Happy book birthday to me!
Today my second novel Love Match was released into the world! I spent the day visiting bookshops around Sydney and it was the most perfect way to celebrate. There are signed copies all over the city. Tomorrow morning I’ll fly to Brisbane with my husband and daughter - we’ll launch Love Match at Avid Reader in the evening, so if you haven’t got your ticket yet, get your skates on! I’ll be on ABC Brisbane with Kat Feeney around 1.30pm as well.
Chockers newsletter this month! Thanks for reading! xx
Love Match news
CRAZY NEWS: If you’re in Sydney, Love Match will be featured in the window of the Dymocks store on George street from tomorrow! I can’t quite believe it - and will have to content myself with seeing photos until Sunday when we’re back from Queensland. If you go to check it out, please send me pics!
Preparing for Love Match to be released, I published some posts on my website about why I named the fictional footy team the Pink Cockatoos, and some of the research and inspirations behind the book.
Now there are cockatoos everywhere - I had the wonderful Queensland artist Mel Baxter design a logo for the Pink Cockatoos and got a few stubby holders made up! The brilliant Lucy Ward made the crocheted cockatoo-crested beanies from the book, and you can make your own!! I treated myself to a very gorgeous painting of them!!!
Events
I’m hitting the road and I’d love to see you! Since last newsletter I’ve locked in a Melbourne event with Katherine Collette - my inner First Time Podcast fangirl is still in shock! Tickets are available now for:
Aug 30: Avid Reader, Brisbane (with Kimberley Allsopp!)
Aug 31: Ballina Library (free)
Sept 1: Tweed Heads Library (free)
Sept 19: Dymocks Books in Bars, Sydney (with Josh Hortinela!)
Sept 23: Better Read Than Dead, Sydney (with Amber Jakeman)
Oct 5: Ballarat Mechanics Institute
Oct 6: Robinsons Bookshop The Glen, Melbourne (with Katherine Collette!)
Still working on Toowoomba, St George and a few more dates. Keep an eye on my website or instagram for news.
Five Bush Weddings
Don’t forget the purse-sized paperback of Five Bush Weddings is released on September 5! If you have been holding out for budgetary reasons or want to grab a copy for a friend, this edition retails for $22.95.
ICYMI
‘The Rebranding Of Chick Lit And The Rise Of Romance’, Laura Brading’s article for Primer, hits squarely at the intersection of my interests! I was delighted to be asked to comment alongside publishers, agents and other authors including Rachael Johns.
On voice, second book syndrome and the romance of dropped pies: I caught up with Elliot Cameron from Writing NSW for a Q&A.Â
WritingÂ
There’s plenty of distraction at the moment, so I’m trying to be gentle with myself and take any writing as a win. I’ve got a couple of new book ideas swirling around that I’m excited to get started on, a handful of short stories that need finishing.Â
Reading
It was a fluke that Love Match was released just after the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but I’m guessing there’s no such coincidence in timing for Girls Don’t Play Sport by Chloe Dalton (Allen and Unwin). I blazed through this non-fiction book, which explores the past, present and future of women’s sport. Essential reading for sport lovers of any gender.
It’s deeply researched and covers a range of issues, but it wears that very lightly, combining Chloe’s personal experiences with voices of other athletes, data and anecdotes. There’s a lot to be rightfully enraged about in these pages - the underfunding and hostility female athletes have been subject to - but given the blazing talent of athletes like Chloe, and the solutions she suggests, you’re left feeling not just hopeful but excited for where women’s sport can grow to next.
Chloe is a powerhouse - she was in the Australian Rugby Sevens team that won gold at the Rio olympics, and currently plays in the AFLW for the GWS Giants and has played professional basketball as well. Off the field she’s just as prolific and versatile, having founded The Female Athlete Project which includes a podcast, great social media coverage of news and activism for women’s sport, and god help me I’ve just found their merch as well.Â
An interesting companion piece is Personal Score by Ellen Van Neerven (UQP). I’m still reading this one, savouring every page - Van Neerven is an exquisite writer of poetry and prose, and brings that craft to this urgent memoir of sport, culture and identity. As a queer Mununjali Yugameh writer, Van Neerven asks what it means to play sport on First Nations land. There’s no feminism without intersectionality and I’m so grateful to be able to read a voice like Van Neerven’s on one of my favourite topics.
Listening
The first episode of That Rom Com Pod is out! Co-hosted by yours truly and my fellow rom-com author Karina May, we’ll release episodes fortnightly – listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. Follow our Instagram for updates, or sign up on Substack to recieve an email newsletter when each new episode drops, including links to all the books, movies and articles we discuss.
There must be something (romantic) in the air, because there’s another new podcast all about romance writing. Love On Campus is hosted by three academics - Georgia Nicholls, Dr Amy Matthews and Kathleen Stanley. They bring clear definitions, critical analysis and academic rigour where Karina and I bring *vibes* haha.
 I’ve also been enjoying Cool Story with Bridie Jabour and Bri Lee, which drops new episodes each Monday morning, a great way to start the week. The two have a great chemistry and bring their own expertise as journalist/editor and lawyer/author to conversations about culture and politics, both topical and unexpected. Like listening to two smart mates have a chat - that’s pretty much what it is.
Watching
The dreamy, poignant film Aftersun is now on Binge if you need to weep like a baby. Paul Mescal is just so natural on screen, and young Frankie Corio as his daughter is wonderful.
Eating
Here’s a lovely Apricot, Cardamom & Chocolate Cake from Tilly Parment’s book The Plain Cake Appreciation Society, via the excellent Cook Republic. Click through for the recipe:
This one comes together with pantry staples - dried apricots stewed briefly to soften them, chunks of dark chocolate, a crunch of demerara sugar on top. Next time I make this I’ll dial up the cardamom a little. Best of all, it feels easier to justify a slice of cake for breakfast when it’s not iced, right?!