Pastoralist turned city resident Raelene Hall releases second book ‘Legitimate Bush Woman Goes to Town’

She’s been putting pen to paper and sharing her thoughts through writing for decades, but Raelene Hall still has plenty of stories to tell in her new book ‘Legitimate Bush Woman Goes to Town’.

The Ned’s Creek Station pastoralist released the 165-page book through KMK Publishing earlier this month, with the publication a compilation of the columns she wrote for Geraldton-based newspaper the Midwest Times.

It is the second book Raelene has released after publishing the first installment, ‘Legitimate Bush Woman’, in 2007.

The book delves into her experiences on the station and in Perth, where she and her husband bought a home and moved to in recent months. They had spent decades running the 45,000ha Ned’s Creek Station, 214km north-east of Meekatharra.

Each chapter of the book — which can be described as a bringing together of small stories, musings and thoughts — features a unique title, including: Where’s my Bloody Glasses?, Babies Flying the Nest, Good Old Days and Stalked by Ants, among others.

“They are short pithy pieces about my life on the station and the move towards city life,” Raelene said.

“There is an occasional piece about more serious topics.

“The inspiration for my books was from some of the readers of my column telling me I should compile them into a book.

“After the first book, I hadn’t really intended to do another but after finishing up my column I decided to create one more.”

The colourful front cover of the book features a painting of Raelene in the city, with her boots, hat and a bright pink handbag.

It was created by Queensland artist Sue Denham, who was introduced to Raelene through a mutual friend.

The artwork inside the book was created by former station owner and illustrator Maureen Woods, with clever, black and white cartoons to depict the story on the opposite page.

“Maureen is a former station owner and her humour and mine are a great match. I absolutely love how she can nail a sketch to match a column,” Raelene said.

After publishing two books, Raelene said it had been an enjoyable experience writing at the station and in the city.

“When I published my first book . . . we had a launch in Geraldton then I sold books from home,” she said.

“With the help of the internet and word of mouth I was able to get my book out into the world.

“I contacted any outlet I could think of that might be willing to stock my books and was even able to get a distributor in Queensland to take some on. In fact, some years down the track, he did a reprint of my book as I had run out.”

This time around, living in the city, Raelene has shared the news of her book across the world through social media.

“The response was amazing,” she said, joking that there were “a lot of books to be sold yet”.

“It still surprises me that a small, self-published book of my anecdotes can give people so much enjoyment,” she said.

“I’m glad it does because, in our world today, I think we can all do with some more laughter and light in our lives.”

Legitimate Bush Woman Goes to Town is available for $30 plus postage.

To find out more, contact Raelene at nedscreek1@bigpond.com