Hilde Hinton 'Sam challenged me TO WRITE'

THE FIRST-TIME NOVELIST ON LIFE AFTER SISTER CONNIE JOHNSON’S DEATH

- Emma Babbington

More than seven years ago, Connie Johnson famously challenged her actor brother Sam to unicycle his way around Australia to raise funds and awareness for cancer vanquishment. After Connie’s death in 2017, Sam issued a similar call to action for their big sister, Hilde Hinton.

“After she died, we were just sort of wandering around aimlessly and he challenged me and said, ‘It’s time to stop hiding behind obligation, you’ve got time, there’s no more family crises, no more messy dashes, you need to write your book’,” says Hinton.

The result is the 51-year-old’s debut novel, The Loudness of Unsaid Things, written while she continued to work in her current job as a prison officer.

“I think Sam’s challenge for me to finish the book was similar to Connie’s challenge for Sam on the unicycle – that was all about giving him focus in a tough period in his life,” she says.

“I was doing a lot of sitting and not doing very much apart from going to work after Connie died. It gave me focus and it really helped. It stopped me wallowing and it was cathartic.”