Running With Ivan is (almost) out
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Dear FriendsI don't get much mail here in La Rochelle so when a note was left in the letterbox telling me I had a parcel waiting for me I hotfooted it to the pick-up location. On the way, it started to snow. It's been so long since I've seen the snow and I'd forgotten how lovely, soft and silent it can be. Home into the warmth, I ripped open the package to find two books inside: advance reading copies of my new novel, Running With Ivan, a time-travel story for middle-grade readers (9-13 years), to be released on 1 February 2023. It's such a buzz to run my hand over the gorgeous cover design by Hope McConnell and to see how beautifully the book has been produced by the team at HarperCollins.
In March 2020, I was getting ready for the launch of my novel, The Deceptions, and delighted to be celebrating it with many of you. Of course, Covid engulfed us instead and everything changed.
So it is with much excitement and some apprehension that I have begun to turn my mind to another launch: the launch of Running With Ivan. I'm still to finalise the details - sometime in February; somewhere in Sydney is as far as I've got so far. What I do know is this: I'd love you to join me so I can thank you in person for your support and friendship. Stay tuned for the details!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to your company at Thursday Book Club tomorrow. If you're in central Europe, simply click on this link to join my Zoom conference room at 10am tomorrow morning. For those of you in Australia, just click on the link, as usual, at 8pm tomorrow evening. This will be our last get together for the year when we break for the summer (or winter) holidays. We'll be back again on 2 February 2023.
I hope you have a very enjoyable festive season and that you get to relax with a book or two or three, wherever you are.
**** My new novel, Running WIth Ivan (HarperCollins), is out on 1 February 2023 and is available to pre-order at your favourite bookshop. Abbey's Bookshop is offering a 15% discount on all pre-orders. Just enter THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout: https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/running-with-ivan-9781460761335.do
NEW RELEASE RECOMMENDATION
THE PASSENGER
#1 Passenger
https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/the-passenger-cormac-mccarthy-9780330457422.do
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Early one morning a plane crashes into the water and Bobby Western, a salvage diver, is part of a team that is called in to investigate the accident. There are nine passengers but the black box and a tenth passenger are missing. What starts with an intriguing opening gambit teasing the reader that this may be a thriller noir in the style of No Country for Old Men quickly becomes a study of grief, sorrow and regret. As Bobby is haunted by the suicide of his sister and the ghost of his father, who helped develop the atom bomb, McCarthy’s new novel dives and swirls through a menagerie of ghosts and memories littered with his unforgettable dialogue and soul-searching characters. A must read but a challenging one. Mid December sees the release of the accompanying novel Stella Maris. Greg
Enter the code THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout for a 15% discount on Abbey's new release and children's recommendations. This code will also get you a 15% discount on the books by my guests on Thursday Book Club and my novels, The Teacher's Secret, The Deceptions and Running With Ivan.
FOR CHILDREN
THE MINISTRY OF UNLADYLIKE ACTIVITY
#1 Ministry of Unladylike Activity
https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/the-ministry-of-unladylike-activity-9780241552711.do
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I’ve loved the Murder Most Unladylike series - a cross between Agatha Christie and Enid Blyton - so it’s a pleasure to revisit that world, this time during WWII and starring May Wong, Hazel’s half-sister. May knows that children make the best spies and, along with her friend Eric, applies to join the Ministry. But when they’re turned away, they decide to investigate the Verey family, whom they suspect are passing on secrets… and of course discover more than they bargained for! Great fun for ages 8-13 (and a few adults too!) Lindy
Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs: 100 years of the Best Journalism by Women
by
Eleanor Mills with Kira Cochrane(ed)
Despite being published in the mid-noughties this book has made it into my shopping basket for Christmas gifts this year. The volume brings together seminal journalism over a period of 100 years focusing on women writers from Britain and the United States. The works are grouped under themes including war; politics, race and society; sex and body image; and interviews and icons. Conflict between work and home is a common theme; the book’s title is taken from war reporter and mother Christina Lamb’s piece My Double Life: Kalashnikovs and Cupcakes. While it is an easy book to dip in and out of, I devoured it whole, albeit spacing hellish accounts of human rights abuses with lighter fare. I welcomed the education from acclaimed writers and well-known pieces to more obscure selections. The last word must be lifted from Alice Walker’s 1989 article The Right to Life: what can the White Man … Say to the Black Woman? in which she suggests a form of words including “I will agree to sit quietly for a century or so, and meditate on this”.
NEWS
Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 Prime Minister's Literary Awards
Fiction
Red Heaven by Nicolas Rothwell
Poetry
Human Looking by Andy Jackson
Non-fiction
Rogue Forces: An explosive insiders' account of Australian SAS war crimes in Afghanistan by
Mark Willacy
Australian history
Semut: The untold story of a secret Australian operation in WWII Borneo by Christine Helliwell
Children's literature
Mina and the Whole Wide World by Sherryl Clark, illustrated by Briony Stewart
Young adult literature
The Gaps by Leanne Hall
Congratulations to everyone longlisted for the 2023 Indie Book Awards
FICTION LONGLIST
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au (Giramondo)
Horse by Geraldine Brooks (Hachette Australia)
The Tilt by Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin)
Salt and Skin by Eliza Henry-Jones (Ultimo Press)
The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane (Allen & Unwin)
Seeing Other People by Diana Reid (Ultimo Press)
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland (Fourth Estate Australia)
Willowman by Inga Simpson (Hachette Australia)
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (Michael Joseph Australia)
NON-FICTION LONGLIST
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent by Eddie Betts (Simon & Schuster Australia)
The Ballad of Abdul Wade by Ryan Butta (Affirm Press)
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Emma Carey (Allen & Unwin)
The Book Of Roads And Kingdoms by Richard Fidler (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby (Allen & Unwin)
The First Astronomers by Duane Hamacher, with Elders and Knowledge Holders (Allen & Unwin)
Raised by Wolves by Jess Ho (Affirm Press)
Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here by Heather Rose (Allen & Unwin)
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame (Macmillan Australia)
The Jane Austen Remedy by Ruth Wilson (Allen & Unwin)
DEBUT FICTION LONGLIST
Sunbathing by Isobel Beech (Allen & Unwin)
The Islands by Emily Brugman (Allen & Unwin)
Wake by Shelley Burr (Hachette Australia)
The Mother by Jane Caro (Allen & Unwin)
Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls by Anne Casey-Hardy (Scribner Australia)
Every Version of You by Grace Chan (Affirm Press)
Jesustown by Paul Daley (Allen & Unwin)
All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien (HQ Fiction, HarperCollins)
Son of Sin by Omar Sakr (Affirm Press)
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor (Macmillan Australia)
ILLUSTRATED NON-FICTION LONGLIST
Bush Life by Beauty in the Bush Collective (Affirm Press)
Eat Weeds by Diego Bonetto (Thames & Hudson Australia)
With Nature by Fiona Brockhoff (Hardie Grant Books)
Sons of War by Paul Byrnes (Affirm Press)
First Nations Food Companion by Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan (Murdoch Books)
Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills (Affirm Press)
Cressida Campbell by National Gallery of Australia (National Gallery of Australia)
RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi (Macmillan Australia)
Tenderheart by Hetty McKinnon (Plum)
Creature: Paintings, Drawings and Reflections by Shaun Tan (Windy Hollow Books)
CHILDREN’S LONGLIST
Frank's Red Hat by Sean E Avery (Walker Books Australia)
Come Together by Isaiah Firebrace, illustrated by Jaelyn Biumaiwai (Hardie Grant Explore)
Market Day by Carrie Gallasch, illustrated by Hannah Sommerville (Hardie Grant Children's Publishing)
Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, illustrated by David Hardy (Allen & Unwin Children’s)
Guardians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior 1 by Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard (Albert Street Books)
Floof by Heidi McKinnon (Albert Street Books)
The Bookseller's Apprentice by Amelia Mellor (Affirm Press)
All The World Says Goodnight by Jess Racklyeft (Affirm Press)
Runt by Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin)
My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder (Thames & Hudson Australia)
YOUNG ADULT LONGLIST
Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks (Puffin)
The Museum of Broken Things by Lauren Draper (Text Publishing)
Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James (Hardie Grant Children's Publishing)
A Little Spark by Barry Jonsberg (Allen & Unwin Children's)
Sugar by Carly Nugent (Text Publishing)
Walk in the Dark by Jane Godwin (Lothian Children's Books)
Unnecessary Drama by Nina Kenwood (Text Publishing)
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len (Allen & Unwin Children's)
The Brink by Holden Sheppard (Text Publishing)
Where You Left Us by Rhiannon Wilde (University of Queensland Press)
Christmas with Ben Hobson & Maya Linnell
14 December 2022 - 7pm - Online
Join Ben Hobson and Maya Linnell online for a Christmas special featuring Maya’s latest rural romance Paperbark Hill. The two authors will also be discussing all things festive with podcaster and florist Rebecca Noble and Kristi Brooks from Mount Gambier Library. During this discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, interact with the guests, and enjoy a light-hearted engaging conversation about books, floristry, gardening, and cooking. You can book here.
Writing Competitions
16 December 2022: Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize 2022
The winner will receive author coaching, a structural edit and line edit. Entrants will receive judges’ feedback on their submission.
16 December 2022: KYD First Nations Editors-in-Residence
KYD is now accepting pitches and submissions from writers wanting specifically to work with Kill Your Darlings’ First Nations Editors-in-Residence, Nadia Johansen and Bianca Valentino, open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers.
30 December 2022: The Louie Award for fast fiction crime writing
The Louie Award is for fast fiction crime writing -- a story of less than 500 words. As well as being in the crime genre, entries will also need to feature or incorporate the theme Locked. The winner will receive a cash prize of $750 and a winner’s certificate. Two highly commended writers will also be listed and will receive commendations certificates.
31 December 2022: Griffin Award 2023
Supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the Griffin Award recognises an outstanding play that displays a contemporary Australian voice, with a $10,000 prize for the winner.
31 December 2023: The Moth Poetry Prize 2022
The prize is for an unpublished poem, and entrants (over 16) are welcome from anywhere in the world. The four shortlisted poems will be published in the spring 2023 issue of The Moth and the overall winner will be announced at a special award ceremony at Poetry Ireland. The first prize is €6,000, with three runner-up prizes of €1,000. Eight commended poets will each receive €250
23 January 2023: The Nine Dots Prize
The Nine Dots Prize, worth US$100 000 seeks to reward original thinking in response to contemporary societal issues.
31 January 2023: ASA Award Mentorship Program for Writers & Illustrators supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund
Apply for your chance to win one of 12 mentorship packages designed to help writers/illustrators develop their work to a publishable standard.
7 February 2023: 2022 Dal Stivens Award
The Dal Stivens Award is offered biennially by the Australia Council for the Arts to an author, aged 30 or under, for a short story or essay of the highest literary merit. The story or essay must be between 3,000 and 10,000 words, and must be published or accepted for publication within the 12 months prior to the award's closing date. The recipient will receive $15,000.
7 February 2023: Kathleen Mitchell Award
The Kathleen Mitchell Award is offered biennially by the Australia Council for the Arts to an author, aged 30 or under, of an outstanding novel or novella to encourage advancement in their literary career. The novel or novella must have been published or accepted for publication within the 2 years prior to the Award closing date. The recipient will receive $15,000.
1 March 2023: Sorrento Creative Writing Prize
The Sorrento Creative Writing Prize is open to Australian Citizens or residents aged 18 and over, who have not had their work published by a commercial publisher. The winner will receive $5,000 and their writing will be featured at the 2023 Sorrento Writers Festival.
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 (between 10am and 10.30am if you're in central Europe) 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
Thursday Book Club Recommendations
My recommendation
One Day I'll Remember This: Diaries 1987 - 1995 by Helen Garner
Your recommendations
Barbie R
The Edge of Limits by Susanne Gervay
Desert Star by Michael Connelly
The Third Chopstick by Biff Ward
Paul K
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Katrina D
Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs: 100 years of the Best Journalism by Women by Eleanor Mills with Kira Cochrane (ed)
A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, Sydney Theatre Company (directed by Kip Williams)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ensemble Theatre (adapted for the theatre by Hilary Bell and directed by Damien Ryan)
RBG: Of Many, One by Suzie Miller, Sydney Theatre Company (directed by Priscilla Jackman)
Fabian J
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown
On Managing Yourself by Harvard Business Review
CODA (film) written and directed by Sian Heder
Star Wars: Andor (TV series) created by Tony Gilroy
Louise R
The Crown (season 5) written by Peter Morgan
Take care,
PS. Would you like me to drop in to your book club?
If your book club has chosen to read The Deceptions, The Teacher’s Secret or Running With Ivan, 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
The Deceptions Paperback
Audible Questions? Email me You can buy
The Deceptions,
The Teacher’s Secret
and
Running With Ivan
online and from your favourite bookshops, including https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/the-deceptions-suzanne-leal-9781760875275.do
https://www.gleebooks.com.au/product/deceptions-the/
https://www.gertrudeandalice.com.au/product/the-deceptions/
Booktopia
Suzanne Leal | suzanne@suzanneleal.com |
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Suzanne LealPrince Edward StreetMalabar, Nsw 2036Australia
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