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Care to dance? I'm not sure what was going on when this shot was taken. It's meant to be me chairing the discussion with Lynette Noni (author of The Medoran Chronicles and new series Whisper), and Jessica Townsend, author of Nevermoor, The Trials of Morrigan Crow. This all happened last night at Australian Reading Hour. We did settle into a civilized conversation though. As you can see

BOOKS CHANGE LIVES ROAD TRIP & BOOK DRIVE As an author and booklover, I worry about the future of our libraries. So this month I'll be doing the BOOKS CHANGE LIVES ROAD TRIP & BOOK DRIVE in association with EVERY LIBRARY to raise funds for and to collect book donations so they can get books into the hands of those who need them. So I'll literally be driving the books across the USA from LA to NOLA. Watch this space for more but here's the road trip link you can follow me on: I'm going to organise doing a similar thing in Australia too! If you're on the route, I'll be doing book signings and collecting new and gently used book donations in person. There'll be swag bags for the first person to greet me. If you're not on the route you can track me, enter book giveaways, and see how I go driving from LA to the ALA (American Library Association in New Orleans), with a car full of books and a giant kangaroo called Stax - named after my huge TBR book stack. So my stops include LA, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Lubbock, Austin, Dallas, Shreveport and New Orleans. The photo here gives you all the details of venues and times, or you can check out my website.If you have any young people in the house, then they can go to ReadForLibraries to actually raise money for every minute that they read a book in July. They get their own website to keep tabs too. It's very cool. It's free to sign up! Any questions for me about my book, the writing process, getting published? Feel free to ask on any of my social media channels, or my website.Follow me on Twitter, or friend me on Facebook or Instagram Or find out more on my blog.

So what's it like being an author while also being the mum of two teens? I'm wondering if that's why I train for triathlons - a good excuse to get out of the house.I mean, here's an example: that moment your book arrives in the post, and you're opening up the box and you're soooo excited because this is a dream come true and inside that box is ANOTHER baby, and your family are surrounding you and it's just so mindblowingly exciting and you absolutely have to pinch yourself because surely this is not actually happening. But you pinch yourself and know it IS real, and there's a camera in your face, and you pick up your new book baby and hug it and wait for the praise and excitement to come bubbling out of your teens.Except. By the looks on their faces. Are they jealous of the new baby?Mr. 13: "I preferred the other book cover." Miss 16: "Are we in the acknowledgements?" (Picking up a book and scrambling to the back pages). "The acknowledgements really should be in the front of the book." Mr 13. "Yeah, because without us, you couldn't have written the book."Um. Yeah. Isn't it time for a run?But while I'm out - I hope you enjoy my new baby photo

Nobody told me this before I got a book deal and I wish they had. How my typical week day schedule has changed!I’m telling you this because if you’re after that publishing contract, it’s a good idea to get some of this going now � certainly your social media and website, and also start thinking about speaker’s agencies and public speaking advice/courses, brush up on how to be super-organised and how to prioritise, and research where you’d launch your book. Oh and also start that next novel...Without some of this already under your belt, you could be sent into a tailspin after you sign that contract.SPOT THE DIFFERENCE:What my writing schedule was like BEFORE the book deal:5am � 7am Writing7 - 8am Time to get the family up, cook breakfast, get off to school.8am � 3pm Writing3 - 6pm Kids home from school. Catch up with them. Taxi them to school sport. Watch sport.6 - 8pm Dinner time and family time8 � 9.30pm Writing9.30 - 11pm ReadingWhat my writing schedule is like NOW, after publishing in one country and about to publish in USA:5am � 7am Social media responses and posts7-8am Time to get the family up, cook breakfast, get off to school.8am-10am Publicity and marketing. Writing speeches/school talks. Responding to bloggers. Updating website. Organising signing and launch events.11am � 3pm Writing3-6pm Kids home from school. Taxi them to sport and respond to editorial and publishing emails/social media responses while watching them play sport.6-8pm Dinner time and family time8-9pm More publicity and marketing, social media responses, emails.9-11pm ReadingCan you spot the difference? Writing time just shrunk from 10 hours a day to 5! And I’m on a steep learning curve about marketing, publicity, organising events, delivering speeches, planning school visits, social media, working with an editor, websites and more. So like I said at the start of this piece, try to get some of this done now, in between writing that novel. You'll certainly be less overwhelmed when you get that contract signed!

Being a newbie author, I have a policy of always listening to those around me who know better and have more experience aka publisher, publicist, agent, experienced author friends. So the advice I got about my book launch was � don’t have one. Why? Because I’m a debut author and no one knows who I am. No one will come � except friends and family. My time and the marketing budget could be spent on better things.So I set out NOT to have a book launch. But then when my friends and family, who were so excited for me and my first book being published, constantly asked when the book launch event would be, it got me thinking. How could I turn this into a book launch that people who DIDN’T know me would attend too?This is what I did…I found the hook in my book that would be of interest and benefit to the local community. This would, in turn, lead to the media being interested so that they would publicise the community event for me. As The Harper Effect is set in the world of professional tennis, I thought it’d be great to bring real life Harpers to the book launch � young elite athletes who readers and the community could see for themselves and talk to. They could ask them questions and learn what it takes to be an elite sports person. This would benefit the community in several ways: inspire them to chase their dreams of being an elite athlete, encourage them to go after their dreams, entertain them, inform them.I created an atmosphere around the event � as we were smack bang in the middle of the Australian Open, and the book is set in the world of professional tennis, the invitations stated that we’d be serving strawberries & cream and bubbly, just like at Wimbledon. I believe this made people stay longer to chat and nibble, and they perhaps didn’t mind the signing queue when they had a glass of bubbly to hand. In terms of the cost, I sent a simple sponsorship proposal to various strawberry farmers and champagne makers. Driscoll’s agreed to be the strawberry sponsor, and I received a discounted price for Robert Channon Wines.Between me and the bookshop owner, we contacted the local media with a press release not only about The Harper Effect, but also detailing the credentials of the 4 athletes I had found to talk on the elite athlete panel. I found these amazing girls with the help of sports clubs, the local university, and local sports associations. Given their calibre, and that this was a community event that was more than a book launch, the media took an interest in the event and I took part in 2 radio interviews and 3 newspaper interviews as a result.So the simple message is: create an event that is more than a book launch and that benefits the local community, then tell the media about it and gain sponsorship to cover costs.Other tips:Start attending local book launches well in advance of your own. You’ll see which book shops and owners have a good space for your event, and are well-organised and well-liked. When deciding on where to launch your book, pay attention to how much enthusiasm you’re greeted with when you mention the words ‘book launch�. I was torn between two bookshops because both owners were so enthusiastic about doing the launch, but there were a couple of bookstores who didn’t return my call, or who seemed all doom and gloom about book launches. It’s a good idea to go local too � you might be paying a few trips to them in the days before the launch.Practise your speech so you know it well enough that a mind blank doesn’t take over. I wrote prompts on cards, just in case, but found that I had to hold a microphone and so the cards weren’t easy to hold/turn over…find out if there’s a lectern if you need cards.If you have the budget from your publisher, get some invites and bookmarks printed for the bookshop owner to give out to people who buy books prior to the event. Pan Macmillan’s designers put together a bookmark design, along with an invite and posters that all matched my social media banners. The posters were then displayed by the bookshop owner in their window and local businesses and the library were happy to do the same. If you need to print these things yourself, find a local printer who’ll do a good deal on a few things, and even Vistaprint can help, though I’d advise using their designer for help to ensure your images are of the right quality/size etc to come out clearly.Make lists � to do ones and to bring ones. Don’t forget some pens for signing your books, for instance!Well that’s about it! Please feel free to throw any questions you may have my way. The verdict for me was that I was happy I went ahead with the launch. It was fun, it made me feel like my book was going out into my local community with a buzz, and I truly believed that people went away having been entertained and even inspired to follow their dreams and never give up on them.The Harper Effect is available for purchase in all good bookstores, or from this link:

Thank you to everyone who attended the book launch for The Harper Effect in January. What a great turnout and the panel of elite athletes were so inspiring and entertaining. For those of you who couldn't make it, we had an inspiring chat with a panel of amazing local young athletes. The reason they were part of the launch is that The Harper Effect is written in the world of professional tennis, and so I wanted to show people that Harper is not a fictional character who can never be emanated, and the panel of elite athletes are real life, living and breathing Harpers who live in a world of elite sport, just like Harper. I hope that my novel and the elite teens inspire you to chase your dreams, whether they're in sport or in music, academics, cooking, art - whatever your aspirations are. This debut novel is set in the world of tennis, but that's just the coat hanger on which the plot hangs. Ultimately, it's an inspiring and heart-warming story of a girl who learns to win from a boy who has lost everything. Think Karate Kid or Million Dollar Baby, mixed with the movie Wimbledon. Our panel of elite athletes talked about finding their motivation from within rather than from external things. They talked about what they sacrificed to achieve what they must achieve, from chocolate to boyfriends to social media while at competitions, and they talked about their parents giving them support, but not pushing them, giving them accountability and choices. It was so lovely to see what Harper has to go through reflected in the very real lives of these athletes. Thanks to Jane Larkin (our Commonwealth Games Nominee), Kristina Lane (our QLD U18 tennis captain), and Chloe McLennan and Annelise Jefferies, two amazing triathletes, for their participation and for supporting the launch. We wish you all the luck in the world in all that you choose to do.The Harper Effect is available at all good bookstores in Australia and New Zealand, and the USA/Canada/UK will be able to read it from May 2018.In the meantime, have a You can also order online here:

READ THE QUERY LETTER THAT GOT MY NOVEL AN INTERNATION-AL BOOK DEALMy debut novel, The Harper Effect, is in-stores today in Australia and New Zealand. If you don't feel like going out to do more shopping after the Christmas craziness, but you fancy curling up with a summer read, then you can also order it online right now. If you’re in the US/UK then I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until May 2018, or shelve the book on for giveaway reminders.I’ve been asked so many times about what makes up a good query letter � one that got me this two-book deal…so I thought I’d share it here. 225 words…if you’re counting.Million Dollar Baby meets Wimbledon; THE HARPER EFFECT is a YA contemporary novel complete at 88,000 words.Harper can’t have happiness and the US Open.Sixteen-year-old Harper was once a rising star on the tennis court until her coach dropped her, leaving her feeling abandoned by the sport she loved. Even worse, she now finds comfort in the arms of her sister's ex-boyfriend—a secret that could start a family war.But when Harper is offered a chance to get back in the game by training with young tennis phenom, seventeen-year-old Colt, she throws herself back onto the court . . . and into his family’s scary world of steroids and alcoholism. As she walks a fine line between Colt’s secrets, her forbidden love, and a game that demands nothing but the best, Harper must choose between her past and her future, two boys who tempt her heart, and whether the cost of winning will actually cost her everything.THE HARPER EFFECT should appeal to readers of Stephanie Perkins, Cath Crowley, and Heather Demetrios.A member of SCBWI and RWA, I am the winner of Scribe Publishing’s Introduction Program and The Eleanor Dark Foundation’s two week residency, and have been awarded the Art’s Council Funding for Promising New Writer. My interest in the world of tennis stems from my brother’s involvement as a professional coach. And yes, I think I re-wrote that one over a hundred times. Want to read more of Harper’s story? You can buy or download The Harper Effect by clicking the link below. Or head into any good bookshop.Happy Reading :)

I don't know about you, but I grew up watching a lot of movies that involved the hero/heroine having to overcome several obstacles and life issues in order to win at some sort of sport. My favourites, which I watched again and again, were Chariots of Fire, The Karate Kid, Rocky, A League of Their Own, and then later on, Million Dollar Baby, Bend It Like Beckham and Step Up.I don't know - there was just something I loved about the underdog coming good, about chasing a dream and finally getting it, and about that moment of victory. They're feel good movies - and in some cases they have books that go with them too - and that's always something I'm looking for in movies or books.Is it perhaps to remind me to keep pursuing my dreams, or to inspire me to never give up? Maybe that's why I wrote a novel like The Harper Effect - after all, it's set in the world of professional tennis and there's a dream to be lost and then won.Maybe it's just that I love sport. As a teen my brother played at Wimbledon and I trained for the Olympics (400m track). It kept us focused on the right things, it boosted our self-esteem, it provided some of the biggest lows and highs we've ever experienced in our lives and we learned to deal with both. It also taught us to be independent, to be a team player but take responsibility for our part in that team, and to never expect results without hard work.I guess they're good lessons for life. Do you have a particular movie or book topic you tend to look out for? What life lessons have come out of them for you?

So I've been sharing with you what happens AFTER you sign the book contract and thought it was time for another post. My last post in October talked about getting your author platform ready well in advance of even submitting your novel to publishers.This month it's all about the final stages of editing with Pan Macmillan. Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) have already been sent out for early reviewers and something I didn't know - they used a different cover. This could be to 'hide' the cover before the reveal.In the meantime, final editing is still going on. It's a case of ensuring the words lie 'prettily' on the page, so you don't have the same word stacked on top of each other 'by accident'. It's about tiny mistakes like a repetition that's spotted, a comma, a 'new line' needed. It's about fonts and chapter headings that match and adding in the dedication and author bio. I received a copy of final pages to proof overnight - so that was a long night!Now I'm told the book is finally ready and going to print TODAY! What a great feeling. I'm going to celebrate.I'm about to get my edit letter from the editor in the USA though, as this same book is being published there in May 2018 but will have some edits and changes asked of the US audience. So just when I thought I'd finished reading The Harper Effect, I'll be doing it several more times with the US editor. And my second book, also contracted, must be submitted by January - the same month as the first book is launched. So there's no down time. There's also marketing to work on, the cover reveal, the launch...it's safe to say that my work day starts at 5am and ends at 11pm.It's exciting though. And worth it! When you're doing something you love and that you're passionate about, it isn't work :) However, HATS OFF to all of those authors who also work a full-time job. How? How?If you haven ANY questions for me about getting published or writing or the publishing process, please don't hesitate to ask.

I hope you enjoy this extract taken from the end of Chapter One of The Harper Effect.'I go home now,â€� Kominsky says, glaring at Dad’s profile. ‘The body I can train. The mind is for you to train, Harper.â€� In the sunny room, his whitewashed blue eyes drill down on me from his freakish height. He leans closer and pulls the final thread on my career. ‘Being at the top is about winning the mind game.â€� He extends a stiff hand in Dad’s direction.Each word is a tennis ball being smashed into my chest. If Kominsky doesn’t rate me, where does that leave me? He’s never been wrong. My throat swells with forbidden tears. Kominsky doesn’t tolerate crying. Dad stands. He runs three fingers through his floppy silver-white fringe and I realise it’s not just me who’s getting dumped.Kominsky pumps Dad’s hand. ‘I recommend doubles tournaments if she want to continue.’If  I want to continue?Where would my life lead without tennis? Would I go back to high school instead of being tutored? Would I take up netball or swimming or piano and make friends â€� and keep them? Would I allow myself ice-cream and hot dogs? Would I have time to hang out with Aria? Without tennis, what’s the point of me?The familiar sound of Jacob playing the guitar drifts into the room from his house next door, like the closing credits of a movie. Except I’m not ready for anything to end. I take the fastest exit and vault out the French windows.If you'd like to win a copy, or shelve a copy on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ so you get launch day notifications, head there now. If you'd like to pre-order, here's the link. Or if you'd simply like to subscribe to my newsletter for updates and news, head to