Every week I check in with one of Australia’s favourite authors to bring you their latest news, and this week I’m delighted to welcome fellow WA author @julialawrinsonwriter ! ABOUT JULIA: Julia Lawrinson is a writer and presenter. She has published more than fifteen books for children and young people, from a picture book to books for older teenagers, and has just published a memoir called How to Avoid a Happy Life. Her books have been recognised in the Children’s Book Council Awards, the WA Premier’s Awards, and the Queensland Literary Awards, and she has presented in schools across Australia, in Singapore, and in Bali. She is an enthusiastic adult learner of Indonesian, yoga and the cello. Her favourite place on earth is the dog park. So Julia, tell us what you are… READING: Nova Weetman’s Love, Death and Other Scenes (memoir: heartbreaking and honest) and Bri Lee’s The Work (fiction: smart and sexy). WATCHING: The documentary on Boris Johnson, which is an object lesson in how charismatic people are so often messed up, narcissistic and dangerous. (Continued in comments)

My new post on Substack today is about @ghostspecies (James Bradley’s) incredible book Deep Water - a sprawling epic that immerses us in the history, culture and science of the ocean, and explains the many challenges brought about by colonialism and the hastening effects of climate change. So many emotions reading this book - it is truly inspiring. Link to read in my bio.

Motivated Monday! Finding time to walk by the ocean - bliss - and definitely thinking about the ocean thanks to @ghostspecies (James Bradley’s) beautiful book Deep Water, which I’m writing about at the moment and will share tomorrow. Also thinking about my 2026 novel, which I’m very excited about, but the plot is getting bigger than Ben-Hur right now so I need to rein that in! And I’m welcoming a lovely WA author onto the check-in this week. Hope you’re all having a great Monday.

I’m writing about the incursions of AI into the publishing industry in a weekend post for paid subscribers on Substack - you can access it via a free trial or claiming a free post. This topic is only going to get bigger, and we need to be talking about it ...

Every week I check in with one of Australia’s favourite authors to bring you their latest news, and this week I’m delighted to welcome Ali Lowe! ABOUT ALI: Ali Lowe is the author of three books: The Trivia Night, The Running Club and The School Run. Her first, The Trivia Night, about a group of partner-swapping primary school parents in a wealthy Australian beachside suburb, became a global bestseller and was optioned by a Hollywood TV studio. Ali’s novels, which have been called a cross between Big Little Lies and Desperate Housewives, are published in the UK, ANZ and America. Ali is a journalist by profession and has dual Australian and British citizenship. She lives on Sydney’s northern beaches with her husband and three children. So, Ali, tell us what you are… READING: An ARC of Between Husbands and Wives by Susannah Glenn. I’m only on chapter two but I’m enjoying where it’s going.... WATCHING: Scoop, about the Prince Andrew interview scoop in the UK. It’s brilliant. It stars Gillian Anderson as the interviewer Emily Maitlis and Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew. LISTENING TO: Taylor Swift’s ERA’s tour setlist - still. My daughter and I went to the concert and now I’m a bigger Swiftie than she is! THINKING ABOUT: How many lunches do I need to make for school holiday camps tomorrow? Is it time to feed the dog? Who needs a haircut this holiday? Is the podcast interview I’ve been asked to do still going ahead? Have I paid the gas bill? Is this person or that person going to be the victim in Book 6? WORKING ON: Book 6, and shortly, my edits for Book 5 and a final read of Book 4 (which is on shelf in March next year). ALI’S LATEST BOOK: THE SCHOOL RUN is a novel about three mothers who will do anything to get their boys places at an elite Catholic boys’ school - and they’ll stop at nothing (including murder) to get their sons across the line. Each has a strong motive for needing their son to be admitted - and this comes hand in hand with a motive for murder.... FIND OUT MORE AND FOLLOW ALI: Website: https://www.aliloweauthor.com Facebook: Ali Lowe Author Instagram: @ali_lowe_author Thanks for checking in, Ali!

Do you ever feel worried that there’s no space for your writing/books/stories when we’re all drowning in content? Here’s my take on why and how we might motivate ourselves to keep going… (link to Substack article in bio)

Before my usual Monday post, I want to send my love to everyone affected by the terrible events at Bondi. I know people who have lost friends, and I am sure there will be others here who are impacted. This shopping centre is somewhere I often visit on my trips to Sydney, both for work and fun, and I’m devastated for all the victims, their families, and everyone who will live with trauma as a result of this. My thoughts are with you all. This week I’m playing catch-up with work as last week got very busy. But for my belated birthday present yesterday I got to swim with these incredible Australian sea lions. These encounters are always so special, and of course - like so many other species - they are incredibly endangered. I came away with hope and determination to keep supporting all the people who are doing good things for our precious and precarious world.

Every week I check in with one of Australia’s favourite authors to bring you their latest news, and this week I’m delighted to welcome Sulari Gentill! ABOUT SULARI: Sulari Gentill is the author of the multi-award-winning crime series, The Rowland Sinclair Mysteries; the Hero Trilogy, based on the myths and epics of the ancient world; and After She Wrote Him, for which she won the 2018 Ned Kelly Award. Her most recent release, The Woman in the Library, became a USA Today Bestseller, won the Crime Fiction Lover Award for Best Novel by an Independent Publisher (UK), and was an Edgar Award nominee. Sulari lives with her husband, Michael, and their boys, Edmund and Atticus on a small farm in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of Australia, where she grows Truffles, keeps donkeys, and writes about murder and mayhem. So, Sulari, tell us what you are… READING: It Takes a Town - Aoife Clifford WATCHING: Vera LISTENING TO: Early morning traffic THINKING ABOUT: My latest manuscript WORKING ON: THREE FOUND DEAD - my latest manuscript SULARI’S LATEST BOOK: Theo Benton escapes a law degree to pursue her dream to write, and somehow finds herself embroiled in a world of conspiracy in which readerships are weaponized and commercialized through fictions posing as a truth to which only some are privy; a world in which secrets are buried along with bodies and writers are remade and controlled. The Mystery Writer is a story of stories, and their power over the hearts and actions of readers. It is a conversation about the truth in fiction and the fiction in truth. FIND OUT MORE AND FOLLOW SULARI: Website: www.sularigentill.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SulariG Instagram: @sularigentill Thanks for checking in, Sulari!

New Substack post today! I’m writing about two very different films that I saw last week, and how they made me think about the way we judge stories, both individually and as a culture. Lots of questions and food for thought in this topic - I hope you enjoy this one. (link in bio)