WHAT ANITA HEISS WANTS...

By Tara Ali Photography by Daniel Smith

“I take a deep breath and remember I’ve never headbutted a microphone,” says Anita Heiss while sitting in a cafe at Sydney’s Maroubra beach, sharing a piece of nerve-calming advice she was offered when invited to give a public speech. “It was a fundraiser for Indigenous health and people had paid $200 a ticket. I was panicking that I’d stuff up. Professor Michael McDaniel [the Dean of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Sydney] said to me, ‘What’s your track record? Have you ever messed it up?’ And I thought no, I’ve never fallen off the stage or had anybody tell me what a crap job I’ve done. Now I always remind myself of this before I get up.”

It’s hard to believe the 41-year old writer gets performance angst. She has more strings to her bow than the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As well as holding a PhD in communication and media, and publishing three successful “chick lit” novels, including her new book Manhattan Dreaming , she has works published in historical fiction, poetry, social commentary and travel writing. Once a week she works for the University of Queensland, helping them build a database of everything ever published by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.

Somehow she also finds time to volunteer as a literary ambassador, talking to Indigenous children about her one true love – books. “I teach the kids to read and write and help them to create their own characters.”

Tucking into a breakfast of chilli scrambled eggs, Heiss oozes warmth, sass and self-assurance. Despite this, she admits to experiencing the kind of anxiety that’s familiar to any high-achieving woman. “I put an enormous amount of expectation on myself, far greater than any imposed on me by others,” she says. “It plays itself out in my inability to sleep. I’ve tamed the problem by exercising more – simply to tire myself out.” She often mulls over creative ideas on early morning beach strolls. “A writer’s diet isn’t always a healthy one,” she admits. “I’m on the road a lot, or I’ll be finishing a book and fuelling myself with cans of V, but luckily I love walking everywhere.”

WRITE TO LIFE
Writing is in Heiss’s DNA. Growing up in Matraville, “between Sydney’s Long Bay jail and the Malabar sewage works,” to an Aboriginal mother and an Austrian father, she joined an international pen-pal program as a kid, and sent home 20-page letters 20 years later when she backpacked across Europe. One of the things that makes her happy is having her hands in so many pies. “My diverse writing life reflects the diversity of my everyday existence,” she says. “Even my novels deal with Aboriginal politics.”

Heiss’s piercing blue eyes light up when talking about Manhattan Dreaming, the third in a series, which also features Not Meeting Mr Right and Avoiding Mr Right. It follows the life of Lauren, a curator at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra who relocates to New York, leaving behind the man she loves but who consistently stamps on her self-esteem. Heiss’s chick lit pennings are full of shopping, dates, shoes and cocktails, all viewed through the eyes of a Koori woman. “I’m a method writer,” she admits. “I really get into my characters. When I was in New York researching the story I visited all the museums, galleries and bars that are in the book. I went there knowing Lauren’s story, I know that’s she’s getting on a plane and she’s going to miss this guy, that’s she’s really work-focused. Then I’d blog it on MySpace, ‘Lauren and I are in New York’, pretending to be in character.”

LOVE AND STUFF
A sign on the wall at an exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan museum last year spelled out the words “Amore vole fe”, which in Latin means “love needs faith”. In Manhattan Dreaming, Lauren takes these words as a sign, to boost her faith in the notion of love at a point when hers is dwindling. Heiss is wearing a silver pendant inscribed with the same phrase. She admits she’s hooked on the idea of finding the same kind of love her parents had. “My father worshipped Mum, he brushed her hair and put the petrol in her car. It was old-school romance, he courted her.... Which today we would call stalking,” she finishes with a cackle. Currently single, Heiss had a hoot with the men in New York. “It’s easy to get a date there,” she says. “Everyone’s so friendly. You’re sitting in a cafe and they’ll just start talking to you. It’s definitely good for your self-confidence.”

NO WORRIES
It’s hard to believe that it’s only men overseas who fall under this woman’s spell. She seems super comfortable in her own skin, and her joie de vivre is infectious. “Nobody tells you that when you get to your 40s, you suddenly stop worrying about all the things that used to riddle your self-esteem,” she says. “My mother told me I begged her to take me to Weight-Watchers at age 11, and I used to weigh myself three times a day. You get to the point where you just don’t care. I used to worry about maintaining friendships when I got really busy, now I say that life is a complete cycle, and new cycles begin. I feel the happiest I’ve ever been.”

As a young 30-something, life for Heiss was different. She regularly overcommitted herself, was 10 kilos heavier and felt too busy to date anyone. Her secret to creating the life she wanted: “I’ve been seeing a life coach since 2003. She gets me to set short goals, then break down the steps to get there, and I sign a contract saying I will commit to this. My long-term goal was to be where I am now, writing full-time or only taking on projects that are in some way related to writing and publishing. I had to learn how to say no – if you say yes every time someone asks you to do something you’re putting your own needs to the bottom of the list.”

Despite having life the way she likes it, nobody could accuse Heiss of resting on her laurels. “I want to go on Oprah!” she says. “I own the anniversary collection of her show and it’s so inspiring. When she started her show she told the producer ‘I’m fat, I’m black and that’s not going to change’ and went from there. She never let her cultural background or physical appearance hold her back.”

Like Carrie Bradshaw, Heiss is a fan of rewarding herself once a writing project is completed. “I give myself gifts from Tiffany’s stores I visit around the world,” she says. “I’m going to buy something from the Perth store when I launch Manhattan Dreaming. I learnt through life coaching that overachievers typically never stop to recognise what they do. So now each month I document the things that have been great emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. It makes me feel good. I also post five things I’m grateful for every day on Facebook. The key is consolidation. I now have a record of all the great things that have happened to me.” As Heiss waves goodbye, she tells me she’s on her way to read to some local Aboriginal children. Seems this bookworm will never stop.

THE MAKING OF A WRITER

Heiss offers advice on how to coax out your inner best-seller (hey, if Jordan can do it…)
1. READ
“Anybody who thinks they can write a book who hasn’t read widely is kidding themselves. To help find your voice, read across genre, geography, age and gender and identify what works on the page for you. Pay attention to all the different styles so you can start developing your own.”

2. JOIN A GROUP
“If you’re serious about being a professional writer you need to join a writers’ group. It’s support, once a week or maybe once a month, and will drive you to prepare something. You’re opening your world to criticism and feedback from other readers and writers. Scary but necessary.” For a list of writers centres in Australia, go to asauthors.org.

3. JUST WRITE
“Get something on paper. Or your PC. Just get the words out of your head. Don’t worry about having perfect grammar – just start writing the story. Always carry a notepad and make lists of what you want to write about, or even develop a character by jotting down some questions that someone else might ask about her.”

For more information about Anita Heiss - check out her website.