Hi, it's Shirley here, author of this book. I've been thinking for a while what I should do to "fill up" this space meant for a review. I'm going to do two things:

1) Say Thank You

...to every single person who has rated and/or reviewed Fury for better or for the worse! I try and thank everyone I can personally, but sometimes I'm so busy reading and reviewing other books that I forget to keep an eye out! But I do read every review. Above everything else, I value balance and honesty - so thanks for giving me the Bad with the Good!

Please feel free to say whatever you like in the comments. I don't read or post comments on the threads that start under my own novel cos I'm not the police and I don't want to tell/correct/hassle people on how they should feel or think about my book. If you'll like to interact with me, do please befriend and find me chatting away on other books (if you are a fan of realistic Aussie YA, then we definetly need to be friends.)

2) Not try and review my own book.

I'm not going to be a dag (look at me, all Aussie lingo and that) and give myself 5 stars. Unless of course my rating average drops to like 1 star and I have to take drastic measures! So I've decided that I'm going to leave the rating blank and present to you...

12 (and a half) Interesting Facts About Fury (which you may or may not know)

1. I came up with the idea while sitting in the YA section of Borders with my friend EeVon (who is now my beta, her name is in the acknowledgments at the back of the book) while reading Twilight*. Don't ask me how that happened!

2. We were so loud and disruptive that the manager of Borders actually kicked us out of the store.

3. I went home and started writing Fury. I read Twilight in between writing.

4. I finished the first draft of Fury within 3 months and I decided in my gung-ho fashion to just send it out there to this awesome publisher whose books I adored.

5. Awesome Publisher replied back and wants to sign me. Horrah! This awesome Publisher is Black Dog Books**, by the way.

6. The first line of Fury originally read "My name is Eliza Boans and I am a murderess."

7. Fury was originally envisaged as a trilogy, but that idea has since been dropped.

8. Eliza is named for the Chat Bot Eliza because she is a chatter box, and in Dickensian traditional honour to roughly sound like "here lies her bones".

9. Originally the book was set in Perth (where I live), but a decision was made to put the story in its own universe. If you look carefully though you can see King Street, The Claremont Hotel, The Old East Perth Powerstation...

10. I did go back to Borders after my book was published and I ended up signing a copy for the Manager! (Yes, the one who kicked me out)

11. Neil was only a very minor character to start with, but my adorable editor sort of developed a crush on him and I slowly wrote him in more, scene by scene.

12. All characters are fictional and bear no resemblance to the living or dead... oh, except for Neil. And he did send me a postcard from Texas once.

Oh and a special bonus (cos who doesn't like bonuses, especially if they're special?):

13. (view spoiler)[All the minor students that either only get mentioned by name or have limited roles are named after all the 'celebrities' that have ever stayed at the Priory Hospital. I neglected to mention this to my publisher. I don't think anyone noticed and it all slipped through... :) (hide spoiler)]

*ps - just so you know, my book is nothing like Twilight in case that scares you. On the other hand... I own a Team Edward T-shirt which should rightfully scare you.

**Black Dog Books has since been acquired by Walker Books, so these days I am Cass Clare's Where's Wally's (or Waldo if you're Stateside) b!tch

...

Previously on Channel Shirley...

In celebration of this awesome review of Fury featured on The Book Smugglers, I’ve got two signed copies up for grabs as a Goodreads Giveaway!

BONUS FUN FACT: The Teaching Notes for Fury were written by Cath Crowley.

BONUS UNFUN FACT: Sometime during the publisher transition from Black Dog Books to Walker Books, the notes got lost. So if you somehow managed to get a copy, pre-2011, then you possibly have the rarest work by Cath Crowley ever.

Anyway, you know you want to enter the comp. You know this book is "so cult" (lol) that you can hardly even buy it, so you’ll just have to submit yourself to the whims of the Goodreads Gods :-)

Sorry, but I have no control over who gets selected, so cupcakes, glitter wands and other lovely bribes will not work – but I will relieve you of them anyway. Please post offerings below.

Goodluck!