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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  • I had THE most fun night with fellow authors @rachaeljohnsisanauthor and @antheahodgson watching our dear friend @tesswoods_author interviewing the Duchess of York! The Duchess was gregarious, entertaining, and made it an event I’m sure most of the 700-strong audience will never forget - inviting people she recognised onto the stage throughout, trying to climb on a chair at one point with a selfie stick, talking so beautifully about the Queen and her girls, and telling us about her various projects to better the world such as compostable nappies and campaigns against bullying. Through all this, Tess did an amazing job of steering questions back to the Duchess’s many books as well as gleaning personal insights from her incredible life. We now know that the Queen fed corgis digestives under the table (a tradition the duchess continues now that she takes care of them) and that there was a  special love between the two women right up until the Queen died. One of the last things HRH said to Fergie was to never stop being herself. 

When we had our photo taken I managed to sneak in the fact that when I was 10 I made a scrapbook of the duchess in the year she got married (I adored her as a kid because of her cheeky sense of fun). To which I think she said, with a warm smile on her face, ‘That’s weird.’ 😂 What a terrific evening - and well done to @sashawasley_author for calmly interjecting when she needed to as MC and helping to keep the night on track!

Photo descriptions:
1. Rachael Johns, Anthea Hodgson, the Duchess of York and me posing for a photo - all of us except the Duchess holding her books. 
2. The Duchess standing in front of us (her back to us) with a selfie stick. 
3. The Duchess on stage standing with her sister Jane.
4. Sasha Wasley introducing Tess and the Duchess on stage 
5. Tess Woods standing with the Duchess, who holds a copy of Tess’s latest novel The Venice Hotel. (Screenshot from Tess’s Instagram page.)
  • TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic Violence 

This time last week, Nikkita Azzopardi was emailing with my husband Matt, helping him with some financial planning work. He was expecting to hear from her on Monday, but didn’t - then in the late afternoon he got a message from someone else to say they’d sort our documents because Nikkita had been murdered at the weekend. You’ll find her story everywhere in the news. Her boyfriend has been charged.

With every fibre of my being, I hate writing about this. But I also hate ignoring this, and carrying on with my week like nothing is wrong. These situations are happening all around us. These are not the only times I have come into contact with domestic abuse or coercive control: they are the horrific, visible tip of a devastating iceberg. And yet not all stories are mine alone to tell. I imagine it’s the same for many of us – perhaps most of us. Nevertheless, the silences we come up against as individuals don’t have to dampen our collective agency, because we too can ‘flood the zone’ with our rage and our determination. While we can’t make miracles happen overnight, we can together take a million small steps towards stopping this, and then more survivors will have the space and support to share their stories.

When I shared a post on a personal page about my family’s brief connection with Nikkita, my cousin posted an image with a list of support numbers. Another friend messaged me privately and told me about the support group Broken Crayons. In my inbox I found a trailer for an inspiring new film about survivors of abuse called Left Write Hook, which reminded me of the powerful work of Jess Hill. Then I came across Saoirse Ronan’s truth bomb on The Graham Norton Show. The conversation is everywhere, and it’s galvanising, although we really need more men to speak up. Among the women I know, there’s an urgency to keep talking and talking and sharing and sharing.

In the last days of her life, 35-year-old Nikkita Azzopardi spent some of her precious time helping our family. We won’t forget that. My heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved her.

[See my stories for a longer version of this post - and support links in comments]
  • Great to see some of the #AuthorsforDyslexia team in person at the recent epic @festivaloffiction - we’ve joined forces to raise awareness of the issues and complexities around parenting children with dyslexia and the challenges these kids face. 

There’s so much evidence to support the gifts that also come with dyslexia, and when supported properly this neurodiversity doesn’t always have to be a burden, in fact it might just be a superpower.

#authorsfordyslexiaawareness
#authorsfordyslexia
#aussieauthorsfordyslexia
#authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers
#goredfordyslexia

#dyslexia
#dyslexiaawareness
#DyslexiaAwarenessMonth
#lightitredfordyslexia #LIR2024
#dyslexicheroes #advocate4dyslexia
#dyslexicthinking #neurodivergent
#neurodiversity #booksfordyslexicchildren
#dyslexic #inclusion #learningdifference
#booksfordyslexickids
  • Such a pleasure yesterday to meet Australian Children’s Laureate @sallyrippinauthor who is also one of the #Authorsfordyslexia team, at the brilliant @scribblersfest children’s literature festival in Perth. 

Sally has written so many amazing books for kids - and there’s a special place in my family’s hearts for Polly and Buster - I well remember both my daughters’ excitement on realising that the heroine, Polly, was dyslexic just like them. 

I also finally snagged a copy of Wild Things, which is Sally’s personal story of her experiences of dyslexia and how it affected her son, and I can’t wait to read it. 

#authorsfordyslexiaawareness
#authorsfordyslexia
#aussieauthorsfordyslexia
#authorscelebratingdyslexicthinkers
#goredfordyslexia

#dyslexia
#dyslexiaawareness
#DyslexiaAwarenessMonth
#lightitredfordyslexia #LIR2024
#dyslexicheroes #advocate4dyslexia
#dyslexicthinking #neurodivergent
#neurodiversity #booksfordyslexicchildren
#dyslexic #inclusion #learningdifference
#booksfordyslexickids
  • NEW ON SUBSTACK TODAY! 

‘Can we fully reclaim the term ‘dangerous’ as a source of inspiration among women, or is the concept layered and nuanced? What do we mean by dangerous? Who are such women dangerous to? And what does this danger look like in action?’

I’m still thinking on the brilliant panels at the Festival of Fiction last weekend in Perth - and wanted to write a bit more on the topic of Dangerous Women! Hope you enjoy this one.
  • The Hush has managed to make it to No 2 😱 on the Audible Australia chart this morning - thanks to the daily deal yesterday - and it’s sandwiched between Liane Moriarty and Richard Osman!!! I am enjoying this brief moment very much 😂❤️🪆
  • A few weeks ago I rebranded my Substack: it’s now The Resilient Author - all about courage, inspiration, tough love and practical support for writers and curious readers. I’ve since written posts on emotional and practical resilience - and I’d love you to check them out! I write every week for my subscribers and do additional deep dives for my paid community - (this weekend I’m working on a post about infinite resilience). I already have 70 articles on there and heaps more to come, so whether you’re a writer or a reader interested in creativity and exploring all sorts of themes around writing, fiction, language and culture, come find me on substack (see bio) and subscribe to get all my new posts emailed to you every week.
  • I got to talk about Dangerous Women (which we rebranded as courageous women) and also to listen to more amazing panels of authors at the @festivaloffiction in Joondalup north of Perth today - absolutely loved being a part of it and huge congratulations to director @tesswoods_author for establishing this event and her brilliant team including the best wingwoman @sashawasley_author - how lucky am I that they dreamt this up only a short distance from where I live!
  • I couldn’t help it - I peeked on GoodReads - even though authors are often warned not to do it for our own sanity! May the writing gods forgive me!!! But there are a couple of early reviews of When She Was Gone there and they are GREAT! What a relief - off for a lie down now 😅

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