Surf Coast author releases debut novel

SURF Coast local Chrissie Mios, writing as Chrissie Bellbrae, has made her debut as a novelist, releasing her first book last month.

The Florentine Quilt is inspired by the Arthurian legend of Tristan and Isolde, surrounding the lives of three women connected to a medieval quilt and the ancient tale of forbidden love.

Also partly inspired by the author’s family story, the multi-timeline narrative is set in Cornwell, Florence and Melbourne.

Ms Bellbrae said writing the book and getting everything together has taken her a long time, and after COVID and a major health scare she decided life was too short, and made her debut as an author on January 22: her 63rd birthday.

“It’s been a bit of a journey. I have been seriously writing for the last 10 years and been through the whole rejection and almost getting there.

“There’s been quite a few hurdles and last year I just got to the point where I thought I’m not getting any younger and I don’t know how much time I’ve got; you tend to go down that sort of path when you’re hit with a life crisis.”

The author has been interested in writing since a young age, and once her children were old enough, she got back into the craft, doing some short courses and connecting with other writers.

Ms Bellbrae enjoyed the research side of her book, basing one of her characters off a real person who was rumoured to have an affair with Edward VII.

This storyline led to a series of “what if” questions and the story started to develop from there and her writing started to flow.

“Everything seemed to come together and it sounds like a bit of a cliché, but just like a patchwork quilt, all the pieces were falling into place.

“Even the character Florence, who I had to do the research on, we were travelling overseas to Italy and I just had connections with people that knew of her and knew her story and they just appeared on the path.

“There was a lot of that with this story, which is lovely, and that’s when you get into a sweet spot writing.”

Ms Bellbrae said she would definitely write a second story, although maybe not another one about a quilt.

The Florentine Quilt is available now from Torquay Books, Bookgrove in Ocean Grove, and online.