Pictured are a few things in my study that are there to inspire me, in life and in writing.

Unbroken Spirit by Alison Dearborn Rieder

And now on to my fellow writers, Annabel Smith, Emma Chapman, Dawn Barker, Amanda Curtin and Natasha Lester. Can you guess which writer I’m referring to below? Visit their blogs to find out more!

Which writer has a beautiful new studio decorated with Florence Broadhurst wallpaper? Find out here.

Which writer wrote her first novel in the domed reading room at the State Library of Victoria? Find out here.

Which writer likes to bake with loud music on to get her into the zone? Find out here. [problem with link, will be sorted soon]

Which writer has crayons and a fairy doll on her desk? Find out here.

Which writer’s studio was once the storeroom of a shop? Find out here.

Come Back to Me is FREE all weekend on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for international readers. (Offer starts 12 am Pacific Standard Time on 11 May and ends 11.59 pm Pacific Standard Time on 12 May.)

Shallow Breath is down to $4.99 on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for international readers.

FREE Postage Australia-wide from gorgeous independent bookshop Beaufort St Books in Mount Lawley, Perth, and they are offering Come Back to Me FREE when you buy Shallow Breath, and will even throw in wrapping. Call 08 6142 7996 or visit them at 567 Beaufort Street.

Buy Shallow Breath in WA at Dymocks Hay Street, Dymocks Morley, Dymocks Joondalup or Dymocks Karrinyup, and get Come Back to Me FREE.

Books are also on sale Australia-wide on my website store.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

They stayed and swam with us on Sunday because they wanted to – there was no feeding, no tank walls, no training or tricks. When they’d had enough they moved on, and we got back on the boat and tried to find another group who might want to play. We saw them nursing, playing, rooting in the sand for prey, and swimming as a pod, the mothers and aunties hovering protectively over the youngsters. It was beautiful. As always, while in the water with them I briefly forgot everything else.

A dolphin’s use of echolocation gives them a kind of X-ray vision. They can see right through us. Scientists are still examining exactly what they might see, but perhaps it’s more interesting to note what they won’t see. They don’t see us driving our cars, building houses and cities or destroying them. They don’t see the shopping malls, the skyscrapers, our artwork, our aeroplanes, our space rockets, or our televisions. They know nothing of the world wide web. What they might see is an ungainly group of visitors, who can’t hope to match their graceful silhouettes, who breathe heavily through plastic snorkels. Masters of their own environment, they can see right through us.

The dolphins on Sunday reminded me of exactly why I wrote Shallow Breath.

Just click on the books to join in – good luck! (Books posted to Australian and UK addresses only.)

Dawn Barker is the author of the widely praised novel Fractured, which was published earlier this year by Hachette. She is currently hard at work on her second book.

Emma Chapman’s first novel, How to Be a Good Wife, has already  been published in the UK and Australia and sold in the US and and across Europe. It has received extensive praise, including a fantastic endorsement by Hilary Mantel!

Amanda Curtin has won numerous awards for her fiction and short fiction, and is the author of a collection of short stories, Inherited, and two novels, The Sinkings and Elemental (the latter will be on sale in seven days – and Amanda is busy counting down with teasers on her blog!)

Natasha Lester won the TAG Hungerford award for her first novel, What is Left Over, After, and released her second book, If I Should Lose You, late last year.

Annabel Smith is the author of two novels, Whisky Charlie Foxtrot and A New Map of the Universe, which was shortlisted for the West Australian Premier’s Book Awards. Her third novel, The Ark, will be released as an interactive digital app later this year.

Writing is often a solitary business so it is a pleasure to be part of this group, and I am already learning a lot from them. You’ll find links to their thoughts on their own writing processes at the bottom of this post, but now I will move on to telling you about mine…

Oh how I wish it were that easy to reflect on my writing process! I remember hearing of a very well-known children’s author who every day, without fail, writes 500 new words and edits the words written the previous day. I lust after the idea of such a structured way of working, but in my semi-chaotic life it rarely happens.

Come Back to Me, my first novel, was written over four years, back when there was no pressure of a deadline. Even then I needed to take a three-month hiatus from my day job as a book editor to really tackle and finish the story. Beneath the Shadows was the first time I’d had a deadline and I also had a new baby by my side, so a combination of adrenalin and terror saw that one through. It was also during this time that Come Back to Me was published, and people asked questions about my ‘writing process’ for the first time. So it was really only at this point that I began to reflect on it.

There are things I have always done as a writer. I have always had ideas in the middle of the night, while sipping coffee at the shops, or on a long journey – those times when my mind has been a little less crowded with the other affairs of the day. I call them ‘snippets’ – they might be a phrase, a word, something to research, the beginnings of a scene – and I write them down immediately and try to file them appropriately so that I can come back to them. Other than that, I usually hold a story in my head for quite a long time without  making any formal attempt to write it down. During this time I’m getting to know the different characters, looking at the plot, and basically seeing if this concept is strong enough to gain a hold on me. One thing I don’t have a problem with is ideas for stories – but although they come to me regularly, not all of them are enticing enough for me to want to chase them down and capture them on the page. So I like to let things sit and settle before I write.

Chapter planning for Shallow Breath with stylish pink Post-Its!

Life ALWAYS gets in the way of writing! Sometimes I let it, because I don’t want to be too obsessive and because my books often develop nicely, and in unexpected ways, while I’m doing other things. However, during this time the core of my story is growing in my mind, like a bubble, and when I feel the pressure of it increasing I know it’s time to sit down, let everything else take a back seat, and start to write. This all sounds very organic – however, it’s not so easy when there’s a publishing contract and a big X on the calendar marking the deadline for Draft 1. So, if it feels like it’s taking too long to start writing, I speed this process up by researching.

Researching a novel is, for me, one of the greatest joys of writing. I want to try to live in my story as much as possible, which means getting inside the heads of the characters, and visiting the locations of my story – in person if I can, otherwise through books and movies, online clips and everything else I can find. Researching a book leads me towards experiences I would never otherwise have, and the opportunity to learn and observe life outside my own little sphere is a blessing, opening my mind even when what I’m looking at is difficult or traumatic – as it sometimes was with Shallow Breath.  At times it’s very hard to let the research go and start the story, and with Shallow Breath it required a short period of adjustment to release myself from an avalanche of factual information and get back to my characters’ lives. However, researching a book means I’m always learning about my topic, and gaining new ideas on where I might go with my story.

Once I’ve begun to write those terrible first drafts, I use what I call a ‘building block’ process. This means that when I have written chapter 2, I return to chapter 1 and read the whole thing together to see how it works. I do this all the time, going back over sections or sometimes the whole book, shoring up the foundations of the story as I go, so that I probably read chapter 1 many more times over than I do the final chapter. This doesn’t make my story finished when I get to the end of the first draft, but it does make the sometimes arduous editing stage a little easier. Along the way I’m usually checking all those snippets to see what might fit with the story, or inserting sections I might have written out of order because they were particularly assertive and just wouldn’t wait their turn.

Finally, with deadlines there is little time to get caught up with writer’s block, but that doesn’t stop me from getting stuck. When that happens I go back to planning – I record the outlines of each chapter on a document and try to figure out why I’ve fallen into a fug – because getting stuck is usually a signal to me that the story has gone off track. Writing became a lot easier when I realized I didn’t have to fear these moments, because writing the wrong words might ultimately point me in the right direction.

So, now you know a little more about how I work, check out what the others have to say – I found it fascinating to see how we’re similar in some aspects but very different too.

‘The most important thing for me when I write is knowing that I won’t be interrupted, even if that’s only for an hour.’ Read about Dawn Barker’s writing process here.

‘I imagine I am looking at the book through the eyes of someone I admire: a favourite writer or my agent, and ask myself what they would say about each scene, each sentence.’ Read about Emma Chapman’s writing process here.

‘Process seems to imply a series of steps—linear, organised, focused. What I do is more spidery than that. And it’s been different for each work, although there are threads common to all.’ Read about Amanda Curtin’s writing process here.

‘I try not to edit at all when I’m writing a first draft. I need to get the draft out, fill in the flesh of the story and not slow myself down by polishing words and sentences until they shine like little nuggets of gold. That can happen later, in the redraft.’ Read about Natasha Lester’s writing process here.

‘I may begin with a single scene in mind, a setting, a character. I don’t research, or make notes, or even spend time imagining. I simply sit down and begin writing and see where the story leads.’ Read about Annabel Smith’s writing process here.

Searching for the Secret River is the extraordinary story of how Kate Grenville came to write her award-winning novel. It all begins with her ancestor Solomon Wiseman, transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life, but who later became a wealthy man and built his colonial mansion on the Hawkesbury.

Increasingly obsessed with his story, Grenville pursues him from Sydney to London and back, and then up the Hawkesbury itself. Slowly she begins to realise she must write about him, and begins to discover what kind of book she will write. Grenville opens the door and invites the reader into her writing room, and tells us about how this novel was formed, the research she did, the false starts she made and the frustrations she experienced.

Having devoured The Secret River, I felt lucky to have this to hand. I am always fascinated by other people’s writing processes, and there were a number of things I really enjoyed about this book. I felt a strong kinship with Kate’s search among archives for pieces of information that would help her put together her story, having just done something similar for Shallow Breath. I thought she did pretty well in not getting the book bogged in details that were probably fascinating to her but perhaps not so much to an outsider – there were only a couple of times I felt I was getting a bit lost in facts and figures.

I really valued the importance Kate placed on visiting the places she was writing about, where possible, to get a feel for them, to try to become a part of the story, and flesh out the small details that would make the book interesting and memorable. I loved envisaging Kate climbing down to stand next to the Thames, and pocketing a bit of old roof tile!

What I also liked very much was how Kate outlines her struggles to find the way to tell this story – the false starts, the realisations, the certainties becoming uncertainties. I think it’s a wonderful thing for all writers to see that a fantastic book comes about through hard work, through being prepared to question your own decisions and change your mind, and that it is not just an effortless slipstream from mind to paper for even the most talented of novelists.

In 1806 William Thornhill, a man of quick temper and deep feelings, is transported from the slums of London to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife Sal and their children he arrives in a harsh land he cannot understand.But the colony can turn a convict into a free man. 

Eight years later Thornhill sails up the Hawkesbury to claim a hundred acres for himself.Aboriginal people already live on that river. And other recent arrivals—Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs Herring—are finding their own ways to respond to them.

Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, soon has to make the most difficult choice of his life.

Inspired by research into her own family history, Kate Grenville vividly creates the reality of settler life, its longings, dangers and dilemmas. The Secret River is a brilliantly written book, a groundbreaking story about identity, belonging and ownership.

Whenever I’m in London I am always captivated by the sense that I am walking through history, that each grandiose building or cobbled alleyway holds a host of hidden stories – some completely lost, others glimpsed through tiny carvings, or street names, or, if you’re really lucky, commemorative plaques. So I loved reading long-ago London brought back to life so vividly. The book is also a stark reminder of the timeless horrors of being poor, and the desperation that often led the destitute to lives of crime. William Thornhill and his family came alive to me from the first page to the last. Kate Grenville absolutely inhabits these characters, and makes it look effortless – a master’s trick, which actually belies an incredible amount of hard work (see also my review of Searching for the Secret River).

Once the story moved to Australia, Grenville’s writing adjusts seamlessly. The story made my senses come alive to the descriptions of the Australian bush. Once Grenville moves on to describing the settlers’ contact with the local Indigenous people, the simple scenes and actions of the characters are pared back to allow the reader to experience for themselves the fear and suspicion, the miscommunications, and the resulting horrors. Thornhill’s thoughts and decisions were frustrating, at times horrifying, but believable. It might be a fictional story but it points to a number of confronting truths.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting– he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd– whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself– Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

This is classified as a Young Adult book, but its appeal is much, much broader than that. The simple, precise narrative tells the story of Conor, a young boy dealing with a terrible event in his life, who has dreamlike episodes where he faces his ‘monster’. It is a book about the horror of loss, the burden of helplessness, the terror of truth, and the insistent voice of hope. A raw, beautiful story.

What would you do if the world outside was deadly,

and the air you breathed could kill?

And you lived in a place

where every birth required a death,

and the choices you made could save lives

—or destroy them.

This is Jules’s story.

This is the world of Wool.

From the blurb alone I had a strong suspicion I was going to love this book, and I wasn’t wrong. I’m a big fan of dystopian fiction, I love reading about alternative societies that are so different in some ways and yet intensely familiar in others. Not only has Hugh Howey constructed an absorbing vision of an intimidating future world, he has also created a fast-paced thriller which will ensure you don’t want to put this book down.

Fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to Green Acres for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by memories and questions she has not thought about for decades. She decides to find out the truth about the events of that summer day and lay to rest her own feelings of guilt. One photograph, of her mother and a woman Laurel has never met, called Vivian, is her first clue.

The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams, the lengths some people go to fulfill them, and the strange consequences they sometimes have. It is a story of lovers, friends, dreamers and schemers, play-acting and deception told against a backdrop of events that changed the world.

I was keen to get stuck in to this book after I heard Kate Morton talking about it at Joondalup Library back in November, but I forced myself to wait until Christmas so I had enough time. I loved The Shifting Fog and the Forgotten Garden, and in this, Kate’s fourth novel, there are more intriguing characters, a few superb secrets that last all the way through, and effortless shifts of character perspectives, which I so enjoy in stories.

There is a delicacy to Kate’s language that I love. She doesn’t fill a sentence unnecessarily, but on so many occasions her word choice enhances her descriptions beautifully. As as result it’s easy to get lost in her gentle style of storytelling. I was absorbed into the characters’ stories – I went over all the options in my mind and so I did guess some of the big twists and turns, but I never settled on anything with too much certainty for it to spoil the intrigue for me. The novel really brings the Blitz to life as well. (I hadn’t realised just how many bombs were dropped on London until I read an article in the Daily Mail about a month ago – the word Blitz really does sum it up.)

My only criticism, being very nit-picking, is that I found it extremely convenient that Laurel and Gerry could research so much of their mother’s past because everyone involved seemed to have had their diaries and letters placed in museum archives. But this is a very small quibble, and overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Keeper. You can find out more about all Kate’s books at www.katemorton.com.

I’m counting this as one of my reads for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013.

I’m already busy planning everything that’s going to keep me busy over the next few months: there’s a new book that needs writing, events at UWA Extension, South Perth library and the Perth Writers Festival coming in February, and Come Back to Me and Shallow Breath should be available in new territories on Amazon Kindle in the coming weeks.

2012 finished on a high. Monique from Write Note Reviews listed Shallow Breath as one of her favourite reads of the year, and Susan from An Adventure in Reading gave it a wonderful review. On Saturday it was also Pick of the Week in the Sydney Morning Herald – fantastic!

I was really touched when Anna Lee Huber, an author in the US, tweeted that Beneath the Shadows had been one of her top reads of 2012. It means a lot to me when people take time out of their day to let me know they have enjoyed one of my books, and I’d like to thank everyone who has been in touch over the last year.

For 2013 I’ll be signing up to the Australian Women Writers Challenge. I nearly did last year, but I was into the intense writing process of Shallow Breath and couldn’t see where I’d get free time to read a book that wasn’t research! The AWW challenge began last year, the brainchild of Elizabeth Lhuede, and it has been fantastic watching everybody taking part and helping to promote all those brilliant books out there by Australian women. I’ve signed up for the ‘Miles’ challenge, to read 6 books, although I’m secretly hoping I’ll make it to ‘Franklin’ status. If you go on to the AWW website you’ll see there’s an absolute smorgasbord of choice, and I’m excited to be taking part this time. I’m also looking forward to seeing who takes out the inaugural Stella Prize – my money at the moment is on ML Stedman for her fabulous book The Light Between Oceans.

In 2013 I’m keen to keep spreading awareness of the conservation projects that form the backdrop to Shallow Breath – particularly the plight of orangutans in Indonesia, the dolphin atrocities in Taiji, and the elephant genocides in Africa. And I hope I have more opportunity to be involved in projects and fundraisers run by Room to Read, who are doing fantastic work helping children’s education in the developing world. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a busy year!

Wishing you all many hours of happy reading in 2013.

Sara x

I’m delighted to be hosting Nicole’s answers to the Next Big Thing book meme. I have been following Nicole’s books right from the start, and her wonderful, epic stories, set in Australia, are in hot demand. In the last two years she has published The Bark Cutters and A Changing Land, while her latest release is Absolution Creek. Read on to find out what Nicole has got planned for Book 4:

1) What is the working title of your current/next book?

Sunset Ridge

2) Where did the idea come from?

My paternal grandfather was a Lewis Gunner during WW1 and was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery. I have a deep interest in military history and long wanted to write a story set during The Great War. My grandfather, whom I never met, inspired me.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Although I started within the Rural literature genre my works now fall into  popular fiction. The term is broad, however all my works to date have included both historical and contemporary narratives which I guess have broader appeal.

4) Which actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Hmmm, let’s get the work optioned first. I’m not fussy!

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

I am keeping this under wraps at the moment….

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

Represented by Curtis Brown Australia Pty Ltd

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft? 

I am on a book a year contract which means I am continually re-drafting as I write.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

I have been told the work is a cross between Legends of the Fall and War Horse.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

See answer to Q.2

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest? 

Once again I have been fortunate to be able to draw on my family’s archival material, which include my grandfather’s war diary and many original publications from the period.

Thanks Nicole! Sunset Ridge sounds wonderful, and I’m already looking forward to reading it. Find out lots more about Nicole by visiting her website here.

Last week I also tagged Annabel Smith, and you can find out about her fantastic new project The Ark here.

Nicole and I would now like to pass the baton on to Lisa Heidke – keep an eye on Lisa’s website to find out what she’s planning next. 

When you’ve finished, find the answers here!

I had a fantastic time last night celebrating the launch of Shallow Breath at Tiger Lils in Perth. It was a fabulous turn-out, and I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who came. As I said last night, writing might be a solitary occupation, but when it comes to getting books out into the wider world, us writers need a lot of support. It means a lot to me when people get behind my books, by letting me know they’ve enjoyed them, by spreading the word, or by turning up to an event like this.
The night got into full swing so rapidly that only hours later, when I went to bed, did I realise I hadn’t had time to put my heels on, and I’d spent all night in my sandals! We had door prizes and a book cover quiz, and then Julienne van Loon gave a wonderful speech to launch the book. She mentioned that there is a a marked bias towards male writers in writing about the ocean, and it’s gratifying to think I’ve played a small part in redressing that. I spoke about my inspirations for Shallow Breath, and then handed over to Leif Cocks, founder of the Orangutan Project, who talked a little about the dire straits orangutans are in today. Orangutans are one of five animals that feature in Shallow Breath, along with dolphins, whale sharks, kangaroos and elephants, so it was great to have Leif there to talk about some of the facts going on behind the fiction.

We also had an unexpected final speaker. My three-year-old daughter Hannah decided she’d like to say a few words – and now everyone knows she’s expecting a unicorn for Christmas I’m going to have to try to find one. Wish me luck with that!

So, now the launch is over, it’s almost time to start thinking about a new book… The idea I have for the next one is VERY different to Shallow Breath – watch this space!

Thanks again to everyone who came and helped to launch the book in style. You can see the full set of photos from the night in the Gallery.

Jeff Hansen and Peter Hammarstedt from Sea Shepherd

I’ve had some lovely support for Shallow Breath, not only from my friends and family who are busy spreading the word, but also from fellow writers, and readers of Come Back to Me and Beneath the Shadows. Not to mention places like IFAW Australia, and Studio Noah Pet Photography, who have given the book a shout-out already.

I felt very proud to receive this photo of Jeff Hansen and Peter Hammarstedt from Sea Shepherd with Shallow Breath. These two and many others like them have devoted their lives to marine conservation, and I hope the book helps raise awareness of the valuable work that they do.

I only hope it serves as a teaser, and tempts you further in!

My guest today is Steve Rossiter, the editor of the Australian Literary Review, and one of the authors of a new supernatural thriller called

You have contributed two stories to Possessing Freedom, one of two collaborative fiction books released in the past month. What is Possessing Freedom about?

Possessing Freedom could be considered paranormal suspense or supernatural thriller fiction. Set in Melbourne in 2026, the book starts out with 17 year old Alice who discovers that her ‘imaginary friends’ are actually ghosts. The POV shifts between 6 characters, with 2 stories told by each POV character.

The book explores themes of freedom and confinement on numerous levels. It deals with life and death, friendship, despair, love, responsibility, and courage.

Tell me more about the processes involved in collaborative fiction? How do the authors work together?

We all got together around a table at a café and discussed the story direction, characters, etc, and came to a shared understanding of some of the big picture elements. Through fortnightly meetings and staying in touch online, we discussed story drafts, character profiles and ideas until we had developed enough detail to have all 12 stories written with a decent level of consistency and integration. Then it was my role as editor to do some tidying up of details between stories.

For anyone considering collaborative fiction, I recommend that each person be flexible and not get too attached to any particular idea, as it has to all fit in together as a whole. It is typically a good idea, especially for groups of more than two, to have one person with the final say on details so a coherent big picture is maintained and so clear decisions are made in a timely manner.

Do you prefer writing short stories or novels? What are the main challenges of each?

I am currently writing my first novel with the aim of publishing in 2014. I prefer writing novels. in the sense that the longer form of a novel provides a more sustained experience which is more rewarding for most readers, and more rewarding for me to create. This also means that novels are a more solid foundation for a writing career, as people tend to read and purchase what they find more rewarding.

There is a sense in which an integrated or themed short story collection can approximate a sustained novel-like experience, which is the general idea behind both Possessing Freedom and The Life and Times of Chester Lewis.

When US novelist Lauren Kate came to Australia last year, I asked her whether she liked writing short stories and she said that she naturally prefers the longer form of a novel where there is room to develop characters and a story more fully, but that part of her wishes she was more suited to writing short stories too so she could participate more in the social aspect of working with different authors.

The two short story books recently released are designed to strike a balance between providing entertaining and thought-provoking novel-length experiences, serving as author-development initiatives for Australian writers, and engaging emerging fiction writers to develop their skills and meet like-minded writers through the fan fiction competition for each book.

What habits do you think make you most productive as a writer? (and those that make you least productive if you’d care to share!)

An important fiction writing skill, which helps productivity by both improving the focus of the large-scale storytelling and improving the clarity of finer details, is to understand the difference between story and characters (what happens and who does it) and discourse (how a writer conveys what happens), and to have good idea of how each works for the story you are writing.

Retreating into a character’s head for a lot of introspection with little happening in the story, or lots of action with unclear character motivations or unsatisfying character development are the kinds of passages which are likely to be cut or to require a major rewriting later. On one hand, a rough draft of a chapter is better than no draft, but, on the other hand, a confused draft is nowhere near as good as a draft with at least a basic level of coherence which makes a clear contribution to the overall story.

I have come across plenty of fiction writers who don’t have a firm grasp of their subject matter or who have only a vague story concept in mind, who find they keep running out of ideas, second-guessing themselves or meandering, with no clear story direction, character development or theme to unify the story into a satisfying experience for readers.

A little forethought can go a long way, and knowing the subject matter, along with having a clear idea of both the big picture details and the way in which you are telling the story does a lot to help the writing process flow smoothly.

The books each have fan fiction competitions – what do you think are the key elements of a good piece of fan fiction?

The word range for the fan fiction competition stories is 2000-4000 words. With that in mind, I suggest picking a character to focus on and a significant episode in their life with a clear connection to something important in the book. The fan fiction stories just have to be recognisably set in the same story-world as those in the book and have a recognisable connection to a major character in the book, but something which also builds on a key aspect of the overall story or further develops the personality and life story of a major character seem likely to result in stories with greater impact and meaning, which also draw added depth from the other stories.

Beyond that, write something original, with clear character motivations, and stakes which matter to the characters.

I have an article with some fan fiction idea-starters and discussion on PossessingFreedom.net.

Thanks for coming on to the site, Steve, and best of luck with your books.

This blog is part of a blog tour for Possessing Freedom. Read other interviews here, purchase Possessing Freedom here, or find out more about the fan fiction competition here. Good luck!

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

It took me a little while to get into this one, but the characters are superbly drawn. It’s a great mystery combined with a terrifying depiction of a marriage-gone-wrong – featuring two people who have slowly worn one another down to a point beyond all reason. I loved the unreliable narration, and I found myself swapping sides, rooting for one person then another, never sure who would ‘win’ in the end. Brilliant!

Where am I?! Click on the picture to find out.

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One of the only distractions for Camille is the opportunity to curate a retrospective of her father’s sculptures. But as she compiles the notes for this exhibition, she is also drawn back into the lives of her parents, who both died when Camille was young. Her mother Alix had been one of the first female heart surgeons in Australia, but the details of her death have always been indistinct to Camille. As she learns more about her mother and father’s relationship, Addie’s condition continues to worsen, and the family begin a heart-wrenching wait to see if a donor will be found in time.

I was a big fan of Natasha’s first book What is Left Over, After, which won the TAG Hungerford prize, and I have been looking forward to reading If I Should Lose You for quite some time. In this poignant story, one person’s death might offer the chance of life for another. With tremendous emotional acuity, Natasha explores the complex contradictions of what this means in a world that is at once wretched, beautiful, agonising and sublime. The narrative deals with the many responses to loss, and the meanings we ascribe to our bodies, which both represent and hinder the essence of us. It is a book that draws you in on so many levels, and will leave you questioning, What if the unthinkable happened to our family? How would I react, and who might I become?

You can find out more about Natasha’s writing at www.natashalester.com.au

GIVEAWAY!: I have a copy of If I Should Lose You to give away to an Australian reader when I return from my holiday at the end of September. Just leave a comment on this review on my website for a chance to win!

It took me months to pluck up the courage to watch The Cove. During the time I hesitated I couldn’t help but hear of it – this place where each year hundreds of dolphins are rounded up, pushed into a small inlet and butchered with long poles, the sea turning crimson around them. This was a real horror movie, and I don’t even like the ones that are made up.

I’m not sure why I eventually sat down and switched it on. It may have been the urging from other conservationists to ‘be informed’. It may have been because I felt uncomfortable about looking away. Or that I shouldn’t speak out if I didn’t know what I was talking about. But when I did look it was just as terrible as I feared. I cried for much of the movie.

Since then, it is one of the issues I cannot turn away from. I want to write about it, and talk about it. At the end of last year I visited Taiji. I spent the morning watching the fishermen go out on their daily hunt, returning empty handed. Later I was taken to visit the ‘training pools’ – small roped-off squares where dolphins are trained to become captive performers. They are starved unless they do tricks. They swallow the detritus in the pool and have hands plunged into their stomachs to pull it out. Sometimes they go mad or waste away – those dolphins disappear overnight.  They have all witnessed the deaths of their pod members – who are their families, bonded from birth. Dolphins do not suffer silently, and their noises of distress and pain are much like our own.

These dolphins are all destined for the entertainment industry – to be ogled, and petted, and ‘loved’. Some go to other parts of Japan, and all over the world – if you have been to a dolphin show, you may have unknowingly seen dolphins who have been through the tragedy of the Cove.

There is a difference between witnessing distress and experiencing helplessness. I looked away at a time when I felt powerless to do anything – but now I don’t believe anyone is powerless, especially when they join forces and stand together as they do on Japan Dolphin Day. I want to use the anger and pain at what I witnessed to galvanise efforts to work for compassionate, lasting change – whether that’s through writing, supporting a cause, signing petitions, or making donations. I am learning to withstand my fears and take a closer look at things that trouble me. Already, life seems much more rewarding that way.

Over the next few days there are peaceful protests about Taiji in 93 different cities. The one in Perth is at 1pm outside the Consulate General of Japan, 111 Colin Street, please join us if you are able. You can view the events in other cities here: https://www.facebook.com/Savemistythedolphin/events

1st September is the first day of the dolphin hunting season, which runs through to March.

A handbook for the happy, and a bible for the broken-hearted, 

I love this little gem. It shows that a few words can pack enormous meaning. It’s a beautiful book when you’re feeling up, and a comforting one when you’re down. The illustrations are superb, and it would make a great gift for someone going through a tough time.