Category: Writing - JUST KEEP REIDING

An Assuredly Accurate Holiday Letter from your Not-at-All-Obnoxious Friends

23/11/2018

To our dear friend,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! How time flies since I wrote my last holiday letter. 2018 has been a big year for our family, and I hope it has been exciting for you and yours.

Our eldest son, Lamont, had his preschool graduation last week. How proud we were! He was honoured to receive the award for “most likely to succeed at public school” and to co-share the title of Valedictorian with his young friend Persephone Huntyr-Griffin who won “most likely to succeed at private school”. We will miss Persephone next year; watching them play trivial pursuit was so endearing.

TTWCU: a sample chapter

18/7/2018

One of the disadvantages of not having an ebook edition is there's no option for people ordering online to "try before you buy" so to speak and read a sample. To rectify this, I'm going to post the opening chapter of The Things We Can't Undo here, with links at the bottom to buy it if you're interested. Hopefully you'll be inspired to "just keep reiding" ;-)

*trigger warning* sexual assault

TTWCU: One week on

8/5/2018

So my book baby is out in the world! It's all a little surreal; I'm continuing my everyday life here with a demanding toddler and laundry to do and trying to write another book, but every now and again I'm reminded that right now total strangers might be reading something I wrote. I've got a launch party happening this Saturday (Sydney people! Come along!) and a few other events lined up, so I'm gradually settling in to the idea that yes, I am a published author now.

If you missed any of them so far, here are links to all the stops on the blog tour:
Bookish Kirra's review
An episode of Better Words podcast featuring me
The Literary Casanova's review
My interview on Genie in a Book
A Q&A on #LoveOzYA
My guest post (on the topic of consent) on The Adventures of Sacakat
Ely of Wonderland's review
My interview on Infinity Reads
My guest post (re: social media) on Musings & Wanderings

There's 2 more stops to go before it wraps up - nicely timed with the launch on Saturday. But if you've been inspired to buy a copy, leave a review on Goodreads, tweet me, tag me in your instagram pics, comment below, recommend to a friend... it all counts! I love the support and am eternally grateful to you, my readers.

Until next time,
just keep reading!

TTWCU Countdown: 6 Weeks to go...

20/3/2018

My book is a real, solid object now! There's a copy sitting beside me as I type this, and finally, I no longer feel like a fraud saying "I'm a writer" when I introduce myself to people. As the countdown to May 1st continues, this week I thought I would share a little of what led me to my publisher, Ford Street, and what it has been like to publish with them.

An interview with... a professional book buyer

5/2/2018

Claire West has worked as a book buyer for a variety of stores across Sydney, a position she found her way into after working in retail, as a secondary school teacher, and as a tutor. Her most recent role was senior book buyer for Berkelouw Book Face, where she co-managed the purchases of new and existing titles for eleven stores. She relinquished the role at the end of 2017 to move to Melbourne, but prior to that I caught up with her to hear more about this important role in the retail side of the industry. Claire has long held an interest in books and continues to blog at https://clairewest.com.au

An interview with... an established YA author

29/1/2018

© Fleur Ferris

Fleur Ferris has published three Young Adult thrillers with Penguin Random House, with a fourth coming out later in 2018. She's lived in multiple states across Australia and built up a wealth of knowledge in industries ranging from emergency response to rice farming. Fleur's first book, Risk, won two Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards and an Australian Family Therapists' Award for Children's Literature. Fleur was kind enough to chat with me about how she got into writing for teens, how things have changed after a few years of success in the industry, and where to next.

My debut!

15/1/2018

I promised more information about my novel, coming out later this year via Ford Street Publishing. I've been working hard with my editor and publisher, emailing back and forth about everything from blurbs to cover design, and to be honest most days it still doesn't feel real. But it IS real, and so in anticipation, let me share with you a little about what I've been working on.

The Girl
Samantha Chen is sixteen, shy, creative and a great violinist. She works hard, but all the study she puts in is barely keeping her afloat in year eleven, and she's terrified she'll disappoint her strict parents. Oh, and she's not allowed to date.

The Boy
Dylan West is not Mr Popular, but he's a nice guy. He skateboards in his free time, works at the fish and chip shop, and is happy at home with his supportive parents and older sister. He's been dating Samantha for almost a year, and doesn't mind keeping the relationship secret from her parents if that's what it takes to hang on to the girl of his dreams.

Saturday Night
Dylan and Sam are at a friend's party, but they've stopped dancing now. They've had a couple of drinks, not enough to have them throwing up or blacking out, but enough to give them "a buzz" as Dylan calls it. He wants the liquid courage. Because he's pretty sure he and Sam are going to have sex for the first time.

The Aftermath
Dylan thinks it all went great. Except now Sam is avoiding him, her best friend hates him, and there are rumours creeping through their Sydney private school. Rumours about rape. When it hits social media, opinions on the alleged assault flow freely and sometimes brutally, throwing both Dylan and Samantha into a spotlight they don't want. As reputations crumble and friendships end, the ex-couple are left fighting to hold on to the truth, each plagued by the same question: how could someone who loved me do this to me?

The Things We Can't Undo is for every teenager (suggested reading age 15 and up) and tackles some of the biggest contemporary questions about sex, consent, friendship, family, social media and of course, the things we wish we could take back. As publication gets closer, I'll be sharing a cover reveal, a bunch of #1linewed snippets, and details on when (and where) you can get your hands on a copy. I'll also have a few to give away, so if you're not following me on twitter, now is the time!

An interview with... an established MG author

25/12/2017

Allison is a bestselling middle-grade author from the south coast of NSW. She has published five books with Hachette in Australia, with another release due in March 2018. Her first book, Race To The End of The World, was named a notable book by the CBCA Book of the Year 2015, and shortlisted for several other awards. Allison also works as an online tutor for courses with the Australian Writer’s Centre.

An interview with... a debut author

4/12/2017

Elizabeth is an author whose debut novel, Esme’s Wish, was released in October 2017. She was born in Brisbane and now lives in Sydney. In addition to her novel writing and other work, Elizabeth writes reviews for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Reading Time.

An interview with... an editor

10/11/2017

Zoe is Managing Editor of Ventura Press, a small independent publishing house in Sydney. Ventura Press publishes adult fiction, children’s picture books and non-fiction including memoir and self-help. Zoe has been with Ventura since 2016, having previously worked as a freelance editor and an in-house editor for a small educational business. She has also been President of Editors NSW (formerly the Society of Editors (NSW) Inc.) since March 2015.