I'm a great believer in immersion in a writing project to really make headway with it – especially when you’ve lost your way. I was lucky enough to be awarded a month’s residency at a writer’s retreat in Switzerland in July. In a chateau, no...
Today, as India celebrates 70 years of independence from the British, there is an alternative lens to view the history of the two nations. A history not solely defined by the Raj, but one that evolved during a window in the mid-eighteenth century before British rule...
I stopped this Chinese tourist the other day at Bondi to take a photo of his t-shirt. He and his girlfriend thought it hilarious, proudly telling me the t-shirt was made in China. 'Other people have laughed. You're the first to take photo,' he said. It...
I’ve got a new name to call myself: I’m a hybrid author. I’ve got one book traditionally published (Last Seen in Lhasa, Random House), then The Pagoda Tree through Unbound and I’m soon launching A Baboon in the Bedroom as an indie-publishing project. The big difference...
A structural edit is the first major overhaul your manuscript will go through. Rather than going through line by line, it's about the whole shape of the narrative. An editor will send 10 - 20 pages of notes with page references to accompany the edit....
Thrilled to be able to share the first photo of the Unbound edition of The Pagoda Tree. It exists, it's real, it's gorgeous and the rich red-wine cover invites you in. I wish I could say that it's been plain sailing but despite my oh-so-jolly Facebook...
It's important! These days the metadata of any book must really work for you. Metadata means the title, subtitle, blurb, short author bio on the back of the book, key words — anything that will be used as a way for people to find you...
A couple of years ago at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, I heard Charlotte Harper, founder of the digital press Editia, saying that as soon as she receives an author’s submission she searches for their online presence. As Editia only publish virtually, if the author can’t...
A writer asked how she could bring more emotion into a piece of memoir writing. My advice: focus on two or three key moments which you remember as turning points during your life and then slow the writing down. This works for both fiction and non-fiction stories. You...
Whatever it is you’re working on: an article or the first chapter of your book, you need to make your first lines work hard. They must hook the reader, wind them in, convince them to read on. They also need to set up your story. They...