Category Archives: Books

The Making of Ling Li’s Lantern

As an intern at MidnightSun Publishing, every day brings something different. No two books are the same and so neither is the publishing process. I have the wonderful opportunity to get a glimpse behind the curtain, so to speak, to be a small part of every process involved in taking a project from its genesis as a humble manuscript, to its completion as a published and tangible book that people will hold in their hands and lose themselves in.

Ling Li's Lantern cover
Ling Li’s Lantern cover

For children’s book author Steve Heron and illustrator Benjamin Johnston, that process is finally complete, with their masterpiece, Ling Li’s Lantern published on 1st September 2020. I had a chat with Steve and Ben about the making of their book and what the different stages of the journey looked like for them.

As with many fantastic books, the beginning of Ling Li’s journey was almost also the end. Ling Li’s Lantern was sent to many different publishing houses before MidnightSun fell in love with her story. Finally, after months of hearing ‘nothing but crickets and rejections’, as Steve puts it, from publishers other than MidnightSun, his manuscript was finally Continue reading The Making of Ling Li’s Lantern

Two New Short Story Collections

Life Bound cover
Life Bound cover
MidnightSun Publishing is excited to announce the joint release of two short story collections: Life, Bound by Marian Matta and Rural Dreams by Margaret Hickey. These debut collections showcase two vibrant and original voices in Australian short fiction. The stories in these collections are sharp, funny, insightful and they linger with you long after you have put the books down. We are so proud to be bringing you two new voices in Australian fiction.

Rural Dreams cover
Rural Dreams cover
MidnightSun’s Anna Solding says she is excited to be releasing two new collections at the same time. ‘It’s always wonderful to find a short story collection that really grabs you, where every story is as compelling as the last,’ she says. ‘We are lucky enough to be able to offer two collections that are both distinctive and unique by immensely talented debut authors.’

Both Hickey and Matta are equally thrilled that MidnightSun is championing the art of the short story. ‘What I felt when Anna called me was, “at last”,’ says Hickey, ‘because she is the one to have picked my work and recognised the potential. MidnightSun is to be credited, not only for publishing excellent and award-winning works, Continue reading Two New Short Story Collections

River Stone – the process

Guest Post by Rachel Hennessy, author of River Stone

I started writing River Stone in 2015 because, as I talked about at the launch, it helped me re-find joy in writing. I had been living in Melbourne since 2009 but I had lost track of myself as a writer. Writing had slipped into that region of the tedious, the thing I was supposed to do, not what I wanted to do. I’d got caught up in judging everything I wrote against possible publication prospects, rather than enjoying the process itself.

Then came a tutorial with my creative writing first year students. Continue reading River Stone – the process

Launching The Day We Built the Bridge

The Month (or more) We Launched the Bridge Book!

Guest blog post by Samantha Tidy, author of The Day We Built the Bridge

What a book birthday! This year, I have launched The Day We Built the Bridge in no less than 5 cities! Now that the dust has settled, and the second shipment of the book has arrived (gosh – 4500 copies sold in 3 days – and in reprint already!) I thought I’d share the joy and gratitude that ‘the bridge book’ (The Day We Built the Bridge, written by Samantha Tidy, illustrated by Fiona Burrows) has brought into our lives. Continue reading Launching The Day We Built the Bridge

Meet the Authors of Crush: Katherine Arguile

We’ve reached the end of our series of Q&As with the authors of Crush! In our final installment, get to know Katherine Arguile and read an excerpt of her story ‘Utaki’.


Katherine Arguile, author.

Can you give us a bit of background about yourself? How did you come to writing?

I’m half-Japanese, half-English, born and raised in Tokyo. I’m Australian now too, after moving here from London nine years ago. I recently finished a novel called The Things She Owned as part of a PhD, a major milestone marking a lifetime of writing stories. I loved books as soon as I could read them, and they made me want to write. So I started writing while I was still very young. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Katherine Arguile

Meet the Authors of Crush: Lauren Foley

The latest in our series of Q&As with the authors of Crush is Lauren Foley. Read on to find out more about her writing process and to read an exceprt of her story ‘This One Time…’


Lauren Foley, author.

Can you give us a bit of background about yourself? How did you come to writing?

I’m Irish, and until recently, lived in Adelaide for five years. Well, I’m such a cliché, like most writers I was an English teacher.

Writing has always been there. I was a painfully quiet child who read all the time. I used to walk home from school reading, holding my book and turning pages with one hand. I’d glance up to cross the road, but in fairness there weren’t many cars about at that time of day, just tractors. A complete hopeless case who daydreamed constantly. The best thing my mother ever did for me was send me to acting classes in our local Millbank Theatre. Theatre is reading and daydreaming come to life. My love of writing comes from reading and drama and being involved in the process of taking a text and making it tangible over months and months of hard work. It is a great discipline. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Lauren Foley

Meet the Authors of Crush: Elaine Cain

The latest in our series of Q&As with the authors of Crush is Elaine Cain. Read on to hear more about her writing and to read an excerpt of her story ‘Glitch’.


Elaine Cain, author.

Can you give us a bit of background about yourself? How did you come to writing?

I often had my head in a book, or in the clouds day dreaming, growing up in a country town.  I was creative as a kid, making up stories and playing music, but I had to make a choice for university and I ended up studying what I loved most then, music. I was a music teacher briefly then zigzagged my way along in adult education and writing roles. Fast forward years later, I now work in change management in a corporate environment. I get to be creative with strategies and communications to a certain extent. Over the years I really longed for another creative outlet so I returned to writing. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Elaine Cain

Meet the Authors of Crush: Marian Matta

Next in our series of Crush author Q&As is Marian Matta. Read on to hear a bit about her writing process and for a sneak peak of her story ‘Close to the People’.


Marian Matta, author.

Can you give us a bit of background about yourself? How did you come to writing?

Praise be to Annie Proulx! I’ve shaped the world with words for as long as I can recall. Ask me to come up with a medical article, an historical account, even a couple of film scripts, and I’ve happily done it. However, any fiction I wrote was strictly for my eyes only. After I saw the life-changing film Brokeback Mountain in 2006, I began writing fan fiction under a nom de plume. Readers liked it, and seven years ago I entered my first short story competition without the shield of anonymity. As well as writing, I’m a grandmother, an amateur local historian, and the oldest student in a circus school. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Marian Matta

Meet the Authors of Crush: Ryan Scott

The next in our series of Q&As with the authors of Crush, an anthology of stories about love, is Ryan Scott. Get to know Ryan and read an excerpt from his story ‘The Castle, the Tower and the Other Castle’.


Ryan Scott, author.

Can you give us a bit of background about yourself? How did you come to writing?

Since childhood I’ve always enjoyed inventing characters and imagining worlds and stories for them to inhabit. My earliest attempt to write a novel was when I was twelve. It was a fantasy novel. Fortunately, the manuscript no longer survives. Though my tastes have markedly changed, fiction and telling stories is one pursuit I still find, despite its frustrations, satisfying. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Ryan Scott

Meet the Authors of Crush: Susan Midalia

Crush, an anthology of stories about love, brings together the work of emerging and established writers from around the world. Get to know some of the fantastic authors featured in the collection in this series of Q&As. First we have Susan Midalia and an excerpt from her short story ‘Perspectives on Love’.


Susan Midalia, author.

Can you give us a bit of background about yourself? How did you come to writing?

I’d been an academic for decades, teaching literature, and I’ve always been a reader, but I didn’t start writing fiction until I was in my fifties. This was partly as a result of doing my PhD on contemporary Australian women’s fiction, when I discovered that I loved using language more than advancing an intellectual argument! I then started writing fiction more regularly because I wanted to make sense of some difficult personal experiences. Writing very quickly became a beautiful compulsion. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Susan Midalia

Wild Gestures wins Saboteur Award

The MidnightSun team would like to congratulate Lucy Durneen on her win for best short story collection at the Saboteur Awards in the UK. We are so proud of her and of the collection, Wild Gestures, that is finding enthusiastic readers around the globe. Such wonderful news!

http://sabotagereviews.com/2017/05/14/saboteur-awards-2017-the-results/

Hear what the award voters had to say about Wild Gestures:

  • Lucy’s work is nothing less than exceptional. Her words and content take my breath away. She is also a hard working full-time academic, single-mother of four, who somehow still finds the time to dream and write. This alone should be worthy of an award.

  • Lucy’s collection is a tremendous work of humanity at its best and worst, its strongest and most vulnerable. Every story is packed with beautiful, unexpected and original imagery — to the point of enabling the reader to perceive a fresh perspective on their own life predicaments. This is a rare achievement in recent times and must be recognised and commended in the wider arena.

  • Because this is one off the most exquisite short story collections ever published. It is funny, sad, tender, cheeky, insightful and so, so clever. Lucy Durneen may be a new star in the literature hall-of-fame but she is certainly there to stay.

King of the Outback Book Launch

MidnightSun launched Kristin Weidenbach‘s and Timothy Ide‘s gorgeous picture book King of the Outback yesterday. The hall was packed, the speech by Dyan Blacklock was strong and supportive, but most importantly the vibe was great! So many friendly faces in the crowd, many of them friends from the writing community. Thank you so much for once again supporting a local writer and publisher. Without you, there would be no books!