Hey folks, nice to be chatting to you again. This year has been really hectic, so this is actually my first real post of the year. Luckily, it’s a ‘good news’ edition – and there’s a fair bit of good news, so bear with me.
First, I’d like to thank my mate, Andy, for helping me to spiffy up my website – the new #LoveOzYAbookclub page that you can click on now is all Andy’s fine work. For bonus points, he’s been teaching me How to Not Be A WordPress Klutz, so things should get more streamlined around the site soon. From now on, my blog posts and my bookclub posts will be on separate pages, which makes things easier to navigate all round. Cheers, Andy!
Now, apart from that excitement, I’ve got something even better to tell you: I’m releasing TWO new books, and I’ve also got a story in an amazing new anthology. So read on!
The anthology is BEGIN, END, BEGIN: A #LoveOzYA Anthology and I’m chuffed to have my story ‘Missing Persons’ in a line-up that includes some totally incredible authors – Amie Kaufman, Michael Pryor, Melissa Keil, Gabrielle Tozer, Will Kostakis and more. BEGIN, END, BEGIN has been a labour of love for editor and contributor Danielle Binks, who has been one of the driving forces behind the #LoveOzYA movement (check it out here at the gorgeous website), and the anthology will be released in stores in less than a week. Come along to the Melbourne launch, if you’re keen – it’ll be on 6pm, May 4 at Readings Carlton, and I’ll be there with other contributors on a panel chaired by Danielle. If you’re curious, ‘Missing Persons’ is a prequel story to EVERY BREATH – basically ‘when Rachel met Mycroft’ – and you can order it as a single ebook here, or pre-order the ebook here, or buy the whole shebang in stores (there’s even a very beautiful special edition).
Now – my solo books. I’m rapt to announce that my new standalone, WHITE NIGHT, will be released by Allen & Unwin in March 2018. I’m in the middle of editing that book, but I can tell you three things about it:
- it’s not an Every series book
- it’s set in rural Australia
- it’s been written with the assistance of Creative Victoria
I’m so very proud of it, and I’ll let you know about release and covers and all the loveliness of it closer to dates.
Before 2018, though, I’m doing something really special: I’m releasing the long-awaited book about Harris Derwent, the bad boy from the finale of the Every series. Harris’s book is called NO LIMITS, it’s going to be available in ebook and print-on-demand, and I ACTUALLY CANNOT EXPRESS HOW EXCITED I AM that this book is coming out into the world. If you love Harris as much as me, you’ll be revving your engines for August this year, when the book is let loose. I’ll let you know when pre-orders are available, and I should have a cover ready to go real soon. Far out! I’m so excited for this book!
EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS: I’m so incredibly thrilled to announce that EVERY BREATH has been nominated for a YABBA award. It’s a massive honour, because it’s a Children’s Choice award – so it’s readers who’ve selected and voted, and that means more than anything. I’m delighted to be nominated, and you should check out all the other books on the shortlist, too, if you can, because my book is in AMAZING company.
Now, events. I haven’t updated my events for a while, but here’s some of the stuff I’ll be up to this year. If you can make it along to the public events, I’d love to see you. There’s a lot of events, so hold on tight…
*Thursday May 4 – BEGIN END BEGIN: A #LoveOzYA Anthology Book Launch
Readings Carlton, Melbourne, 6pm for a 6.30pm start. Free, no booking required.
Panel appearance with Michael Pryor, Melissa Keil, Amie Kaufman, Lili Wilkinson (chaired by Danielle Binks)
*Tuesday May 16&23 – GATEways crime writing workshop
Writers Victoria. For Gr5&6 (special selection) only – see Writers Victoria for bookings.
*Thursday, Friday, Monday May 25, 26&29 – Writing Residency
Castlemaine Secondary College (CSC students only)
If you’re a CSC student, see your lovely librarian Andrea McDonald for deets.
*Friday, Saturday June 2&3 – Reading Matters (attending only)
See website for details and bookings.
…Phew! I have other stuff after June, but it’s all Sekret Stuff at this stage – when I have more details I’ll let you know here. #LoveOzYAbookclub is still going strong, so if you’d like to keep in touch, drop over to the bookclub page or check out the threads and join up here on Facebook.
Apart from all this book stuff, life has been generally good. I’ve had a bit of a headcold, but on balance things are okay: my family is doing great, I’ve picked up some more teaching work, and the writing/editing is going well. Learning how to self-publish has been a major learning curve – and I’m not a Master, yet – but it’s good to be learning new stuff, y’know? It keeps your brain nimble.
I hope you’re all going well, and the year is off to a good start for you. Now I’ve gotten most of the bugs out of the site, I’ll be updating more regularly. Until next time, take care and go hard 🙂
xxEllie