Debut novelist takes inspiration from ANU
A copy of Olmec Obituary. Image supplied by LJ Owen.
One of the first rules of writing is to write what you know. ANU Archaeology and Anthropology alumna LJ Owen has done just that, injecting what she learned and experienced at the ANU into her first novel.
Olmec Obituary is an ambitious feat, the first of nine books following the travails of young archaeologist and librarian Dr Elizabeth Pimms.
LJ laughed while describing where her protagonist earned her Archaeology degree and subsequent PhD.
“Elizabeth studied at a fictional university set in Canberra,” LJ said coyly.
She added that she didn’t want to be limited by reality and was instead inspired by certain places in creating the settings for her series.
“I spent some time at Durham University and Oxford. So the version of the university I have in my head incorporates elements from those UK universities as well as the ANU.”
In book one, Dr Pimms investigates 3,200-year-old remains of 17 Olmec people discovered in a cave in Mexico. It’s described as a ‘really cold case’, determining how these people died and how they came to be buried together.
Dr Pimms applies the knowledge she gained from studying bioanthropology and archaeology at the fictional Canberra university and examines the Olmec remains in its laboratory.
LJ said the lab was inspired by the bioanthropology labs she worked in at the ANU.
“I don’t think it looks or smells or feels the same when you go there these days because it’s been updated,” she said.
“But I fell in love with that environment when I was studying there and that particular room. And I wanted to keep that room in my version of the university, even if now it’s quite a modern space.
LJ felt it essential that the science in her novel was real and accurate.
“If I read a Kathy Reichs book, I love that as I’m reading a description of a skeleton, before she’s come to a conclusion as to who this person was, I know from her description if she’s describing a male or a female, someone’s relative age, she might be finding signs of that person’s ethnicity.
“So I wanted to make sure what I wrote in terms of the scientific detail was correct so someone like me, who had the same bioanthropology background or forensics science background, was actually able to do the same thing, really enjoy the detail that is in the novel.”
LJ poured what she learned from her Archaeology Honours and PhD in palaeogenetics into a form of science communication in her series.
“It’s not traditional science communication; it’s fictional science communication. I think there’s no way I could’ve done that without the degrees I got from the ANU.”
LJ will be at the Harry Hartog bookstore in Woden on 11 February to share her experiences on how to write a first novel. She’ll also be at Queanbeyan Library on 18 February.