Where authors talk directly about their life, their books and many more things.
Most writers return from retreats with renewed enthusiasm rather than finished manuscripts. But enthusiasm is underrated. After months of struggling with that Gothic novel, I’d forgotten that writing could feel urgent and exciting. Sometimes the most valuable thing about a retreat is how much it changes your perspective on the writing life itself.
Does anyone think they’re bad? That’s the question Joanne Jenkins asks. Read here how she researched this (most unusual!) and how it informed her development of complex characters.
Not sure how old to make the protagonist in her Southern Highlands Mysteries series Joan Sauers took inspiration from the Baby Animals… ‘too young to know, too old to listen’. She explains why ….
When you write novels set in the past, what is historical research? Jacquie Pham says ‘it’s a kind of haunting’. She explains more….
Do you keep a diary? Michelle Prak talks about doing just that, how it informs her writing and how it also gives her the ammunition when someone queries a character.
Is co-authoring a biography double the fun or twice the trouble? Megan Brown has co-authored Outrageous Fortunes, the story of Mary Fortune, a prolific and pioneering Australian crime writer. And what a life she led!
This has to be one of the most heartbreaking and inspiring blog posts we’ve had. Rose Carlyle’s latest book – No One Will Know – is grounded in the story of her incredible grandmother and what flows from her extraordinary life.
Kate Emery’s new book is set at a family beach holiday in Western Australia. My Family and Other Suspects is a mystery where, you know how it happens, there’s a murder and Ruth, the teenage murder mystery fan in the family, decides that she’s the one to investigate. As Kate says, it owes a lot to Agatha Christie.
Think every re-working or re-imagining of the great Sherlock Holmes has already been done? Think again! Melbourne’s Narelle M Harris brings us The She-Wolf of Baker Street. The simple question is: what if Mrs Hudson was a werewolf? And it’s a wild ride.
Christine Gregory became attracted to New-Age ideas in her late teens. This largely involved visits to Bryon Bay to stay at the Arts Factory, late nights of drinking, and a full-throttle immersion into the alternative music scene of the noughties. Twenty-five years later, in an evening writing class the tutor asked students to create a scene incorporating all the five senses. She put pen to paper and like magic, the words flowed.