Three launches...and you're invited!

Running With Ivan is (almost) out Events and giveaways!

Three launches...and you're invited!

Dear Friends
Thanks so much for all your good wishes and messages. It's been exciting to watch the acceptances roll in for my book launch next month. I haven't thrown a party in ages and I'm really looking forward to celebrating with you. For those of you who missed it last week, here's the invitation. For catering purposes, simply reply Yes to this email if you'd like to attend.

**** My thanks to Abbey’s Bookshop, who will be the official bookseller at the launch. There's a 15% discount for pre-orders (full price at the event). If you'd like to get your copy of Running with Ivan (also The Teacher’s Secret, The Deceptions) signed without waiting in line at the launch, you can order online at Abbey's. To have your book personally signed, enter the promo code SIGNED (all caps). Chose the shipping option Pick Up In-Store and Abbey's will have your signed copy waiting for you to collect at the launch. Use the Order Notes for instructions on how you want it signed.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to being a guest of Scone Literary Festival next month. I'll be part of the Community Storytelling event as well as moderating Girls, Boys and Everything in Between with Daisy Turnbull, Chanel Contos and Tom Harkin and Pathways to Publication with Rae Cairns, Jo Riccioni and Stacey McEwan. With Sally O'Regan at the helm, it promises to be a terrific festival. You can find out more here.

I hope you can make it to Thursday Book Club tomorrow night. 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.

NEW RELEASE RECOMMENDATION

IN SEARCH OF PERFUMES
Dominique Roques

https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/in-search-of-perfumes-a-lifetime-journey-to-the-sources-of-natures-scents-9781914495168.do
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Roques has worked as a sourcer and producer of the natural ingredients used in high-end perfumery for decades. This lushly written, sometimes unashamedly romantic book tells of his travels around the world hunting down these exotic essences. Rose fields in Bulgaria, cinnamon groves in Sri Lanka, jasmine plots in India, true lavender of Provence, frankincense harvests in Somaliland, rosewood forests in French Guiana, sandalwood plantations in Kununurra, vetiver crops in Haiti and more! Roques tells not only the story of the ingredients, but the women and men who work growing and supplying them; he is interested in their lives and their working conditions, wanting to only deal with ethical practitioners. Part travelogue, part history, this fascinating book is wholly entrancing. Lindy

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

LEILA AND THE BLUE FOX
Kiran Millwood Hargrave

https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/leila-and-the-blue-fox-9781510110274.do

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Leila lives in London with her aunt and cousin, while her mother lives in Tromso where she studies the effects of climate change on Arctic fauna. One of her projects is tracking an Arctic fox, and when Leila is finally brought to Norway to see her mother after six years apart, she finds herself swept up on an expedition. Leila feels unwanted, and confused and angry by her mother's seeming indifference. As the story progresses Leila identifies with the blue vixen as they are both searching for a place to settle beyond the bad memories of their pasts. Splendid illustrations enhance the text, which deals sensitively with difficult topics - forced migration, melting ice-caps, broken families - and yet ultimately offers a sense of hope and home. Lindy

RESCUE READS

I’m Katrina Davis and I’m a newish but firmly stuck-on member of Thursday Book Club. All my life I have loved reading. One day a week I have the splendid honour of helping out in the not insubstantial book section of a local op-shop where I bolster my to-be-read pile with second-hand literary gems. Every week I'll review one of these not-so-newly released treasures. You can also find me on @RescueReads and @rescuereadsau.

Madame de Pompadour
by
Nancy Mitford
Part of my reading life is devoted to my ambition to one day be described as a noted Mitford buff. While my obsession covers all five of the literarily prolific sisters, my affection is concentrated on the non-fascist aligned of the aristocratic siblings making headlines in twentieth century Britain. Nancy Mitford is best known for the achingly dry-witted fictional works Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Lovebut she also wrote several works of historical biography including this one of the influential mistress of France’s Louis XV. I read the revised 1968 version that comes in coffee-table book form with coloured plates of Versailles artefacts and other treasures of the time. Mitford often bemoaned her lack of education but this work certainly appears learned and is undoubtedly wonderfully written. I have made the touristy pilgrimage to the Palace of Versailles and thought it confronting in its vulgarity. Mitford is less judgemental of her subject matter, indeed she puts Madame de Pompadour’s best foot forward, and leaves the reader grieving her death alongside the King in the book’s final chapter.
NEWS

Western Sydney Crime Anthology Launch
6.30pm 22 February 2023
41 Hunter Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150

Join BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival and WestWords to celebrate the launch of BAD Western Sydney; a new collection of crime short stories and micro-fiction set in the urban sprawl of Western Sydney, launched by renowned Australian crime writer Candice Fox. The launch is free to attend.

Launch of My Last Drink by Ross Fitzgerald
6pm Tuesday 21 February 2023
The Olsen Gallery
65 Jersey Rd Woollahra

Thursday Book Club guest and well-known historian and author, Ross Fitzgerald is extending an invitation to our Thursday Book Club community to the launch of his new collection, My Last Drink: 32 Stories of recovering alcoholics. Ross Fitzgerald and gallery owner Tim Olsen will be speaking at the launch.

Writing Competitions

18 February 2023: Embellishment Story Callout
Voices of Women is seeking submissions of unpublished short monologues and narratives written in the first person by women all around the world, with shortlisted writers to receive $100 and selected submissions to be performed in live shows and podcasts in Australia and more

20 February 2023: Text Prize for Young Adult & Children's Writing
Awarded annually to the best manuscript written for young readers, the $10,000 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing aims to discover incredible new books by exciting authors.

22 February 2023: Red Room Fellowship
The Red Room Poetry Fellowship was established to foster poetic and professional development of an individual within the wider poetic community. Valued at $10,000, this opportunity is open to applications from all previously commissioned poets.

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.

1 May 2023:The Writing Prize 2023
The Writing Prize will be awarded for the best writing on the question: Why is 'A Voice to Parliament' important and how will it be of benefit for Australia. The Writing Prize is for Australians forty years and under. The winner will receive $10000 and their writing featured on www.writing.org.au

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
Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery

Your recommendations

Noela A
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton

Ravi S
A World of Curiosities: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, 18) by Louise Penny
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
All the Broken Places by John Boyne
Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
Lessons by Ian McEwan

Fabian J
The Very Hungry Worry Monsters illustrated by Lara Ede

Louise R
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel

Hazel H
Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner

Dina D
Sorrow & Bliss by Meg Mason
Phosphorescence by Julia Baird

Katrina D
Love and Virtue by Diana Reid
You think it, I'll say it by Curtis Sittenfeld
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Scrublands by Chris Hammer

Judy M
The Tilt by Chris Hammer
The Jane Austen Remedy by Ruth Wilson

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