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Another Guest Post by Fern

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Hi all, it’s Fern again, MidnightSun’s favourite intern. Also their only intern, but I digress. In my brief time at the company I’ve mostly worked with Heaven Sent, the YA novel by S.J. Morgan. My tasks have been to find reviewers and speaking with writers’ festivals to invite Sue along. But that cannot begin to compare to the work Sue has spent writing the novel, and the time Anna and Lauren have spent refining and preparing it for its debut. The moment of truth finally arrived and MidnightSun was proud to launch Heaven Sent this past Sunday.

Heaven Sent
Heaven Sent

The hall the launch was held in was deftly transformed from what looked like an office into a cosy reading room, made even better by the inclusion of wine and nibbles.

Wine
Wine
Continue reading Another Guest Post by Fern →

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Guest Post by Our Intern Fern

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I’m Fern, the second intern to grace the halls of MidnightSun. I’m in my final year of studying Creative Writing at Adelaide University, and I’ve been fortunate to have the chance to look inside the world of publishing. I’m the sort of oddball who researches as much as they can about any given situation before heading into it, but the internet can only prepare you so much. Luckily, Anna has been a wise and gentle support in guiding me through this busy new world.

Beneath the Mother Tree
Beneath the Mother Tree
Continue reading Guest Post by Our Intern Fern →

Title

Message in a Sock

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Message in a Sock
Message in a Sock cover
Written by Kaye Baillie,
Illustrated by Narelda Joy

HB 32 | 271 x 294 | ISBN: 9781925227383
$27.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | April 2018
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Tammy is safe at home, but her heart is with her father at the warfront. While her mother knits socks for the soldiers, Tammy slips a message inside each pair. But will her one special message find her father, and bring him safely home? Continue reading Message in a Sock →

Author

Narelda Joy

Narelda Joy
Narelda Joy
Narelda Joy grew up in a creative household with an inspired mum and a large sewing room, which contained a plethora of goodies with which she could use to create. She continues to create anything in two or three dimensions including puppets, models, creatures and illustrations. She considers herself fortunate to be able to create imaginary worlds anytime she wants to.

Narelda Joy lives surrounded by beautiful flora and fauna in the Blue Mountains, Australia. She has two dogs and a cat, as well as lots of native birds who visit her garden daily.

Narelda’s picture book Message in a Sock with Kaye Baillie was published in May 2018.

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Exciting new acquisition

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MidnightSun acquires debut novel Beneath the Mother Tree

MidnightSun has acquired world rights to playwright and radio dramatist D M Cameron’s debut novel Beneath the Mother Tree for publication in 2018.

D M Cameron
D M Cameron

Beneath the Mother Tree is a ‘fast-paced’ mystery and love story set in an Australian town similar to the one in which Cameron grew up, and uses Indigenous and Irish mythology to create a spiritual subtext.

‘We are thrilled to have won the rights to this exciting novel, which generated a great deal of interest as a manuscript,’ said MidnightSun publishing director Anna Solding. ‘There were several other publishing contracts on the table, and we had to fight for this book!’

Solding said she sees ‘potential’ for the novel in the international market. ‘We anticipate Beneath the Mother Tree will garner interest overseas, with its Australian setting, contemporary love story and universal themes,’ said Solding. ‘We will be taking it to both London and Frankfurt Book Fairs.’

Title

Plane Tree Drive

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Plane Tree Drive cover
Plane Tree Drive cover
by Lynette Washington

PB 256 | 198 x 128 | ISBN: 9781925227345
$26.99 | Fiction | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | November 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Peer through the windows and doors on Plane Tree Drive to find a streetscape that is humorous, heartbreaking, real and surreal. Here, the loneliness of domestic isolation and the joy of connection weave together to form an interlaced map of suburban life.

‘With each story in this complex fresco, layers are peeled away and others added, slowly revealing a delicate portrait of hurts and hopes, vulnerability and strength. Plane Tree Drive is a stunning and sensitive exploration of people, place and relationships.’
–Michelle Wright, author of Fine

Continue reading Plane Tree Drive →

Books

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 →

Books

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 →

Books

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 →

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Meet the Authors of Crush: Michele Fairbairn

Next up in our series of Q&As with the authors of Crush is Michele Fairbairn. Read on to get to know her and her writing process, and to see an excerpt from her story ‘Fettucancé’.

Michele Fairbairn, author.

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

At the risk of sounding naff, it did not feel like I came to writing. Story is woven into the fabric of who I am. My first recollections as a child were feasting on stories oral and written, as well as the wordless stories that I could sense in the land I grew up on in the Barossa Valley. I have always felt the need to tell stories and had an intuitive sense of the transformative qualities of story in my work both in arts and health.

I crave and embrace adventure. Not the bungee jumping variety but the diving-without-safety-cord-into-learning-and-experience variety. As a result of this, I have studied and worked extensively in the health and arts sector including as a youth worker, counsellor, community health worker, art therapist, naturopath, remedial/manual therapist, transpersonal psychotherapist, playwright, performer, theatre devisor, visual artist and Psychology student. Continue reading Meet the Authors of Crush: Michele Fairbairn →

Books

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 →

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