Inspired by rural Australia, her eighth novel, “An Uncommon Woman” conveys her love of the land. 

It was Nicole’s great-grandfather who first selected the property in 1893, with Merino sheep an early focus.

“Then of course, over the years, we diversified,” Ms Alexander said.

“We began to crop more in the seventies, lessened the sheep numbers in the eighties and increased our Hereford herd.”

The downsizing of their rural holdings in 2016 and the passing of her father, Ian Alexander earlier this year has lead to a need to restructure the business and intensify production.

Emphasis remains on their Hereford breeding program with some of their cows having just come back in from the long paddock under the care of manager Bill O’Neill and the remainder agisted in both Queensland and NSW, while they wait for much needed rain.

“I know the phrase ‘big sky country’ is used over and over, but to be out in the bush when there’s a full moon… it’s an all-encompassing feeling of being surrounded by something greater than you,” she said.

A love of reading was one of the many gifts passed down to Nicole from her parents, Ian and Marita Alexander, as was the seed of an idea for each of her novels.

The idea for her latest novel, “An Uncommon Woman” came from an article she came across by accident. 

In a 1933 Tasmanian Examiner newspaper article, Ms Alexander stumbled across the headline, “Station Sold to Woman”. It briefly reported that a married woman had purchased a Queensland pastoral property.

The fact that the buying of land by a woman warranted an article in an island state far removed from the dusty interior of Queensland signified the uniqueness of the event.

Nicole will be in Goondiwindi on Thursday August 17 to launch the book and conduct a writers’ workshop. Contact the library for more details.

It’s all part of the Goondiwindi Poetry and Arts Festival which will include workshops, performances and exhibitions.