Meet Leearna Shaw author of A Farm in Golden Clouds
- Allen & Unwin
- Apr 17
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 17
In our debut spotlight series, we introduce you to your next favourite authors. This month, meet Leearna Shaw!
About Leearna
A&U: What was your favourite book or author growing up?
LS: I was obsessed with The Saddle Club and Goosebumps series growing up, and would read them over and over.
A&U: What did you want to be when you were a child?
LS: An author, of course! I wrote a short story about a mean frog who had to learn to be kind to get his friends back, and the teacher loved it so much she asked me to read it out loud in front of the class. I was hooked on writing from that moment!
A&U: What is your Roman Empire? (A thing you think about far too often)
LS: Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’ chemistry and banter in You’ve Got Mail.
A&U: If you could travel anywhere in the world instantly, where would you go?
LS: Hawaii, to see where one of my favourite movies (Jurassic Park) was filmed.
A&U: What are you reading right now or looking forward to reading this year?
LS: I’m currently reading What Is Left For Us by Sophie Stern, but I also can’t wait to read Maya Linnell’s new book, Sunrise at Sunny Cross Farm, which is coming out in June this year.
About Writing
A&U: Tell us about your writing journey; did you always want to be an author?
LS: Absolutely. English and Literature were my favourite subjects at school, and I was that dorky student who loved silent reading time. I started a Journalism degree after high school, but ended up pivoting to study Professional Writing & Editing at RMIT. After graduating, I wrote 5 or 6 manuscripts before sitting down to write A Farm in Golden Clouds.
A&U: Tell us about your writing process. Are you a planner, pantser – something in between?
LS: Definitely somewhere in between—I plan all my stories, but only in my head. I only begin writing once I have the beginning, middle and ending and at least ten or so key scenes locked in. Once I start, I try to finish that first draft in three or four months so the ideas stay fresh.
A&U: Did you have a writing playlist for your book, and if so, what was on it?
My playlist changes for each book I’m writing, but Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Benson Boone and Taylor Swift generally cameo in all of them.
A&U: Do you have any special quirks when you write? (A certain mug you must use, a candle you have to light etc.)
LS: I have two tiny cow figurines that sit on my desk that are named after our old Herefords, Heidi and Holly. They keep me company during long days writing at my desk!
A&U: If you could give some words of wisdom to yourself from when you first started writing this book, what would it be?
LS: Don’t give up! Even when it all feels too hard, just keep writing, because that persistence will be the reason you’ll get to hold your debut novel in your hands one day.
About the book
A&U: Where did the initial spark of inspiration for A Farm in Golden Clouds come from?
LS: My family and I had moved to a small farm in 2019, and only a few weeks later my husband had a terrifying mishap with a ride-on mower. Luckily, he was okay, but I found myself wondering how my life would’ve changed if I’d been left all alone with a farm I had no idea what to do with, seven sheep I had no clue how to look after and two children. It was this initial idea that went on to become the premise for A Farm in Golden Clouds.
A&U: Share a little bit about your journey to publication. Were you querying for a while? Or did it all happen very fast.
LS: I was in the querying trenches for a long time, but I wasn’t ready to give up on that manuscript yet; something about this story wouldn’t let me go. After a spate of rejections, I decided to enrol in a Romance Writing course with the Australian Writer’s Centre to see if I could pinpoint what was missing or what I needed to work on. Once I completed the course, I decided to give it one last go by submitting it to writing competitions in the hope of receiving feedback that might help me get noticed by an agent or a publisher. One of these competitions was the Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, which, incredibly, I ended up winning. Three weeks later I was offered a two-book deal with my dream publisher and life hasn’t looked the same since!
A&U: Is there anything about the publishing process that has really surprised you?
LS: I was surprised at how much of a team effort it is to publish a book. There are so many people working in the background alongside the author and they all play a significant role in getting the book off the ground. I was beyond lucky to work with a dream team at Allen & Unwin.
A&U: Is there a part of A Farm in Golden Clouds that made you cry, laugh, or scream while writing it?
LS: There’s a scene where Indi is helping birth a calf, and I felt everything while writing that scene; dread, sorrow, joy and laughter. It’s one of my favourites in the book, and I hope it resonates with readers the same way it did for me.
A&U: What is one thing you would like people to take away from reading A Farm in Golden Clouds?
LS: That falling in love is always a good idea, even when it ends in heartbreak. In the words of Ethan Hawke: “When you’re feeling, you’re alive.” And also that strength doesn’t have to be loud or epic; it can be found in the smaller moments, like getting out of bed each morning to face another day, picking yourself up to try one more time, and fighting every day for what—and who—you love.
A Farm in Golden Clouds is available now from your book retailer of choice.
A Farm in Golden Clouds
by Leearna Shaw
What if you found the love of your life ... and then lost them? A heartwarming new rural romance from a rising star, perfect for fans of Karly Lane, Maya Linnell and Rachael Johns.
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