It's my book launch!
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My next guest on Thursday Book Club is.... Michael Burge Journalist, artist and author of the coming-of-age crime thriller, Tank Water.
To join us, click on the link to my Zoom conference room on Thursday 3 August at 8pm:
JOIN BOOK CLUB ON ZOOM Dear Friends
Tom Keneally is launching my new novel this evening and I'm so excited about it! Tom has long been one of my writing heroes and it's such an honour to have him launch The Watchful Wife. Hope you can come - you'll find the details below.
This means that Thursday Book Club won't be on tonight. For those of you who can't make the book launch, the speeches will be recorded and published on my website. My thanks to Orange (Shiang-Yuan) Kao and Hazel Hogarth for making this possible.
I've also got a number of events coming up over the next week. On Saturday afternoon, I'll be at Gordon Library, on Tuesday evening at Leichhardt Library, on Wednesday evening at Margaret Martin Library in Randwick and on Thursday evening I'll be at Woollahra Library. It would be lovely to have your company!
Thanks so much for taking the time to vote in the Better Reading Top 50 Kids' Books The fifty books chosen will be stocked in Big W for the next year. This gives books like my novel Running with Ivan a new lease of life and the chance to find new readers. Voting closes on Sunday. If you are yet to vote, you can do it here. I really appreciate your support.
Many of you will know Jacinta Parsons as the host of Afternoons on ABC Melbourne. I've just read her book A Question of Age, which came out late last year. It's the most thoughtful, intimate and beautifully written work on women, ageing and those two selves; the inside self and the outside self. I found it fascinating - let me know what you think.
NEW RELEASE RECOMMENDATION
THE WAKESDianne Yarwood
BUY FROM ABBEY'S BOOK SHOP
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Clare's husband has upped and left after vaguely notifying her of his unhappiness. Her job is demanding, she's left with the house and the teenaged kids and a feeling of disconnectedness. Chris' wife has left him after one too many unsuccessful rounds of IVF and his rather ironic heart attack - as a doctor, he knows about keeping healthy. Louisa has moved into the house next door to Clare; she's larger than life and disorganised and has fallen into an accidentally catering for her friend Tim's funeral business. All these wonderfully ordinarily complicated people come together over the course of four funerals and the perfect chicken sandwiches and lemon tart… A warm and generous novel about life and living it in spite of everything that gets in the way, and the friends you make who make it all worthwhile. Lindy
ROCKS, FOSSILS AND FORMATIONS
Thomas R.H. Woolrych
BUY FROM ABBEY'S BOOK SHOP
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK --- Aimed at older readers 10-14, this is an excellent and accessible introduction to geoscience, with an Australian focus. It tells how rocks and landscapes hold the stories of Earth's origins, and how scientists can interpret these clues. The chapters start with eons: Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic - then eras: Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic, taking the reader for a journey through these important time periods. It explains concepts of geology and tectonics with enthusiasm and easily understood language that conveys the wonder of the processes. Well illustrated by Anna Madeleine Raupach, this is just the sort of book to hook readers in to the joys of science! Lindy
RESCUE READS
Small Acts of Disappearance: Essays on Hunger
by
Fiona Wright
I have to confess. I didn’t find this book at an op-shop or book sale. This makes sense as I can’t imagine anyone passing on their copy of Small Acts of Disappearance after reading it. I leave this review here, as a Rescue Read, as the record of my 2023 reading life must include this peak experience. Subtitled Essays on Hunger, this collection of ten personal essays moves seamlessly between memoir, literary criticism, travel writing and more. Wright deploys these techniques in her work to understand her experience of Anorexia over a ten year period. Over the recent years of my own disability I have found myself interrogating the books I read, the conversations I have and the deliberations of my soul to make sense of how I live now. Wright validates this way of acting and makes from her alertness to the world and deep intelligence a masterpiece.NEWS
Congratulations to those writers shortlisted for the 2023 National Biography Award
Unknown: A Refugee’s Story by Akuch Kuol Anyieth (Text Publishing)The Ghost Tattoo: Discovering the hidden truth of my father’s Holocaust by Tony Bernard (Allen & Unwin)
How to End a Story: Diaries 1995–1998 by Helen Garner (Text Publishing)
Bedtime Story by Chloe Hooper (Scribner Australia, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia)
Missing by Tom Patterson (Allen & Unwin)
My Tongue Is My Own: A Life of Gwen Harwood by Ann-Marie Priest (La Trobe University Press/Black Inc.
Congratuiations to Debra Dank, winner of the 2023 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal for her much-lauded work, We Come With This Place (Echo Publishing)
Ku-ring-gai Creative Showcase
Gordon Library
2pm-5pm 22 July 2023
Leichhardt Library
6.30pm - 7.30pm 25 July 2023
Author Talks: Suzanne Leal in Conversation with Eleanor Limprecht
Margaret Martin Library, Randwick
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm 26 July 2023
(light catering provided from 6pm)
Writers & Readers: Woollahra Library
Suzanne Leal in conversation with Catherine du Peloux Menagé
Woollahra Library
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm, Thursday, 27 July 2023
An Afternoon with Suzanne Leal and Petronella McGovern3pm-4.30pm 29 July 2023Better Read Than Dead
2023 South Coast Writers FestivalWollongong Town Hall, Wollongong Library, Wollongong Art Gallery18-20 August 2023
Poetry at SMSA 2023:Les Murray Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts6pm Tuesday 8 August 2023
Secrets hiding in plain sightJoin Lucy Campbell (author of Lowbridge) & Rae Cairns (author of Dying to Know) in conversation
Better Dead than Read, 265 King St, Newtown
Saturday 19 August, 10 am – 11 am
.
Rose Scott Women Writers’ Festival
The Women's Club,179 Elizabeth St Sydney
15-17 September 2023
For its 10th anniversary, the Rose Scott Women Writers' Festival is seeking donations to cover appearance fees for guest artists. If you'd like to support the festival, you can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Writing Competitions
23 July 2023: Vote to Win 50 Kids' Books
Vote for the Better Reading Top 50 Kids' Books. To enter, all you need to do is vote for your all-time favourite kids or YA book. It can be international or local, old or new, classic or debut.
31 July 2023: Varuna Fellowships 2024
More than 25 fellowships will be awarded for residencies in 2024, offering writers in all creative genres two to three weeks’ full board and accommodation, with a private writing space and a one-hour conversation with a Varuna consultant.
31 July 2023 Children's Peace Literature Award
The Children’s Peace Literature Award is for books intended for children up to 18 years of age. The books’ themes or main characters should encourage the peaceful resolution of conflict and/or promote peace at the global, local or interpersonal level.The award is conducted by Psychologists for Peace, a Special Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society.
1 August 2023: Walker Books Manuscript Prize
This is a new biennial prize to be awarded to an unpublished manuscript, from 5000 to 70000 words for a readership of children over 8 years. The winner will be offered a publishing contract with an advance against royalties.
13 August 2023: 2023 Storyfest Storytelling Competition
This year's theme is INHALE!
Primary school students: 250 word limit
Secondary school students: 500 word limit
Open age: 1000 word limit.
31 August 2023: Woollahra Digital Literary Award
The award seeks original literary submissions that are digitally born - originating online or in electronic or multi media form.
31 August 2023: Marjorie Barnard Short Story Award 2023
Australian writers are invited to submit short stories to a maximum of 3000 words.
20 August 2023: WritingNSW Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers from Diverse Backgrounds
Applications are currently open for a mentoring program for emerging writers from Indigenous or culturally diverse backgrounds. Up to six writers will be given the opportunity to work on a short piece of fiction or non-fiction (2000-5000 words) under the guidance of award-winning author Eugen Bacon with support from Writing NSW. The aim of the program is to ready the works for publication on the Writing NSW website or other leading journals or platforms.
31 August 2023: 30th Scarlet Stiletto Awards
Sisters in Crime’s Scarlet Stiletto Awards for best short crime and mystery stories turn 30 this year and are offering a record $12,720 in prizes. The focus is on women's crime and mystery short stories, and the competition is open to all women, whether cisgender, transgender, or intersex, who are citizens/residents of Australia. More information on the competition in the link above.
22 September 2023: POEM FOREST Writing Prize
Created by Red Room Poetry, in partnership with Wollongong City Council, POEM FOREST invites students and teachers to use their words to make positive climate action. For every nature poem received a tree is planted to help heal habitats and create a POEM FOREST for future generations.
30 September 2023; Bridport Memoir Award
This is an international award for writers embarking upon a memoir. To enter, submit a 300 word overview in addition to a 5000 to 8000 excerpt.
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, I interview a guest writer.
On 3 August, I'll be interviewing Michael Burge, journalist, artist and author of the coming-of-age crime thriller, Tank Water
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 (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
A Question of Age by Jacinta Parsons
Noela Alexander
Homecoming by Kate Morton
Barbie Robinson
The Unearthed by Lenny Bartulin
Lowbridge by Lucy Campbell
The House With All The Lights On by Jessica Kirkness
The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer
Such a Fun Age by Kylie Reid
Ravi Samuel
Broken Light by Joanne Harris
She said (film)
Jane Eyre by Michael Fassbender (film)
Louise Ryan
Only Murders in the Building (TV)
Black Mirror (TV)
Dina Davies
Bad Art Mother by Edwina Preston
The Fire and the Rose by Robyn Cadwallader
Schitt's Creek (TV)
Katrina Davis
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Take care,
Suzanne
PS. Would you like me to drop in to your book club?
If your book club has chosen to read The Watchful Wife, 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.
JOIN BOOK CLUB ON ZOOM
My new novel, The Watchful Wife, is out now You can buy it from Allen & Unwin here or at your favourite bookshop. 
You can buy Running with Ivan here
You can buy The Deceptions and The Teacher’s Secret
directly from my publisher here:
Kindle version
Paperback
*****Enter the code THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout at Abbey's for a 15% discount on my novels, The Teacher's Secret, The Deceptions and Running With Ivan.
The Deceptions Paperback
Audible QUESTIONS? EMAIL ME You can buy
The Watchful Wife, 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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