Liane Moriarty is the only Australian author to have a novel debut at number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list – her wildly successful novel Big Little Lies. The same novel has been optioned for a film featuring the likes of Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Alexander Skarsgard.
If the recent awarding of Bob Dylan with the Nobel Prize for Literature is anything to go by, songwriting is a bona fide segment of the larger storytelling canon. To build on this, a writing festival with a difference is returning in 2017 following its successful inaugural event. It’s called
Drew Chapman is the American crime author of The King of Fear and The Ascendant. He has also been a screenwriter for Disney, Fox, Universal, Warner Brothers and Sony and has co-executive produced the second season of the spy show Legends. Drew Chapman says you need to create a hero
Greg Barron is author of novels Rotten Gods, Savage Tide and Lethal Sky, as well as a digital novelette Voodoo Dawn. He says he grew up reading Alistair MacLean, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Wilbur Smith and John Le Carre. Greg Barron found it difficult to get published, but after 10
Michael MacConnell is an Australian author who has had his books published in Australia, Germany, New Zealand and the UK. He is renowned for his thriller novels Splinter and Maelstrom. Michael talks about how his vivid imagination has always helped him to form realistic characters. “I’ve always been somebody who
As the new year approaches so too comes the rush of excitement and motivation to achieve all of your writing goals. Don’t waste it! Here are a host of on-demand courses that you can do all in your own time, at your own pace. The best part is, you don’t
Katherine Howell is an Australian crime fiction author best known for her series featuring Sydney police detective Ella Marconi. Her novels include Web of Deceit, Tell the Truth and Silent Fear. Katherine reflects that whilst some crime novels leave the setting vague and anonymous, she herself finds it important to locate the
Sydney Bauer worked as a journalist and TV executive before moving on to become an author of books including The 3rd Victim, Move to Strike and Matter of Trust. Despite being from Australia, Sydney Bauer set her books in the US. “I was court reporting for The Australian and The
The newly released book Hope: An Anthology features 10 stories showcasing humour and resilience in the face of poverty. The stories were from the winning and highly commended entries of the Brotherhood of St Laurence Hope Prize, which was judged by Quentin Bryce, Cate Blanchett and Kate Grenville. From the media release: This collection
Jaye Ford is a former journalist who worked in print, radio and television for 12 years. Now she writes crime and thriller books including Already Dead and Beyond Fear. Jaye Ford has contacts within the police industry to help feed her the important details that make her stories believable. “I
John Connolly is an Irish crime writer most famous for his series of novels with private detective Charlie Parker. His novels include The Killing Kind and Every Dead Thing. John Connolly is an experimental crime writer, preferring to call his books mystery novels. He decided to join together the two
YA (Yvette) Erskine was in the Tasmanian Police service for 11 years before she became a crime fiction author with notable novels The Betrayal and The Brotherhood. With her background as a police officer YA Erskine had first hand experience into the minds of criminals. It’s an element she parlayed
Phillipa (PD) Martin is author of the Sophie Anderson series featuring an Australian FBI officer. Her novels include Body Count, Fan Mail and Kiss of Death. PD (Philippa) Martin started out writing non- fiction books, but then discovered she actually really loved the process of writing and slowly transitioned herself
Leah Giarratano is a clinical psychologist and author who specialises in psychological trauma and sex offences, which feature in her novels Vodka Doesn’t Freeze and her recent Disharmony series including The Telling, The Laeduin and Immortal Combat. Leah talks the plotting process and the dichotomy between understanding your characters and
Zane Lovitt is a documentary filmmaker turned crime writer. His debut novel, The Midnight Promise, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, and led to Zane being named one of the Best Young Novelists of 2013 by The Sydney Morning Herald. He released Black Teeth in 2016. Zane
LA (Louisa) Larkin is famous for her thrillers The Genesis Flaw, Thirst and her latest novel Devour. She has been likened to Matthew Reilly and Michael Crichton and is a presenter at the Australian Writers’ Centre. LA (Louisa) Larkin is an expert on the thriller writing genre. Here, she provides
Mark Abernethy is an Australian crime and thriller writer, famous for his thriller novels Second Strike, Double Back and Counter Attack. He is also a journalist and a ghostwriter. Mark is an extremely fast writer, he talks about producing the first draft of his first book in eight weeks. He
Ellie Marney is a young adult novelist. Every Breath was one of two Australian novels on the most borrowed YA library books in 2015 and her second novel Every Word won the 2015 Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Young Adult Novel. Ellie Marney says that writing for a
Liz Porter is a true crime writer, novelist and freelance journalist. She writes about ‘the real CSI’, and is renowned for her use of forensic science in books such as Written on the Skin and Cold Case Files. Liz Porter explains that in true crime it’s vital to focus on
Sonya Voumard is an Australian journalist who has written a novel Political Animals and a non-fiction book The Media and the Massacre, an account of the incidents related to the horrific Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. Sonya talks about writing her book The Media and the Massacre which depicts the
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