What convinced me to make the move? Getting newsletters from writers I like directly into my inbox. And listening to this Writers off the Page podcast, where authors Emily Gale and Natasha Lester talk about it from a business and career point of view, and realising it makes sense. Substack also has an option for … Continue reading I’ve moved to Substack
Castles, ghosts, heart surgery, Paris
This was such a good month for reading, I travelled back to Australia for Christmas and had a fair few 3am wake ups to read through, and after finishing the Wolf Hall trilogy I felt like I could tackle anything (except Middlemarch, which I’m circling. So many people love it. Maybe I should try audio?) … Continue reading Castles, ghosts, heart surgery, Paris
5 ideas to help you finish a piece of writing
While reading the Gillian Mear’s biography a few months back I discovered that when The Mint Lawn was reissued she had the opportunity to make a few changes. Yet she more or less left it how it was. Perhaps she simply didn’t have it in her to go back to that book. It was so … Continue reading 5 ideas to help you finish a piece of writing
A unexpected conversion in the Grunewald
It took me a while to read Tim Winton’s most recent novel and I was surprised, actually, that it was published in 2017 and I still hadn’t got around to it… but that’s moving countries, a pandemic and a supply chain crisis for you. I would have stumbled across it in Perth at some point, … Continue reading A unexpected conversion in the Grunewald
Say it out loud – extraordinary voice in fiction and memoir
It’s hard to explain what is meant by a distinctive voice in fiction – after all, every voice is distinctive in its own way. But when you come across a book with a strong voice, you recognise it immediately. My two latest reads are both ones I could ‘hear.’ The first, The Shepherd’s Hut by … Continue reading Say it out loud – extraordinary voice in fiction and memoir
‘Leaping into Waterfalls’ and losing track of old friends
A long time ago I became friends with someone because her partner was my then-boyfriend’s uncle. The three of them lived together in an old terrace house in Fremantle, and we bonded over our love of red wine, books and morbid humour. She was twenty years older than me, but we somehow clicked, and when … Continue reading ‘Leaping into Waterfalls’ and losing track of old friends
Amanda Lohrey’s ‘The Labyrinth’ and making things by hand
All the animals at Berlin's Anoha museum are handmade from recycled objects by various Berlin artists The cure for many ills, noted Jung, is to build something, and this is the epigraph and theme of Amanda Lohrey’s atmospheric novel, The Labyrinth (Text). It’s my second read by a Tassie author this month and further proof … Continue reading Amanda Lohrey’s ‘The Labyrinth’ and making things by hand
The quiet Australian – a new book is to be published about the Claremont Serial Killer
Wendy Davis' memoir, published by Fremantle Press The Claremont Serial Killer, now known to be Perth man Bradley Edwards, was jailed in late 2020 for forty years without parole. News reports referred to ‘a dark line being drawn under history,’ and it is hopefully some relief to the families and his surviving victims to know … Continue reading The quiet Australian – a new book is to be published about the Claremont Serial Killer
Why the Barbican makes a compelling setting for a novel
When I started writing my psychological suspense novel, The Night Village, about a new mother and her strange houseguest, I pictured the story unfolding in my old flat in Hackney. And then, in the same way a dream will suddenly shift location, my characters were all somehow living at the Barbican Estate in central London. … Continue reading Why the Barbican makes a compelling setting for a novel
Win a new-release crime novel from Fremantle Press
Fremantle Press and WA arts magazine Seesaw are offering four lucky bookworms the chance to win one of their new crime titles including The Night Village. All you need to do is email competitions@seesawmag.com.au with the title of your preferred book in the subject line and your name and phone number in the body of … Continue reading Win a new-release crime novel from Fremantle Press
5 ways to clear your path to publication
Recently I wrote a piece for an online writer’s group about how I finally achieved a publishing contract for my novel, The Night Village (out in August). It is easy to see the path to publication in retrospect, and to polish over the missteps and times when it was barely visible, or so cluttered with … Continue reading 5 ways to clear your path to publication
The History of Mischief by Rebecca Higgie
The word ‘mischief’ has always summoned up for me an unpleasant memory of being in the stuffy, bureaucratic waiting room of the local teacher’s union with my little sister as my mother went to another room for a meeting. Looking back, I can imagine her reservations about leaving us alone in the waiting room, and … Continue reading The History of Mischief by Rebecca Higgie
Red Comet – The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
Sylvia Plath lived her short life at break-neck, ravenous speed – she was a star student who went from Smith College to a nervous breakdown to Cambridge University as a Fulbright Scholar, where she met her future husband, the poet Ted Hughes, then back to the USA and then to Devon and London where she … Continue reading Red Comet – The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
Tara June Winch in Berlin
Recently I listened to author Tara June Winch talk about her Miles Franklin Award winning novel, The Yield. Here are some notes from the evening.
My debut novel ‘The Night Village’ is to be published by Fremantle Press in 2021
My debut novel, The Night Village, will be published by Fremantle Press in Australia in 2021, with audiobook & large print versions by Ulverscroft. Here's the blurb: Simone has just delivered her first baby in an East London hospital with her new English boyfriend, Paul, by her side. With a precarious job, her family and … Continue reading My debut novel ‘The Night Village’ is to be published by Fremantle Press in 2021
Australia Council grants for the unseasoned professional
It came as quite a shock to me that there are writers who dedicate a set amount of time every single week to writing applications for grants, residencies and funding. And I can see why – who doesn't want time and space and money to write? – so I was really happy to find out … Continue reading Australia Council grants for the unseasoned professional
Writing workshop: using place names in your writing
When writing prose, it's easy to get stuck on the mechanics of the story – who is speaking? Was the baby asleep in the last scene? Could it really be dusk already? .... and the writing itself can sometimes feel secondary, just a means of getting your characters from A to B. So turning up … Continue reading Writing workshop: using place names in your writing
Reading, watching, listening
The City Kino in Wedding Reading is what fuels my writing, and possibly since deleting my Twitter account I’ve gotten back into it big time. Here are a few books I’ve adored recently.How to End a Story by Helen GarnerOof. Helen Garner’s account of her marriage breakdown to 'V'. Beautiful writing, as always, and so … Continue reading Reading, watching, listening
The Night Village on the Readings Books list of best crime fiction of 2021
Thanks to Readings Books for adding The Night Village to their list of the best crime books of 2021 - their resident crime reader and bookseller Fiona Hardy (who is also an award-winning author) wrote a wonderful review of The Night Village for Books & Publishing right before it came out, which got it off … Continue reading The Night Village on the Readings Books list of best crime fiction of 2021
Zoe Deleuil 