Barbara Hannay Romance Author ~ Visit Barb's Corner of the World

Let's face it, Aussie blokes are gorgeous! Just take a look at our exports to Hollywood - Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Heath Ledger.

I have good news - there are plenty more where they came from. And if you want to look for the quintessential hunky Australian male, you can't go past the outback hero in an Australian romance novel!

The Australian Outback is a unique environment. It can be stark, lonely, and at times cruel, but nevertheless, it has a romantic aura and a unique appeal not unlike the appeal of a remote, tortured but desperately gorgeous hero!

Although most Australians (including me) live on the coast, we all identify strongly with the bush and the Outback. We're proud of our country's amazing red centre and its reputation for unusual rugged beauty combined with danger. So it seems natural for me, as an Aussie romance writer, to set many of my stories in the Outback.

This demanding environment breeds strong, fit men, who look divine as well as being extremely competent and courageous. They are stunning examples of untamed masculinity! And of course they need feisty, resilient women as their soul mates.

Here is a photo I took on the set of the movie Australia. From everything I’ve read, this movie captures the mystery and the grandeur and the people of the Outback perfectly. It was filmed at Bowen, just to the south of where I live and it’s to be released in November, 2008, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

My husband shares my love of the Outback and has expressed his appreciation of “ its beauty and its terror” in the following bush verse…

Have you heard the curlew’s mournful cry

And the sounds of the bush at night,

When the camp fire’s light begins to die

And the bats screech off in fright?

Have you heard the night wind moan and sigh

Or the scream of an unseen owl,

When the moon is lost in a clouded sky

And the dogs begin to howl?

Or does the darkness hold no fear,

When shadows cross the land,

When shy bush creatures venture near

And nature shows her hand?

I’m happy when the world turns dark

And the cross stands in the sky,

When the camp fire sheds its final spark

And my soul is free to fly.

Elliot Hannay

Image courtesy of Tourism Queensland

I live in Townsville in North Queensland. Another way to explain this is to tell you it's on the coast in the top right hand corner of Australia just before the pointy bit starts (also known as Cape York!).

I feel that I'm lucky to live in the tropical north of Australia as it provides me with many inspiring settings for my romance stories.

If I travel an hour in any direction, I can be on the magnificent Great Barrier Reef, or the Wet Tropics Rainforest or in the Outback with its vast cattle stations.

I have spent many happy holidays with my family travelling in this region, often camping and canoeing in remote wilderness locations and enjoying the traditional hospitality of the people of the Australian bush. That's why I love to set so many of my romances in this very special part of the world.

I now spend more and more time in a little cottage on a misty green hillside in another of my favourite parts of North Queensland – Tarzali on the Atherton Tableland. A perfect writing retreat…

For more information visit the to Townsville Online.