Natasha Lester's Blog, page 2

The Forgotten Woman Who Helped Make D-Day Possible

First up, my apologies! I meant to get this newsletter out a few days earlier. But I’ve been busy working on the edits for my next book.

Yes, that pile of paper will turn into a book by next year! THE CHATEAU ON SUNSET is coming to Australia in April 2026 and North America in June 2026 and I can’t wait! Especially now that the edits are done and I’ve sent the manuscript back to my publishers. More on that very soon.

For today’s newsletter, I wanted to talk a little bit about Marie-Madeleine Fourca...

From Nuns to Ladies of the Night and a Hyped-Up Book That Didn't Work For Me: A Bookish Round-Up

It's been a while since I've done a roundup of all the books I've been reading, so I thought I'd share a few book recommendations with you in this week's post. Hopefully I don't make your TBR pile grow too much larger than it already is!

While we’re on the subject of all things bookish, my Australian publisher would like your help! They’re doing a survey right now about people’s reading habits, what you like in book covers, what kinds of stories you like to read—and by completing the survey, you ...

The Thing That Makes All Writers Crawl Under Their Desks and Weep

Last week I started on the structural edit for The Chateau on Sunset, which is my 2026 book. Yes, there’s another book coming next year—yay!! This one is a reimagining of Jane Eyre set in Los Angeles’ infamous Chateau Marmont during the 1950s and 1960s. It's been super fun to write and I can't wait to share it with you.

Before that can happen, the book has to go through all the different editorial processes with my publishing houses. The first of those processes is what's called a structural edit...

My Book Tour Must-Pack List, Plus Women Everyone Should Know About

As most of you know, I’ve been touring Australia to promote my new book, The Mademoiselle Alliance, for the past month and a half. 25 events done, another 9 to go. It’s exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure. The most crucial thing is to keep your energy levels up—when people come along to an event, they expect you to be entertaining and upbeat, even if the clang, clang clang of a railway crossing has kept you awake all night! (I managed to avoid that by a swift change of room as soon as I...

An Ordinary Woman Who Changed the World

After a couple of weeks of beachside rest and relaxation, I’m flying to Melbourne on Friday to start the Victorian leg of the book tour. I’m looking forward to meeting more readers and sharing the story behind The Mademoiselle Alliance with you. You can find book tour details further down in this post, as well as a round up of all the other wonderful things that have been happening since the last newsletter, not the least of which was seeing The Mademoiselle Alliance hit No. 2 on the bestseller ...

Your Special Invitation to Come to Paris and Lisbon With Me! Yes, For Real!

Remember when I went to Paris and spent the morning at a 19th century atelier where they make the silk flowers that couturiers use to adorn their dresses? Or when I wiled away a day at La Galerie Dior admiring all the beautiful gowns made by the House of Dior from the 1950s through to the present day? Or when I took a walking tour through the Marais district of Paris and stumbled upon hidden churches, neighbourhoods and art?

I visited those sites to research my novels, including The Paris Seamstr...

Behind the Scenes of a TV Appearance. And Publication Day in North America!

It’s been a ridiculously busy but stupendously rewarding couple of weeks since THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE was published in Australia on March 26. And now it’s time for my North American readers to finally get their hands on the book! North American publication day is tomorrow!!!

If you are in North America, you might like to come along to my virtual launch event! It’s being hosted by Jane Healey for her Historical Happy Hour on April 9 at 7pm (EST). Register for the event here. It’s on Zoom, so i...

It's Publication Day!! Take a Walk With Me Through France

It’s here at last! Publication day in Australia for THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE! (Apologies to those of you in other countries who have to wait a couple of weeks or even longer). The book I started writing in November 2022, the book that I thought about for at least a few months before I typed the very first sentence, is now available in bookshops for people to read! Woo hoo!

Sometimes, publication day can feel like a bit of an anti-climax—you get up in the morning and do all the usual things. Not ...

In Defence of Readers. And All That Glisters is Definitely Gold!

Without readers, I am nothing.

I know some writers write just for pure pleasure and never need to be read. I, on the other hand, write for both pleasure and to engage with a readership. I’m guessing that most writers do. So I’ve been a bit baffled by some of the articles floating around on Substack and the internet in general over the past month which are decrying the state of publishing—and putting the blame for that on readers.

What?!

The articles I’ve seen tend to focus on the kinds of books ...

This is What Keeps Us Writing

Every time you sit down to write a book, there are so many choices you have to make: first person or third person point of view; past tense or present tense; which character would be the best narrator; where to even start the narrative—at the beginning of the actual story, at some point in the middle, or within one of the most dramatic scenes? And those are just a handful of the possibilities; multiply those by about one thousand, and you start getting close to the seemingly endless range of opt...