A Q&A with Lorena Carrington

In 5 words, describe your book A Puzzling Pursuit.

Puzzling (obviously). Mysterious. Adventurous. Australian. Fun!

When did your love of puzzles begin?

I’ve loved puzzles for as long as I can remember. I was obsessed with Graeme Base’s The Eleventh Hour (https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-eleventh-hour-a-curious-mystery-9780140541489) when I was young. So much so that I’d start seeing little hidden mice in real life. And also Masquerade by Kit Williams. It inspired a real-life treasure hunt back in the early 80s, with a golden hare hidden somewhere in the UK. It felt deeply unfair that I was all the way over in Australia, and was reading it several years too late. The treasure had already been found. I also had a lot of other puzzle books, magic tricks, Rubik’s cubes - oh and those 3D wooden puzzles that fall apart into random shapes, then fit back together into a perfect sphere or cube. Yes, before you ask, I was an only child. 

Besides your job of writing and creating puzzles, what are some of your hobbies?

To be honest, one of my biggest hobbies is writing cryptic crosswords for friends and family. My partner James and I also solve cryptic crosswords over lunch every day. We tackle the Guardian puzzles during the week, then The Saturday Paper on the weekend, written by Minute Cryptic’s Liam Runnalls (https://www.penguin.com.au/books/minute-cryptic-9781761355868). I have recently taken up pottery though, and I’m a little obsessed. It’s very hard for your brain to think about anything else when you’re trying to wrangle a ball of clay into something recognisable. And between throwing, trimming, glazing (so much chemistry) and firing, there are so many new things to learn!

The book takes us on a fun-filled journey across Australia; how did you choose which iconic locations to feature in your book?

I started with a list of well know Australian places and motifs, and built up a list of possible themes chapters from them. Then I created a classic murder-wall: quite literally a big map, sticky-notes, little print-outs, complete with a long trail of red string! There were so many I would have loved to include, but either I ran of space, or they just didn’t fit within the journey. Readers, if you have a special place you love, or think I should have obviously included, please know that it was probably on my list, and I tried! There are just so many interesting places to go.

Out of the 100 clever puzzles, do you have a favourite puzzle that you enjoyed creating the most?

It’s hard to talk about my favourite without giving away spoilers! There is one at the end of a case that brings together a string of visual clues I dropped through the previous puzzles within that case. I won’t tell you which one it was, but it was great fun to plan!

A lot of the fun was also calling up my long-suffering offspring (hi Mari and Rosa!) to brainstorm ideas with me. Luckily they inherited my love of puzzles!

For someone who is intimated to take on puzzle book, why is your book one they should pick up?

For one thing, you’ll be please to know that you do not need any special puzzling skills to tackle this book. I also wrote it very consciously for a range of different audiences. Yes, it’s a puzzle book, but that’s only half of it. The story is just as important and entertaining, at least I hope so! I wanted A Puzzling Pursuit to be a book for every reader. Some of you will just be in it for the puzzle solving, and others will only care about the story. Both options will be a good time! And if you’re the type to go through methodically reading and solving as you go, then you get a doubly fun experience! And if if you’re still wary of all those puzzles, never fear, there are hints of every page…

What was the process like of writing a story with over 10 cases and weaving in puzzles to compliment?

Structurally, the book felt almost fractal-like to plan. One single adventure, ten cases to solve within that story, and then ten puzzles to solve within each case. Everything had to stand alone while also fitting together seamlessly together. And then all I had to do was create a realistic journey that included every state and territory, cover as many places as possible, craft satisfying standalone cases within the overarching story, and then dream up and construct a puzzle for each page!

Honestly, I got to tell people I was busy ‘working’, when really I was just having the best time fitting together a giant puzzle. So I hope you like the solving of it as much as I loved the writing of it!