SARA FOSTER
Sara Foster is an internationally published, bestselling psychological suspense author living in Western Australia. She has 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. Her next novel, When She Was Gone, will be released by Blackstone (US/Can) and HarperCollins (ANZ) in April 2025, and is available for pre-order now
 
Sara is passionate about writing strong female characters and often incorporates contemporary cultural themes into her stories. She recently graduated from Curtin University 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 about writing and creativity every week on Substack, at The Resilient Author.
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Discover Sara’s books

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  • Thank you to the brilliant bunch of writers who came to my Masterclass in psychological suspense fiction and crime characters this morning. I had such a fun 3 hours talking about one of my favourite subjects! And as usual I came away with more for my reading pile after hearing about so many awesome recommended reads! I hope it was 3 hours well spent and inspires lots of exciting projects! Many thanks to @writingwa for organising this one. 
(If you couldn’t make it, I’m hoping to get a version of this course online next year - stay tuned!)
  • Barbara Taylor Bradford was one of the most generous authors I have ever met - she once greeted me at her Dorchester event (to celebrate her being featured on a postage stamp!) like I was a treasured guest whereas I was in fact the new (and quite out of my depth) editorial secretary to her publisher at the time - the one and only Patricia Parkin. Most authors who came into the office looked straight past me, but she looked straight at me and genuinely wanted to know how I was doing that day (and on that night at the Dorchester she made sure I got a drink and a packet of stamps!). Vale BTB, you were the real deal and I’ll always remember how kind you were.
  • This one is my final event of the year this Thursday - if you fancy spending the morning with me chatting about characters in psych suspense and crime fiction then there are a few places left - follow the events link in my bio.
  • I thought my sleepless nights were over but apparently not! Introducing Luna, the newest member of the Foster clan. Already learned how to sit like a champ but otherwise up to plenty of puppy mischief: stealing socks, biting ankles, all the fun stuff. All training tips welcome! 🐶🐾
  • I woke up this morning to see a comment from a dude on my Substack that my photos reminded him of Mr Ed. I looked him up to find he was a self described ‘Toxic Male’ who believes in god first, family and America. He was blocked and muted etc etc and I would usually move on with my day. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last but I don’t get too much of this atm - however, I’m aware I may get more in future if The Hush does get made into a TV series and I forget to shut up and sit down about some of the themes I really care about around protecting and respecting women and girls. 

However, I’m going to be talking about toxic masculinity next year because it’s one of the themes in When She Was Gone, so I’ve decided to use this to have a different conversation - because what I want to say and advocate very strongly for women of all ages is that WE have a choice here to just not give a shit about what any man (or woman) thinks of our looks. If we stop caring about whether society deems us physically acceptable we save so much time and energy that can be used for better things. And, equally as important, we take all the power away from men who would like to affect us by making comments like these. Self-worth is what matters - and we can only create that for ourselves. That’s a work in progress for all of us, and it’s no one else’s business. Please don’t ever allow anyone else to impact your precious day and steal your time and energy with a comment on how you look. 

I’d love men like this one to know that there are many, many women in the world for whom being insulted on such a shallow basis as our looks will not make even the tiniest dent in our self-esteem. We are long past giving a shit. We have more important things to think about. We would love to see a world in which you men had better things to do with your time too - dare we say it, we think you might even feel a bit happier in such a world rather than having to release all your pent-up frustration through random petty trolling. We are not against you - but we are against the rage you feel, and the ways those feelings impel you to behave, which hurts you as much as it hurts us. 

Onwards my friends x
  • It’s not every day a bookseller hands you a sword, tells you it’s real and sharp, and encourages you to wield it at the front of their bookshop! (Thanks to Tim at @dymockssubiaco for this memorable moment 😜) This is why I love visiting booksellers - it’s always so much fun to catch up with everyone! Yesterday I was giving out Advance Reading Copies of When She Was Gone to some of my favourite bookshops across Perth and it was so great to have a new book to share. More book antics coming soon! Thanks to Teresa at @harpercollinsaustralia for planning this brilliant day out. 

#whenshewasgone
#psychologicalsuspense 
#newbook 
#suspensethriller
  • I’m super grateful to @dranitaheiss for taking the time to interview me about my story ‘Pippa’s Legacy’ in this beautiful anthology ‘The Heart Will Find a Way’ - and giving me another chance to remember the amazing woman we lost and to think about how her legacy lives on in her gorgeous kids. 

The generous introduction Anita gives me in this interview also made me emotional, as I think so highly of Anita and all she does for Australian literature and culture. Thank you Anita! ❤️

Link to the interview on Anita’s Substack is in my stories.
  • I’m gonna try to get back to my Monday posts more often, and I have a funny story for you this week. I recently had new author photos done - when the proofs came back, I was pretty happy (I hate having author photos done so it’s a saga for me). I had to select my top picks to go off to a third party for ‘touch ups’ - I actually had no idea what this meant, but waited patiently and then when they came back I had had all traces of lines on my face removed! And it looked a bit odd - almost like an avatar! So i wrote to the photographer and asked if I could have the originals instead with all my ‘crinkles’ on - as I thought my readers might think I’d had an extreme facelift then be surprised when they saw the real crinkly me! (And he agreed his originals were better.) Although even this isn’t the ‘real me’ - photo at the end is right now as I write this to you! Turns out there are many ‘me’s and some are way more polished than others!!! I never thought I would fight to have my crinkles put back on a photo - but I also reserve the right to do whatever I like in future and keep or remove them - both on photos and in real life!!! Our bodies, our choices ladies!!!! Always and forever.
  • I have one author event and one workshop left this year. If you’d like to hear me speaking about my books and my 20 years in writing and publishing - as well as stories about some of the famous people I’ve encountered along the way - this one is for you! I’d love to see you there. 

When: next Thursday 21 November
Where: Riverton Library (near Canning Vale) WA
Time: 6-8 pm 
Bookings essential - link to events in my profile: 

#authorevent
#perthevents 
#waevents 
#authortalk

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