SARA FOSTER
Sara Foster is an internationally published, bestselling psychological suspense author living in Western Australia. Her latest novel, When She Was Gone, was released by Blackstone (US/Can) and HarperCollins (ANZ) in April 2025, and is available in bookstores now.  
 
Sara has previously published seven novels: the near-future acclaimed thriller The Hush, and suspense thrillers You Don’t Know Me, The Hidden Hours, All That is Lost Between Us, Shallow Breath, Beneath the Shadows and Come Back to Me. Her novella, The Deceit, was first released as an Audible Original and is published by Blackstone in the US and Canada.
 
Sara is passionate about writing strong female characters and often incorporates contemporary cultural themes into her stories. She graduated from Curtin University in 2023 with a Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for her PhD work on maternal relationships in dystopian fiction with young adult heroines. Two of Sara’s novels have been optioned for television and You Don’t Know Me was turned into a chart-topping crime podcast dramatisation by Listnr.
 
Sara writes for her readers on substack at Story Matters, and for writers at The Resilient Author.

 

Discover Sara’s books

Click on each cover for more details and links to purchase. 

HUSH US book cover
'Dark, compelling and truly memorable. Foster is one of my favourite writers.'
Dervla McTiernan onYou Don't Know Me
‘This book has it all: a gripping opening, characters I cared deeply for, a compelling mystery and heart-stopping pace. I couldn’t put it down. This is Sara Foster’s best book yet.’
Natasha Lester onYou Don't Know Me
‘You Don’t Know Me proves yet again that Sara Foster is a writer at the top of her game. A compelling story of secrets, lies, and heartache.’ 
Emma Viskicon You Don't Know Me
'an enthralling mystery full of secrets determined to resurface ... will keep readers guessing till the end.'
Jane Harperon The Hidden Hours
'Classic suspense but with a wonderful modern edge'
Hannah Richellon All That is Lost Between Us
'Gripping, touching and close to my heart. I was hooked from start to finish.'
Favel Parretton Shallow Breath
'This vividly written novel will leave you breathless and as chilled as the starkly beautiful North Yorkshire moors, where this compelling story unfolds.'
Heather Gudenkaufon Beneath the Shadows
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GALLERY

  • I’ve been writing for authors on substack for over 2 years now, focusing on creativity, vulnerability, and resilience, and taking a look at the publishing business from an author’s perspective. I’ve been working in this business for 25 years and a lot has changed over that time, but there’s also much that’s beautiful and enduring about our desire and determination to put stories onto the page. In the Resilient Author I don’t shy away from the hard stuff, but I also celebrate all the good things our writing and industry offers the world! I write every fortnight for all my subscribers, and I also write extra posts like these (shown in the images) for my growing paid community. My writing on substack is enabled by this wonderful group of supporters, and I work hard to bring them exclusive personal deep dives into topics around writing and publishing, extra publishing news I don’t want them to miss, and key resources to make the writing journey a little easier and offset some of the overwhelm. If this sounds like something you’d love then I have a 30% discount running for annual subscribers until mid December, so you can join me now for $35 for a whole year. And if you know anyone else who might like to join in, please share this with a friend. Here‘s to finishing 2025 strong and setting ourselves up for a great year of creativity in 2026 💪🏻😎🥂
  • Dyslexia brings incredible gifts as well as challenges - and my fervent wish for every dyslexic kid is not just the right academic support but also the time and space to discover their unique strengths and passions. This is one of my 16yo daughter’s recent drawings done just with a black fine liner pen. She’s also a budding photographer and has just done her first fashion shoot for a 13 year old who has designed a swimsuit line made of recycled materials. I’ve put this in my stories and you can follow Hannah’s photography journey at @hannah.e_photography - she may also get to assist at her first wedding in the next few months which is her dream! Dyslexia doesn’t have to be a disadvantage - it can be the door to so many possibilities … I’ve been posting for ten days during Dyslexia Awareness Month (October) to raise awareness about dyslexia. This is post 10/10. #authorsfordyslexiaawareness #authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexia #dyslexiaadvocate #dyslexiasupport #dyslexiapower #dyslexiamom #dyslexicadvantage #dyslexicstrengths
  • Dyslexia isn’t just a learning difference, it can also be a superpower, offering gifts such as: seeing the bigger picture - recognising complex patterns in images - enhanced spatial awareness - thinking in pictures - thinking outside the box - recognising and pursuing entrepreneurial endeavours I’m posting for 10 days during October (Dyslexia Awareness month) to raise help awareness about dyslexia. This is post 9 of 10. #authorsfordyslexiaawareness #authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers #dyslexia #dyslexiaawarness #dyslexiaawarenessmonth #dyslexiaadvocate
  • Dyslexic kids can learn to read – they just need the right methodology. For our family this has been the incredible @allaboutlearning series, which is phonics driven and sequential, incorporating games and flash cards as well as instructions and storybooks. There are some fabulous resources out there - @nessylearning was another one we used, and @bravewriterofficial has been great too. I’ve heard of some kids having great and well supported experiences at school, while others struggle. We didn’t find the right support in the school system but were fortunate enough to have the opportunity as a family to do education differently, so we homeschooled to give our kids much-needed extra time and space (a whole other story!). However, many parents don’t have the right circumstances or means to do this - and my kids also missed out on some of the more positive aspects of school. Raising awareness is a key step in trying to improve the system and make things better for all kids. Please share any posts you see about dyslexia to help our society to have a better understanding of what dyslexia is and how we all benefit from a culture that fully includes and celebrates dyslexic thinkers. I’m posting for 10 days during Dyslexia Awareness Month (October) to raise awareness about dyslexia. This is post 8 of 10. #authorsfordyslexiaawareness #authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexia
  • In my experience dyslexic kids come up against two types of shaming regularly: 1) from feeling silly or stupid (e.g. if someone points out their poor spelling or the time it’s taking for them to complete a task), and 2) feeling labelled as difficult (e.g. if someone berates them for not following a series of instructions). These things happen in micro form all the time to dyslexic children - and it doesn’t take long before they don’t need an external voice telling them they are not good enough, because they internalise it. And then it gets harder still to support a kid who really doesn’t want to try for fear of that recurring feeling of not being good enough. Brene Brown talks about the difference between shame and other harder emotions like embarrassment and humiliation by explaining that shame is the idea that ‘I am bad’ rather than ‘the thing I did was bad’. It’s not surprising in this context that dyslexic kids can feel such deep shame, since dyslexia is a part of who they are and yet it can cause them to have these painful experiences. And many kids (and some adults) might not yet be aware that their difficulties are due to dyslexia, as it shows itself differently and kids can be very good at hiding their struggles. This all makes it vital that we put all the responsibility of that shame where it belongs - on the shoulders of society and the education system rather than the individual. Kids also sense the disparity between what we say and what they experience. It’s hard to tell kids that dyslexia is a powerful part of their identity if they’re up against a system that doesn’t support them and tells them they’re failing. At the moment too many dyslexic kids want to curl up in a ball after their first years of school. You only have to read support group posts online, written by desperate parents, to see how common this is. And it’s devastating, because dyslexic kids can offer just as much as neurotypical kids in all aspects of human endeavour - from maths and science to creativity and sport, depending on their own gifts and interests - if they are given the chance to truly thrive. Awareness matters. Please help spread the word.
  • My gorgeous girl, aged 6, when she loved to busk at the local markets. She started impromptu one day after she’d seen someone else doing it, then wanted her dad to take her every weekend. Everyone loved her, and she was making some good pocket money there for a while! A little entrepreneur in the making. It was her first year homeschooling, because the year before, at school, she became convinced she was stupid - at 5 years old - aware she was having trouble doing things other people found simple (copying off the board was a particular nightmare for her, and spelling and grammar just didn’t make sense). The school thought she was messing about when she got anxious tummies and sometimes decided that they would keep her in at playtime to ‘catch up’, which seemed to her like punishment for her struggle. Living with dyslexia and feeling different can be very hard. Every dyslexic kid deserves to be seen, understood and be supported in their learning so they can thrive. Hannah doesn’t busk any more but the entrepreneurialship and creativity remains! And dyslexia is a lot less of a daily issue than it was but it’s still the way she’s made - and she’s now a proud advocate for dyslexic thinkers. (Her ongoing passion is photography, which you can see at @hannah.e_photography - and she just did her first fashion shoot! 🎉) (Text and photo posted with Hannah’s permission) I’m posting for 10 days to raise awareness of dyslexia and support dyslexic thinkers. This is post 6 of 10. #authorsfordyslexiaawareness #authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexia
  • Audiobooks can be amazing for dyslexic kids, helping them enjoy stories without the tiring stressors of reading lots of text. Here are some stories my kids have loved on audio - from texts for younger readers to a few YA series. If you have dyslexia in your family you can still have book clubs and share stories if you use audio, and we’re so lucky nowadays that the popularity of podcasts and audio has meant that most stories are available in this format. Do you have audiobooks you’ve loved sharing with your kids? Books featured here: Wings of Fire series by @tuisutherland Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter (a pseudonym for a group of authors) Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend Evie and the Animals by @mattzhaig The Christmas Pig by J K Rowling For older teens: The Stags series by M A Bennett, The Hunger Games series, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder books by @hojay92 I’m posting for 10 days during October (Dyslexia Awareness month) to raise help awareness about dyslexia. This is post 5 of 10. #authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers #authorsfordyslexiaawareness #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexia
  • A quick reel with some amazing fiction books that dyslexic kids will adore (and which we’re huge fans of at my house). Modelled by Luna the cavoodle who is looking very oodle since her latest groom! For younger and middle grade readers : The Polly and Buster series by @sallyrippinauthor Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by @laurenchildthatsme (while not specifically about dyslexia, Clarice Bean puts problematic spelling firmly in its place) For Older Kids Fish in a Tree by @lyndamullalyhunt The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan It’s so important for kids to see themselves in literature, and for dyslexic kids these books - as well as the @dav_pilkey books - are a great place to start. I’m posting about dyslexia for 10 days during October (Dyslexia Awareness Month) - and this is post 4 of 10. #authorsfordyslexia #authorsfordyslexiaawareness #authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers #dyslexia #dyslexiaawarenessmonth #goredfordyslexia
  • Last night the @lanebookshop set @davidwhishwilson @alancarter28insta and me the challenge of telling a pint-sized murder mystery to the audience and seeing who could solve it. We all went for a locked room tale and we had a fantastic audience of eager sleuths helping us to solve each other’s crimes! David Whish-Wilson had an ingenious reveal, Alan had a brilliant tongue-in-cheek set-up and a clever twist. And I had a story about a billionaire found dead in his bunker - and gave handouts to help keep track of the suspects - ha ha - it comes naturally after so many years of homeschooling! It was a really fun night, and a massive thank you to Sam and the team at the Lane for inviting us and for the storytelling challenge!

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