I'm in conversation with Michael Burge at Thursday Book Club this week - hope you can join us!
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My guest this week 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 at 8pm:
JOIN BOOK CLUB ON ZOOM Dear Friends
Michael Burge is my guest on Thursday Book Club tomorrow night. Many of you will know him from his journalism for Guardian Australia’s Rural Network, a platform for regional reporting in Australia’s country regions. Or perhaps you might know him from his articles on the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes. For others of you, Michael will have come to your attention with his debut novel, Tank Water. You may also know him as the co-owner of The Maker's Shed. Situated in Glen Innes, The Maker's Shed is a gallery and book shop that is both the central hub of High Country Books and the home of the High Country Book Club, hosted by Michael each month.
So there's clearly lots to discuss at Thursday Book Club tomorrow night! I hope you can join us.
On Thursday 10 August, I'll be coming to Canberra to be in conversation with Barbie Robinson at the beautiful Book Cow independent bookshop in Kingston. Canberra people, I'd love your company. The event is free and you can register for it here.
Finally, for those of you who weren't able to make my book launch in Sydney, Orange (Shiang-Yuan) Kao kindly videoed the speeches by Jane Palfreyman (my publisher), Tom Keneally and me. You can watch them on my YouTube channel.
Hope your week has been a good one so far - and if it hasn't been, I hope it's getting better.
THE HEART IS A STAR
Megan Rogers
BUY FROM ABBEY'S BOOK SHOP
Layla Barnes is at a point of complete and utter exhaustion. It's approaching Christmas. She's an anaesthetist in a busy hospital and has made a fatal mistake that threatens her career. Her underemployed husband doesn't pull his weight in the home and constantly resents her busyness, even though his financial incompetence is one of the reasons she has to work so hard. Their two children are responding to the household tensions in differing ways, none positive. She has a lover who shares her passion for astronomy but is becoming possessive. The aunt she looks out for is 'acting up,' her sister is dismissive and unreachable, and then her mother - who Layla has never really understood, and who she blames for her much-loved and adored father's death - has yet again threatened suicide. This time Layla thinks she really is serious, because her mother has said she will reveal something she has kept secret all these years. On the point of breaking, Layla heads to the remote Tasmanian town to finally confront her mother… A powerful novel of a complicated woman who has to break apart before she can get herself together. Absorbing and lyrically written. Lindy
Enter the code THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout for a 15% discount on Abbey's new release 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, Running With Ivanand The Watchful Wife.
THE RUSH
Michelle Prak
BUY FROM ABBEY'S BOOK SHOP
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK --- Quinn works for the outback pub a few hours from her family's old property. It's a famous stop on the overland route from Adelaide to Darwin, but as the wet season approaches, trade falls away. The wife of the pub's owner, Andrea, is pregnant and dreading having another child in the remote region as she finds it hard enough with a toddler. As the heat builds, and the monsoonal weather closes in with threats of flash flooding, a party of inexperienced travellers is heading that way. Hayley and Scott are universtiy students, and Hayley has their life planned out - graduation, good jobs, marriage and all - but whose planning for the trip is perhaps similarly unreal. They are accompanied by two overseas students found through the internet - Joost from the Netherlands, whose odd behaviour might be interpreted in light of his youth and less-than-perfect English, and slightly older Brazilian Livia, who is an eco-warrior in the making. As this mismatched bunch head north, and Andrea is unexpectedly left to fend for herself as her husband goes to help a neighbouring property owner prepare for the oncoming floodwaters, a series of events threatens them separately… I thoroughly enjoyed this take on the rural crime novel. There's no cops, no detectives, just ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The reader isn't even sure what crimes are committed until the clever ending. A great read and a breath of fresh air! Lindy RESCUE READS
Howards End
by
E.M. Foster
I suspect it was obvious some time ago that I don’t have a degree in literature. Nor do I really know how to write book reviews. So I am just going to let myself off the hook of having to write something learned about EM Forster’s work. I picked up this book at the op shop because I saw the TV adaptation and I thought the main character, Margaret Schlegel, was an interesting woman. I remain interested in her after reading the 1910 novel; she and her sister spend their time going to dinner parties that incorporate essays and structured informal debates. After a brief acquaintance, Mrs Wilcox of Howards End expresses her wish that Margaret inherit her home upon her death. A lot of work in the book’s first half is taken setting up the Schlegels, the Wilcoxes, and a third family, the Basts. I enjoyed the novel a lot more in its second half when twisty interesting things started to happen (and there was more flirting). Forster often tells rather than shows which seems less common in modern novels but I rather liked it. NEWS
Congratulations to those writers longlisted for this year's Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award
An Intimate History of Evolution: The Story of the Huxley Family by Alison Bashford (Allen Lane)
One Illumined Thread by Sally Colin-James (Harper Collins)
My Giddy Aunt and her sister comedians by Sharon Connolly (Upswell Publishing)
We Come with This Place by Debra Dank (Echo Publishing)
Anam by André Dao (Hamish Hamilton)
Emperors in Lilliput by Jim Davidson (The Miegunyah Press)
The Bell of the World by Gregory Day (Transit Lounge)
Reckless by Marele Day (Ultimo Press)
The Great Dead Body Teacher by Jackie Dent (Ultimo Press)
The Plant Thieves: Secrets of the herbarium by Prudence Gibson (NewSouth)
Aphrodite's Breath by Susan Johnson
(Allen & Unwin)
Ghosts of the Orphanage
by Christine Kenneally (Hachette Australia)
Staging a Revolution: When Betty Rocked the Pram by Kath Kenny (Upswell Publishing)
Graft by Maggie MacKellar
(Hamish Hamilton)
The Age of Seeds by Fiona McMillian-Webster (Thames & Hudson Australia)
Life So Full of Promise: further biographies of Australia’s lost generation by Ross McMullin
(Scribe Publications)
Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life
by Brigitta Olubas (Virago)
The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About: Exposing Our Untold Mental Health Crisis by Elfy Scott (Pantera Press)
Political Lives: Australian prime ministers and their biographers by Chris Wallace
(UNSW Press)
The Passion of Private White by Don Watson (Scribner Australia)
Congratulations to Shankari Chandran, winner of the 2023 Miles Frankin Literary Award for her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens.
Congratulations to those authors shortlisted for the 2023 Davitt Awards
Adult novels
Lucy Christopher, Release (Text Publishing)
Aoife Clifford, When We Fall (Ultimo Press)
Margaret Hickey, Stone Town (Penguin Random House Australia)
Tracey Lien, All That’s Left Unsaid (HQ Fiction)
Dinuka McKenzie, The Torrent (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Vikki Petraitis, The Unbelieved (Allen & Unwin)
Hayley Scrivenor, Dirt Town (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Emma Styles, No Country for Girls (Sphere, an imprint of Hachette Australia)
Young Adult novels
Louise Bassett, The Hidden Girl (Walker Books)
Sarah Epstein, Night Lights (Fourteen Press)
Fleur Ferris, Seven Days (Penguin Random House Australia)
Ellie Marney, The Killing Code (Allen & Unwin)
Children’s novels
Deborah Abela, The Book of Wondrous Possibilities (Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia)
Charlie Archbold, The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat (Text Publishing)
Lian Tanner, Rita’s Revenge (Allen & Unwin)
Non-fiction books
Wendy Davis, Don’t Make a Fuss: It’s only the Claremont Serial Killer (Fremantle Press) Debut
Katrina Marson, Legitimate Sexpectations: The power of sex-ed (Scribe Publications)
Megan Norris, Out of the Ashes (Big Sky Publishing)
Debut books
Maryrose Cuskelly, The Cane (Allen & Unwin)
Tracey Lien, All That’s Left Unsaid (HQ Fiction)
Dinuka McKenzie, The Torrent (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Vikki Petraitis, The Unbelieved (Allen & Unwin)
Hayley Scrivenor, Dirt Town (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Emma Styles, No Country for Girls (Sphere, an imprint of Hachette Australia)
Coastal Poetry:Libby Hathorn & Elizabeth Cummings 8 August at 6.30pmWaverley Library Theatrette
Poetry at SMSA 2023: Les Murray Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts6pm Tuesday 8 August 2023
Suzanne Leal in conversation with Barbie Robinson Thursday, 10 August at 6pmThe Book Cow Bookshop47 Jardine St, Kingston ACT
2023 South Coast Writers FestivalWollongong Town Hall, Wollongong Library, Wollongong Art Gallery18-20 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
4 August: Newcastle Poetry Prize
The prize embraces the long form poem, allowing poets to explore their craft across up to 200 lines, with a first prize of $15,000. The accompanying anthology also offers a platform for poets to be published.
7 August: Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize
The prize is open to submissions of unpublished nature-themed poetry up to 80 lines, with a major prize of $1,000. The winner will be announced at the Words in Winter festival in Victoria on 27 August.
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.
20 August 2023: Mentoring Program for Emerging Writers from Diverse Backgrounds
Up to six emerging writers from Indigenous or culturally diverse backgrounds will be given the opportunity to work on a short piece of fiction or non-fiction (2,000-5,000 words) under the guidance of award-winning author Eugen Bacon and with support from Writing NSW.
25 August 2023: Maureen Freer Literary Competition 2023
Sponsored by the Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland, this competition invites short story works up to 2,000 words on the topic 'A Line in the Sand'. First prize is $300, and a short list of 10 will be offered future publication in SCOPE.
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.
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.
4 September: Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship 2023
The Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship is awarded annually to a writer with a work of fiction, creative non-fiction, a play, or a suite of poems that is ready for the next stage of development. Applicants must be Writing NSW members and be willing to commit to developing their work.
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.
Tomorrow night 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
Fanatic Heart by Tom Keneally
Michael Burge
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Noela Alexander
The Watchful Wife by Suzanne Leal
Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
Gillian Hunt
The Watchful Wife by Suzanne Leal
The Third Chopstick by Biff Ward
Hazel H
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
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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