May this week bring you the solace of sitting with a book

School's back! Next week, Marion Frith is my guest o...

May this week bring you the solace of sitting with a book

Dear Friends,
For anyone who missed the BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival in December, I have some good news. In this month's BAD All About Crime podcast, we're bringing you a recording of What Lies Below The Surface, a panel I hosted with writers Barry Maitland, Anna Downes and Wendy James. You can find it here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Now that school is back, it's been exciting to find book events popping up everywhere. I'm looking forward to interviewing writer and journalist, Garry Linnell, as part of the Words on Wagstaffe literary event on Saturday 26 March. The day will also feature Jane Caro, Dianne O'Brien, Grace Karskens, Patrick Gallagher and Andrew Menken.

I'm also looking forward to being in conversation with Joanne Fedler for the launch of Gagman, the novel she co-wrote with her father, the much-lauded cartoonist, Dov Fedler. You can join us for the launch at the Sydney Jewish Museum at 6pm on 24 March. The event is free but you'll need to register here.

Finally, I'd like to wish you a safe, happy week. May you find time within it to enjoy the solace of sitting with a book. And if you can make it to Thursday Book Club, we'd love to see you. Just click on this link at 8pm tomorrow night:https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8521042343. NEW RELEASE RECOMMENDATION

SCARY MONSTERSMichelle de Kretser

https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/scary-monsters-9781761065101.do
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Two novellas with a slightly gimmicky flip binding so there are two covers for the two stories and no indication which one to read first. Not that it matters, as they are quite different in one respect but share common themes, and it doesn't matter which one you happen to start with. Lyle is set in the near future, in a Melbourne that suffers from extreme climate conditions and an Australia that suffers from a sinister doublespeak racism.

Lyle is married to the aspirational Chanel, who he has placed on a pedestal, and allowed his devotion to her to become her control over him. His mother Ivy lives with them, their patriotically-named two children are polar extremes (one skirting on the edges of outlawed environmental activism, the other fully embracing a life lived on social media). Lyle is struggling in all sorts of ways; his life is one of quiet and unacknowledged despair though he keeps a façade of ultra-compliance in a society where consumerism has become all-too-consuming... Lili is set in France in the early 1980s, and follows an Australian girl of Asian heritage who aspires to live a Simone de Beauvoir kind of life. Teaching in a lycee, perpetually broke, yearning for greater things but delighting in smaller ones, Lili forms a friendship with the extravagant but self-absorbed Minna. In a place of many cultures, racism is still a ruling force, and a bright and beautiful woman is really only a target for the forces of entrenched misogyny… As always, thought-provoking subjects expressed with piercingly accurate and polished writing. Lindy Jones Enter the code THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout for a 15% discount on Abbey's new release recommendations and our For Kids recommendations.This code will also get you a 15% discount on the books by my guests on Thursday Book Club and my latest novels, The Teacher's Secret and The Deceptions.
FOR KIDS

THERE'S A GHOST IN THIS HOUSE
Oliver Jeffers
https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/theres-a-ghost-in-this-house-9780008298357.do

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- A new Jeffers is always a wonderful thing, but this one excels in terms of design! The story concerns a young girl who knows there are ghosts in the old rambling mansion she lives in, though she is yet to actually see one. She thinks they might be white with holes for eyes, but as she's still looking for them, she isn't sure and invites the reader to help her look. This is where the cleverness of the book's design occurs: interleaved between the illustrated pages are translucent waxed parchment tracing pages with splashes of white paint and pairs of tiny black dots that almost fade into the background. But when seen from the other side, the white blotches are transformed into ghosts, and the dots into eyes! The illustrations are a clever collage from architectural reference books and old furniture catalogues, drawn-in details and 'a bit of paint' plus a lot of skill. Great fun for readers of all ages! Lindy Jones
NEWS

Congratulations to the winners fo the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards
Victorian Prize for Literature
Prize for Indigenous Writing
Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience by Veronica Gorrie

Prize for Fiction
Smokehouse by Melissa Manning

Prize for Non-Fiction
The Mother Wound by Amani Haydar

Prize for Drama
Milk by Dylan Van Den Berg

Prize for Poetry
Trigger Warning by Maria Takolander

Prize for Writing for Young Adults
Girls in Boys’ Cars by Felicity Castagna

Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript
Fauna of Mirrors by Keshe Chow

People’s Choice Award
Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim
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Festival director, Jo Dyer, has put together a terrific program for Adelaide Writers' Week which will take place from 5 to 10 March Amongst the guests are Kathryn Heyman who was our guest on Thursday Book Club last year and Emily Bitto who will be our guest later this year. For those who can't make it to Adelaide, the festival will also be live-streamed. You can find the full program here.

I met Dinuka McKenzie at the BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival last year and she was excited about the forthcoming publication of her debut crime novel The Torrent . Well , The Torrent has now been released and to celebrate, courtesy of Avid Reader, Dinuka will be in conversation online on Thursday 17 February from 6.30pm. Zoom in to hear Dinuka then join us at Thursday Book Club straight afterwards. You can find the details here.

In his new book, The Shortest History of Democracy, political thinker, John Keane, traces the history of democracy, beginning in Athens and moving forward to where we find ourselves now. Join him online on Wednesday 9 February when he'll be in conversation with Professor Tim Soutphommasane, courtesy of Gleebooks. You can find the details here.

WRITERS' CORNER
Here's a list of competitions to inspire your writing:

21 February 2022: deadline to enter the 2022 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing
Open to published and unpublished writers of all ages writing either fiction or non-fiction, the winner of the Prize receives a publishing contract with Text and a $10,000 advance against royalties.

21 February 2022: deadline to apply for the Apply for the Copyright Agency UTS New Writer's Fellowship
The Copyright Agency - UTS New Writer's Fellowship is now open for applications. This unique opportunity, worth $40,000, provides a writer with the financial security to complete a new work. Open to writers who have had one or two book-length works of fiction, poetry or non-fiction with a commercial publisher since 2017.

28 Feb: 2022 Heroines Anthology
The Heroines/Joyce Parkes Women’s Writing Prize is awarded to one piece of short fiction and one piece of poetry that is published as part of the Anthology.

31 March 2022: deadline to enter the 2023 The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award
The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award is now open for entries. Open to writers under 35 years of age, the Award is seeking unpublished manuscripts of fiction, Australian history, or biography. The winner will receive $20,000 prize money and publication by Allen & Unwin.

31 March 2022: Art & Words Project – Northern Beaches Writers’ Competition
Submit entries of up to 2,500 words responding to the theme ‘tree’, along with at least one image that reflects and enhances that story.

Ongoing: Call-out for poetry events
Poetry Sydney are seeking poetry events in NSW to list in their monthly electronic newsletter

17 June: 2022 Writing for the Environment Prize
The 2022 Sutherland Shire Environment Centre’s national invites writers to submit a fictional piece of prose on the topic of peace and sustainability.

What is Thursday Book Club? Thursday Book Club is a relaxed, friendly book club connecting readers online. We meet on Zoom from 8 - 8.30pm. There are no scheduled books to read: we simply chat about books we like & books we’re reading. Once a month, a guest writer joins us.

Zoom in as you can – it doesn’t matter if you’re late or have to leave early. Just join my Zoom conference room between 8pm and 8.30pm on Thursdays by clicking on this link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8521042343

If prompted, here are the details to manually enter:

Meeting ID:852 104 2343

Password 886 196

On 24 February 2022, my guest is journalist and author, Marion Frith, whose novel Here in the After explores the unlikely friendship between two damaged people in a story that is both moving and ultimately uplifting.

Thursday Book Club Recommendations

My Recommendation
Ten Thousand Aftershocks by Michelle Tom
Your Recommendations
Barbie R

The Islands by Emily Brugman
Questions Raised by Quolls by Harry Saddler
The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
Dead Horse Gap by Christine Lee
The Branded Ones by Joanna Beresford
Anything Could Happen by Lucy Diamond

Noela A

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Ravi S

After Story by Larissa Behrendt
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Aoife C

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Love Marriage by Monica Ali

Gillian H

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnottt

Dina D

Love and Virtue by Diana Reid

Libby G

The Covered Wife by Lisa Emanuel
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
Crossroads by Jonathon Franzen
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
The Wife and the Widow by Christian White
Take care,

PS. Would you like me to drop in to your book club?

If your book club has chosen to read The Deceptions or The Teacher’s Secret, I’d be delighted to attend your meeting by Zoom (whether your group is meeting online or gathering together in person) to answer any of your questions. To schedule a date, please email me here. Click here for my Zoom Meeting You can buy The Deceptions and The Teacher’s Secret
directly from my publisher here:
Kindle version
Paperback