New Voices #12 - Food meets Crimance

Fri, 4 September 2020

This episode is entirely about misbehaviour and rebellion and people who won’t be told what to do or how to classify their work. Our writer, Julie-Ann Wrightson, is a bit of a rebel herself - she was expelled from high school in Newcastle (mind boggles). However she had her own rebellion at hand when her body started to become intolerant of a wide range of chemicals, natural and unnatural in her everyday food. With the ardour and resistance movement demeanour of Boadicea, the famous Briton queen of the Britons, Julie-Ann fought every obstacle in her path to regain her health. And equally importantly she did not want to be condemned to a life of bland food - a flavourless life.

Her book is a wonderful mixture of journaling, storytelling, facts and figures, education and cookbook where she gives recipes for her favourite foods, but recreated to take into consideration a wide range of food intolerances.

Her critiquer is a health professional with a doctorate, whose initial reaction is admiration and excitement. This is something she believes can help others by making the information accessible and entertaining without taking away the seriousness of the issues. But who is she? Dr X has taken on the nom de plume of K.C. Cox, chosen because it is a ‘C’ and will sit in the middle of a bookshop shelf at eye level. And what is she writing? Why CrimeAnce of course - the genre that is a melding of crime and romance. She is crafting a flawed female lead character who is setting out to investigate internet dating scammers. Despite her very successful and serious career in health, K.C. Cox is immersing her self in creative writing, which she says, puts her in her very happy place. And which her kids like a lot more.

So - rebellion and misbehaviour abounds, and the most grievous of all is the dreadful descent into punning - I feel I should blame Julie-Ann, but I have a feeling she would be proud of being a ‘bad influence’. Novocastrians.

By Maria Issaris, missaris@2rph.org.au

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Julie-Ann Wrightson, Writer

[Image: Julie-Anne Wrightson]

Day job: Public Servant.

Writing: ‘Eating with the Enemy’ - Self Help for Food Intolerance.

Bio: Julie-Ann Wrightson is a Western Sydney-based writer who enjoys creating short stories and non-fiction projects. Julie-Ann has been published in various local magazines, Zines and anthologies. She was the 2014 Winner of the New Writers Group spoken word competition. Her current non-fiction work – Eating with the Enemy is a story about the day to day challenges of living with Food Intolerances. Julie-Ann manages 13 complex food intolerances on a daily basis, and it has taken her nearly seven years to work it all out.

Having reached what might be considered ‘Olympic’ standards of craving, eating, then getting sick; Julie-Ann has a lived experience of extreme physical reactions to certain foods, food chemicals and additives. ​She believes in being completely upfront with her experiences and the knowledge she shares. She tells her story to start more conversations, and to show that you are not alone.

Eating with the Enemy is due to be published in the first half of 2021.

K.C. Cox, Critiquer

[Image: K.C. Cox]

Day job: Health Professional.

Writing: Crimance

Bio: K.C. Cox writes about the darker side of life, the mysterious and intriguing, the relationships that test us and the primal urges that bring trouble. Fascinated about love, power, and money her characters take us into their everyday world; it could easily be someone you know. Previously a health professional with a doctorate in behavioural sciences in medicine, K.C. has witnessed life at its best and worst. K.C. takes us behind our social masks revealing the complexities of the human condition. This genre is most typically crimance (crime and romance).

Episode 12 is being broadcast at 5.30pm on Monday 7 September, and repeated at 1.30pm on Sunday 13 September! Tune in on 2RPH - 1224AM, 100.5FM, digital DAB+ and web streaming - www.2rph.org.au.