Rhiza Edge have opened a fabulous new short story competition and I’m thrilled to be co-editing the resulting anthology with Bethany Loveridge.
‘Hidden Creatures‘ will gather together weird and wild stories featuring cryptids of every kind. We’re open to stories of fantasy, horror, sci fi, action, and crime. With a focus on cryptids / cryptozoology we invite exciting stories that embrace folklore, mystery, speculation…and all the shadowy places in between.
The competition is open until September with full details in the link below, including T&C’s and prizes. We’re looking forward to reading your creative take on this expansive (and fabulously fun) theme!
Literally Hilarious brings together family-oriented stories for the junior fiction market with a percentage of proceeds going to the amazing Indigenous Literacy Foundation who work with remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities across Australia
This project is supported by so many visionary folks and wonderful authors and illustrators. Special thanks and shout outs to: Daisy Lane Seeds, Debra Tidball, Rose Ahearn, Adam Wallace, Jeremy Kalbstein and Romi Sharp. #justwriteforkidsaustralia
I’m excited to be doubling up with the supremely talented Coral Vass for a celebration of our new young adult releases at beautiful Antipodes Bookshop & Gallery in Sorrento…and you’re invited!
Date: Sunday 5th October, 2025 Time: 11:00am
We’d love to introduce you to ‘Flip’ and ‘The Day the Bridge Fell’ which form part of Rhiza Edge‘s exciting new list of teen novellas.
Our book bestie and local legend, Andrea Rowe, is going to put on her MC hat (which fits her so well!).
Flipis my new young adult novel, releasing on 4th September with Wombat Book’s sister press Rhiza Edge, as part of their awesome new ‘Rhiza Shorts’ list – bite-sized novels for reluctant or non-confident teen readers designed with minimal words for maximum impact.
I was stunned this week to learn Flip had received an early Kirkus review. Kirkus are notoriously brutal, so I was almost too scared to open it. I was so relieved to find it wasn’t just positive, it had earned a ‘Kirkus star’, meaning it’s been recognised in the top 10% in its readership.
Here’s an excerpt: “Realistic, well-written dialogue … exploration of rich and meaningful themes related to family losses, grief, and compassion. … A thoughtful, optimistic, and highly engaging novel with a strong sense of place and robust characterization.’ but you can read the full review here.
Flip will have an official launch at Antipodes Bookstore on Sunday 4th October, so save the date if you’d like to come along. I’ll be launching alongside the fabulous Coral Vass, who is releasing a title in the Rhiza Shorts list, and the wonderful Andrea Rowe is going to put on her MC hat! Watch this space for all the details <3
The Residency comes with extremely generous prizes thanks to the ongoing sponsorship of Community Bank Southern Peninsula. In an environment where the Arts are being increasingly devalued, support from Bendigo Bank is appreciated more than ever.
My thanks also go to judge award-winning author Nicole Hayes who no doubt had a difficult task. Judging literary comps is a lot of work and deliberation, especially when there’s many quality entries to consider and reflect upon.
Part of the prize is also a gift voucher towards my very own writing retreat at Dundas by the Sea. I can’t wait to write more words within their welcoming walls!
Biggest huzzahs to all who entered, with special congrats to Runner Up, Sarah Halfpenny, and Highly Commended, Carly Foster and Dawn Markowitsch. Such talent!
And of course, thanks to the amazing organisation and committee who drive this fabulous Residency prize, Peninsula Writers’ Club – their commitment to sharing and celebrating the stories of your members is so appreciated.
If you would like to read Blue Elephant, you’ll find it in the link here. I have had people messaging me telling me I made them cry with my speculative take on the ‘black dog’, so sorry (not sorry) if I make you cry too. I hope that means I’ve made you feel something, which, as a writer, I guess is all we can really hope for xx
I’m excited to be back at Clunes this year! If you’re an aspiring author of children’s fiction, and gaining an understanding of how to navigate the path to publication is on your 2025 bucket list, head to Clunes Booktown Festival and make that tick!
Alongside award-winning authors Andrea Rowe and Emma Bowd, I’m co-facilitating a workshop that delivers insights into the different (and unique) routes to trade publication. We’ll be covering all KidLit readerships from board books, picture books, junior fiction, middle grade through to young adult works.
You’ll benefit from our shared experiences of navigating publishing pathways – from slush submissions to pitching, marketing, and networking, offering an honest and educational ‘peek behind the curtain’ of submissions and acceptance.
We’re going to have a whole lot of fun along the way, and you’ll ramp up the equipment in your writer’s toolkit with an in-house exercise that will change the way you think about yourself as a writer, and take home resources you’ll turn and return to as you look to the future with a professional and positive mindset.
Signed books will be available all weekend from the wonderful Readings who have been a proud part of Melbourne’s literary landscape since the first store opened in Carlton in 1969.
Come for the day, or stay for the whole weekend! Clunes Booktown Festival is the most wonderful way to indulge your love of books browsing the extensive array of independent booksellers while attending author talks, panels and workshops, all set against a town straight out of a story setting: historic Clunes set in a valley surrounded by extinct volcanoes where echoes of our Gold Rush days can be heard down it’s architecturally-exciting streets!
The cat’s out of the bag! My new junior fiction novel, ‘Skippy Blackfeet’ is heading to Melbourne for a Sunday, March 16 launch at Readings Kids, Carlton Bookstore, and I’m feline super excited!
Readings have been such pawsome supporters of my work, and I’m thrilled to have them as my launch host. I’m doubly thrilled that the meowvelous Andrea Rowe Writer, another wonderful supporter of my work and a paw-sitive champion of children’s literature, will once again be my launch top cat!
An engaging junior fiction novel by Australian author, Rebecca Fraser
That’s enough cat puns from me! Bookings are open now for RSVPS. I’ll have more launch information in the New Year, but in the meantime, pounce onto those calendars, and save the date.
I’m excited to be appointed Convenor of the Judging Panel for the Poetry Category in this year’s Australasian Shadows Awards.
The Shadow Awards span a number of categories (short story, novel, graphic novel, edited publication, etc) and is given by the Australasian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) for “the finest in horror and dark fiction published by an Australasian within the calendar year”.
If you’ve published any dark fiction subs for the Awards opened 1 Dec and close 31 Jan. You’ll find all the details here. Good luck!
I’m super excited to be part of the inaugural Western Port Writes Literary Festival. The Festival will run from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 September 2024 and celebrates creativity and the art of story.
The program will feature everything from author panels, in-conversations, interviews and readings to collaborative community events.
Are you headed to Clunes Booktown Festival this weekend? Come and say ‘G’day’! I’ll be buzzing around all weekend from Friday through to Monday morning.
I’m excited (and completely honoured) to be chairing a panel with Alice Pung, Tony Birch and Maxine Beneba Clarke (Joanna Murray-Smith had a clash of scheduling with a film project). We’ll be discussing ‘What makes a good story and how to keep the next generation reading’.
The panel sold out a while ago, but you can find me the rest of the weekend at the trade tables with some of my fellow Peninsula Writers’ Club crew. Come find us in the Service Street Precinct. We’ll be selling and signing, and generally soaking up the Clunes vibe.
