This is one of the most remarkable stories I’ve read in my life, and has been inspirational to me over the past year. Lawrence Anthony’s retelling of the rescue of a herd of traumatised elephants moved me from the first page to the last. I’ve spent some of the last year writing about elephants for my new novel, and I’d planned to contact Lawrence and tell him how much his book had inspired me. When I came out of my writing haze, handed my book in, and looked up his details on the internet, I found he had died a few weeks earlier, in March 2012, aged 61.

His death was terribly saddening and shocking, and appears to have been unexpected, as he had forthcoming plans to promote his new book The Last Rhinos. He is a great loss to the conservation world, but the most touching tribute does not seem to have come from his fellow man, but from the elephants he saved and loved, who apparently, inexplicably, made the long journey from the bush to his house, and stood for two days in mourning (http://delightmakers.com/news/wild-elephants-gather-inexplicably-mourn-death-of-elephant-whisperer/).

Vale Lawrence Anthony. The world will miss you.

This is a story of right and wrong, and how sometimes they look the same …

One April morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and a crying infant – and the path of the couple’s lives hits an unthinkable crossroads.

Only years later do they discover the devastating consequences of the decision they made that day – as the baby’s real story unfolds …

What a sensational debut by ML Stedman! Even the strapline is one of the best I’ve read: This is the story of right and wrong, and how they sometimes look the same. I loved so much about this book. The central dilemma is absorbing, and I found myself alternately rooting for (and sometimes angry with) each of the characters as they struggle to find resolution. Throughout the story, the descriptions are mesmerising. My favourite lines are 96 pages in: ‘In a place before words, in some other language of creature to creature, with the softening of her muscles, the relaxing of her neck, the baby signalled her trust. Having come so close to the hands of death, life now infused with life like water meets water.’ I did find the beginning a little bit slow, but it’s well worth persevering. ML Stedman manipulates her narrative like a master, and I’m looking forward to finding out what she does next.

NB: This book has been optioned for a film too, and I hope it gets made. It would be great to see a story based in Western Australia on the big screen.

Beneath the Shadows US edition

I’m delighted to be able to reveal the cover of the US edition of Beneath the Shadows - I absolutely love it! Huge thanks to the designers, as I think it captures the book’s essence perfectly.

Beneath the Shadows will be out in the US on 5 June 2012, and is already available for pre-order on Amazon. It is being likened to books by Sophie Hannah and Rosamund Lupton, and here’s what NYT bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf had to say:

Sara Foster’s Beneath the Shadows is a haunting tale of loss and one woman’s search for the truth no matter the consequences. This vividly written novel will leave you breathless and as chilled as the starkly beautiful North Yorkshire moors where this compelling story unfolds.

• finishing my third book, Shallow Breath, getting it into production and telling everybody about it
• seeing Beneath the Shadows published in America
• attending the Perth Writers Festival, being involved in discussions and conducting a session on e-marketing
• starting a brand-new book!

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2012 filled with great reading.

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season and a very happy 2012.

Sara x

Das Moor vergisst nicht.

Ein Jahr ist es her, dass Grace mit ihrer kleinen Tochter das einsame North Yorkshire fluchtartig verließ. Ein Jahr, seit ihr Mann spurlos im Moor verschwand.

Seitdem sucht Grace nach Antworten. Doch als sie jetzt ins Moor zurückkehrt, stößt sie auf eine Mauer des Schweigens. Welches Geheimnis verbergen ihre Nachbarn? Wem kann sie trauen? Und was bedeuten die merkwürdigen Träume? Während Schneestürme das Dorf von der Außenwelt abschneiden, wird Grace klar: Jemand versucht mit allen Mitteln, die Wahrheit vor ihr zu verbergen. Wie weit wird er gehen?

Sara Foster’s Beneath the Shadows is a haunting tale of loss and one woman’s search for the truth no matter the consequences. This vividly written novel will leave you breathless and as chilled as the starkly beautiful North Yorkshire moors where this compelling story unfolds.

Heather’s first book, The Weight of Silence, (called Behind the Silence in Australia) was nominated for an Edgar award, and is part of the UK’s The Summer Read. Her latest book, These Things Hidden, was on the February 2011 Indie Next List “Great Reads from Booksellers You Trust”. To find out more visit her website www.heathergudenkauf.com.

Thank you so much, Heather!

1. Why did you decide to write Last Summer?

The book was inspired, for want of a better word, by the unexpected death of one of my husband’s close friends, a guy he had played cricket and footy with for many years – and I’ve actually written a whole blog about this over at Lisa Heidke’s website. But as well as that, having written about romantic love in my previous novel, After The Fall, this time around I wanted to write about friendship. My husband has played club cricket for over three decades now, and is still going strong. Some of the relationships he has made in that time are like blood to him, and how he and his mates can still seem to need to dissect a game six hours after it has finished never fails to amaze me. I find the whole group psychology thing fascinating… a long established group, be that of Uni friends or teammates or work colleagues, is almost like a marriage, with all the compromises and resentments and deep understanding that entails, and I wanted to dive into that.

2. What do you find essential to sustain or encourage your writing brain? (e.g. food, drink, music, etc.). Do you have any other writing habits?

I have no writing habits other than, it seems, stuffing around for hours at the start of my writing day (of which I have three a week) then finally getting into gear when I suddenly realise I only have a few hours until 3:30. The threat of the school bell is the greatest incitement to write I have ever come across – once that goes, it’s all over for the day. Other than that, there’s nothing special I do to get the muse to show up. I’m quite used to starting without her.

3. If you could live the life of any fictional character (book or film), who would you be and why?

Robinson Crusoe. I really love the beach.

4. If you weren’t a writer, what else would you like to be?

A hairdresser. Or a bank teller. In fact, I dream about these professions on a regular basis, usually when it is 3 o’clock and I am still 550 words off my 1000 words/day goal…. Oh, how I long to be doing something productive and straightforward and that you can go home from feeling good about yourself, rather than lying awake that night wondering if you dare re-read over the chapter you’ve just finished and if it’s even more rubbish than you already suspect. Swimsuit model would be good too (the beach again), but so far I haven’t been able to find an agency.

5. Who inspires you in life?

Big question! My mum has always inspired me – she decided to become a doctor at the age of 40, with three young kids, and having left school without passing Year 11. That she went on and did so is a constant reminder that dreams can come true – particularly if you’re prepared to put in years of hard work. In terms of authors, Toni Morrison is unable to write a bad sentence. Every one of hers is as exquisitely turned as a Bentwood chair, supple and strong. Also Joanna Trollope, who I suspect is often under-rated, simply for how well she can pin characters to the page and make them squirm.

6. How would your ideal day go?

Any day where I get 1000 words I am happy with is a perfect day, it really is. That probably sounds like a cop out, but I came to writing in my thirties, after eleven years studying for another profession, and I’m just so grateful to be finally doing something I truly love and occasionally even get paid for. The only way it could get any better would be if I could find a way to write on the beach… but I keep getting sand in my laptop.

7. You’re about to get parachuted on to a desert island for a month, Survivor style – and you’re allowed to take three books. What would you take and why?

This sounds like my Robinson Crusoe fantasy! If it really was in Survivor style I guess I’d need Robison Crusoe, so I could see how he survived, plus 101 Tasty Ways With Turtles And Other Easy To Catch Aquatic Species, and my Girl Guide handbook, so I could brush up on my knots and semaphore.  If, however, I’m being parachuted into Club Med I’d pack the biggest, thickest books I could find – War and Peace, definitely, all of Proust, and maybe Of Human Bondage. All a bit intimidating, I admit, but I could get through a lot of books in a month doing nothing, and I’d hate to run out!

8. What have you learned during the course of writing and publishing your novels?

That EVERYONE hates their novels at some stage of writing them, and often on a daily basis. That the muse is utterly unreliable and not to be trusted. That Twitter will sing such a sweet siren song to you that the only way to defeat it will be to unplug your laptop and go and work in the kitchen where you can’t get wifi (pathetic, I know). That being published won’t automatically make you happier, richer or a better person… but also that the first time you see your name on a book is right up there with the first time you see your children, although with the added bonus that you won’t need stiches afterwards.

9. What do you hope people take away from reading your book?

An overwhelming desire to buy 100 more copies to pass out to their family and friends, and particularly that great-uncle who is the literary editor at the New York Times. Otherwise, though, I simply hope people come away from my books having enjoyed them, and, while they were reading them, having believed in their world. Being asked about my characters as if they were real people is the greatest compliment I have ever been given.

10. What’s next on the horizon for you?

Finishing my next book! By some fluke of timing (and the fact that publishing moves at a pace that can make glaciers look reckless) I should complete the novel I am working on, Into My Arms, not long after Last Summer comes out. A first draft anyway… Finishing a book is almost as scary as starting one, and right up there with having one launched. To be honest, it’s all terrifying… but I still love it.

It’s been a pleasure chatting to you, Kylie (and your mum sounds incredible!) Good luck with your writing, and I’m really looking forward to reading Into My Arms.

Geiki Gorge landscape, in the Kimberley

It’s not about rights
(though it seems some rights mean more than others?)

It’s not about need
(who can say about greed)

It’s not about whales
(or this rare, safe place they calve)

It’s not about flora, fauna, or natural heritage
(or dinosaur footprints left 130 million years ago)

It’s not about a wilderness few will visit
(out of sight, out of mind)

It’s not even about pollution
(the inestimable clog of it)

No, it’s not about any of this
(It’s all of this)

 It is that all this damage is irreversible
(i.r.r.e.v.e.r.s.i.b.l.e.).

Land and sea are irreplaceable
And afterwards
They are all we’ll have left.

S.A.V.E. T.H.E. K.I.M.B.E.R.L.E.Y.
(and all places like it)