News

Capturing Grief: ‘Our Magic Hour,’ by Jennifer Down

It happens to all of us. At some point in life, we all become familiar with grief in a way we’d always hoped to avoid. For me, that happened last year. The death of my father in law was shocking and not shocking. Not shocking because he was 91 years old. Shocking because the cancer took him so swiftly. Now,…

The Ego of Writing: ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’, by Elizabeth Strout

There are times (many) when I think of the ego involved in writing. What makes my voice, my thoughts, my ideas, worth recording, let alone publishing? What gives me the right to think I can and should write? Who cares what I have to say? Then a writer comes along who makes you realise that writing need not be about…

On Sex: ‘The Dangerous Bride,’ by Lee Kofman and Kirsty Eagar’s ‘Summer Skin’

Two very different books. Two very different genres. Two very different writers. Two very different target audiences. But at the heart of both – sex. More specifically, sex within the context of a relationship, but also outside of that context. In The Dangerous Bride, we meet Lee Kofman in a Melbourne fetish club on the night before her wedding, kissing…

On Writing: Why Rejection IS Personal

There’s a little excel spreadsheet on my computer, which I refer to as my hall of fame and shame. It’s where I keep track of the pieces I’ve submitted to competitions or literary journals. I write the name of the story, when it was submitted, and in the third column I record the outcome. It makes for mixed reading. In…

Meet Sara Foster, Author of ‘All That is Lost Between Us’

Domestic noir. It’s great, right? All those twists and turns, secrets, and multi-layered plots and characters. No wonder it’s huge. So, it’s a great thrill to welcome Sara Foster to the blog today – Australia’s (via the UK) own Queen of domestic noir. Her new book – All That is Lost Between Us – is a work of psychological suspense, set…

My Night with Nigella

Okay, so it wasn’t just Nigella and I living it up at the Sydney Opera House. There were 1500 of our new besties. And some bright sparked asked Annabel Crabb along to ask the questions. I know! Annabel! It was like someone reached into my brain and started putting together my fantasy dinner party list. Anyway, it was quite the…

A note to our visitors

This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with changes to European Union data protection law, for all members globally. We’ve also updated our Privacy Policy to give you more information about your rights and responsibilities with respect to your privacy and personal information. Please read this to review the updates about which cookies we use and what information we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated privacy policy.