Biography. Pat Toomer
Pat Toomer is
a lifelong reader with an eclectic taste in literature ranging from Louisa May
Alcott to whodunnits and everything in between.
A career in
Nursing and Midwifery, then later, a Degree in Social Work, informs the strong
emotions felt during her career, introduced into her writing.
Along with a
colleague, Pat initiated an older women’s theatre group, the ‘Silver Sirens.’ A
career highlight for her, proving that one is never too old to try new things.
Her first book-length manuscript follows soldiers returning from the First
World War with tuberculosis, and the woman who cared for them.
Pat is a former judge of the
Primary School section, and now coordinator of the Laura Literary Awards, that
attracts over three hundred entries Australia wide.
The young
O’Reilly family in the harsh 1880s Western Australia, is her novel in
progress.
A family tragedy changes the lives of William
and his small children, Molly and Ellen. Young as they are, the girls learn skills
that will take them into the future, despite an abusive adult in Molly's life, and the trauma of young lives devastated by loss.
William searches for answers in
the newly discovered goldfields of Western Australia that test his resilience
and perseverance when the adventure threatens his life.
A whimsical sense of humour lightens the darker
days and runs throughout. The story is one of love and desire, heartbreak and grief, adventure, bad choices, and consequences.
Pat’s family,
with their unique, quirky sense of humour, infiltrates her writing.
Singing gives
her much pleasure, not always appreciated by an embarrassed daughter, known to
jab an elbow into her ribs in the Mall. Undeterred, she sings with Crystal
Singers in Crystal Brook and practices short story writing each month with the
Rocky River ‘Riters.
A research
trip to WA, put on hold because of COVID, has been a delight in September of 2022.
Pat Toomer 2022
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