Carmel Shute
For the September Author Spotlight, Narrelle M. Harris spoke to Netherlands-based author, Brooke Hardwick, about her debut novel, The Fog (Simon & Schuster). Brooke hails from North Queensland but it was her time in her twenties on Rathlin , a tiny island between Northern Ireland and Scotland, that inspired her novel. It’s often engulfed in fog!
Why self-publish? Despite some literary success, Bronwyn Rodden has self-published her work, including her three Blue Mountains mysteries, inspired by many visits and her time living in Katoomba.
She outlines the various experiences (including knockbacks) that led her down this path.
For the September Crime Stack, Affirm Press has kindly offered 20 copies of The Crag, by Claire Sutherland, award-winning journalist, former Herald Sun Book editor, and keen climber. It’s literally a cliff-hanger. While walking on an isolated track in the windswept Wimmera, rock-climber and ambo Skye discovers the body of a young woman. The body has injuries that suggest a rock-climbing accident, but it’s been found more than 5km from the nearest cliffs at Mount Arapiles. Police ask Skye to help them navigate the perilous world of rock climbing as they try to unravel what happened.
For the August Murder Monday, Sisters in Crime’s Jacq Ellem spoke to Liz Evans, British journalist, author, former psychotherapist, and academic with a PhD in Creative Writing. Luckily, for us, she has moved to Australia. She has been awarded two Varuna Residential Fellowships and the Katharine Susannah Prichard Fellowship, as well as an Arts Tasmania grant for an Education Residency. Her debut novel is the wonderfully titled Catherine Wheel (Ultimo Press).
Catch up with the latest crime events from around the nation. Already there are lots of crime events happening, especially in Quuensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Whatever the time, whatever the season, don’t forget that a book is the perfect gift. It offers so much reading pleasure as well as supporting authors and the publishing industry.
For the August Author Spotlight, Narrelle M Harris spoke with author and literary journalist, Jane Sullivan about her debut crime novel, Murder in Punch Lane (Echo Publishing). It was inspired by the historical life and death of young actress, Marie St Denis, in Melbourne in 1868. She was drawn to write about Marie after reading her
obituary.
The complexity of criminal behaviour is one of the themes that Emily Gale and Nova Weetman loved exploring in Outlaw Girls, their time-slip novel in which one of the central characters is Kate Kelly, younger sister of the Australian bushranger and gang leader Ned Kelly.
For the August Crime Stack, Echo Publishing has kindly offered 20 copies of Murder in Punch Lane, by Jane Sullivan, the literary correspondent for Nine Newspapers, and a former Davitt judge for Sisters in Crime.
Inspired by real events and people, Murder in Punch Lane is a dark and gripping crime novel that maps the sins and secrets of nineteenth-century Melbourne.
Sisters in Crime Australia has announced a shortlist of 19 books for its 24th Davitt Awards – seven adult novels, four non-fiction books, two YA adult novels, four children’s novels. A reminder for members to vote for the Davitt (Readers’ Choice) will be sent out on 30 July, with the vote closing on 31 July.
For the July Murder Monday, Sisters in Crime’s Jacq Ellem spoke to Sherryl Clark, the prolific author who has published more than 70 children’s and YA books, including novels, chapter books, picture books and award-winning verse novels. And now lots of crime. Sherryl has recently moved from Australia to New Zealand (Aotearoa). Sherryl will be talking to Sisters in Crime in Melbourne on Friday 26 July.