Passion for cowboy boots inspires Nambour author’s debut novel

Ange Dunne’s cowboy boot collection bloomed while she was writing Clancy’s story, and she began wearing them daily.

by Janine Hill

THESE boots are made for walkin’, goes the song, and Nambour Heights shopkeeper Ange Dunne’s boots have walked her through to her first book.

These Boots will be launched on 12 December at 6.30pm at the Nambour Rugby League Club, where Ange’s collection of more than 50 cowboy boots will be on display.

Ange said These Boots, inspired by her boot collection, was the story of a girl, Clancy, and how her much-loved boots change her life.

“It’s what manifests for her when she wears the boots and what the boots mean to her,” she said.

“It’s about how people can be quick to judge someone but no-one really knows what someone has been through or are going through at the time.

“I’m hoping that this story of this little girl will change someone’s life. 

“Some people turn to drugs or drink but for Clancy, it’s her boots.

‘I hope it helps someone’

“For people out there who have had a blessed childhood, I hope it makes them appreciate that blessed childhood, and I hope that it helps someone who has been through something like Clancy has been through.”

Ange, the owner of the Nambour Heights Christmas and Gift Shop, said she had always wanted to write. 

“I think if you really want to do something, you find the time. I’d come home from work and make dinner and then go and sit at my computer. My computer became my attachment, another appendage,” she said.

“Sometimes I’d get up at 4am and write.”

The book contains a snippet of what boots mean to country singer Adam Harvey, who Ange met recently during a trip to Nashville where she acquired eight pairs of boots for her collection.

 Ange’s boot collection bloomed while she was writing Clancy’s story, and she began wearing cowboy boots daily.

“It’s something that’s been in my heart but I always wondered about what other people would think. I never wanted to step outside the box and do something different,” she said.

“How many people on the Sunshine Coast wear cowboy boots downtown? But I think I’ve grown on my journey so much and I can really resonate with Clancy.”

Ange thanks publisher Rachel Bermingham, of Bermingham Books, for making These Boots a reality. She is already at work on her second novel.

These Boots will be available at the launch, which will be open to the public, and from Ange’s store from 12 December before making its way into other outlets.