tales and a few pieces of gold can keep them alive until Rosa crosses the titular veil and brings them home. To do this she must unravel the web of the Chenchikov family and, along the way, face up to a few of the skeletons in her own cupboard. Interludes from the ageless and enigmatic Papa Grigory serve to tie these initially disparate plot threads together, telling us why the realms of Mir and Skazki separated and how he proposes to unite them again

In the speech she gave at Rosa and the Veil of Gold’s launch party, Kim described her then latest work as “a historical novel, wrapped in a love story, wrapped in a supernatural thriller.” It is all these things and so much more, plunging its readers and characters alike into a Russia they never knew existed.

Ever mindful of the next generation, Kim has written several books for adolescent readers. From Bloodlace to Nightshade the six -and counting- mysteries starring teenage psychic Gina Champion would (if your correspondent had his way) outsell those of a certain bespectacled boy wizard. Although she enjoys writing them, Kim acknowledges they are not her first priority. “The ‘adult’ novels are where I really focus on something that fascinates me, and I follow it for years and obsess about it and so on,” she explains. “Writing Gina is a lot of fun, and it's very easy. There's nowhere near the sweat goes into them.”

Kim’s most recent output is also intended for a younger audience. With illustrations by Adelaide’s own D.M. Cornish, the four volume Sunken Kingdom series pits royal orphans Asa and Rollo against the evil court magician Flood. Throughout Ghost Ship, Tide Stealers, Sorcerer of the Waves and The Star Queen, they must rescue their baby sister Una, avenge their parents’ deaths and give hope to the people of the drowned Star Lands while outrunning sky patrols, taking back stolen moonstones, battling sea giants and defeating every other obstacle Flood puts in their way as they race to confront him at Castle Crag. Written as a diversion from what Kim calls “the big, fat books”, the Sunken Kingdom quartet proves that you can’t keep a fertile imagination down, even when its owner had intended to take a break.

With a bit of luck and a lot of persistence, determined readers may be able to gather a complete set of the shorter pieces Kim has submitted to anthologies. These include a pseudonymous contribution to the erotic horror collection Scream For Me, the Arthurian adventure The Death of Pamela, Vanity’s Bewitchment (which draws its inspiration from the Greek legend of Echo and Narcissus), The House on Candle Grove and last but not least, an illustrated chapbook with the unforgettable title Space Boogers. Some of these stories are still in circulation and others are available online, but alas Kim has no immediate plans to make completists’ lives easier by issuing them all in one volume. “If I thought any publisher would be remotely interested, I would, but… I tend to write them and leave them behind.”

Despite the strain that writing and academic responsibilities place on her time, Kim has become a regular on the convention circuit, notching up appearances at Continuum, Worldcon, Swancon, Conflux and Conjure, and has developed a taste for the finest in cult television. She enjoys mid-seventies Doctor Who, listing “the one with the blue crystals and Tommy” (Planet of the Spiders), The Hand of Fear, The Seeds of Doom and Pyramids of Mars among her favourites, and once described The X-Files’ Mulder and Scully as “the coolest geeks on TV.”

“I preferred the creepy X-Files that weren't so invested in the Mulder mythology,” she says “My memory of actual episodes is not so great, but I loved the one with the guy that got into dreams, the guy who was abducting little children and the one with the guy who had to keep driving or his head would pop. All of the ones filmed in Canada were superior to the ones filmed in LA.”

It’s safe to assume that television isn’t high on Kim’s list of priorities at the moment. As of now she is hard at work on “a non-supernatural saga about love and memories and music”, which is only one of “three good new ideas (that) I’m sure I won’t be able to leave… alone for very long.”

While you’re waiting for any or all of these new books, learn more about the past, present and future of one of Australia’s most distinctive and addictive literary voices by visiting her official site at www.kimwilkins.com or her authorised fan page http://destined.to/hexebartswell .