Sara Foster: Rewriting the Maternal Voice in Fiction
My friend and much-loved Western Australian author, Sara Foster, visits the attic today. After writing six bestselling psychological suspense novels, Sara’s latest book, The Hush, is a near-future thriller that has been garnering critical acclaim around the...
Portland Jones: Turning Family History into Historical Fiction
It’s with great joy I welcome Portland Jones back to the attic today. She visited back in 2019 – read that post here – but our friendship goes back to 2014, when we were both shortlisted for the City of Fremantle – TAG Hungerford Award. Portland has just...
Dinuka McKenzie: Just an Everyday Woman
I’m thrilled to welcome crime writer, Dinuka McKenzie, to the attic this week. Dinuka’s crime-fiction novel, The Torrent, won the 2020 Banjo Prize, and its publication was much-awaited. She’s recently signed with Harper Collins for a further two...
Fiona Robertson: Walking Away for Inspiration
It gives me more pleasure than you can possibly imagine to welcome Fiona into the attic. It’s not the first time she’s visited (read her first post from 2017) and these days Fi is an almost daily visitor to the attic, as I am to her office, when we write...
Maria Papas: Lessons from ten year old me: how to tell a difficult story
Welcome to Writers in the Attic for 2022! I have some wonderful authors lined up already, and I’m looking forward to bringing you their stories from behind-the-scenes. I don’t know about you, but over this past two years, books have become a touchstone for...
Karen Herbert: Mount Stupid Again
Please welcome Karen Herbert to the attic this week. Karen and I have crossed paths a few times over the years, as fellow members of the WASO chorus and as hockey mums, so I’m thrilled to have her in the attic as a début novelist. Her crime thriller, The River...
Querying Agents and Publishers
I’ve made another video and in this one I talk about querying agents and/or publishers. I include a few pointers on what you need before pitching, whether to try for an agent or publisher first, how to research which agent or publisher might be a good fit for...
David Allan-Petale: From Fact to Fiction
Well, I could say the locusts have taken over the attic this week: David Allan-Petale has come in to talk about his book, Locust Summer, and his metamorphosis from journalist to author. On the face of it, the two seem similar – both are writing, both tell stories –...
Zoë Deleuil: The Accidental Novel
I’m excited to welcome Zoe Deleuil, to the attic this week. Zoë is from Perth, Western Australia, but now lives in Berlin with her family. I remember running into Zoe at the Perth Writers Festival a few years ago (in the women’s loos, of course!), and chatting...
Writing About Hard Stuff
One of the most common questions I get asked by other writers is how to write about things that are hard to write about. Topics like past trauma or difficult family relationships or things about which we’re embarrassed. In this video, I talk about how I trick...