Novelist brings two sides to WA’s story – and the profits go to NFPs

David has written a book, Diamond of the Desert, which he believes is unique in incorporating Indigenous ‘truth-telling’ into a fictional storyline, and he’s offering the book for free to not-for-profit organisations to sell, allowing them to receive 100 per cent of the cover price in exchange for helping the novel travel into the wider world.

The book will be launched this Saturday, November 1, and tells what Wray calls “the first historically accurate fiction that tells the full story of colonial expansion”.

“It’s guaranteed to educate as it entertains,” he told the Community Advocate.

Diamond of the Desert, which David has self-published, is set against the backdrop of European expansion into northern WA in the 1850s.

Wray believes the core theme – the influence of cultural beliefs, and the transformative power of education – will resonate with readers, and he feels the timing of that message is important.

“Albany was founded in 1826 and Perth is 1829,” Wray said. “So the next three years are going to be the time to have that debate, which we didn’t have at the 150th anniversary. I remember that – 1979 – and there was not a single mention of Aboriginal people in any of that. So, this time around, that’s not going to be the case. There will be debate and it’ll bring up all of the ugliness that you saw through things like Australia Day ‘change the date’.

“What I’m hoping is that the book can just kind of educate people a little bit. I’ve included a couple of literary sub-themes, which are a Dreaming story about greed and connection.

“Connection is the way forward for reconciliation.”

Speaking to the Community Advocate, Wray said non-Indigenous storytelling tended not to truthfully revisit how First Nations and European peoples first engaged, or how the relationship disintegrated.

“The English culture at the time was all about ‘they [First Nations peoples] will come round to realise that our way is the right and proper way, and the natives will adapt soon enough when they see that our way is better’,” he said. “So, for the first 20 years, over here in WA, things were kind of largely amicable, but then expansion happened and that’s what the book is about, that expansion and the impact on Aboriginal people alongside these settlers flooding into the old lands. So, it’s significant.”

Wray said he had been buoyed by the reaction of beta readers, who had read the unpublished manuscript. “They said that they had no idea about those truths, and these are all intelligent, well-educated, moderate people, and yet they’d never really been confronted by things like ‘black birding’ and dispossession of lands and economic and social collapse.”

The latest figures available from the Australian Society of Authors show that the average writer of literary nonfiction in this country earns $14,500 per year from their work, which means many writers earn less. This is why Wray decided to forego his potential income in favour of helping non-government organisations and not-for-profits and chasing greater visibility.

“I thought getting the book into the hands of people is the hard part, and I thought, I wonder if some NGOs could actually do it?” he said. “Could they sell books to their board, supporters and networks, and get the benefit of the profit from it? A bit like the old chocolate drives.

“The stats are shocking for traditionally published authors,” he added. “The only selling ones are romance, and it’s just really, really hard getting it out there, but that’s what I want to do. I want it in people’s hands because as far as I can work out, this is the first book, at least for West Australia, to tell the Aboriginal story alongside the colonial story. It’s important.”

Wray is offering 100 per cent of book sales to any NGO or NFP willing to take on the challenge. To participate, organisations only need to email david@switchconsultancy.org and describe what they would plan to do with the proceeds of sales.

“It may be a Yarning event with local elders; supporting staff attendance to a conference; or perhaps a NAIDOC Week event,” he said. “It’s up to you.”