I feel like this Sunday has been the first in a long time where I have completely absorbed myself in books and reading for majority of the day, and it’s been an incredible feelings!
It’s an overcast, windy and cold day here so Peach and I have decided that a weather induced morning and afternoon in bed and under the covers was called for.
I’ve had quite a big work week and reading week before landing here with ‘Nectar of the Wicked’ by Ella Fields.
I started ‘The Mystery Writer’ by lovely friend Sulari Gentill last weekend and took every spare moment I could this week to keep reading as it was so captivating, twisty and turny that I just knew the ending would not disappoint.
‘The Mystery Writer’ is a story about Theo and her journey to becoming a bestselling novelist but it’s not as straightforward as one might assume. I’m working on a full review of this novel which you’ll be able to read on here very soon 👀
I’ve also devoured an indie romance for a friend as their Beta reader. Beta reading is when an author sends you a close to finished copy of their book/chapters/synopsis and you’re generally reading to provide feedback on questions they provide or for me, I usually provide feedback on flow as a reader, moments I really enjoyed or moments I found confusing. It’s not an editing gig persay, it’s more seen as a vibe check. I really enjoy doing this for books in genres I know I enjoy, with plots I know are my jam and authors I have read from previously. So more info on this one coming soon 😉
And now we’re here with ‘Nectar of the Wicked’ by Ella Fields! The first few chapters of this book had me hesitant but after the first 45-50 pages, I’ve been hooked and I know I’ll be spending the remainder of my day cozied up with this novel. As a reader, be aware that this book was placed in the Erotica section of the bookstore as our main character (at this point in time) is involved in adult/escort work. But don’t let that deter you! I do think this plot is going to become even more interesting as it’s fantasy elements are a nice mix. Ella is also Australia, which I LOVE to see and read 🌶✅
What are you reading this Sunday and what’s a new book recommendation you have for me?
Steph Vizard has burst onto the Australian romance writing scene with her debut & award winning novel, The Love Contact.
Steph has a wealth of experience in the Australian and international book industry. From studying Literature at Oxford University, to working in publishing in London, to now writing her own Australian story which has won the 2022 HarperCollins Banjo Prize. I think Steph is in for an absolute cracker of a writing career ⭐️
Welcome Steph, to Mel Reviews Her Books 💖
Steph, congratulations! A published novel AND the winner of HarperCollins Banjo Prize for Fiction! Can you share with us a little bit about your journey in applying for this book prize and what life as an author has been like since?
Thanks so much! I wrote The Love Contract during my maternity leave and then submitted it to the prize when I went back to work. The process for the Banjo Prize is that you submit the whole novel so I tried to have my manuscript in the best shape I could when I sent it off. A few months later, out of the blue, I got a call from HarperCollins to tell me that I’d won the prize and that the book was to be published. It was a truly magical moment!
Life as an author has been a whirlwind and an incredibly fun ride. There have been some massive highs – seeing the cover for the first time, holding the first real life copy, a book launch surrounded by my friends and family, doing an interview on live TV. That said, I had a 3-month-old baby when the book was published so that’s kept things very real! One of the best parts of being published has been meeting so many other talented Australian writers – it’s the most supportive gang of people!
The Love Contract had me hooked from the beginning! I absolutely adored Zoe and Hazel(nut). You’ve written the realities of motherhood in such an accurate light and formed it into a gripping plot line. Did you always know motherhood would be the leading theme in The Love Contract?
I’m so glad it had you hooked – I was so keen to write a book where the reader wants to keep turning the pages! I think when I started to write The Love Contract I knew that baby Hazel would be part of the story, as she’s the reason Zoe and Will are forced to spend so much time together. But I think it caught me a bit by surprise how much I had to say about motherhood. I think I was hungry for stories about women trying to do all the things, including career and parenting, that didn’t shy away from the really tough stuff but also showed the incredibly funny and joyous parts of parenting.
Will, what a sweetheart. With his stiff, business-like composure whenever the topic of work is discussed but then his carefree and loving nature with Hazel. He’s swoon worthy! How did the characters of Will, Zoe & Hazel come to you?
I love Will! He has a lot of qualities I find very attractive – he’s smart, acerbic and (secretly) very caring. I like that he’s a straight shooter and isn’t a people pleaser – which is a nice ballast to Zoe. I think he was inspired by people I’ve met who are incredibly brilliant at their jobs and work super hard but have never stopped to think about why they’ve chosen their particular path.
With Zoe, I really wanted to write a romantic comedy heroine who is pretty pulled together and trying to pull off the life she wants to lead – she’s just completely overwhelmed.
Honestly, I think Hazel was just inspired by how cute and funny and ridiculous babies can be!
Steph, what advice would you give to budding writers aiming to land a publishing deal or researching & applying for book prizes such as HarperCollins Banjo Prize for Fiction?
I think my main bit of advice is to go for it! With prizes it’s worth being organised as there are different deadlines and entry requirements to keep in mind. I think (and maybe this is incredibly obvious) it’s important to always submit the best version of your story that you can, and things like craft books, writing courses, writing podcast, early readers and manuscript assessments, can really help on this front. I also think that in our busy lives carving out the time to write is always a challenge, but if you can find a consistent, small parcel of time to write every day, the words will happen!
Steph, thank you so much for sharing your time with us on Author Talks & Instagram Live Saturday 13 January 🎥
I wish you all the best and can guarantee that I’ll be pre-ordering your next novel!
Australian Country Romance Author, Clare Fletcher 📸 by James Alcock
Clare Fletcher is an Australian novelist who has studied journalism, spent time freelancing and discovering different parts of the world. Yet, her stories continue to come back to the wonderful setting of rural Australia.
Clare and I had the pleasure of meeting in person this past July, to talk about Five Bush Weddings, her first novel, on a panel with talented romance/love authors.
Love Match is Clare’s second novel. It follows Sarah as she navigates dating in the small rural town of South Star after a recent breakup & Mabel, as she reminisces on her pieces of beautiful wardrobe, remembering the loving stories that come with each stunning outfit
I grew up in regional Queensland, in a town called St George. Even though I’ve lived away from there for many years – I went to boarding school, then uni in Brisbane, moved to Sydney to work, and even lived in New York for a while – my writing has often returned to those small town roots.
In Five Bush Weddings I wove in a lot of experiences of the country parties and weddings my friends and I would drive vast distances for. I hadn’t seen that part of Queensland on the page before, and so it felt right to keep real place names as a little gift to people from home. So many of the rural-set books published today are dark crime stories, so I wanted to celebrate the joy and resilience and creativity and complexity of regional Australia.
South Star is entirely fictional. WithLove Match I wanted to get deep into small town dynamics, the richness and claustrophobia of a place where everyone knows everyone’s business, so I couldn’t use a real town. I didn’t want readers to be distracted by errors in geographic detail or by trying to guess who characters are based on. It’s all made up!
Love Matchfollows the dual storylines of Mabel and Sarah, which is so fun and funny to read! When writing Five Bush Weddings, did you know that Mabel and Sarah would reappear in Love Match? And what do you feel made these two connecting characters?
I wish I had been smart enough to plan ahead, but I had finished 5BW when I decided to write a second book around Mabel and Sarah. My mentor Emily Maguire asked what happened to Sarah after 5BW, and the idea came to me pretty quickly – I wanted to explore someone discovering their queer identity under the small town microscope. I thought it would be powerful to mirror that journey with someone in an earlier time, and Mabel was so much fun to write. Once I started researching the period when she would have been a coming of age (1960s deb balls, country dances, the Miss Queensland Quest) I knew there was something special there.
Sport was another thing I wanted to incorporate. I think women often write off sport as something that’s not for them, but my own experience playing footy as an adult was really special. There’s a lot for women to gain from community sport, not just physically but socially, psychologically. And as a storyteller sport offers a lot of rich territory to mine.
After Love Match, I thought I was done with South Star. But now there are more stories I want to tell and I’m just using my own books as elaborate writing prompts! It’s all the side characters I have the most fun writing, so it’s quite fun thinking about how to use people in new ways in new stories.
Love, dating and connection are such strong themes in both your novels! Is this an element of writing that you always knew you’d incorporate or did it happen by chance?
For a long time, I was a bit of a literary snob. Only when I realised I was writing a rom-com did I start reading a lot more in the genre; but of course I had always loved reading and watching rom-coms, I just didn’t think they were as ‘important’ as more high brow culture. It felt liberating, energising and so joyful to realise there were so many talented women writing romance and rom-coms, and that I wanted to be one of them! I was a very romantic kid (in my head – no one wanted to kiss me until I was almost finished high school) so it feels inevitable in a way.
Sometimes I think dating men from Queensland trained me to be a good romance writer. With these blokes who are often quite reticent, if not emotionally constipated, you have to get quite good at finding romance and tenderness in small gestures! Being able to dial up the romance in a perfectly-made cup of tea or a dropped pie I think is more relatable than grand declarations of love from a bush bloke. That said, I love writing male characters and I find giving them strong women in their life helps shape them into realistic men who respect and treasure the women they fall for.Five Bush Weddingswas very much about the fact that people falling in love is critical to bush communities surviving and thriving.Love Matchgoes deeper into the relationships and institutions that hold small towns together and, I hope, makes a case for building a beautiful life there even if sometimes the gossip and lack of privacy might be challenging. I poke a bit of fun at small towns, but it comes from a place of love.
Clare, thank you so much for joining me on Author Talks and spending the time chatting on our Instagram Live. It has been an absolute pleasure to host you and meet in person! You’re now a staple in my growing library and I cannot wait to fill a shelf with your novels one day 📚⭐️
Click on the titles of Five Bush Weddings & Love Matchthroughout this interview, to purchase your own copies from Booktopia 💚
Fire round coming up … I’m going to give short statements as to why I DNF’d these books. I can say with absolute clarity and honestly that I will be going back to these books. They are not leaving my shelves. They have just been started, stopped and then removed from my bedside table (immediate book grabbing pile).
If you’re looking to fall in love with a new country romance writer, Maya Linnell is your gal! She just gets it – the challenges of falling in love in rural areas, small town community feelings of support and shared business, opinions and expectations. She also holds a firm grip of what the dynamics of inside a family look like. Her writing makes you feel as if you’re sitting around a dining room table, in a country home, having realistic conversations about farming, family and children.
Paperbark Hill is the conclusion to Maya’s four book series following the McIntyre sisters. All books can be read individually but have overlapping characters, environmental settings and storylines. Believe me when I say, Paperbark Hill has set me up well for devouring the rest of Maya’s books!
Paperbark Hill follows Diana McIntyre and her 4 boys as they learn to navigate and continue on their lives after the death of their stronghold, their husband and father. Diana is surrounded by her loving sisters and father, who encourage her dreams of cut flower farming, selling locally and creating a name for herself in the industry. Flower farming and raising her 4 boys is the highest priority. This remains so throughout the novel. Her thoughts and feelings do however increase when Ned Gardiner, an ex-local comes back to town after the unexpected loss of his father.
Ned is a locaum pharmacist and a bit of a gypsy. His flexible job allows him and his two beautiful, sweet and worldly children to move around. This is bit of a relief for Ned after his wife and mother to his two children, just up and left. Ned’s routines and travelling is thrown out the window when the loss of his father brings him back to his home town. His father was a keen chicken egg farmer and flower gardener. It also turns out, his father was Diana’s sidekick in maintaining and starting her flower farming. Both Diana and Ned are feeling the heavy loss of Ned’s father, which ultimately brings them together.
The warm buzz between Ned and Diana grows. Their time spent together in the flower fields, bringing their children together for play dates, stopping for afternoon tea together and chatting over salty scones, are just some of my favourite subtle ways of their relationship growing. I really could appreciate that their relationship was about stability, trust and respect. They’ve both been hurt in the past, they both have children who are the centre of their world, and they are both trying to navigate new found love at 40+. It’s slow, romantic and the development of love grows through gesture.
I think Maya was clever to include some challenges to new found love at 40. She wove the protests of children surrounding new parental relationships and the questions they ask. Diana’s teenage boy found the adjusts hard and was defiant in letting a new person into Diana’s life. He felt as if Diana would forget about his father and not acknowledge significant past birthdays or anniversaries. However, he grows to realise that it is about a balance of blending the two together and recognising that Ned is never going to stop Diana from loving, thinking of, or celebrating her late husband. Ultimately Ned and Diana show harmony within their two families individually, therefore when they bring the two together, it is just a big group of love and happiness!
Reading Diana and Ned’s story had me swept away in a matter of 48 hours – I couldn’t step away from their story for too long!! I am incredibly grateful and humbled to have received this copy of Paperbark Hill from Allen & Unwin and Maya Linnell to personally read and review 💖 This copy of Maya’s book has already been loaned a friend to read and also love 💫
Mel Reviews Her Books 