Red Herrings

National

Friday 31 January, 7, 14, 21 February, 1.00-2:00 pm: Pitch Perfect. Do you want to nail your pitch to publishers and literary agents? The Australian Society of Authors’ four-week Pitch Perfect course is designed to teach you how. You’ll discover how the submission process works, how to craft your pitch, and how to find the best publication outcome for your book. ASA Members: $140; Non-members: $280 Book here.

Queensland

Friday 20 December, 5.30 pm: Page Turners with Hayley Scrivenor, author of the award-winning Dirt Town and now Girl Falling. Gympie Library, 8-14 Mellor Street, Gympie. Free but please book here.

Monday 23 December 2024, 10 am. Hayley Scrivenor will be talking to readers, writers, and anyone interested. Author of best-selling “Dirt Town” and “Girl Falling”, Hayley has volunteered her time for FREE as she will be in Toowoomba for Christmas with family. Highfields Library, 32 Obrien Rd, Highfields. Bookings – Heather Reyburn on 0413 305 513.

Thursday 13 February, 6.00 pm for a 6.30 pm start: Sydney Sisters in Crime member, Ashley Kalagian Blunt, will launch her new thriller, Cold Truth, in conversation with Martine Kropkowski. Set in the depths of the Canadian winter, Cold Truth is truly chilling. Avid Reader, 193 Boundary Road, West End. $15.00 Book + Ticket Deal $42.99. Book here.

Thursday 27 February, 6 pm for a 6.30 pm start. Join us for the launch of After the Fall by Melbourne author, Kirsten Alexander. Fleeing Melbourne for the village of Hollydale in the Yorkshire Dales had felt right for Giselle but when a bomb explodes on the one road that leads to her cottage, she realises that her Hollydale life is larger and more complicated than she’d understood. Avid Reader, 193 Boundary Road, West End. Free but please book.

Friday 21 March, 6 pm for a 6.30 pm start. Melbourne crime writer Mandy Beaumont will be in conversation with Matthe Condon about her latest book The Thrill of It. It is inspired and informed by the real-life brutal slayings of six older women in Sydney’s Northshore between 1989 and 1990 by John Wayne Glover, also known as The Granny Killer. It is rumoured that back in 1977, Glover also killed the successful and well-known wallpaper designer, artist, clothing designer, solo traveller, and socialite Florence Broadhurst, in her studio in Paddington. Avid Reader, 193 Boundary Road, West End. $15.00 Book + Ticket Deal$42.99. Book here.

Friday 21 March 2025, 5.30pm. Launch of One Free Woman by Toowoomba Sisters in Crime author Jane Smith at the ‘Connections’ Australasian conference ‘Meet & Greet Event’. One Free Woman tells the true story of Hannah Rigby, the only female convict to remain in Moreton Bay after the penal settlement’s closure—a woman who notoriously endured three sentences of transportation, including two at one of the harshest establishments in the country. One Free Woman uncovers new details and celebrates Hannah Rigby, a woman with a fierce spirit for life. Brisbane Technology Park, 7 Clunies Ross Court, Eight Mile Plains. The event is for conference delegates only. Register for the conference here.

Saturday 29 March, 3 pm for 3.30 pm. Toowoomba Sisters in crime author, Jane Smith, will be in conversation about her new novel, One Free Woman, with Nike Sulway. Inspired by the true story of Hannah Rigby, a poor Liverpool seamstress, prisoner, and serial thief, who was exiled from her homeland and oppressed by poverty and rigid social norms. She was the only female convict to remain in Moreton Bay after the penal settlement’s closure—a woman who notoriously endured three sentences of transportation, including two at one of the harshest establishments in the country. Avid Reader, 193 Boundary Road, West End. Free but please book.

Victoria

Thursday 30 January, 6.00 pm: Event launch, Maryrose Cuskelly will be in conversation with Vikki Petraitis about her new novel, The Campers, an engrossing and provocative exploration of privilege, hypocrisy, and justice by the bestselling author of The Cane, shortlisted for Best Crime Fiction Debut in the 2022 Davitt Awards. Brighton Library, 14 Wilson St., Brighton. Free but please book here.

Thursday 6 February, 6.00 pm: Join in the celebrations of Maryrose Cuskelly’s new novel, The Campers which reveals what neighbours will do when threats of the unknown and unmanageable come too close for comfort. She’ll be in conversation with Christine Keighery, author of The Half Brother. Readings Emporium, Shop 1-016/287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne. Free but please book here.

Tuesday 11 February, 6.30 pm:  Launch of Cold Truth by Sydney Sisters in Crime author, Ashley Kalagian Blunt. Harlow Close has made a career as an influencer uncovering the secrets of Winnipeg, dubbed ‘North America’s strangest city’. When Harlow’s father mysteriously disappears amid a brutal cold snap, suspicions of foul play arise. As Harlow struggles to uncover what happened to her father, she’s forced to question everything and everyone around her – including herself. Readings Carlton. 309 Lygon St, Carlton. Free but please book here.