A big thanks to everyone who came along to the launch of LOSING THE PLOT at Readings in Carlton – coincidentally the scene of another novel launch in my novel! It was fantastic. Marg Downey and Pip Mushin read from the book and had people in stitches, and later we all kicked on at Jimmy Watson’s. Lots of novels were sold and signed. I couldn’t have asked for a better night. Here’s hoping the word spreads. LOSING THE PLOT – the perfect Mother’s Day gift!

It was exciting to go to Squaresound Studios on Monday to hear Caroline Lee recording the audio version of LOSING THE PLOT. I’ve dreamed of Caroline performing the audio version ever since I found out my book was being published, so I was thrilled. She really brought my characters alive as I knew she would – thank you Caroline. (And I’m sorry about all the duelling accents!) We’re recording a podcast together about the process on Friday April 12 – that should be fun too.

Welcome to my website and my blog! It’s lovely to have you. I feel like this is a safe place where I can rabbit on about myself under the radar and hopefully get to know you too. It seems funny in this day and age but I was brought up not to be a ‘show off’ – so sticking unsolicited posts about my work on facebook and instagram makes me feel a bit queasy. But if you’ve clicked on my blog I’m going to assume you’re interested – so look out!  (Just imagine a laughing face emoji here).

I’m really excited that LOSING THE PLOT is only nine days away from hitting the shops now (April 15!) I found out that Allen and Unwin were publishing it back in September 2017, so even with a couple of edits since then, it’s been quite a wait. Worth every second of it, though. Writing this novel has definitely been one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in my career. A LOT of work, but it gave me heaps of joy. I fell madly in love with my characters, especially Vanessa and Dave, and I made myself laugh all day long as I sat in my back yard office with my hair askew, my feet in old Ugg boots and my beloved miniature labradoodle Hazel sitting under my desk. Hazel was the model for Vanessa’s pooch Daisy in the LOSING THE PLOT, and I think she deserves a post all of her own. A Homage to Hazel (or should that be An Homage?) Coming soon…

But I digress.

It’s amazing the things you learn when you’re having your first novel published. Did you know what a ‘shelf talker’ was? Neither did I, until Allen and Unwin publisher Annette Barlow kindly sent me a few in the mail. They’re designed to draw extra attention to your book.

See? A shelf talker. I wonder what it’s saying? ‘Stop being a show-off.’ Ha ha.

Thanks for bearing with my first post. See you soon!