It’s this disciplined dedication to her craft which has allowed Fiona to write 33 small books and five novels whilst raising five children and working as a midwife. Her medical romance novels have sold millions of copies.

Fiona has been a midwife at the Kempsey District Hospital for 30 years, a role which has heavily influenced her writing, including her latest novel ‘Heart of the Sky’, which will be released on January 30.

“I’m genuinely in awe of the midwives I work with,” she says. “My writing is based on what I know. I couldn’t do the old secretary romance. I could only do medical romance, which has become a genre of its own.”

The author began writing when she was 30 and had her first book published 10 years later.

“I always knew I wanted to be a writer but it took me a while to get going because I had four children under five at home,” she says. “When they were little, I began to get up at 4am and write until 6am, and I still do that now.

“I write 500 words every morning. I started out writing smaller books because it was doable and then I began to write longer novels over time.”

“I love the whole process. My characters make me laugh all the time! The good days of writing are worth every second.”

Now her children have grown up and moved away, Fiona loves to travel both in Australia and overseas.

“Travel really stimulates me and gives me great ideas,” she says. “All the special moments in time end up in one of my books.”

“My husband, Ian, and I travel in Australia to research my books – places like Broken Hill and Charleville. I am so inspired by the women of the outback.”

Fiona’s latest novel, ‘Heart of the Sky’ follows the journey of Tess Daley, who has accepted the position as a breast cancer nurse in an outback town. The novel is heavily influenced by the ‘stoic outback women’ who are “disadvantaged by distance but not immune to disease”.It celebrates the role of breast cancer nurses and the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the lives of rural women.

“The people and landscapes of the outback genuinely inspire me,” she says. “I have been deeply moved by the breast cancer nurses in rural areas who provide so much more than medical care for their patients. They are incredibly compassionate, empathetic people.”

“My mum had breast cancer so I saw what she went through. I researched a breast cancer nurse in Macks ville who really inspired me.”

“That said, I never base my characters on anyone I know – I just take a bit of this person and a bit of that person. I hope breast cancer nurses like the book.”

Fiona’s part-time work as a midwifery educator for student midwives and her writing keeps her busy but she says life couldn’t be better.

“I’ve got my beautiful midwifery world and my writing world, and I have family, and I get to travel,” she says. “I’m just a housewife from Kempsey and I’ve done all these amazing things!”

Despite visiting far flung locations, Fiona is happy to return to the farm in Clybucca where she resides with her husband, Ian, a retired paramedic.

“We love living here,” she says. “We came from Sydney when we decided to have a family and we’ve never looked back. The people, the sport, the ocean – it’s all wonderful!”

With a truck load of books under her belt, Fiona is well-placed to offer advice to budding local authors. 

“You can do anything,” she says. “My kids have learned that there are no boundaries to what they can achieve.”

Fiona McArthur will give a talk on her book ‘Heart of the Sky’ at the Kempsey Library on February 23.