Resources

I’m a reader. I read every day.

I read in multiple formats (paperback, audiobook, ebook) and across all genres. I try to read mostly Australian books. I am aiming to do better at reading First Nations, culturally diverse and own voice stories.

About 95% of what I read, in any given year, was penned by an Australian author.

More than half of what I read each year is children’s and young adult literature because I believe it’s the best kid-lit in the world.

Book reviews

All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

️️️️️Reviewed by Cecile Shanahan, Bendigo, Victoria

Good Reading July 2024

From the first page of All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker I was hooked and I raced through 577 pages in just days.

The back of the book blurb promises "a sweeping story of love, loss, art and sacrifice" and that’s exactly what this superbly crafted novel delivers. 

In small town Monta Clara, USA, Scout and Patch are outsiders but they have each other. That is until a shocking crime tears them apart. When they find their way back to each other nothing will ever be the same again. Spanning three decades this is a gripping story of friendship, found family, loyalty and the search for justice.  

The loveable characters will stay with readers long after their journeys to forgiveness, redemption and truth are over.

With short, pacy chapters (most no longer than two pages) and some perfectly timed humour to add touches of light to the, at times bleak, subject matter this novel is the very definition of a page turner. 

While one or two of the plot twists are barely plausible readers will not care in the slightest. They work for how this story needs to play out to reach its inevitable ending.

With 100 or so pages to go I was biting my nails and gasping out loud. By the end I was left reeling from the roller coaster of emotions I had ridden. 

Get your hands on a copy of this book as soon as it is released in July. This was my first Chris Whitaker book, but it will certainly not be my last. 

Australian publishers

Open for Submission

Last updated: February 2026

Currently closed

Christmas Press

Ginninderra Press

Hardie Grant (Ultimo Press)

Harper Collins (including HQ & Escape)

Little Book Press

Loose Parts Press

Magabala Books

Midnight Sun Publishing

Penguin Random House - Adult & Children’s

Riveted Press (pitches only)

Scribble

Walker Books Australia

Wild Dog Books

Wollemi Press

Grammar and other good stuff

Featured
Dashing difficult
Dashing difficult

Dashes can be difficult. Read this blog post to find out when and how to use them to greater effect.

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Apostrophes - When and why do we use them?
Apostrophes - When and why do we use them?

Not only are there different types of apostrophes (apostrophes of contraction and apostrophes of possession) but there’s also rules about where to put the apostrophe when your word ends in s and if it’s a plural noun you’re using. Phew, I’m exhausted just thinking about it so it’s no wonder people just leave them off altogether or put them in every time they write a word ending in ‘s’.

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Are we always in edit mode?
Are we always in edit mode?

I posted a question on social media the other day asking what people wanted to know about editing/life as an editor. One response that came back has been rattling around in my brain for a while now (because I wonder if people think it about me regularly) so I thought I’d dedicate a little blog post to it.

The comment that has got me thinking was, ‘Does all bad writing make your blood boil?’ and I get why the question was posed. I mean once an editor, always an editor so it makes sense that I would be scanning everything I read for mistakes, right? Well yes but also no! Let me explain…

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I or Me? Depends on the We…
I or Me? Depends on the We…

Determining whether to use ‘I’ or ‘me’ is actually a rather straight forward process and, once you get the hang of it, it can become second nature to make the ‘right’ choice quickly and easily.

The question to ask yourself, to figure out whether to choose ‘I’ or ‘me’, is perhaps rather oddly, What happens if I take away ‘we’?

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Verse Novels on a shelf

Verse Novels

I am huge fan of verse novels. Australian verse novels – especially many of those written for children and young adults – are in a league of their own, in my opinion.

This list builds upon one originally created by The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Inc. (NCACL) in their excellent resource ‘Bibliography of Australian Verse novels’.

Any book with an (r) next to it is one I’ve read and recommend.

See the list

Books by authors I have interviewed

Below is a list of the people I've been lucky enough to interview one on one or as part of a panel of speakers:

  • Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson: Nganga (non-fiction Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Words and Phrases)

  • Sarah Bailey: Click (adult crime fiction)

  • Davina Bell: The End of the World is Bigger Than Love (YA fiction)

  • Jacqueline Bublitz: Before You Knew My Name (adult literary crime fiction)

  • Reece Carter, Gabrielle Wang & Ailsa Wild: Old Ideas, New Books (children’s writing panel)

  • Robbie Coburn, Pip Harry & Steven Herrick: Tell It In Verse panel (the rewards and challenges of writing verse novels for young adults)

  • Claire G Coleman, Sara M Saleh, Jazz Money & Izzy Roberts Orr (poetry panel)

  • Claire Corbett, Robert Gott & Ray Mooney (adult crime writing panel)

  • Anna Goldsworthy, Murielle Juchau & James Maloney (what writers read panel)

  • Andy Griffiths and Jill Griffiths (children’s fiction)

  • Pip Harry: How Stories Are Shaped (Drift - YA verse novel)

  • Rachel Johns: The Lucky Sisters (adult contemporary fiction)

  • Barry Jonsberg: Catch Me If I Fall (YA fiction)

  • Natasha Lester: The Mademoiselle Alliance (adult historical fiction)

  • Katrina Nannestad and Lorraine Marwood (children’s historical fiction)

  • John Marsden: The Art of Growing Up (adult non-fiction)

  • Lorraine Marwood: verse novels (children’s and young adult verse novels)

  • Michael Robotham: Joe O’Loughlin series (adult crime fiction)

  • Jessie Tu: A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing (adult literary fiction)

  • Don Watson: Watsonia A Writing Life (adult non-fiction)

  • Gabrielle Wang: Zadie Ma and the dog who chased the moon (middle grade fiction)

  • Greg Woodland: The Night Whistler (crime fiction)

  • Clare Wright: N̲äku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions (adult non fiction)

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