Another Young in print

And blowing things up as well. Little sister Helene made the Cairns Post. She's been short-listed along with seven others for the USA Golden Hearts Award for Romance writing.

SHE has blown up Circular Quay and even had a romance along the way - all in the name of fiction.

Pilot Helene Young, from Trinity Beach, is one of eight finalists for her novel, Beyond the Borders, in the Romance Writers of America’s 2008 Golden Heart awards for Romantic Suspense category.

"Romance tends to get overlooked," Ms Young said.

"It’s more than just Mills and Boon, it’s an industry that I’m excited to be a small part of."

But it wasn’t until Mrs (sic) Young’s husband, Graham Wade, read her unpublished novel in a dusty drawer that she thought of getting her writing published 11 years ago.

And isn't it nice that she has a husband who picks her up, doesn't weigh her down.

This makes a full house of writers in the family. Bigger (to Helene) sister Bronwyn writes speeches in the public service and used to be an ABC and SBS journo after starting her career stringing for the Canberra Times at Uni. Dad wrote fairy stories for us kids which we received in long letters sent to us while he was working on ships in the Arctic Ocean, and Mum used to write-up and deliver the odd sermon as a Methodist deaconess.

P.S. If you know Helene's husband Graham (we're economical with names in my family to the extent that my ex is called Helen) there's no way you'd believe that any drawer in the house was "dusty"!