Author Interview
A Masters Degree in Physics with Honours in Astronomy Astrophysics, author Lisa Harvey Smith is the Australian Government's Ambassador for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Astronomer, Author and Broadcaster and has just released her illustrated middle grade novel, Under the Stars, Bedtime Astrophysics. Transporting curious kids and inquisitive adults on an incredible journey through the night sky.
Explore our solar system from the comfort of your cosy bedroom. Find out why the sky is blue. Fly around a black hole and peer inside! Learn why Jupiter has stripes. When astrophysicist Lisa Harvey Smith isn't looking skyward, she is answering the smart questions of school kids. Her engaging storytelling in this colourfully illustrated book brings the night sky to life, giving amazing new perspectives to young explorers who are always asking, why?
Purchase from Melbourne University Press
Visit Lisa Harvey Smith on her website
What was your motivation for writing Under the Stars, Astrophysics for Bedtime?
I have always had a fascination with the night sky, which blossomed into a wonderful career in astronomy. Aside from my research though, one of the most energising parts of my job has always been visiting schools and talking to kids about space. They are always so excited and enthusiastic and the questions they ask are so creative! I knew that I needed to create a book just for them.
When you were a kid, what interested you about space?
When I was a child, it was really the beauty of the stars that first captured my imagination. My Dad and I used to go out somewhere really dark and just take it all in. After a while though, I had questions running though my head like, how many stars are there? How big is the universe? Is there other life out there? And the list goes on. So, I began reading books about astronomy and I was enthralled by this amazing new window on our universe.
What are five things about space that still make you go wow!
Astronauts age more slowly in space than they do on Earth, ever so slightly! That's because the Earth's gravity bends our universe and makes time pass more slowly. It's called time dilation. Weird or what!
If you got too close to a black hole, your entire body would be stretched by the enormous gravitational forces and you'd become human spaghetti.
Ever wondered why the sky is blue? It's because the light from the Sun is made up of all the colours of the rainbow. As the sunlight hits our atmosphere, it is scattered across the sky by tiny particles of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide that make up the air. These particles act as millions of tiny mirrors. Blue light is scattered from these particles more easily than red light, so that is why the sky appears blue.
Shooting stars are not stars at all. They are actually tiny specks of space dust that crash through our atmosphere as we orbit the Sun. The bits of space dust rub against the air and heat up, reaching a temperature of 1000 degrees and burn up, creating bright streaks of light in the sky.
Our Sun is a gigantic ball of gas. Tiny particles crash together in its middle, creating a nuclear furnace that burns at a temperature of 15 million degrees. Four million tonnes of the Sun's gas is burned into heat and light every single second!
What has been your career highlight so far?
I would have to say that seeing the first pictures from the gigantic telescope I helped to build in remote Western Australia was a real highlight for me. It's part of a global mega science project involving more than 10 countries and I had worked on the project for seven years before we got any results. After all that time, seeing those first images of distant galaxies was a real highlight for me. Also, on a personal note, touring Australia with Buzz Aldrin, the Apollo 11 astronaut who first set foot on the Moon with Neil Armstrong in 1969 was a real highlight for me. Talking with someone who has explored another world and sharing their experiences, it's just such an incredible feeling.
If you could travel into space, where would you want to go and why?
Since I was about 15, I have dreamed of being the first Woman to go to the Moon. It won't be me, but I'm very excited that NASA has pledged to send the first woman to the moon by 2024.
What do you think still needs to be discovered about space, the galaxies or the night sky?
The great thing about our universe is that there is so much still to discover! For example, we only understand what 4% of space is made from. The other 96% is completely out of our grasp. We don't know how the universe will end, or if it will ever end at all. We are yet to learn how life began on Earth and whether we are alone in the universe. So many mysteries are yet to explore.
Please describe a day in the life of an astrophysicist.
Astrophysics is a wonderful pursuit. On a typical day I might work with a team of scientists on a scientific problem or make pictures of the sky from information I have gathered from telescopes. I'd read the latest astronomy research and see what other people are discovering, to get new ideas. I might travel to a conference or a telescope in a far flung region of the world or share my results by writing a scientific report or speaking to fellow scientists about my latest discovery. Then I might work with students and help the next generation of scientists learn and grow in their discoveries.
What do you think kids will get most out of reading your new book?
Under the Stars, Astrophysics for Bedtime is all about cultivating a sense of wonder and exploration in young children. The illustrations are designed so that every child can see a role model who looks like them. It is so important for girls and boys to engage enthusiastically in science, technology, engineering and maths subjects so that we can build a future designed by everyone that serves the needs of society.
What do you think parents will get most out of reading your new book?
Parents get an opportunity to read fascinating stories about space to their children and help stimulate their curiosity at the same time. As kids get older, they will get a bit of peace and quiet as children get engrossed in reading the book themselves! Older primary aged kids will love reading the stories again and again, each time learning something new. And don't tell the kids but this book is also for the grown ups too! You can have a sneaky read once the littlies have gone to sleep. Learning is a lifelong joy after all.
Please feel free to share any amazing stories or anecdotes about writing the book.
Writing Under the Stars was a labour of love. Since I work full time, I did my writing at night, dreaming up stories and crafting the book from my bed. I think that writing at night helped create the dreamy astrophysics for bedtime vibe of the book.
Want to win a copy of Under the Stars, Astrophysics for Bedtime?
Head over to my Twitter page and retweet to enter here.
Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories
Edited by Michael Earp
Written by Jax Jacki Brown, Claire G Coleman, Michael Earp, Alison Evans, Erin Gough, Benjamin Law, Omar Sakr, Christos Tsiolkas, Ellen van Neerven, Marlee Jane Ward, Jen Wilde and Nevo Zisin
Publishing June 2019
Published by Walker Books Australia
Add to Goodreads
Twelve of Australia’s best writers from the queer community are brought together in this groundbreaking collection of YA short stories.
What does it mean to be queer?
What does it mean to be human?
In this powerful #LoveOzYA collection, twelve of Australia’s finest queer writers explore the stories of family, friends, lovers and strangers. The connections that form us. This inclusive and intersectional #OwnVoices anthology for teen readers features work from writers of diverse genders, sexualities and identities, including writers who identify as First Nations, people of colour or disabled.
Includes a foreword by anthology editor Michael Earp, resources for queer teens, contributor bios and information about the #LoveOZYA movement.
He's a champion for Australian young adult literature, a bookseller extraordinaire, an author, an editor and he can rock a pair of overalls like nobodies business. I had the pleasure of talking to the always wonderful Michael Earp about the upcoming release of Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOZYA Stories.
Interview
I wanted to begin by asking how the concept of Kindred begun and how you were able to curate what is a landmark release for young adult literature in Australia.
The idea for Kindred was spawned at the launch of Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology. Danielle Binks had previously been the Chair of the #LoveOZYA committee and at that time, I was the Chair and so I had lots of people asking me if I would be editing the next anthology. This is not at all how it works. Being Chair did not mean we automatically edited an anthology, Danielle had worked tirelessly outside of her role as Chair to usher Begin, End, Begin into the world. And so while there wasn’t a justifiable correlation, I started to think, maybe I could edit an anthology. But, if I did, I’d want it to be a dedicated queer anthology. Because, let’s face it, I spend most of my time daydreaming about how to make my own world a little bit gayer… It’s only natural.
Then the work begun.
However, Kindred isn’t the first dedicated queer anthology for young adults published in Australia. There were actually two published in the nineties, Hide and Seek edited by Jenny Pausacker, and Ready or Not edited by Mark Macleod which, unfortunately, are out of print. I was privileged to be able to read Hide and Seek and it holds some wonderful stories in it. But to be able to work on this project has been an amazing experience and I’m so thrilled I’m able to offer contemporary readers something. Because I really do feel like it’s time that such a celebration of queer authors and queer Australian YA be out there in the world.
Could you tell us a little about the story you contributed to the anthology?
My own story in the anthology is a fantasy called Bitter Draught. I don’t want to say too much about it, other than I knew I wanted to write a gender non-binary witch, and I was going through a rough patch personally when I wrote it. Don’t at me.
The anthology features various genders, identities and sexualities and also includes Indigenous authors, authors of colour or disability. How important is it for adolescents to see themselves reflected on the pages of Kindred?
When I was working out who to approach to write for Kindred with my editor, Nicola Santilli, we knew we wanted it to reflect the diversity of the Australian people. After all, it’s supposed to be a snapshot of who we are and what we’re thinking about at this point in time, having as many identities represented as possible was incredibly important to us. When you’re dealing with a minority that is as broad as the queer community, intersectionality is bound to come into play. And try as we did, there are still many identities that aren’t represented. (we only had twelve places!) But I’d love to hear from Aro / Ace and Intersex authors next time! I believe that whether we were conscious of it or not, we all look for ourselves when we read, especially as teenagers. And what a happy thing to discover a reflection of yourself in the pages of a book!
What messages do you hope readers take away from Kindred?
Above all else, I hope that Kindred is just a thoroughly enjoyable read. As for other takeaways? That there is hope, regardless of what you’re currently facing. I don’t want to sound too schmaltzy, but I’m still learning that now. What’s going on right now is not for always, and there’s always joy to chase around the corner, and hold onto while you can. But you have to turn the page to find out.
Calling Australian and New Zealand Queer Reviewers
Walker Books Australia, together with Michael Earp and the #AusYABloggers are celebrating the release of the Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories anthology. This is an own voices tour and open to bloggers, reviewers, Instagrammers and Youtubers from Australia and New Zealand and will begin on the 1st of June and run until the 10th June 2019.
Simply fill out the form found here.
About Michael
You can find Michael on his Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram and Goodreads
Written by C. G. Drews
Contemporary, Music, Realistic Fiction, #LoveOzYA
282 Pages
Publishing June 12th 2018
Thank you to Hachette Australia
Add to Goodreads
★★★★☆
Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music, because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence.
When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?
She's an Instagram, blog and social media aficionado, her tweets achieving thousands of dedicated followers. Her lengthy list of achievements include the championing of her fellow bloggers and authors, reaching fifty thousand words in three days during National Novel Writing Month, reading hundreds of books per year and writing almost as many.
C. G Drews debut novel A Thousand Perfect Notes, is a breathtaking and confronting narrative of family violence and gentle optimism, harmonised with delicate moments of sincerity and compassion.
She's a creator of terrible puns and cake advocate. Meet my friend, the incredibly fabulous and inspirational C. G. Drews, debut author of A Thousand Perfect Notes.
She's a creator of terrible puns and cake advocate. Meet my friend, the incredibly fabulous and inspirational C. G. Drews, debut author of A Thousand Perfect Notes.
The Interview
Your debut novel, A Thousand Perfect Notes is absolutely beautiful. Being an author and practically writing straight from the womb, can you share with us the day that you found out you were being published?
Aww thank you! You're making me blush! So I found out I had a book deal at about 4:00am because insomnia is a beast and I thought, 'Hey! Why not check my email and see if my agent has sent anything?' Well, wow, I only got the best email of my life. I also did not go back to sleep. And I want to take a moment to tell my family that they should be grateful I didn't wake them up screaming right then and there.
A Thousand Perfect Notes is quite emotional and explores social issues such as physical, emotional an mental abuse, child neglect and poverty. How difficult is it as an author to write confronting scenes where characters are the victims of abuse?
I definitely spent a lot of time on those scenes, with plenty of revisions to get the intensity and thought process right. I wanted to talk really candidly about these things, but also keep some hope and light in the room.
The Maestro is a horrible, infuriating woman. Personally I found the abuse not only confronting but also incredibly realistic. Isolating Beck, using Joey to threaten Beck and the barrage of abuse of being worthless. All symptoms of an abusive relationship. Is that something you needed to research to create the toxic and abusive environment?
I definitely did plenty of research and also lot of just thinking of what it'd be like to be in Beck's shoes. I think most people in the world have felt worthless at some point... Or unable to control their environment or worried about someone they loved. Obviously this is a more extreme circumstance than most would face, but writing it was about escalating those feelings.
Let's talk about darling Beck, such a well written and in depth character. He seems like a typical male character, grumpy and weary of anyone taking an interest in him but beneath the surface, he's such a complex young man. What was the inspiration behind his character?
My biggest inspiration for Beck is actually a bit of a spoiler, but you'll know it when you read the book! But his character has several nods to a famous classical composer of the past! Apart from that, he sort of tumbled around the page and then grew his personality the more I wrote and explored his story.
Beck's relationship with his little sister Joey was a delight and another of my favourite aspects. He sees her as a puddle splashing, glitter wearing free spirit and endures his mother's abuse to protect her. What angered me is how the adults in both their lives let them down, a harsh reality for so many kids isn't it.
It is... And not as uncommon as it should be. One thing Beck did his best to do was to shelter Joey as much as he could and make sure she didn't suffer alone. While Beck only had an abusive and manipulative mother, Joey at least also had Beck to look up to. Their relationship was one of my favourites to write!
The barefoot, animal loving, dog rescuing August, if ever there was a character most you like, August wins. Hands down. She's absolutely delightful. I loved how she was just there, never pushing Beck out of his comfort zone but to let him know he wasn't alone. Is that something you were mindful of, the friendship and support foremost rather than creating a romance between Beck and August?
Ha! August is the actual definition of puppies and rainbows, isn't she?! And yes I absolutely wanted their relationship to first focus on friendship, since Beck has literally never had a friend before August busts into his life. I also wanted August to show she wanted to be there for Beck. She wasn't about to force him to take action or pretend she knew what his life was like. She wasn't there to save him: she was there to tell him he was worth saving so he could take those steps himself.
Readers know you from your wildly successful blog, Paper Fury where you talk about books and cake with a fondness for stabby characters. Do you think readers will be surprised by the darker themes in A Thousand Perfect Notes?
My blog is definitely a collision of rainbows but also stabbiness, so I can see how some readers might be surprised that A Thousand Perfect Notes isn't a fluffy book! But knowing I always review and flail about the 'dark books' and have been warning people I'm writing books to make them cry... Hopefully it's not too much of a shock.
What do you hope readers take away from reading A Thousand Perfect Notes?
Just that little whisper that you are absolutely worthwhile, no matter what you do or don't achieve in life.
Where to find her
C.G. Drews lives in Australia with her dog, a piano, and the goal of reading every book in existence. Consequently, her brain has overflowed with words and she spends her days writing novel after novel. She blogs at paperfury.com, never sleeps, and believes in cake for breakfast.
#LoveOzYA authors Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood have released an empowering, influential collaboration Take Three Girls, a fictional insight into toxic online environments, fighting the patriarchy and girls supporting one another. Remarkable ladies of Australian young adult fiction. Thanks for joining me ladies, with thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia.
Published by Pan Macmillan Australia
Add to Goodreads
Check out my review Here
★★★★
Kate, a quiet boarder, making some risky choices to pursue the experimental music she loves.
Clem, shrugging off her old swim team persona, exploring her first sexual relationship, and trying to keep her annoying twin, Iris, at arm’s length.
Ady, grappling with a chaotic family, and wondering who her real friends are, she’s not the confident Alister she appears to be.
When St Hilda’s establishes a Year 10 Wellness Program in response to the era of cyberbullying, the three girls are thrown together and an unlikely friendship is sparked. One thing they have in common, each is targeted by PSST, a site devoted to gossip and slander that must have a source within St Hilda’s. Who can you trust when rumour is the new truth?
The Wellness initiative was a wonderful concept and an initiative that should be incorporated into the school curriculum. Can I ask what the inspiration behind the program was and how it could be expanded upon as a community outreach program for teens?
Cath Crowley
I think, and I’m not a hundred percent sure I’m remembering properly, that it came about after discussions about how a school might tackle a problem like this one. Also, we love the idea that these ‘worksheets’ could be used in a classroom situation, to encourage talk about some of the issues raised in the book. I love the idea that teens might feel empowered by the book (if not the Wellness sheets) to start feminist groups, to talk about online culture, and to feel as if they’re not alone.
Simmone Howell
For the last year I’ve been doing some writing work around young people’s mental health issues as well as running creative writing and journaling workshops. I’m interested in how YA fiction can have therapeutic benefits for young people, and this was a fun way into exploring that.
Fiona Wood
The Wellness program was also a way in which we could represent the fact of schools and parents knowing that something needs to be done, but not quite sure what that might be. In this case there is some resistance to the Wellness program, but the girls all end up benefiting from the way it makes them rethink things such as friendship and identity. We would love to see the Wellness sheets being used as a prompt for school classroom discussions. Many schools do formally engage with the idea of student wellbeing, and the more of that, the better.
The three protagonists were all wonderfully unique individuals, their narratives blended seamlessly. Did you see yourself within the adolescent characters and draw from your own experiences?
Cath Crowley
I definitely see a little of myself in Kate. I grew up in the country. I was a bit of a dreamer. (Although I didn’t play the cello, I did write.) I was certainly quiet.
Simmone Howell
Yes, I was a pretty messy, avaricious, angry teenager - I didn’t always know where I fit in. I don’t have a twin, but I do have siblings and I always wished to be sent away to boarding school (alas it never happened).
Fiona Wood
Like Ady, I had a parent with addiction problems which had huge repercussions on my self-confidence and the face I thought I needed to show in public. I also poured quite a bit of creativity into messing around with clothes.
Another aspect I found relevant to teens and adults, was the toxic nature of online communities. The Private School Secrets Tracker website was incredibly confronting and was reminiscent of the online trolling outspoken women on Twitter are subjected to consistently. Is that something you were mindful of during the writing process and did you visit online communities as research?
Cath Crowley
We wanted the references to online material to be confronting – because women (young and old) are subjected to these kinds of comments all the time. I did some research. I hadn’t realised just how ugly the online world can be. So I did dip in to write my comments.
Simmone Howell
Yes. I read comments. In a way it wasn’t hard to write that stuff, It was like thinking in worst-case mode. You don’t have to go very far to find hate-speak online. I also watched great stuff: videos and TED talks, women like Clementine Ford and Anita Sarkeesian, (like the girls in the school’s Feminist Collective.)
Fiona Wood
This sort of commentary is, unfortunately, like surround sound, online. We were also influenced by a deluge of media reporting of abuses of girls and young women at schools, universities, colleges and in the workplace.
The strong female friendships were a tremendous support beyond the Wellness classes and I really enjoyed how their friendship also encouraged one another and promoted confidence and self esteem. How do you feel these friendships influenced the girls and their fight against the toxicity of their peers?
Simmone Howell
I think because the characters were able to be honest with each other, they could then channel that ‘good fight’ energy - they had each other’s backs.
Fiona Wood
Yes, we definitely wanted to show that the three characters gained strength from each other, and, as Simmone says, the key to that is that they are able to be honest.
I appreciated that although the narration takes place within the boarding school, the families of the girls are still very much an important part of their lives. Why do you feel it's important to include parents and grandparents within young adult novels?
Simmone Howell
I personally feel that whatever the story is will dictate whether or not there is parent / grandparent presence. If they are relevant to the character, if we, the reader needs to know about them, then we can, but I don’t think it’s a prerequisite.
Fiona Wood
I like to include family details – for Ady, it’s mainly her sister, Clare – because it adds further complexity to the character. For me, the decision about whether or not to create other family characters is purely about how those characters will support the main character and the story.
The essence of Take Three Girls is about empowerment of females pushing back against the patriarchy of a male dominated society. If you could revist your teen self, what important knowledge would you like to pass on?
Cath Crowley
I’d tell my teenage self that she has something important to say. I’d tell her she has just as much right to be heard as everyone else.
Simmone Howell
I’d tell her that everything she does has a knock-on effect, that she doesn’t HAVE to do what everyone else is doing, and I’d give her a big hug and tell her she’s ok as is.
Fiona Wood
Don’t be so fearful - stick your neck out.
Meet the authors
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Thanks to Cath, Fiona, Simmone and the wonderful Pan Macmillan
Girl In Pieces is a remarkable narrative. Beautifully lyrical, yet dark and confronting, rarely seen in young adult novels. I commend Kathleen for her courage, composure and her ability to create a character who readers will see themselves within. Charlie's narrative was compelling and I reached out to debut author Kathleen Glasgow about Charlie, her own personal journey and portraying addiction, mental illness and toxic relationships with realism for the teen audience. Thanks for joining me Kathleen and you can read my review for Girl In Pieces here.
Charlie's narrative is confronting but ultimately hopeful and is an extension of your own experiences. For those yet to read Girl In Pieces, can you share your own experience and what inspired you to tell Charlie's story?
From fourteen to my early twenties, I was a a self harmer. I hurt myself because I didn't know how to manage my emotions or depression. I hid my scars for a very long, long time. One day, much later, on my way to work, I saw a girl on the bus with fresh scars on her arms. She was about the age I was when I first started cutting. I let her get off the bus without talking to her and I shouldn't have. Girl in Pieces is my letter to that girl, and to any kid who is harming, or feels alone, or doesn't have a voice.Girl In Pieces is an incredibly courageous debut novel that also explores addiction. Why do you think it's important for authors to explore mental health and addiction realistically for the teen audience?
Depression, mental health, addiction, assault, it's a crime to think they don't exist for teens or that teens aren't able to handle discussing these issues. How do you think it feels to be fifteen, and the victim of sexual assault, but your school library isn't allowed to stock a novel that might help you through your experience? That's like telling you that you, and your experiences, don't matter. Someone is trying to make you invisible. The realistic side is: you don't just get better because you talk to a doctor, or take a pill. Those things can help, but there's a lot of other work that needs to be done for you to reach a good place, a place you can be safe. You need nonjudgemental friends, you need people who can listen, you need to read books that offer glimmers of hope.
One of the bravest aspects for me was the realism, often when young adult authors tend to romanticise mental illness. Charlie's relationship with Riley was interesting. Do you think with young adult contemporary reads, authors should be more aware of creating romantic interests for characters struggling with mental illness and what should they perhaps be mindful of?
Charlie was always going to fall for Riley. Charlie was always going to fall for someone who picked her, who made her feel special, because she was aching to be seen, to be recognized. You can see this earlier with Ellis. But Riley has his own struggles; it's not a healthy relationship, but it is a realistically portrayed unhealthy relationship between two unhealthy people. Even though Charlie has mental health issues, even though she is worried about her scars, she never stops wanting to be loved, to be touched, to feel pleasure. Just because you are suffering from mental illness does not mean you stop wanting touch, love, companionship, the feel of skin on skin. Even to just have someone hold your hand, just once, for five minutes, can sometimes be the difference between life and death.
With Charlie's narrative being so personal, I can imagine the emotion of revisiting your own experiences. Being a survivor, what does it mean for you to be able to reach teens who may also be currently experiencing feelings of misplacement?
It was difficult to revisit some dark feelings, to let them out of the box. They will never go away. I just know how to manage them now, through a lot of hard work. But I was committed to letting it all out for the book, because I think teens, anyone, really, struggling with harm or depression or loneliness, deserves to have that reality depicted honestly. And I can tell you one hundred million percent that receiving such beautiful, touching, lovely emails and messages from readers has made it all worth it.
Kathleen Glasgow lives in Tucson, Arizona. She likes Tyrion and Shireen, musty old paperbacks from used bookstores that have cats wandering the aisles, cheesecake, coffee, and the Isle of Skye.About Kathleen
Written by Cath Crowley
Contemporary, Romance, #LoveOzYA
Published August 30th 2016
352 Pages
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia
★★★★★
This is a love story.
It's the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets, to words.
It's the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea.
Now, she's back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal. She's looking for the future in the books people love, and the words that they leave behind.
It's been three long years since Rachel had left Gracetown, with an inked farewell left within the pages of the Letter Library at Howling Books, where you'll find Henry lying within the self help guides and pondering the greater meaning of life. Within the isles, over two decades of history lies in the margins of books. Friends, lovers and strangers find kindred spirits and understanding. Although Henry will never understand why Rachel hadn't said goodbye.
Losing her brother to the ocean they had both so dearly loved, Rachel was desperate to escape the reminder of her grief and return to the city, where both Rachel and her brother we raised, Howling Books their second home. Living with her childless Aunt, Rachel plans on making a fresh start which doesn't include forgiving Henry who had broken her heart. Difficult seeing her only job prospects include cleaning toilets or cataloging for Howling Books, working side by side with Henry.
The Letter Library is a place for former loves, young love and lost love to reunite between the margins, but as the business begins to lose considerable amounts of money both Rachel and Henry may realise that love isn't always enough.
My Thoughts
Words in Deep Blue was a beautiful and incredibly charming read of the exploration of love and its many facets. Rachel is grieving, her brother drowned eight months prior to her return and unable to face the sound of lapping waves from the home she shares with both her mother and grandmother. She still carries the anguish of her last goodbye, having fallen in love with her best friend Henry, penning a confession left in the Letter Library that was never answered. Rachel is a wonderful character who is deeply mourning for her loss. She still carries the hurt of her unanswered declaration of love for Henry, but is adamant she's no longer in love with her childhood friend.
Henry has spent the last three years in a tumultuous relationship with Amy, a narcissistic girl who cares little for anyone but herself. Henry is an incredibly passionate reader, intelligent and charming but allows himself to be manipulated, now his relationship has just ended for the umteenth time. As the Rachel and Henry begin to rekindle their friendship, the storyline shifts to include bookstore regulars such as elderly Frederick who is searching for a specific Walcott edition, Martin who is a casual employee tasked with cataloguing stock and George, Henry's younger sister who's mistrust and discontent as a result of being bullied for her unique sense of style and reading.
Words In Deep Blue is a legacy for lovers of the written word. For readers who find themselves within ink pages breathing in the scent of romance. The Letter Library was captivating. A destination for those wanting to share their thoughts and affections within the margins and none more so than Henry's sister George, who uses the Letter Library as an avenue to express herself without the fear of condemnation.
Words In Deep Blue is a legacy for lovers of the written word. For readers who find themselves within ink pages breathing in the scent of romance. The Letter Library was captivating. A destination for those wanting to share their thoughts and affections within the margins and none more so than Henry's sister George, who uses the Letter Library as an avenue to express herself without the fear of condemnation.
MartinHowling Books provides a safe environment where judgements are cast aside for the love of words. But like so many of our independent bookstores, Howling Books relies on the patronage of locals and the bookstore is on the verge of becoming financially unviable. An incredibly important message for readers to support their local bookstores. Not only are a third of bookstores in Australia independently owned, but Australia also had the largest number of independent small business bookstores in the English speaking world and although fictional, Howling Books represents the need for local patronage to support small business, local publishers, authors and our industry.
Fuck off and stop writing to me.
George.
Dear George
I'm not fucking off. I'm your friend. Friends don't fuck off. And by the way, friends don't tell each other to fuck off, either.
Martin
Martin
Fuck. Off.
George
It was achingly beautiful and incredibly emotional. Cath Crowley is Australia's premier young adult author, creating realistic characters and an engaging storyline that will hold dear for generations to come.
Question Time with Cath Crowley
This is a great question. I have a strong memory of buying one book every week with my pocket money, reading it that night, and then being desperate for the next Friday to arrive so I could buy the next one in the series. I can’t remember the name of the bookstore, but I remember that feeling of excitement. I also remember the first time I walked into The Sun Bookshop in Yarraville. It’s a gorgeous store, with a spectacular range.Words in Deep Blue takes place within Howling Books, a quaint little bookstore with a rich history of bringing strangers, friends and lovers together. Do you remember your first bookshop experience and what impact, if any, that has had on you as an author?
I think it’s hugely important to support your local bookstore. I don’t want to imagine world without physical bookshops. I love walking into The Sun Bookshop, choosing books they’ve recommended (the staff picks are always brilliant). I love them as a reader, but also as a writer. My book gets bought because people hand sell them. Local bookstores are hubs of stories. We need more of them.With so many readers turning to the convenience of electronic books, how important is it for readers to support their local bookstores?
I keep trying to remember the moment when I came up with the idea for the Letter Library. I knew I wanted the book to be about the things we find in books, about the messages we leave for strangers, and the parts of ourselves that we leave behind. I love the idea that some things are left and found by chance, but I knew I needed a more practical way for people to exchange letters. Once the idea came to me, I loved the idea that a shop would set aside books to be loved.The Letter Library is a beautiful declaration of romance throughout the storyline, combining the scent of inked pages and the lost artistry of letter writing. What was your inspiration behind the concept?
I’ve left a lot of letters in books around the city – I’ve left poems and small notes, and longer letters for people to find. All of them, in some way, hold in them a love for words. Like Henry says, I love books down to the full stops because they change people. They make life less hard, more beautiful, they connect people. They force us to question the future, and interrogate ourselves. I’m not sure I’ll have a legacy, but I’d like that to be what people get from Words in Deep Blue.If you could write your own message for a stranger to find in the Letter Library, what would be your legacy?
About Cath
You can find Cath by visiting her Website Twitter Goodreads Facebook and on Instagram
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Michael about Front Lines and his strong and fearless characters. The sexism they face within the male dominated environment and the prejudice faced as women of colour and race.
Michael
I have the feeling this is going to run long, and I apologize in advance, but the question interests me.
First off, I am an American, so this is all in the context of American attitudes on race and gender. If you are playing a game of American Life Poker, two of the cards you want in that first deal are "White" and "Male." Both confer huge advantages. Now, because of the unique and frankly bizarre circumstances in which I got into writing, neither of those cards played a big part in my writing career, but obviously both play a part in my broader life.
For much of my writing career, I was essentially invisible, writing with my wife and under her name. To this day I have written more books "as a woman" than I have as a man. And I’m in a line of work where everyone in authority (editors, basically) are women. I’ve written something like 150 books, and only 2 were edited by men. I’ve also, oddly given the racial disparities in publishing, had more books edited by a black woman than by white women. (Animorphs, Everworld and Remnants series were all edited by the great Tonya Martin.) So my experience is mine, not necessarily similar to that of most writers.
For whatever reason, I have just never thought of female characters, or people of color (POC) as the "other," as somehow alien or hard to understand. I occasionally see writers agonizing over this and I don’t get it. A character is a character. Each has individual traits, a particular backstory, specific experiences. I think sometimes people don’t get the difference between individual and group. The collective experiences of every African-American or every woman don’t tell you much about a specific character because group characteristics are only marginally useful in understanding a specific individual. Characters are not somehow the perfect distillation of a group experience, they aren’t avatars or symbols, they are individuals with their own specific story. It would be malpractice to reduce characters to their pigmentation, their genitalia or even their cultural milieu.
So I don’t write a female character as a "female," I write them as a human being with particular issues, some of which may well be related to their sex or gender. I write POC as humans with particular issues, some of which may be related to their race or culture. Kinda like I write white male characters. Or Asian characters. Or gay characters.
As to FRONT LINES, I had to maneuver a bit. I wanted to be very straightforward about the sexismand racism of the era. (And well beyond the era, sadly.) But at the same time I wanted a school librarian in Bugtussle, Arkansas or wherever, to be able to shelve FRONT LINES without the wrath of dim parents coming down on them. So I carefully masked the "f-word" and the "n-word". The first because the various religious nuts might raise a stink, and the second because even writing that word once is difficult for any decent American, and can be so easily misconstrued. I generally hate masking, but "the n-word," as we tend to say, is so fraught, so larded with unspeakable violence and deep hatred that it has lost any worthwhile use except as illustration.
But obviously I couldn’t write about a black character in a racially segregated army without including the slurs that would have been thrown at her. So I fell back on the word, "Nigra" which is what your more refined class of racist back in the 60’s when I lived in the Deep South used.
Just as obviously, I couldn’t pretend that the US Army in 1943 would have loved the idea of women soldiers. The difference in how I portray the racism and the sexism is that racism had a long history as a debated topic, so that terminology had been created, sides were more clearly defined, lines were hardened. But the notion of woman fighting would never have been debated at that point, no lines would have been clearly defined, the vocabulary of hate that is so accessible on race would not have been as present.
At least that’s my theory.
It’s been interesting seeing reviewer after reviewer praise me for being unsparing in portraying the sexism and the racism, but with the greatest respect, they are wrong: I dialed it back a good 25% from what would likely have occurred. People today just don’t really get how casually vicious Americans were on race, especially. Americans today can’t imagine that members of The Greatest Generation very often had no reluctance to call a black man the n-word, right out in the open, and with no concern for retaliation or opprobrium.
But that’s the way the world was, and although I dialed it back by 25%, I wasn’t going to lie or pretend things were different. I wanted FRONT LINES to work not just as entertainment (though I hope it is entertaining) or as alternate history, but also to be true to real history. So Rio is subjected to overt and unapologetic sexism, Rainy is subject to that plus anti-Semitism, and Frangie carries the weight of sexism and virulent racism.
And in their spare time they kill Nazis.
About Michael
Michael Grant has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn’t tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, and their two children.
Find Michael via
Thank you to Michael Grant and Hardie Grant Egmont Australia
Bestselling YA author Michael Grant is in Australia and New Zealand to promote Front Lines, the first book in his blockbuster new YA series, Soldier Girl.
Broken Sky Broken Book One
Written by L. A. Weatherly
Available 22nd February 2016
Add Broken Sky to Goodreads
Written by L. A. Weatherly
Available 22nd February 2016
Add Broken Sky to Goodreads
Welcome to a 'perfect' world.
Where war is illegal, where harmony rules.
And where your date of birth marks your destiny.
But nothing is perfect.
And in a world this broken, who can Amity trust?
From the bestselling author of the Angel trilogy comes Broken Sky, an exhilarating epic set in a daring and distorted echo of 1940s America and first in a new trilogy.
Amity is a teen pilot, battling in one on one combat to maintain peace in a world where war has been replaced by dogfights. But when Amity discovers the organisation she works for is corrupt, she begins to question everything. In this society of double agents, suspicion and betrayal, nobody is quite what they seem...
Regular followers of Diva Booknerd will know I can't resist a strong and determined female heroine. Throw in a revolution and I'm itching to get my hands on a copy of Broken Sky. Without further ado, please welcome author Lee Weatherly
Broken Sky is said to be set within a distorted echo of America in the forties. What was the inspiration behind the setting and what research if any, did you compile to create your world building?
It’s funny, sometimes everything starts with a single detail. With Broken Sky, I knew that the planes my characters flew – the fictional Firedoves – were really Spitfires in disguise. Using such an iconic WWII plane immediately gave me a whole feel, an era: fedora hats and seamed stockings and big band music. Awesome!For the flying research, I read memoirs by Spitfire pilots, spoke to Spitfire experts, and even got to fly in a Spit (amazing but scary – and yes, we did barrel rolls, etc!). For the 1940s era itself, in a way I’d already been researching that for years. I’m a huge fan of old movies, and love film noir in particular. In the movie version that takes place in my head, Broken Sky is very film noir!
Your main character Amity is a pilot, a female thriving in what is generally seen as a male dominated position. Why do we need characters like Amity in young adult fiction who defy the trend and are strong, young women? And what was the inspiration behind her character?
Well, not to sound flippant, but I think the answer lies in the question. We need characters in YA fiction who are strong young women because nobody ever questions why we need characters who are strong young men. The fact that our society still considers strong female characters as worthy of comment shows that there’s a need for them.Though who knows; my next heroine might be Amity’s complete opposite, and I think there’s a need for that, too: we should see characters who reflect the whole big, messy, chaotic wealth of human experience, without extrapolating from them that all young women or men are therefore being portrayed as this or that. The problem, of course, comes when you only have weak young women or strong young men in YA fiction, and in that sense I’m pleased if I’m helping to redress the balance.Phew, sorry, got a bit long-winded there! The inspiration for Amity came from the story I wanted to tell. By definition, a good Spitfire pilot has to be brave and skilled and kind of an adrenalin junkie, so those aspects of her personality were in place from the start. And in terms of how she relates to others, I saddled her with some of my own social awkwardness (poor girl!). No one ever gets my jokes, either.
Your previous and wildly popular Angel series also defied previous paranormal books in the genre, how did you find the transition between paranormal and dieselpunk and the futuristic feel within a historical world, as with Broken Sky?
Oh, I loved it! I greatly enjoyed writing the Angel series, but maintaining story tension was sometimes a challenge with a psychic, half-angel main character who became more powerful with each book. Honestly, I spent half of book 3 thinking of ways to handicap Willow, so that she wouldn’t just overcome every problem instantly! So it was a lot of fun to create a world where the main character doesn’t have any special powers: she’s just a skilled young woman trying to do the best she can.Broken Sky is very similar to dieselpunk – but actually, rather than having a futuristic feel in a historical setting, it’s the opposite: a futuristic world with a historical feel. The premise is that after a devastating war has destroyed everything in our own time, the 1940s eventually come around again in the far future…though slightly different in certain weird ways. A distorted 1940s set against the ruins of our own world still seems pretty cool to me – though it took ages to figure out the backstory and get the world to work. (You can also just think of it as an alternate 1940s – that works too!)
I've read that you've written over fifty books for children and teens. Which has been your favourite release so far and why?
It’s always the book I’ve just written. I’ve been lucky enough in my career to only write what I love (and seriously, how lucky is that?!) – and so each time something comes out, it’s what I’m passionately smitten with at the time. Broken Sky does feel very special to me, though. I love it a lot.
I absolutely love your Pinterest board depicting scenes from Broken Sky. Do the image collections play a part in your writing process to help you portray the descriptive for your readers?
Aw, thank you! I loved creating it. And yes, definitely. The board was private while I was writing Broken Sky, and I updated it often. I also currently have private boards for books 2 and 3. Having all the visuals to hand really helps me to see the book and the characters, and to mentally create a certain mood for the story.
What can we find L. A. Weatherly doing when you're not writing?
I’m probably over on Etsy, looking for amazing pieces of vintage jewellery that I totally don’t need but MUST have. Shiny, pretty!Thanks, Diva Book Nerd! Great interview – I really enjoyed your questions
About L. A. Weatherly
L. A. Weatherly is the author of the bestselling Angel series, as well as almost 50 other books for children and teenagers. She’s originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, and lives in Hampshire, England with her husband. Her books have been translated into over 10 different languages.
Thank you to Lee Weatherly and Harper Collins Australia
Contains spoilers for previous books in The Rephaim series
Written by Paula Weston
Check out my review for Book One
Check out my reviews for Book Two and Three
Angels, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Published June 24th 2015
432 Pages
Thank you to Text Publishing
Add to Goodreads
★★★★★
Suddenly, Gaby remembers everything.
For a year she believe she was a backpacker chilling out in Pandanus Beach. Working at the library. Getting over the accident that killed her twin brother.
Then Rafa came to find her and Gaby discovered her true identity as Gabe, one of the Rephaim. Over a hundred years old. Half angel, half human, all demon smiting badass and hopelessly attracted to the infuriating Rafa. Now she knows who faked her memories, and how, and why it’s all hurtling towards a massive showdown between the forces of heaven and hell.
More importantly, she remembers why she’s spent the last ten years wanting to seriously damage Rafa.
Gaby has spent the last week trying to remember the life she knew before arriving in the small seaside community of Pandanus Beach, a life where she was part of the Rephaim, half angels who are now preparing to go to war with demons who plan on destroying the town she now calls home. Gaby and twin brother Jude now remember their lives before the rift that drove the two apart ten years earlier, why Jude walked away and why Gaby feels an inexplicable attraction to Rafa.
But before Gaby can come to terms with her past, she and the Rephaim must prepare for a war against Zarael and his hellion army. Secrets will be revealed, alliances will be tested and Pandanus Beach will become a warzone. A fight for not only the Rephaim's survival, but for humanity.
This year especially, there's a huge campaign for Australian young adult novels and bringing our phenomenal authors to the world. Besides your own, do you have any Australian young adult authors you would recommend?But before Gaby can come to terms with her past, she and the Rephaim must prepare for a war against Zarael and his hellion army. Secrets will be revealed, alliances will be tested and Pandanus Beach will become a warzone. A fight for not only the Rephaim's survival, but for humanity.
The Rephaim series has been phenomenal. From it's characters to it's vivid locations, Paula Weston has created a stellar series that infuses angel lore with charismatic and relatable characters who are brilliantly flawed. But above all else, it's incredibly entertaining, the story gathering pace with each book and Burn definitely did not disappoint. Once again we're transported back to Pandanus Beach, the fictional Australian seaside town where the two segregated groups of Rephaim have joined forces to fight Zarael. But now both Gaby and Jude remember their lives as part of the Rephaim, what lead to the decade long separation and what ultimately brought them back together. I loved how the storyline sprinkled their new revelations throughout, keeping readers on their toes.Kelly's Thoughts
It's sassy, fierce and such a worthy finale to a series that is wonderfully written and one of the most engaging urban fantasy series' in young adult. Paula Weston has created a world that readers can immerse themselves in, characters to engage with and a series to celebrate the best that Australian young adult has to offer.The Final Verdict
The Rephaim series is a brilliantly imaginative take on angel lore, the Book of Enoch and the Nephilim. Is angelic mythology something you've always been interested in and how much research was involved in the process?Interview with Paula Weston
Thank you. To answer your questions, I studied a couple of units in world religion at uni quite a few years back (for ‘fun’), so I’ve always had an interest in theology generally, but not specifically angels. With the Rephaim series, the characters of Rafa and Gaby came first*, and then I started researching the best world in which to set their story. To be honest, I wasn’t looking specifically to use an angel-based mythology until I read the story of Semyaza in the Book of Enoch, a 2,000 year-old apocryphal text. It gave me a light bulb moment about where I could take that set-up, which led to the world of the Rephaim as you now know it.As a very character driven series, Gaby is one of the strongest, multi layered, yet self assured heroines in young adult. What was the inspiration behind her character and why do we need more feisty and confident characters like Gaby in young adult?
I did a reasonable amount of research to see what other aspects of angel lore could work for my world building, including traditional Judeo-Christian and Islamic concepts, medieval writings and the diverse New Age approaches that have nothing to do with traditional religion. I found it quite fascinating that a lot of our contemporary imaginings about angels and demons come from sources other than the bible. The beauty of writing fiction is that I could take bits and pieces of whatever I thought would work best for my characters and their story.
The original idea for the series involved a girl and guy in a bar who have a complicated history that only he remembers, and he knows that if he takes advantage of the situation and she remembers their history, he’ll be in huge strife. I knew there were paranormal elements in how she lost her memories and that she and he had ended up on different sides of a conflict. I worked outwards from there to figure out their story and their world.
I’m pleased you see her that way. I can’t pinpoint the exact inspiration for Gaby: she pretty much jumped onto the page fully formed as soon as I started writing. I suspect it’s because this series is the first time I’ve written in first person, present tense and, intentionally or not, I ended up channeling my 19-year-old self. At that age I was probably better described as quick-tempered (read: angry), impulsive and easily frustrated. I’d like to think I’ve grown a lot over the intervening decades, so it was fun to dip back into that head space – but I should point out Gaby is NOT me, she just shares some of my traits at that age, good and bad.Gaby and Rafa's relationship is intense and the chemistry between the two in undeniable. Between the Rephaim characters, the romance is very sex positive. Were you mindful to portray sex as a positive experience for the intended teen audience?
I think it’s important in YA to show there are different ways to be a girl/young woman, and being feisty and confident is one of those ways. But it’s been important for me that Gaby also has a fair degree of self-doubt to deal with. I wanted her to be fallible and flawed, and to make wrong decisions with very real consequences. And then to take responsibility for her mistakes. It’s those moments that help us grow and that give us confidence in ourselves. I know my flaws and mistakes have always taught me much more about myself and life than my successes.
In truth, I didn’t consciously write the series for a particular audience and have always written it by ‘feel’ rather than ‘forethought’ as far as tone is concerned. I shaped those particular scenes involving Gaby and Rafa based on what I wanted for them at that point in the story. Each scene offers a different dynamic between Gaby and Rafa and serves to show who they are at that moment, and what they want/need from each other.One of many aspects that had me enchanted by the series, was the likability of it's characters and how relatable they are. As an adult writing young adult fiction, do you draw on your own experiences as a teen to create your characters and the issues they face?
It’s important for YA to cover the full gamut of sexual experiences, so I wouldn’t have had an issue with writing something less positive if I thought the story warranted it. You might remember in Haze that Gaby learns that Mya had a distressing experience with sex when she was much younger. And although I don’t explore that in depth, it’s hopefully clear that it’s left Mya with a less than healthy approach to sex and intimacy.
The whole sexual awareness / experience is slightly skewed in the Rephaim series because even though Gaby believes she’s a teenager, she’s really not and (in Shadows especially) I wanted her to deal with the confusion between how she feels emotionally and how her body reacts in those more heated moments.
Thank you. Another interesting question! I’d love to say that I’m so much more mature than I was as a teenager and it takes effort to reach back and find that head space, but the truth is that I can go there in a heartbeat. I suspect it’s like that for most people – we never really feel any older in our heads, just hopefully slightly wiser. I vividly remember my teenage years, the good and the bad, especially how it felt in those big moments.With the Rephaim being your first series and Shadows being your debut, how did you find the publishing experience and what key piece of advice would you give to young, budding authors?
Obviously some of the issues Gaby faces in the Rephaim series aren’t ones most teenagers have to worry about (having to fight demons, setting off a chain of events that could lead to a war between heaven and hell…). But there are plenty of moments where Gaby faces issues around friendships, family, parents, love and loyalty, and she has to deal with consequences of the choices she makes. Those are challenges that are often heightened when you’re a teenager, which is possibly why they are so easy to recall and tap into as an adult writer.
I’ve had a totally positive experience thanks to Text Publishing. I’ve learned an enormous amount through the editing process and the team has been very inclusive on things like cover art, ‘puffs’ (quotes from other writers or reviewers on the front jacket), blurbs and catalogue copy etc.
I also need to give a shout-out to my agent Lyn Tranter, who scored the deal with Text in 2011. Lyn signed me back in 2008 on the basis of a fantasy series I was writing at the time. It took three years – and for me to start writing what would become Shadows after a particularly frustrating rejection – before the deal with Text was struck. Lyn’s advice and guidance has also made the journey easier.
My advice to young, budding authors: Keep reading, keep writing and when it comes time to submit to publishers and agents (if that’s the path you follow), always be polite, even in the face of rejection. The publishing industry is small – everyone knows each other, especially here in Australia – and your pride is not worth burning bridges over. You never know when the next opportunity is coming along and you want to be remembered for your professionalism and humility on the way up. I speak from experience: I was writing and trying to find a publisher for a long time before the Rephaim series changed my life. I have a big fat rejection folder of my own!
Why yes, I do. Lists can make me a little nervous because it can feel crappy to be left out so I’ll say up front this is not an exhaustive list of Australia YA authors I love and recommend, just some of my faves, in no particular order.And finally, now that the Rephaim series is complete, are you working on anything new that you're able to share with us?
And a couple of exciting new voices on the scene:
Trinity Doyle Justin Woolley
There are plenty of other great Aussie YA writers I should’ve read by now – and will soon!
Thank you so much for joining me Paula. I've absolutely adored the series and looking forward to seeing what you're working on next.I’ve started on a totally new stand-alone book. I’ve had a kernel of an idea for a few years now, so it’s exciting to finally have the time (and head space) to explore the characters. It’s a thriller, and already has the same sort of pacing as the Rephaim series. Like the Rephaim series, the idea started with a guy and girl in a strange situation and I’ve been figuring out their story every since. There are no angels, but there is a speculative fiction twist, which I’m still working out how to best describe. I’m hoping to be able to talk about it in more detail later this year when I’ve got more of it written.
Thanks so much for having me!
About Paula
For my day job, I’m a self-employed writer-journalist-professional communicator, where my writing involves a lot less profanity. I also love to read, blog, cook, eat, drink and travel and tend to get passionate about human rights, ethical food production… Actually, I can get passionate about pretty much anything.I’m also a huge fan of Australian literature, fantasy / paranormal writing across books, TV and film, I love comedy. I’m a closet comic reader and TV addict and I’m borderline obsessed with the Foo Fighters.
Thank you to Paula and the always fabulous Stephanie at Text Publishing.
The Rephaim series is out now in Australia at all good bookstores.
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