The Undercurrent – interviews and reviews
It’s been a busy six weeks since The Undercurrent was released here in Australia. I’ve had the chance to talk about the new novel on air, online and in print, which I’ve really appreciated. I’ve put together a few links below (as much for myself, so I have them in one place!):
- Magpies Volume Thirty-Two (one of the most in-depth interviews I’ve done)
- ABC Rhi, OzYAY Chat – extended interview
- ABC Brisbane Drive (1:32:35) with Emma Griffiths (4 August episode)
- Love OzYA Q&A
- Brisbane News
And here are some of my favourite reactions to The Undercurrent:
- #OzYA! -Rhi, Jean and Sarah discuss The Undercurrent in the 6 August episode
- Bookseller and publisher
- Sydney Morning Herald
- Children’s Book Council of Australia – Reading Time
- Kids Book Review
- ReadPlus
- Readings
- Booktopia
- Otago Daily Times
- Speculating on Spec Fic
Having a new book out is always nerve-wracking, so I appreciate the positive responses when they come. 🙂
In Melbourne, The Sun Bookshop’s Younger Sun YA Book Club is reading The Undercurrent and chatting about it over pizza on 3 October (6pm-7pm). More details here.
If you live in Brisbane and are keen to discuss The Undercurrent, I’ll be joining Trent Jamieson and Avid Reader’s Science Fiction & Fantasy Bookclub next month on Monday 30 October (6.30pm-8pm). You can book and find out more here.
Yes, the Undercurrent is a standalone novel
The Undercurrent – out now in Australia and New Zealand – is a speculative thriller set in near-future Australia and, yes, it’s a standalone novel.
There are two main reasons for this.
Firstly, after the challenge of telling a story over four books with the Rephaim series, I wanted to push myself to write a tightly contained narrative in a single novel.
Secondly – and more importantly – when I understood the story I wanted to tell with these characters, I realised it only needed one book to do it.
It took me a while to get a feel for these characters, their world and where I wanted to take the story. There were many false starts. I think I re-wrote the first 25,000 words at least a dozen times before I figured out what I was doing. (There were more re-writes once I had a full draft, but I understood the terrain by then.)
I had a number of competing priorities in my life at the time and felt like I could never get my teeth into this story, but it did come together, piece by piece, taking longer than I expected because I needed to get it right.
I tend to do everything at pace, but life was forcing me to slow down with the book and take my time. I hope I’ve produced a good novel as a result. It’s ambitious, I know. I hope it takes people by surprise (in a good way!). Most of all, I hope they’re hooked by the characters and the story, and enjoy the ride.
The first copy of The Undercurrent to reach the Mediterranean! My dear friends the Alfords took their copy to Crete this week.
Another of those quick updates
I know…it’s been a long time between posts.
My life has been its usual craziness between my day job and working on the new book, but I thought I’d give a quick update on a couple of things.
Firstly, the new book…
My publisher, Michael Heyward at Text Publishing, gave it a lovely mention in a recent edition of Bookseller & Publisher, so I can now tell you it’s called The Undercurrent and it will be release in August 2017. As I’ve said before, it’s a totally new story set in a near-future Australia and is a stand-alone novel.
In other news, the Turkish translation of Burn is available, with a stunning cover design. Here are all four books in the series (in order):
My favourite reads this year include (click on each for my thoughts on Goodreads):
I’ve also been lucky enough to read a draft of Vikki Wakefield’s new suspense novel Ballad for a Mad Girl (due out in March 2017) and can tell you that it’s spine-chillingly awesome.
I’ve also been watching:
(Jury is still out on whether I’m going to see out this season of Walking Dead after that first episode. I may not forgive the writers for that one.)
Okay, that’s it for me for now.
