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Maleny business owner
releases new book
by Cameron  Outridge

Author and local business owner Prue Mason released her latest book Camel Rider on Monday, September 6. The book is Mrs Mason’s first published young adult novel and follows an Australian boy’s and a Muslim boy’s adventures in the desert of the Middle East during the civil war.  Aimed at 11-to-14 year-olds, Mrs Mason said Camel Rider was based on her own experiences during her 12 years living in Dubai.

“I was writing about what I knew. I wanted to do something constructive about the problems of children of poor families in that region being bought and sold,” she said. Mrs Mason had previously co-authored an autobiography with an Iranian lady about her childhood and life in Iran before and during the time of the Shah.

Mrs Mason said she had waited a long time for her dream to come true. “I sent the original manuscript to Penguin and waited. It took nearly six months for them to reply but they said they liked the idea and the story and the style of it, so after what seems like an infinite number of redrafts it is finally a reality,” she said.

Mrs Mason moved overseas with her husband who worked flying for the Sheihks of Dubai, before he began working with Emirates airlines. During her stay Mrs Mason worked full time as a writer for a children’s newspaper while living in Dubai, as well as writing for a number of for other publications around the world. Mrs Mason, who also owns Rowan House in Maleny, said she hoped to establish a writers and artists retreat at her guest house.

“It (Rowan House) has been a lot of fun but it hasn’t given me much time to continue writing as much as I’d like and now I’m working towards making it a writer’s and artists retreat. Since being here we’ve had a number of writers stay. Bec Sparrow, of The Girl Most Likely fame, came and worked on her second novel here and found it inspirational,” Mrs Mason said. Mrs Mason is now about a quarter of the way through a first draft of another story for a similar age group.

Camel Rider is available from most bookshops, including Capers Books in Montville and Rosetta Books in Maleny.


Prue Mason looks over her newly-published novel.

• Our thanks once again to Cameron & Tanya Outridge of the Range News Newspaper for this story.