OZYA Interviews Archives

#LoveOzYA Interview: Emily O’Beirne

Sep 9, 2016

I love Aussie YA. I love reading books from authors that live in the same country as me, that know things that people out of Australia might be so confused about. They can incorporate this into their book and it is fabulous.

So I decided to created a feature where I interview Australian Young Adult authors about their craft, journey and some interesting facts. I thought it was a fun way for everyone around the world to get to know these authors and maybe make them want to pick up their books. And that is what I am aiming to do, spread the word about #LoveOZYA and get everyone reading it.

You can check out my previous interviews with authors like Jay Kristoff, Gabrielle Tozer, Sarah Ayoub, Jessica Shirvington, and last week Cath Crowley at Angel Reads.

This week I have Emily O’Beirne author of A Story of Now duology (2015, Ylva Publishing), Points of Departure (2016, Ylva Publishing) and Here’s the Thing (2016, Ylva Publishing).

Hi Emily, and welcome to Angel Reads. First can you introduce yourself to everyone? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi, my name is Emily O’Beirne. I work part-time teaching at university, which I love, and spend the rest of my time writing YA. I write books about young gay/bi girls, because there are neither enough books about them or for them. My latest book, Here’s the Thing, will be out in October this year.

I love reading, but I love a good TV series just as much. My guilty pleasures in life are Dogspotting and penne matriciana. I’ve recently tried to get to the gym (to offset the hours sitting at desk), but at heart I think I might be kind of lazy. I am currently raising an army of indoor plants, and I travel as much as my work will let me (my current quandary: is a third o/s trip this year just being greedy?)

What has your writing journey been like? Where did you start? Why?

Like most writers, I have always written. When I was a kid I’d just wake up some mornings and think “I’m going to write a story.” And I would. And it would be awful and cliché and a complete echo of whatever I was reading at the time. But the urge was there.

In my early twenties I wrote, and even did a writing course for a year. I entered the first 10 000 words of a manuscript into a national emerging writers contest and made it to the last three. Problem was, I didn’t have the rest of the story. Actually, the problem was, I didn’t have a story yet. Just a desire to write. I think I was too young. I spent the rest of my twenties just living and doing lots of different things, which gave me stories and characters I needed. Now, after a spell in academia and journalism, I have re-discovered my love of writing fiction, and found endless stories I want to write.

What was the process of getting your first book published?

I was actually approached by the the woman who runs my publishing company after she’d seen some of my writing online. I wasn’t really thinking about publishing. I was just writing at that point. And when I realised later I had something resembling a book, I got in touch with them. She still liked it, and it went from there.

Was it different when getting your proceeding books published?

Not really, because I’ve been with the same publisher since. I already had an idea for my second book, and the third came while I was writing that one. I wonder if it’s because I spent so long not writing, if they just keep on coming, now?

You are with an international publisher, why did you go along that route?

As I said, they approached me. In some ways it would be great to have an Aussie publisher, and to feel a part of the Aussie YA thing, but this is how it has ended up. It’s odd though, because the publishing company is European, I am an Australian, and I think the significant proportion of my readers are American.

You are an OZYA author, what are some of your favourite Aussie YA books?

There have been too many favourites across time, so I’ll just mention some I loved from this year (though not necessarily published this year). I adored Clancy of the Undertow, by Christopher Currie. I loved Clancy’s voice, which was so forthright and so funny and wry and just so genuinely adolescent.

I also recently caught up on Fiona Woods’ inter-related books, Cloudwish, Six Impossible Things and Wildlife. I think I read them backward, but it didn’t matter. One of the things she’s so great at is writing character into people’s little behaviours. I really admire that.

Thank you Emily for joining me on Angel Reads, it’s been a pleasure. You can find Emily on twitter at @emilyobwrites, her website and don’t forget to add her books to your goodreads.

Here’s The Thing by Emily O’Beirne

Pages: –
Publish date: October 19th 2016
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
ISBN: 9783955337292
It’s only for a year. That’s what sixteen-year-old Zel keeps telling herself after moving to Sydney for her dad’s work. She’ll just wait it out until she gets back to New York and Prim, her epic crush/best friend, and the unfinished subway project. Even if Prim hasn’t spoken to her since that day on Coney Island.

But Zel soon finds life in Sydney won’t let her hide. There’s her art teacher, who keeps forcing her to dig deeper. There’s the band of sweet, strange misfits her cousin has forced her to join for a Drama project. And then there’s the curiosity that is the always-late Stella.

As she waits for Prim to explain her radio silence and she begins to forge new friendships, Zel feels strung between two worlds. Finally, she must figure out how to move on while leaving no one behind.

***

Thank you Emily for joining me at Angel Reads and sharing your journey. Have you read any of Emily’s books? Did you like them? Are you going to read them? Let’s Chat!

Come back next week for some more Aussie fun. If you want to know more about the #LoveOZYA movement check out the website for all the details.

#LoveOzYA Interview: Cath Crowley – Blog Tour

Sep 2, 2016

It was always hard finding book that represent where I live or even by author that live in the same country as me, especially in young adult. So I created a feature called #LoveOZYA Interviews, where I find those Aussie YA authors. As this series has gone on I have been introduced into some fabulous authors.

I thought it was a fun way for everyone around the world to get to know these authors and maybe make them want to pick up their books. And that is what I am aiming to do, spread the word about #LoveOZYA and get everyone reading it.

You can check out my previous interviews with authors like Jay Kristoff, Gabrielle Tozer, Sarah Ayoub, Jessica Shirvington, and last week Fiona Wood at Angel Reads.

Today is a very special edition of my #LoveOZYA Interview series, not only have I had the honour of reading Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley early, but I had the chance to include her in a series that highlights the fantastic authors we have in Australia.

Cath Crowley is the author of Graffiti Moon (2010, Pan Macmillan) Chasing Charlie Duskin/A Little Wanting Song (2005, Pan Macmillan), the Gracie Faltrain trilogy (2004, Pan Macmillan) and Words in Deep Blue (2016, Pan Macmillan).

Hi Cath, welcome to Angel Reads! Firstly could you introduce yourself to everyone and tell us a bit about your background?

Hello, it’s lovely to be here. Thanks for having me. My name is Cath Crowley, and I write Young Adult fiction (mostly). My books include Graffiti Moon, Chasing Charlie Duskin (A Little Wanting Song), the Gracie Faltrain trilogy and now, Words in Deep Blue. I find myself writing about the arts a lot. And love.

What has your writing journey been like? When did you start writing and why?

I didn’t start writing seriously until I was thirty. Before that, when I was about 24, my eldest brother, Anthony, turned my letters into a musical called The Journey Girl. The process of people hearing my work made me think about writing, but it wasn’t until 2000 that I quit my teaching job to study Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT. I loved the course. I loved meeting other writers, learning about their process, learning about structure and characterisation.

While studying at RMIT, I had some pieces published in The Age, and then Pan Macmillan offered to publish the first Gracie in 2003. The journey has been wonderful, but not easy. I love writing but I find it difficult – I find structure quite challenging – but even still, I love that part of writing.

Can you tell us about the process of getting your first book published?

I wrote The Life and Times of Gracie Faltrain while I was studying at RMIT. That meant I had a lot of support. I had a wonderful class full of writers who workshopped it for me. I had a brilliant teacher, Clare Renner, who had a lot of good advice. I sent the manuscript in on the slush pile to publishers, but was rejected.

Then I went to Sydney to interview Markus Zusak. He was about to win the CBCA for The Messenger. He mentioned Anna McFarlane in passing. He said she was a wonderful editor and publisher. So I sent Gracie in on the slush pile to Pan Macmillan and they picked it up. They were brilliant at guiding me through the editing process.

Was it a different experience when your subsequent books were published?
It was different in that I suddenly realised I didn’t actually know anything about writing a book – I’d had all this lovely confidence before because I was just writing for my workshop group and myself. That began what will be a life long thing – learning how to write, trying to get better, challenging myself with every book.

Words in Deep Blue tells a story of a second-hand bookshop with a Letter Library. It’s a beautiful concept – can you tell us where you got the inspiration for this?

Thank you. The idea for the book came from a lot of different places, but I can’t remember exactly when the idea of The Letter Library came to me. I remember wanting to write a story about books with letters in them. I remember buying an old typewriter and tapping out letters to strangers.

I couldn’t work out how the letters would arrive to a specific person. How would that be possible, logistically? The next thing I remember is telling a friend about The Letter Library. I could see it – a wall of loved books –where people were free to love lines in them. I expect it arrived one night – after looking at all the things that were left in books, after sleeping on it. But I can’t be certain.

You are an OZYA author, can you tell us what are some of your favourite Aussie YA books are?

Some of these are older titles but these are ones I’ve adored over the years. These are the ones I re read.

The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard Clancy of The Undertow by Christopher Currie

Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood Notes from the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell

Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams The Astrologer’s Daughter by Rebecca Lim

Finding Cassie Crazy by Jaclyn Moriarty The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta

Five Parts Dead by Tim Pegler Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Love, Ghosts and Nosehairs by Steven Herrick

I could actually go on to make this a very long list. There’s so much brilliant Aussie YA.

Have you read any of Cath Crowley books? If you haven’t you need to get on it. My review for Words in Deep Blue will be up on the 11th of September – hint – I really enjoyed it. You can find Cath on twitter at @CathCrowley, her website and don’t forget to add her books to your goodreads.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Pages: 352
Publish date: August 30 2016
Publisher: Pan Australia
ISBN: 1742612385
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

This is a love story.
It’s the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets.
It’s the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea.
Now, she’s back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal and looking for the future in the books people love, and the words they leave behind

***

Thank you Cath for joining me at Angel Reads and sharing your journey. Have you read any of Cath’s books? Did you like them? Are you going to read them? Let’s Chat! Also don’t forget to check out the rest of the blog tour – because it’s pretty awesome.

Come back next week for some more Aussie fun. If you want to know more about the #LoveOZYA movement check out the website for all the details.

#LoveOzYA Interview: Fiona Wood

Aug 26, 2016

I love Aussie YA. I love reading books from authors that live in the same country as me, that know things that people out of Australia might be so confused about. I love how sometimes they can incorporate this into their book and it is fabulous.

You can check out my previous interviews with authors like Jay Kristoff, Gabrielle Tozer, Sarah Ayoub, Jessica Shirvington, and last week Nansi Kunze author of at Angel Reads.

This week is the ever so amazing Fiona Wood, author of Six Impossible Things ( 2010, Pan Macmillan), Wildlife (2013, Pan Macmillan), and Cloudwish (2015, Macmillan).

Hi Fiona, and welcome to Angel Reads. First can you introduce yourself to everyone? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi, Angel, thanks for inviting me over. I write YA fiction. My books are Six Impossible Things, Wildlife and Cloudwish. One of my favourite things is reading in bed. I also like walking, cooking and eating, and visiting galleries and museums. I have two young adult children. I live in Melbourne. I’m an ambassador for the Stella Prize Schools Program, and for the Ardoch Youth Foundation ‘Own a Word’ program.

I despair of the political climate in Australia. The way we treat asylum seekers and refugees in off-shore detention, for example, is a disgrace. I needed to find ways to say I welcome refugees, beyond the rallies and petitions, so I’m in my eighth year as a volunteer tutor at Friday Night School, where I tutor the mothers of some of our students from Sudan and Somalia; and I’m on the leadership team of ‘Befriend a Child in Detention’, a project that sends books to children still living in detention-like conditions on Nauru, and in community detention in Australia, and raises awareness of the ongoing plight of the children and their families.

What has your writing journey been like? Where did you start? Why?

My journey looks like this: early start – first novel, Mystery at the Manor, written in year 8. Study. Work. Turn 30. Is it that time already? Children o’clock! Have two adorable babies. Not at the same time. Don’t forget writing. Quickly, start now. Freelance journalism. Study screenwriting at RMIT. Write TV scripts for twelve years. TV show cancelled. Uninvited character comes knocking at my brain. He’s a novel, not a script. Write a book now. NOW. Write Six Impossible Things. Phew. Finally. The difficult second novel. (It’s no Mystery at the Manor.) (Just as well.) Sell book. Write another book. Wildlife. Write another book. Cloudwish. Write another…

What was the process of getting your first book published?

I’d worked with Simmone Howell (Girl Defective) on a television show, The Secret Life of Us, and when our paths crossed again a few years later, she was kind enough to read a draft of Six Impossible Things and thought her publisher might like it. I sent it to Claire Craig at Pan Macmillan; she did like it, and offered me a contract – after I’d done another draft.

Was it different when getting your proceeding books published?

Once I had the contract for Six Impossible Things, I looked for representation. When I’d written my next manuscript, Wildlife, and a synopsis of Cloudwish, my agent negotiated a three-book deal for me in America, where I had offers from three of the ‘big five’ publishers. My books are published by Little, Brown in the US, and Pan Macmillan in Australia.

What was the difference between getting your books published here in Australia and internationally?

It’s equally exciting. It’s fun seeing different approaches to covers, and seeing your work in translation. And it is lovely to think that something you wrote from an Australian perspective resonates with readers in other countries.

You are an OZYA author, what are some of your favourite Aussie YA books?

Some of my favourite Australian YA writers are Jaclyn Moriarty, Melina Marchetta, Cath Crowley and Simmone Howell. Some favourite books from the last year or so include The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale, The Guy, The Girl, The Artist and His Ex by Gabrielle Williams, The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard, Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman, and Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley.

There are piles of OzYA books I have yet to read, that I know I’ll love, but I mostly read old adult books, so I’m always behind with my young adult reading.

Have you read any of these books by Fiona Wood? You can find Fiona on twitter at @f_i_o_n_a_w_, her website and don’t forget to add her books to your goodreads.

Cloudwish

Pages: 288
Publish date: September 1st 2016
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1743533128
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

For Vân Uoc Phan, fantasies fall into two categories: nourishing, or pointless. Daydreaming about Billy Gardiner, for example? Pointless. It always left her feeling sick, as though she’d eaten too much sugar.

Vân Uoc doesn’t believe in fairies, zombies, vampires, Father Christmas – or magic wishes. She believes in keeping a low profile: real life will start when school finishes.

But when she attracts the attention of Billy Gardiner, she finds herself in an unwelcome spotlight.

Not even Jane Eyre can help her now.

Wishes were not a thing.

They were not.

Correction.

Wishes were a thing.

Wishes that came true were sometimes a thing.

Wishes that came true because of magic were not a thing!

Were they?

***

Thank you Fiona for joining me at Angel Reads and sharing your journey. Have you read any of Fiona’s books? Did you like them? Are you going to read them? Let’s Chat!

Come back next week for some more Aussie fun. If you want to know more about the #LoveOZYA movement check out the website for all the details.