Latest / The Book Deal / Debut Crew 2026 Part 2: on the other side of publication - thoughts and feels

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Debut Crew 2026 Part 2: on the other side of publication - thoughts and feels · The Book Deal

0:00
Tina Strachan: This is the Book Deal podcast
0:02
Madeleine Cleary: where you will discover the inspiring stories behind your favorite books.
0:07
Natasha Rai: We interview seasoned and debut authors, as well as publishing industry professionals to bring you the best tips and advice on how to get that elusive book deal.
0:17
Tina Strachan: So no matter what stage of writing your at.
0:19
Tina Strachan: We've got you covered.
0:20
Tina Strachan: I'm Tina Strachan.
0:22
Madeleine Cleary: I'm Madeleine Cleary.
0:23
Natasha Rai: And I'm Natasha Rai.
0:25
Tina Strachan: And join us as we pull back the curtain of published authors
0:29
Madeleine Cleary: one deal at a time.
0:34
Madeleine Cleary: The Book Deal podcast acknowledges the traditional owners of the land and waters, which it's recorded on and pays respect to their elders past, present, and emerging.
0:47
Natasha Rai: Hi, everyone.
0:48
Natasha Rai: In February of this year, I had a lovely chat with three writers from the Debut Crew 2026, and at the time we talked about their pre-release feels, their fears, and everything that they'd learned through the publishing process.
1:06
Natasha Rai: And now we are back for part two.
1:08
Natasha Rai: So if you haven't listened to part one, go listen to it now, and so you can hear the before and after,'cause today's episode is all about how the year has been and what happened after they released their books.
1:21
Natasha Rai: So the people I'm speaking to, the talented writers I'm speaking to today are Inessa Jackson, who is a Sydney crime writer living on Guringai country.
1:31
Natasha Rai: Her debut novel, Devil Mountain, won the Affirm Varuna Me- Mentorship Award and was published in mid-2026.
1:39
Natasha Rai: Her first unpublished mystery thriller was runner-up for the 2023 Banjo Prize and shortlisted for the 2022 ASA HQ Commercial Fiction Award.
1:50
Natasha Rai: Before she fell in love with crime writing, Inessa backpacked around the world, worked in consumer PR, and then settled into life as a stay-at-home mom.
1:59
Natasha Rai: When she's not writing, Inessa spends her time reading, swimming at Manly Beach, and walking her loyal assistant, Billy the Cavoodle.
2:07
Natasha Rai: She has a passion for cheese, loves all types of Aussie fiction, and is terrified of sheep.
2:13
Natasha Rai: My second writer is Leearna Shaw, who is a contemporary rural romance author who writes about strong women fighting for their futures and falling in love along the way.
2:23
Natasha Rai: Her debut novel won the Romance Writers of Australia's Emerald Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript in 2024.
2:31
Natasha Rai: And when she's not tending to her unhealthy obsession with indoor plants, Leearna can be found either on the yoga mat or chasing runaway lambs and her wayward boys on their farm northeast of Melbourne.
2:43
Natasha Rai: And my third writer is Sophie Stern from Sydney, Australia, Cammeraygal, where she lives with her husband and son.
2:51
Natasha Rai: Her short fiction has been published in magazines and literary zines, including Yen Magazine and Ellipsis Zine, and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize.
3:00
Natasha Rai: The manuscript of her first novel was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize in 2024.
3:07
Natasha Rai: Thanks for joining us.
3:13
Natasha Rai: Hello Leearna, Sophie, Inessa.
3:16
Natasha Rai: Welcome back.
3:17
Inessa Jackson: Hello.
3:17
Inessa Jackson: Thank
3:18
Leearna Shaw: you.
3:19
Natasha Rai: Uh, it's good to have you all back, and I can't wait to hear all about how the year has been for you, your publication year.
3:26
Natasha Rai: But as we do always, we're gonna start with your elevator pitches so I can do a- Oh direct comparison.
3:31
Natasha Rai: Um, sorry, that was such an evil laugh.
3:34
Natasha Rai: Um, so unless someone is dying to go first, I'll just pick someone Okay, I'll pick someone.
3:40
Natasha Rai: Sophie, let's go.
3:41
Sophie Stern: Oh, no.
3:43
Sophie Stern: Oh, I've gotten a bit rusty, I have to say.
3:45
Sophie Stern: Um, so my book is called What Is Left For Us, and it came out in March, which feels like 100 years ago, and it is the story of two sisters from Bondi who haven't spoken in 10 years, and they inherit their grandmother's clifftop house in Bondi and are forced to come back together and confront the betrayals and secrets that tore them apart.
4:12
Natasha Rai: Excellent.
4:13
Natasha Rai: You still got it.
4:13
Natasha Rai: Very good.
4:15
Natasha Rai: Uh, Inessa, can we hear your pitch?
4:17
Inessa Jackson: Sure.
4:18
Inessa Jackson: So my book is called Devil Mountain, and it's a small time...
4:22
Inessa Jackson: Small time?
4:23
Inessa Jackson: Small town crime thriller with a creepy twist.
4:26
Inessa Jackson: It's the story of DS Anastasia Brown, who's running from humiliation and heartbreak into a very messy, strange case where a doctor has been, uh, murdered in a very grisly way.
4:37
Inessa Jackson: As she investigates, things get stranger and stranger, to the point where she is forced to consider could the supernatural be at play, um, in the case, and it all runs into a big climax that I won't wreck for you, and, um, that's about it.
4:52
Inessa Jackson: God, that was terrible.
4:53
Natasha Rai: No, that was great.
4:55
Natasha Rai: That was good.
4:56
Natasha Rai: That was very good.
4:57
Natasha Rai: Uh, Leanna, how about you?
4:58
Leearna Shaw: This is actually really cruel,'cause I've just spent the week working on my pitch for book two, so I've got all these different characters in my head, but I'll give it a go.
5:07
Leearna Shaw: Um, but so A Farm in Golden Clouds is a heartwarming rural romance, um, that follows Indie Carmichael, who is a widowed cattle farmer.
5:15
Leearna Shaw: Her life is chaos.
5:17
Leearna Shaw: Um, she's struggling to parent her two kids.
5:19
Leearna Shaw: Her, um...
5:21
Leearna Shaw: She's struggling to keep her farm afloat, um, and she's got a best friend who's determined to get her back in the dating saddle.
5:26
Leearna Shaw: But Indie doesn't have time for anything in her life, let alone for romance.
5:30
Leearna Shaw: So when she's caught up in the orbit of washed-up actor Ben Whittam, who, um, arrives in Kestrel Creek to revive his career and get his own life, uh, back on script, um, of course, life only gets a whole lot more complicated, and the two of them will need to decide if falling in love when their lives are falling apart is really the best idea.
5:49
Natasha Rai: Yay, that was excellent.
5:51
Natasha Rai: You know what I really- You all got it I really noticed with all three of you, how much more relaxed you are, even though you were like- even though you were like,"Oh, my God, I can't remember." But they It just, it just trips off the tongue, doesn't it?
6:01
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
6:01
Leearna Shaw: It definitely does, after 300 times.
6:04
Natasha Rai: Exactly.
6:05
Natasha Rai: Exactly.
6:06
Natasha Rai: So I have so many questions for you, but we'll just see how far we get today.
6:10
Natasha Rai: So what do you remember about release day, um, and, you know, like, maybe the week before and the week after release day?
6:19
Sophie Stern: I was a ball of anxiety-
6:21
Natasha Rai: Mm
6:22
Sophie Stern: leading up to release day.
6:23
Sophie Stern: Like, the weeks before I think were the lowest I've felt in a very long time, and I don't even know why.
6:29
Sophie Stern: Mm.
6:29
Sophie Stern: I was just worried about anything and everything.
6:32
Sophie Stern: And then release day was weird and sort of anticlimactic, and nothing really happens.
6:41
Sophie Stern: But, like, this huge thing happens, but also nothing happens.
6:45
Natasha Rai: Yes.
6:45
Sophie Stern: And I tried to sort of mark it.
6:48
Sophie Stern: I went out to lunch with my husband in Bondi, because that's where the book is set.
6:53
Sophie Stern: But then I, like, just came home and watched Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
6:56
Sophie Stern: So it was, like, a weird, a weird day.
7:00
Sophie Stern: Launch, like, the night of my launch, that felt like the actual celebration of the book coming out.
7:06
Sophie Stern: That was really, really nice.
7:08
Natasha Rai: So tell me more about the, yeah, your launch night.
7:12
Sophie Stern: So I had the launch two days after the book came out, which I think was really good timing,'cause I, I needed something physical.
7:20
Sophie Stern: Mm-hmm.
7:20
Sophie Stern: Like, I needed to see the book out there and, like, people holding it and that it was real.
7:25
Sophie Stern: I had it at Harry Hartog in Mosman, and it was just...
7:29
Sophie Stern: It was really...
7:30
Sophie Stern: It was just a really nice event.
7:32
Sophie Stern: It felt really good.
7:33
Sophie Stern: My interviewer was someone who was a friend, so I felt really comfortable with her, and I'd been to a few launches at Harry Hartog, so I knew, I knew what I was in for.
7:43
Sophie Stern: And it just was- It just was lovely, I have to say.
7:47
Sophie Stern: Like, it just felt like everyone was there to support me, and I had the best time, even though I didn't sleep a wink the night before.
7:54
Sophie Stern: I had the worst sleep of my life.
7:56
Sophie Stern: But, um, yeah, actual, actual launch day was amazing.
8:00
Natasha Rai: Well, as someone who was there, you did an amazing job.
8:03
Natasha Rai: Oh,
8:03
Sophie Stern: thank you.
8:03
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
8:04
Sophie Stern: It was so nice seeing your smiling face- in the front row.
8:06
Natasha Rai: You, um, honestly you couldn't tell that you had any nerves.
8:09
Natasha Rai: It was like you were like,"Oh, yeah, I've done this, like, a hundred times before."
8:12
Sophie Stern: Absolutely not.
8:14
Natasha Rai: What about you, Anessa?
8:15
Natasha Rai: What was the week leading up to release day and afterwards like for you?
8:20
Inessa Jackson: So, again, like what Sophie said, it was very, um, an- I had a lot of anxiety about it.
8:25
Natasha Rai: Mm.
8:25
Inessa Jackson: I decided not to do a launch on the actual day, but I postponed it a month so that everything would pretty much be over and done with by then, and I could celebrate.
8:34
Inessa Jackson: And I just did it with close friends and family, and honestly, it was one of the nicest nights of my whole life.
8:39
Inessa Jackson: Everyone was so supportive, and there was champagne, and we, we really celebrated, so that was great.
8:45
Inessa Jackson: Um, on the actual day, I didn't do it particularly well.
8:49
Inessa Jackson: I went to my local bookshop, and they were beautiful, and we signed books, and that was lovely.
8:52
Inessa Jackson: Then I went to another bookshop, did the same thing, which was wonderful.
8:54
Inessa Jackson: But I hadn't lined up anyone to celebrate with after, because my husband and I have divorced.
8:59
Inessa Jackson: So I came home to three bottles of champagne from people like my publisher and friends and no one to drink them with.
9:06
Natasha Rai: Aw.
9:07
Inessa Jackson: Okay, so I felt a little bit sorry for myself, and then I got a friend on Zoom, so I had a glass with her over Zoom.
9:12
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
9:12
Natasha Rai: Oh, that's good, and now you know for book two- Yes you'll have someone lined up.
9:16
Natasha Rai: And the Your launch event, was it at a bookshop or?
9:20
Inessa Jackson: No, I did it at Manly Surf Club.
9:22
Natasha Rai: Oh, okay.
9:22
Inessa Jackson: So- Yeah yeah, and I had my, um, 15-year-old son's band playing, which was really cute.
9:27
Natasha Rai: Amazing.
9:28
Inessa Jackson: He had 182, and yeah, they...
9:30
Inessa Jackson: And then we did a, I did a Q&A with a really good friend, um, and then a signing.
9:34
Inessa Jackson: So it was sort of like a bookshop one, but just, it was just close friends and family.
9:38
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
9:39
Natasha Rai: And how was it to see your book on shelves?
9:42
Inessa Jackson: It's amazing.
9:43
Inessa Jackson: Mm.
9:43
Inessa Jackson: Actually, it was really surreal.
9:44
Natasha Rai: Mm.
9:45
Inessa Jackson: It was beautiful.
9:46
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah, I had to pinch myself.
9:47
Inessa Jackson: I went into Big W, and it was there, and it was like, whoa, that's cool.
9:51
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, it was wonderful.
9:52
Natasha Rai: Yeah, it's a really weird feeling, isn't it?
9:54
Natasha Rai: Like, you kind of feel excited but also a little bit...
9:57
Natasha Rai: maybe not disconnected, but it's kind of like you don't know...
9:59
Natasha Rai: I don't know.
10:00
Natasha Rai: Sometimes you just don't know how to feel, to see it there.
10:02
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, that's true.
10:03
Natasha Rai: Mm.
10:04
Natasha Rai: Um, how about you, Leearna?
10:05
Natasha Rai: What was...
10:05
Natasha Rai: what, what do you remember of that time?
10:08
Leearna Shaw: Yeah, same.
10:09
Leearna Shaw: I mean, it's just such a big lead-up, that I think that week before release I just wanted to vomit most of the time.
10:15
Leearna Shaw: Um, and I was a little bit insane.
10:17
Leearna Shaw: I had my launch party on release day.
10:21
Leearna Shaw: Um, so I tried to, you know, fit everything in to that one day.
10:25
Leearna Shaw: Went to all these bookshops, um, to sign my book.
10:29
Leearna Shaw: Um, I actually did my very first live radio interview on 3AW in the car park while picking my kids up from school, um, which was terrifying.
10:38
Leearna Shaw: But, you know, throw me in the deep end.
10:40
Leearna Shaw: Let's just see how I, how I go.
10:42
Leearna Shaw: Um, and then I had to get ready, and, um, I had my launch at Panton Hill Pub, which is a beautiful rural pub, and the, you know, the gods were looking after me because I had golden skies and golden clouds- Aw and, um, the sun was setting, um, as I did my launch.
10:57
Leearna Shaw: And I had, I had about 100 people, which was the whole...
11:01
Leearna Shaw: That was...
11:01
Leearna Shaw: I think that terrified me more than m- more than anything, because it was a mix of other authors, readers, and my family and friends.
11:10
Leearna Shaw: So I'm like,"If I stuff up or say anything wrong, I'm doing this in front of everybody." Um, but I think once I got up and, you know, had my book in my hands, um, and the microphone in hand, I, I just...
11:22
Leearna Shaw: I was just...
11:23
Leearna Shaw: I was...
11:24
Leearna Shaw: not overwhelmed.
11:24
Leearna Shaw: I was just instantly went calm.
11:26
Leearna Shaw: I was like,"Here we go." Like, this is what, you know, I've worked so hard for.
11:30
Leearna Shaw: I'm gonna really enjoy this.
11:32
Leearna Shaw: And it was just...
11:32
Leearna Shaw: It was such a wonderful night.
11:33
Leearna Shaw: I enjoyed every second.
11:35
Leearna Shaw: Um, and then I slept all the next day.
11:38
Natasha Rai: Excellent.
11:39
Natasha Rai: So I remember that, you know, all three of you talked a- about being anxious, and you mentioned it again, like, leading up to it- Were any of those fears realized?
11:48
Natasha Rai: Like, I think o- one of the common things that came up as well was about talking about yourself and, and your books.
11:54
Natasha Rai: How Like, now that I assume you've done a few events including your launch, um, since then.
12:00
Natasha Rai: So Diana, like, what have you Were they realized?
12:04
Natasha Rai: How was it to kind of do it a few times, like talking about the book and I assume some of the que-'Cause, you know, I think after a while you, you tend to get similar types of questions, don't you?
12:14
Leearna Shaw: Yeah.
12:14
Natasha Rai: Mm.
12:15
Leearna Shaw: Yeah.
12:15
Leearna Shaw: Um, uh, like I think the same anxiety was there before every single event, and then every single event was wonderful.
12:22
Leearna Shaw: Whether I said something silly or, or there was a question I didn't really know how to answer, it was still just such a, um, and a wonderful experience, and you really get to realize that the people that come to these events are readers and other writers who just wanna hear your story, and aren't expecting you to be, you know, this amazing, um, public speaker and, you know, they're just coming to see you as an author.
12:43
Leearna Shaw: So, you know, but it did take quite a few times for me to go to an event where I wasn't feeling ill the whole way there.
12:52
Leearna Shaw: Um, and then you've got the, you know, the comedown after the event, and you're like,"Oh, I don't know why I was so anxious about this," you know?
12:58
Leearna Shaw: It's I always do it.
13:00
Leearna Shaw: That's a, a 100% strike rate.
13:02
Leearna Shaw: Um, and I always enjoy it, but yeah, it's just I think doing it over and over again, I think I actually think this might be the first podcast where I was like,"Oh, this is gonna be fun.
13:12
Leearna Shaw: This is gonna be great," and there are no nerves.
13:13
Leearna Shaw: But it's taken me almost six months to get to this point.
13:16
Natasha Rai: Have you had a favorite event or talk or panel that you've been on?
13:21
Leearna Shaw: Uh, I don't, I don't think I could pinpoint one.
13:24
Leearna Shaw: They're all just so different.
13:25
Leearna Shaw: Like, the- Mm I had a library event where only three people showed up, and I was initially a little bit embarrassed and a bit worried.
13:33
Leearna Shaw: Um, and we ended up pulling the chairs in, and a couple of other people wandered in for books and ended up staying for the talk, and we had biscuits and tea, and we just talked about this book for hours.
13:43
Leearna Shaw: And it was just such a wonderful, cozy little event that that always stands out for me because, you know, something that you would think is not been a success because I didn't have the numbers, you know, I've now got friends from that who message me all the time and are, and are anxiously waiting for my next book.
14:00
Leearna Shaw: So, um, yeah, I, I, I don't think there's a favorite event, but it's'Cause they're all just so different, but you get something- Mm out of, uh, um, you know, every single event anyway.
14:09
Natasha Rai: Yeah, and I think this, when, when you have that kind of unexpected smaller group, there is something really intimate and different about it so that you're not just speaking a- you know, into a huge room all full of strangers or people-
14:21
Leearna Shaw: You're kind of having a discussion.
14:21
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
14:22
Natasha Rai: And people can actually get in there and ask you some really interesting questions,'cause, you know, readers are great and, um, it's such a lovely opportunity to, as you said, to really get in there and have a much, much more different conversation sometimes.
14:35
Leearna Shaw: Yeah, definitely.
14:35
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
14:36
Natasha Rai: Um, how about you, Sophie?
14:38
Natasha Rai: What Like, were your anxieties realized?
14:40
Natasha Rai: Like, how was it to do events after that initial launch?
14:45
Sophie Stern: I felt weirdly calm and confident doing events, like Liarna said.
14:51
Sophie Stern: And I think Was it you, Natasha, who said, you know,"No one knows your book better than you"?
14:55
Sophie Stern: So I think I was like, for the first time in my life I felt really- like, confident that I was the expert on this.
15:02
Sophie Stern: Like, no one could answer this better than me, and it was just Once you get over those initial nerves sort of leading up to the event- Hearing the really insightful questions from people and, like, seeing what they've taken away from it, and being able to reflect on your book as well.
15:19
Sophie Stern: Because- Mm when you're in it, and writing it, and editing it, you don't necessarily sort of unpack it in the same way that you do with these events.
15:29
Sophie Stern: Um, and so it is just like a really interesting thing, I think, to think about, you know, why I did this, and what, what I, what was I drawn to, what was I trying to say here?
15:38
Sophie Stern: Um, I, I found the logistics around events really, um, nerve-wracking.
15:43
Sophie Stern: Sort of getting prepared, and getting there, and getting organized, especially if they were ones that I was sort of the one in charge of.
15:50
Sophie Stern: But the actual speaking, um, yeah- Mm that anxiety wasn't realized at all.
15:55
Sophie Stern: Just new anxieties came out.
15:57
Natasha Rai: And, and did you have any, like, in, in all your conversations you've had so far about your book, have there been any where you, I don't know, like, someone's asked you a question about craft or something about your story that you hadn't thought about, but then you had to be like, oh, I don't know, either make it up or just say I haven't thought about it like that?
16:16
Sophie Stern: Probably not on the craft side.
16:18
Sophie Stern: I did have one question that was, that sort of t- took me, took me by surprise, which was,"Are you embarrassed that you wrote a book that, that's set in Australia?" Um, which I, like I didn't know how to answer.
16:30
Natasha Rai: What a strange question.
16:32
Sophie Stern: It was a really strange question, um, that sort of came out of nowhere.
16:36
Sophie Stern: But I think, you know, you just learn to roll with it after a while, and thankfully this was after a few events, so I'd sort of got used to you just spin the question off into an answer that you want to actually talk about.
16:47
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
16:48
Sophie Stern: Um, but yeah, I think-
16:50
Natasha Rai: Mm
16:50
Sophie Stern: craft I'm fairly comfortable talking about, yeah.
16:53
Natasha Rai: Yeah, yeah.
16:54
Natasha Rai: And have you had a favorite or one that it just was, I don't know, unexpected in some way that felt good?
17:00
Sophie Stern: I think, like Liarna said, the library events are interesting.
17:05
Sophie Stern: I had, I had one library event where there was a rival knitting group next to my Q&A- Ooh Bitch and Stitch, and they did not want to be quiet during my talk.
17:18
Sophie Stern: So as, you know, we got started they got louder and louder and louder.
17:22
Sophie Stern: Um, but you know, it was really fun because we all just sort of threw our hands up and said,"You know, this is a, a community place, a community event." Like, there is something really fun about not having the perfect event, I think.
17:38
Natasha Rai: And I love that name, Bitch and Stitch.
17:39
Natasha Rai: I know.
17:39
Leearna Shaw: Isn't it amazing?
17:41
Natasha Rai: Fantastic.
17:41
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
17:41
Natasha Rai: Such a good name.
17:43
Leearna Shaw: I might put that in one of my books, if you don't mind.
17:46
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
17:47
Natasha Rai: Um, and what about you, Anessa?
17:49
Inessa Jackson: Um, I had a question which really, um, put me on the spot, and that's,"Are you your main character?"
17:56
Natasha Rai: Oh.
17:56
Inessa Jackson: And all these fears that I am came out, but I had to do a,"Look, that's a great question, and I'll just run you through why I'm not," and I had to quickly think of reasons.
18:04
Inessa Jackson: And they came to me because they're there.
18:05
Inessa Jackson: I'm not my main character.
18:07
Inessa Jackson: Um, but it is a fear I'd already had...
18:08
Inessa Jackson: I, I had already, so yeah, I had to, um, I had to answer that.
18:12
Inessa Jackson: And then looking back on it I thought it was, what a great conversation, what a great Q&A.
18:16
Inessa Jackson: It was obviously interesting'cause people really clapped at the end and yeah, so it was a good one.
18:20
Inessa Jackson: I enjoyed it.
18:21
Natasha Rai: A- and given that I think you also worried about, you know, public speaking and talking about yourself and maybe the book- How was it when you had to do it a few times?
18:31
Inessa Jackson: It was fine.
18:32
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, it was okay.
18:33
Inessa Jackson: God, I was nervous before.
18:34
Inessa Jackson: But, um, you can sort of hear yourself after a while, and I find I calm down once I can get that I can listen to myself a little bit.
18:42
Inessa Jackson: And also, just to remember that this is really cool, what we're doing.
18:45
Inessa Jackson: Like, it's amazing.
18:46
Inessa Jackson: It's the best opportunity.
18:48
Inessa Jackson: It's such a privilege, and I didn't wanna waste those opportunities.
18:51
Inessa Jackson: I mean, hey, people are asking me about my book.
18:53
Inessa Jackson: Like, how cool's that?
18:54
Natasha Rai: Exactly.
18:55
Inessa Jackson: So I just tried to stay positive.
18:57
Natasha Rai: And, um, what is it like when you basically strangers come up to you and talk to you about your book, and then they buy a copy, and they get you to sign it, or they I don't know.
19:07
Natasha Rai: Like, it's like y- like, you know, they don't know you.
19:08
Natasha Rai: They don't have to, and yet they do.
19:10
Natasha Rai: What was that like?
19:12
Inessa Jackson: Um, um, look, to be honest, I haven't done a lot of it yet, but I have I did a few signings.
19:19
Inessa Jackson: Um, and it was good.
19:22
Inessa Jackson: I was I wanted to chat with them, and they were kind of happy to chat, but also to sign and keep moving.
19:28
Inessa Jackson: Um, but I was thrilled that people were buying it, and there's sort of a element of,"I can't believe this is really happening." Like, total strangers are buying my book, and I'm like- Exactly"Hope you enjoy it.
19:36
Inessa Jackson: Bye." Yeah, so it's really good.
19:38
Natasha Rai: It is so good.
19:39
Natasha Rai: L- Leanna, what do, do you remember how it felt when stranger the first time a stranger bought your book, or someone you didn't know?
19:45
Leearna Shaw: Yeah, like short of looking over my shoulder and just double-checking they weren't talking to someone else behind me.
19:50
Leearna Shaw: Um, no, it's such a, it's such a surreal bit I don't wanna say validating, but it's just a, just a wonderful, lovely feeling.
19:58
Leearna Shaw: Um, and especially when, like, I had a few people come to signings who had read it, and they were talking about these characters and these settings and the plot as if they, they were real.
20:08
Leearna Shaw: And I'm like, that's why I write my stories.
20:10
Leearna Shaw: I write them to, to give these my readers an escape, and to take them away from, you know, w- whatever they're going through in their own lives, and to live my characters' lives for a while.
20:19
Leearna Shaw: So to, to hear them come up to me and, and, and have those conversations as if these characters were real, I mean, it, it just meant It meant a lot considering that's, you know, that's why I write.
20:29
Sophie Stern: Totally.
20:30
Sophie Stern: And Sophie, for you?
20:32
Sophie Stern: Yeah, it is just the coolest feeling because you expect your family and friends to sort of support you and buy your book, but then when some random person does, you sort of have this moment of shock of like,"Oh, my book is a product that people can buy, like I buy books." Like, it is just, like you say, Lian, it's surreal.
20:52
Sophie Stern: And I think the coolest thing is when you get a message from someone on Instagram or an email, and they just pull something out about the book that you maybe hadn't thought about, but, like, really captures something, and it's just amazing that you have this connection with a, with a total stranger.
21:12
Sophie Stern: Um, it's amazing.
21:14
Natasha Rai: I know.
21:14
Natasha Rai: It's It is.
21:14
Natasha Rai: And it's, it's funny how we don't think it's weird as readers when we are, like, obsessed with book or, or books- Mm from one author, whereas when someone does it to us, it's a bit like,"Oh my God, this is, like, so weird and amazing." Yeah.
21:29
Natasha Rai: I don't know if we I don't think we did talk about it like this, but I'm curious about if you feel more legitimate, in inverted commas, now that you've been published and people have bought your books, and you've talked about it.
21:40
Natasha Rai: You know, there's something about your, as you said, your product being out in the world in a way that doesn't just exist on your laptop or in your head, um, or just in your submission trenches.
21:51
Natasha Rai: I'm just, yeah, curious about how you feel as authors now.
21:55
Leearna Shaw: I feel like I, you know, not that I, um, you know, it's validating, I just feel like I do deserve the space me and my stories are taking up now.
22:04
Leearna Shaw: I mean, I've always suffered imposter syndrome for years and years.
22:07
Leearna Shaw: It's just, you know, I try and battle against it, but it's just something that always rears its head.
22:12
Leearna Shaw: Um, but yeah, I, I think I just I'm able to, you know, h- hold myself in a room and know, you know, I'm not on a bestseller list at all, but I have written a book, you know?
22:24
Leearna Shaw: I have published a book, um, and I do deserve to stand here and, and talk about my book, because it's something I love and I want to get it out there to readers, um, who may love those kind of stories too.
22:36
Leearna Shaw: So I, I think I it's more, yeah, being able to, to, you know, stand up and not sort of, you know, hide and think,"Oh, I probably shouldn't be here.
22:44
Leearna Shaw: I shouldn't be taking up this much space," and just, and just sort of advocating for myself as an author- Mm-hmm and for my book now.
22:51
Natasha Rai: Yeah, totally.
22:52
Natasha Rai: How about you, Vanessa or Sophie, uh, both?
22:55
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah, I, I found reading reviews really validating, and that helped me feel more legitimate.
23:02
Natasha Rai: Mm.
23:02
Inessa Jackson: Because these people don't have to leave a, a really nice star rating.
23:06
Inessa Jackson: They can leave whatever they want.
23:07
Inessa Jackson: They don't know me.
23:07
Inessa Jackson: I'm pretty sure my mom isn't paying them.
23:09
Inessa Jackson: So, you know, this is, this is it.
23:11
Inessa Jackson: This is real.
23:12
Inessa Jackson: And when a few like that come through, yeah, I, I said,"Look," it's to myself,"It's time to get confident.
23:16
Inessa Jackson: It's time to take it seriously," that it's a, in a way it's a business.
23:20
Inessa Jackson: It's an art, but it's also a business.
23:22
Inessa Jackson: The two go together.
23:23
Inessa Jackson: Um, and I felt much more confident.
23:25
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
23:26
Natasha Rai: Fantastic.
23:28
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
23:28
Sophie Stern: I feel like for me it's maybe not that I feel legitimate, it's more that I take myself seriously as a writer now.
23:36
Sophie Stern: It's not just something I sort of do on the side or as a little hobby, it's something that I can really make time for and invest in and claim it, I guess.
23:47
Sophie Stern: Mm.
23:48
Sophie Stern: Um, because for a long time I didn't tell anyone that I was writing a book.
23:52
Sophie Stern: It was sort of just something I did very secretly, and now it does feel like there's more of a connection, I guess, between what I do privately and what is out there in the world.
24:02
Sophie Stern: Um, so yeah, I guess legitimate in that way.
24:06
Natasha Rai: Yeah, I like that.
24:07
Natasha Rai: It's really co-solidify something for yourself.
24:09
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
24:10
Sophie Stern: Exactly.
24:11
Natasha Rai: And I'm wondering, you know, Lianna, you made that comment about it's on a, on a bestseller list.
24:15
Natasha Rai: Do you feel like your expectations or, I don't Maybe not expecta- It's not expectations, and it's not standards, but the things that you expect have changed.
24:26
Natasha Rai: Like, you know, for example, I'll just talk about my, myself.
24:29
Natasha Rai: I won't presume to talk about you, but, um, or for you I should say, but, like, before I was published, all I wanted to be was published, and then I noticed after publication I started to think about other things like, you know, will it, how will it sell?
24:41
Natasha Rai: Like, will it get on an, an awards list?
24:43
Natasha Rai: Like, will I be able to get another book deal?
24:46
Natasha Rai: Have those things crept in for you?
24:49
Leearna Shaw: The goalposts definitely-
24:51
Natasha Rai: Yeah
24:51
Leearna Shaw: change.
24:52
Leearna Shaw: Yes.
24:52
Leearna Shaw: Um, I, like, I, I was never expecting to hit any bestseller list, but for me, you know, I was just I don't know, I think I just expected life to just completely change once I was a published author, and very quickly you realize that the publishing industry moves so quickly.
25:07
Leearna Shaw: Um, and you know, time goes on and you've gotta move on as well.
25:12
Leearna Shaw: I think, like I enjoyed it for those first few months, and then I, I just, I didn't expect, as I said, time to move so fast.
25:20
Leearna Shaw: I think by the end of those three months I was still doing events for, um, A Farm in Golden Clouds, but I was also doing structural edits for my second book.
25:28
Leearna Shaw: Um, and I'd also had a discussion with my publisher about if I had anything for book three.
25:34
Inessa Jackson: Wow.
25:34
Leearna Shaw: Um, so I was, in the back of my mind that was also going as well.
25:38
Leearna Shaw: And, um, I did feel the pressure ramp up a little bit, and I just sort of went,"Nah, stop.
25:44
Leearna Shaw: This is all just going to be too much.
25:46
Leearna Shaw: I've worked so hard for this.
25:47
Leearna Shaw: I really want to enjoy, you know, what I'm doing." Um, and I just sort of, yeah, just decided to just stop, breathe, get what I had to do, um, and then, you know, just take it as it comes because, well, life doesn't stop, unfortunately.
26:02
Leearna Shaw: Even though I would love to take six months off my job to, you know, to focus on this, unfortunately I still need to pay the mortgage, so I couldn't.
26:10
Leearna Shaw: Um, but so it was just really reigning in those expectations of myself- Yeah and, um- Yeah pulling back and remembering what I'd achieved.
26:17
Leearna Shaw: Um, you know, and, you know, obvi- I still wanted to have, you know, new goals.
26:22
Leearna Shaw: I still wanted something to, to aim for, but it's just, yeah, being quite realistic and being, you know, what I wanted to do with what I could do in that moment.
26:31
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
26:32
Natasha Rai: And I wanna come back to what you said about book two and three, so I will remember that.
26:35
Natasha Rai: Um, how about you, Sophie?
26:38
Natasha Rai: Shifting goalposts?
26:39
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
26:40
Sophie Stern: That, I mean, that really sums it up, and I think I had to quite deliberately keep reminding myself to just remember where I was two years ago and how amazing-
26:52
Natasha Rai: Mm
26:52
Sophie Stern: I would have thought, you know, just this not just, but this achievement is.
26:57
Sophie Stern: But- To be really honest, like I, I did get swept up in it, and I was sort of surprised by how, um, I guess these ugly feelings came up in me of sort of comparison and jealousy, and it doesn't always bring out the best in yourself.
27:14
Sophie Stern: And I think you have to work really hard to bring it back to what, what is success for me.
27:20
Sophie Stern: Because if you base your success on awards or how many books you sell or things like that, y- I think you will go crazy.
27:27
Sophie Stern: Mm.
27:27
Sophie Stern: And I did go a little bit crazy, I think, for a long time.
27:31
Sophie Stern: And when I realized, you know, success is that I get to write, success is that I have Fridays now where I just write my book, and then I get to talk to people about books, and I have friends that are writers, you know, that is-
27:43
Inessa Jackson: Mm
27:44
Sophie Stern: success that I can control.
27:45
Sophie Stern: But it did take me quite a, quite a bit to get to this point,'cause I feel like there was a bit of a post-publication slump.
27:54
Sophie Stern: Mm.
27:54
Sophie Stern: And I feel like I've seen a few writers go through that slump.
27:57
Sophie Stern: And I also think that having the benefit of your crew, Natasha, last year sort of talking to us and giving us your wisdom, and this podcast and other podcasts, you know, having that conversation about- Mm this weird emotional experience that we go through with publication has been really helpful as well.
28:14
Natasha Rai: Yeah, and I think what you said is key.
28:15
Natasha Rai: Like, a lot of it isn't in our control.
28:18
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
28:18
Natasha Rai: Like, be getting on an awards list or selling lots of books or, you know, a bookseller.
28:23
Natasha Rai: I mean, you can go and have these conversations, but then it's up to people.
28:27
Natasha Rai: Um-
28:27
Sophie Stern: Yeah, absolutely.
28:28
Sophie Stern: But it's- You can do things to hustle, but you-
28:30
Natasha Rai: Yeah, exactly.
28:31
Natasha Rai: Exactly.
28:31
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
28:31
Natasha Rai: And it's a, it's a tough thing to experience alongside the absolute joy.
28:35
Natasha Rai: I get it.
28:36
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
28:36
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
28:36
Sophie Stern: Exactly.
28:37
Natasha Rai: Mm.
28:37
Natasha Rai: Did you have anything similar, Anessa?
28:39
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, very much just there's that slump after publication.
28:43
Natasha Rai: Mm.
28:43
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah, in comparison it's real- I found it really hard not to look over the fence into the next paddock and see how grass, how how green their grass is.
28:51
Inessa Jackson: Yes.
28:51
Inessa Jackson: I went through a little stage there where I kept checking my email for the movie deal, and it just wasn't coming.
28:55
Inessa Jackson: And I'm like,"You know, send scenes.
28:57
Inessa Jackson: No, nothing." Hour later, still And then I caught myself and went,"Okay, that's crazy." So give up on that.
29:03
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah, and it's just how would, how would me two years ago be looking at what I'm doing at the moment, and just re- remembering it's amazing, and just to try and enjoy what is going on and not worrying about the future too much.
29:15
Natasha Rai: Exactly.
29:15
Natasha Rai: And I feel like what you've all shared is a beautiful segue into my next question.
29:19
Natasha Rai: Last time we spoke, we talked a lot about, you know, the pre-publishing process.
29:23
Natasha Rai: So the editing and structural edits and copy edits, and all the kind of things you'll learn about that side of it.
29:29
Natasha Rai: What have you learned post-publication, especially around publicity and all the stuff that comes with, you know, having done all that kind of actual writing stuff?
29:41
Natasha Rai: Anessa?
29:42
Inessa Jackson: Um, the team at Simon Schuster were wonderful.
29:46
Inessa Jackson: They put so much time and effort into it.
29:48
Inessa Jackson: Um, and they worked with me really collaboratively, col- whatever that word is.
29:51
Inessa Jackson: And, um, it was a great result, and I was really happy with it.
29:55
Inessa Jackson: And then they warned me this would happen, and then it ended, and it really ended, and that was it, and they had to move on to the next book.
30:00
Inessa Jackson: So I was kind of like,"Oh, hi.
30:02
Inessa Jackson: Me.
30:02
Inessa Jackson: No, not me.
30:03
Inessa Jackson: Okay." So I picked it up myself.
30:05
Inessa Jackson: Mm-hmm.
30:05
Inessa Jackson: And I've done a lot of marketing just to try and keep, um, sales hopefully ticking along.
30:10
Inessa Jackson: Um, but I learned a lot from them.
30:11
Inessa Jackson: They're so connected in the industry.
30:13
Inessa Jackson: Um, it was fantastic.
30:14
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, PR and marketing both.
30:16
Inessa Jackson: So yeah, we had good results.
30:19
Natasha Rai: Okay, so it sounds like they managed your expectations, which is-
30:21
Inessa Jackson: Yeah
30:22
Natasha Rai: rare, actually.
30:23
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, it is.
30:23
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
30:24
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
30:24
Inessa Jackson: Mm.
30:24
Inessa Jackson: It's a business.
30:25
Inessa Jackson: Mm.
30:25
Inessa Jackson: That's, that's exactly right.
30:26
Natasha Rai: Mm.
30:27
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
30:28
Natasha Rai: Sophie, Liarna?
30:29
Sophie Stern: Yeah, I think we probably talked about this a little bit before, but it is sort of on both the publisher and you to, to get the book out there, and that is hard in a lot of ways because it's a different skill set.
30:43
Sophie Stern: And I did find that I had to hustle quite a bit.
30:46
Sophie Stern: You know, my publisher did a lot in terms of setting up the big things in the marketing side in particular.
30:52
Natasha Rai: Mm.
30:52
Sophie Stern: But I guess in terms of, um, reaching out to some people or, like, sort of making your presence known, you have to get in the bookstores and introduce yourself and being really comfortable with doing that and making connections.
31:06
Sophie Stern: Um, and I think Instagram has actually been really nice in that way in terms of opening up a space where you can meet other people and just send someone a message, um, and create something quite organically.
31:19
Sophie Stern: I had a few events that just came out of some messages on Instagram.
31:24
Sophie Stern: But, um, yeah, y- I think you have to be prepared to do quite a bit as well.
31:29
Natasha Rai: Mm-hmm.
31:30
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
31:31
Natasha Rai: How was your experience, Liarna?
31:33
Leearna Shaw: Um, this was something I was That the marketing and the publicist side of things was something that was quite scary to me at the start.
31:40
Leearna Shaw: Um, and I had a wonderful publicist who worked with me, um, for all my events, which was lovely.
31:46
Leearna Shaw: A- um, I think what I did learn was, was managing expectations, you know?
31:52
Leearna Shaw: I had in my head that I would have all these events lined up like someone who has published 20 books or does regularly hit, um, bestseller lists.
32:01
Leearna Shaw: Um, and when that didn't happen, initially I was quite relieved that I wouldn't have to go to all these events and try and fit them into my life somehow.
32:10
Leearna Shaw: Um, and then I was a bit disappointed, and then I just realized that this is the first time I'm doing this.
32:15
Leearna Shaw: Like, I was The events I did were perfect for me.
32:20
Leearna Shaw: They were perfect for, um, what, you know, what I write.
32:23
Leearna Shaw: Um, they were perfect for the readers who would be reading, um, my stories.
32:28
Leearna Shaw: And I think it was just trusting the publisher and the publicist to know what they were doing.
32:33
Leearna Shaw: Um, and that, yeah, d- managing my expectations a bit, I think.
32:38
Natasha Rai: Great.
32:39
Natasha Rai: So what's I think, Sophie, you already told us yours, but you can tell us another one if you've got it.
32:44
Natasha Rai: But what's the best thing you, you've heard or got told at an event or by a reader, and what's the weirdest thing that you've been asked or told?
32:54
Leearna Shaw: I think the best thing I got told was just when a, a person I didn't know, um, came up to me at an event, and I, I It wasn't necessarily one thing she said, but she started saying,"Oh, you know, you, you remind me of, of Carly Lane and May Linnell and Leonie Kelsall." And, and these are authors who, you know, are in the rural romance space like me, but they're r- like, they're authors that I've read for years and years and years.
33:23
Leearna Shaw: Um, and yes, eventually, you know, that was my goal.
33:26
Leearna Shaw: That's who I wanted, you know?
33:27
Leearna Shaw: I wanted my stories to sit on the shelf next to theirs.
33:29
Leearna Shaw: But I think to hear someone who wasn't my mum or my sister or my- you know, somebody in my family say, you know, that they could that they enjoyed my story enough, that they could see where- Mm I might be heading, um, was just, was just such a lovely, a, a lovely thing.
33:47
Leearna Shaw: Um, and that, yeah, that I carried that with me for a few days.
33:50
Leearna Shaw: I was just-
33:50
Natasha Rai: Yeah, what a
33:51
Leearna Shaw: beautiful compliment strutting, strutting around.
33:52
Leearna Shaw: And I'll take that.
33:53
Leearna Shaw: Um, I, I think the weirdest thing I had was a, a gentleman came to one of my library events and started talking about something that didn't happen in my book.
34:04
Leearna Shaw: Oh.
34:05
Leearna Shaw: So, um, I, you know, I tried to be as kind and as nice as I could, but you can't really answer the question about something that didn't really happen in my story.
34:16
Leearna Shaw: So that was a little bit awkward, but m- the lovely librarian sort of shuffled us along and I didn't have to deal with that for too, too long.
34:24
Natasha Rai: That's good.
34:25
Natasha Rai: Wonder what he thought he was what he thought he'd read.
34:28
Leearna Shaw: I can't tell
34:29
Natasha Rai: you.
34:29
Natasha Rai: Yeah, exactly.
34:30
Natasha Rai: Um, how about you, Anessa?
34:31
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah, so I was just thinking about it, and one that jumps out at me is I had a conversation with a reviewer on Insta, and she said that she's Pagan, and I treated the Pagan, um, community with a great deal of respect and insight, and, um, she thought that it was really spot on.
34:50
Inessa Jackson: And I was like,"Oh, yes, that's such a relief.
34:52
Inessa Jackson: That's wonderful," because that's obviously where I was going.
34:54
Inessa Jackson: So that was, that was really good.
34:56
Inessa Jackson: That stayed with me.
34:57
Inessa Jackson: Um, and the weirdest one was, um, someone said,"Why did you write in the Aussie accent?" I was like,"Oh, um..."
35:06
Natasha Rai: Oh.
35:07
Inessa Jackson: I...
35:07
Inessa Jackson: They're Aussie, they're Aussie characters, and we're kind of in a small town so, you know, there's a few...
35:13
Inessa Jackson: There's a little bit of vernacular in there, but...
35:15
Inessa Jackson: Was that right?
35:16
Inessa Jackson: Okay, so it was sort of good and weird at the same time, that I'd managed to write in the Aussie accent,
35:20
Natasha Rai: yeah.
35:21
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
35:22
Natasha Rai: Interesting.
35:22
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
35:23
Natasha Rai: I'm fascinated by weird questions.
35:25
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
35:26
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
35:27
Natasha Rai: Um, Sophie, do you have another weird one?
35:29
Sophie Stern: Oh, um, well, I, I did...
35:32
Sophie Stern: This wasn't the questions.
35:33
Sophie Stern: It was a slightly odd event where it was an intimate, um, book club in someone's home, um, who I'd met through doing a book signing, and it was lovely that she invited me.
35:43
Sophie Stern: But I think that environment invited some fairly personal questions.
35:49
Sophie Stern: Um, and so there was a lot, because, you know, it's about family fractures and ins- estrangement, so people really want to know if it's a true story and what your problems are- and do you hate your sister.
36:02
Sophie Stern: So that can be, um, a little bit confronting, I guess.
36:06
Sophie Stern: Um, but on the nice side, I think something that was really surprising is my, my son's kindergarten teacher who left the school after he finished kindy, um, and we sort of lost touch but she was the most beautiful teacher.
36:20
Sophie Stern: My husband noticed that on Goodreads she had left this amazing, beautiful review, and it just, um...
36:29
Sophie Stern: Yeah, I guess she was sort of someone I knew but also someone I didn't know, and that my book had gotten to her was really special.
36:35
Sophie Stern: So that was a, a kind of a nice full circle moment.
36:39
Natasha Rai: Oh, that is lovely.
36:40
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
36:41
Sophie Stern: I think probably the other thing that was, has been weird with my book is because it's about inheritance, I reckon I'm in the double digits of people coming up to me and telling me about their inheritance disputes with their family.
36:53
Natasha Rai: Wow.
36:54
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
36:55
Natasha Rai: That's amazing.
36:57
Natasha Rai: Oh, wow.
36:57
Natasha Rai: Okay.
36:59
Natasha Rai: Um, and Leearna, you mentioned earlier you were in the middle of structurals, so can you talk more about what you're up to and what you're writing or what's happening with book two?
37:10
Leearna Shaw: Yeah.
37:10
Leearna Shaw: So it will come out in Feb next year.
37:14
Natasha Rai: Amazing.
37:14
Leearna Shaw: Um, so I've just handed in my copy edits, um, and I'm just enjoying a bit of Well, I was enjoying a bit of b- downtime until the, the proofs come through.
37:23
Leearna Shaw: Um, but I've also recently signed a book deal for book three.
37:28
Natasha Rai: Congratulations.
37:29
Leearna Shaw: Which was very unexpected and very, very exciting, but that also They also want that handed in by Feb.
37:36
Leearna Shaw: So I'm now working on- Oh, like, as
37:38
Natasha Rai: in the draft?
37:39
Natasha Rai: As in- Yep the manuscript?
37:40
Leearna Shaw: Yep.
37:40
Leearna Shaw: They want the manuscript handed in by Feb.
37:42
Leearna Shaw: So I, I did have a rough first draft of that one, but I'm Definitely was very, very rough, so I am using my downtime to rewrite that.
37:53
Leearna Shaw: Um,'cause I just don't wanna get to I mean, Christmas is gonna be here before we know it, and I don't want to be on my Christmas holidays madly trying to get this done, so I'm trying to pri- you know, manage my time.
38:05
Leearna Shaw: Mm.
38:05
Leearna Shaw: Um, but it's all, it's all very exciting.
38:07
Leearna Shaw: It's all, like, the As I, I can't remember if it was Inessa or Sophie said, like, it's just such a, a dream.
38:13
Leearna Shaw: A couple of years ago we would've You know, this was just a dream to be doing this, and now I'm, you know, yeah, still doing events for book one and editing book two and trying to madly finish book three, and, yeah, it's something that, um, I, you know, I would've given anything to have a couple of years ago.
38:30
Leearna Shaw: Mm.
38:30
Leearna Shaw: And now I'm doing it, so it's, it's just been It's, it's been busy.
38:34
Leearna Shaw: I'm very tired, but it's, but it's that, it's that wonderful, you know, tiredness of, of getting to do something that you love, and it's Yeah, I feel very privileged to do so.
38:44
Natasha Rai: So I'm gonna be super mean now Can you give us your pitch for book two?
38:50
Leearna Shaw: When I said I'm working on it, I'm literally today.
38:53
Leearna Shaw: Um, okay, it's gonna be very rough-
38:55
Natasha Rai: Yeah
38:55
Leearna Shaw: but it is a- another rural romance.
38:59
Leearna Shaw: Um, and it's about a woman called Lisa McKenzie who, uh, returns to Gully Lane, um, to rebuild the abandoned riding school, Liab- Liabed Park, um, 13 years after a bushfire swept through and ruined not only the property, but also her life.
39:17
Leearna Shaw: Um, but when she turns, when she turns back up, the property is in ruins.
39:22
Leearna Shaw: There's now an, a wonderful established riding school on her doorstep, and she's also dealing with this reclusive but good-looking next-door neighbor.
39:31
Leearna Shaw: Um, that neighbor is Finn Rayner, who he has come to Gully Lane to escape a mistake, um, which didn't only destroy his life, but also his friend's.
39:41
Leearna Shaw: Um, and the two of them find themselves working, working together.
39:45
Leearna Shaw: Um, but they'll both have to confront their past, um, otherwise Lisa might lose not only, um, the home she's always wanted, but also the man who understands her better than most
39:59
Natasha Rai: That was excellent
40:00
Leearna Shaw: Oh my God, how did I go?
40:02
Leearna Shaw: Well done.
40:02
Leearna Shaw: That's the first time I've done that.
40:05
Natasha Rai: Well, I thought, I thought you,
40:06
Leearna Shaw: you- I am not gonna be able to listen to this episode back, I can tell you that.
40:10
Natasha Rai: It was...
40:10
Natasha Rai: Trust me, it was very good, and you could have said no.
40:13
Leearna Shaw: Oh, that, uh, no, I just, you know, throw me into the deep end.
40:16
Leearna Shaw: We'll see how
40:17
Natasha Rai: I go.
40:17
Natasha Rai: No, honestly, that was amazing.
40:18
Natasha Rai: Do you have a name for it?
40:20
Leearna Shaw: Title?
40:21
Leearna Shaw: It's called, uh, yep, it's called A Home On Gully Lane.
40:23
Natasha Rai: Oh, Home On...
40:24
Natasha Rai: I like it.
40:25
Natasha Rai: You did really well, considering- Oh.
40:26
Natasha Rai: you had no idea that was coming.
40:28
Leearna Shaw: We'll see.
40:29
Leearna Shaw: We'll see.
40:29
Leearna Shaw: I'll, I'll listen back to it with a glass of wine in hand, I think.
40:33
Natasha Rai: So how are you feeling about it being out, you know, like, I guess it is quite soon after book one.
40:38
Natasha Rai: Mm.
40:38
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
40:39
Natasha Rai: How, how...
40:39
Natasha Rai: What are your feels this time around, going to book two?
40:42
Leearna Shaw: Still terrified.
40:44
Leearna Shaw: Mm.
40:44
Leearna Shaw: Mm.
40:44
Leearna Shaw: Still, still doubting myself, still having those anxieties.
40:48
Leearna Shaw: Um, but I, I, I think I don't have those worries about how it's, you know, how the next few months are gonna look and, and what's gonna happen.
40:57
Leearna Shaw: Now that I've done it once, um, I sort of know the timeline and the schedule.
41:02
Leearna Shaw: Um, but yeah, I, I don't think that worry over it, how it's gonna be received- Yeah by readers is ever gonna go away.
41:10
Leearna Shaw: I'm hoping it does one day, but, um, no, I'm still feeling a little bit- Mm little bit nervous.
41:15
Leearna Shaw: But I do, I do really love this story.
41:18
Leearna Shaw: It's a bit of a love letter to, um, my youth growing up on the Saddle Club and, um, the area that I now call home, um, and the c- wonderful community that welcome me and my family.
41:28
Leearna Shaw: Mm.
41:28
Leearna Shaw: So it's, it's, it's, it means a lot to me, this story, so I do really hope people enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
41:34
Natasha Rai: So given that you were already working on it when you were still in publicity mode for, um, your first one, what was, what was it like working on a second book, like, in terms of even, like, writing wise?
41:47
Leearna Shaw: So I had written this quite a few years ago.
41:50
Leearna Shaw: Okay.
41:50
Leearna Shaw: Um, that's the benefit of taking so long to get published, that I have all these manuscripts uh, ready to go.
41:56
Leearna Shaw: So, um, I had written that a while ago.
41:59
Leearna Shaw: I did know it would need a, a major read-through write, and it did end up going through two structurals, and it was just...
42:04
Leearna Shaw: It was, as I said at the start of the episode when I, when you asked us to pitch, um, my first book, it's, it's keeping, you know, those characters from, um, you know, a farm in Golden Clouds in my head during my talks, but also going straight back to my computer and then jumping into the head for, um-
42:21
Natasha Rai: Mm
42:21
Leearna Shaw: the heads of the characters in A, A Home On Gully Lane.
42:24
Leearna Shaw: So it was that...
42:25
Leearna Shaw: It's a, it's a, it was a bit of a balancing act.
42:28
Leearna Shaw: Um, but yeah, again, it's, it's just been so much fun.
42:31
Leearna Shaw: It's, it's just been wonderful.
42:34
Natasha Rai: Amazing.
42:35
Natasha Rai: And so did you go through both your structures with the publisher, or did you do one on your own and then, yeah
42:40
Leearna Shaw: No, I did- Okay I went through both with my publisher- Yeah and my editor, so that was, that was, yeah, that was lucky.
42:44
Leearna Shaw: I did know, um, going into it that it would need that, so it wasn't a huge- Mm shock.
42:50
Leearna Shaw: Um- Mm but it, it was a quite a bit of work.
42:52
Leearna Shaw: So, um, it's all the better for it now.
42:55
Natasha Rai: Excellent.
42:56
Natasha Rai: I can't wait for it to be out.
42:57
Natasha Rai: So soon.
42:58
Leearna Shaw: It is.
42:59
Natasha Rai: Um, what about you, Sophie?
43:00
Natasha Rai: Like, I don't wanna ask what are you working on,'cause, you know, we all hate that question.
43:04
Natasha Rai: But what are you up to now, and what are you thinking- But what am I
43:07
Sophie Stern: working on?
43:07
Sophie Stern: Yeah.
43:08
Natasha Rai: What, what are you thinking No, what are you thinking about?
43:10
Natasha Rai: What's, what's taking up your Fridays?
43:13
Sophie Stern: So I am working on my second book, and I am being gloriously inefficient about it.
43:19
Sophie Stern: It is just so nice to be back in the writing space, and I don't have a dead- deadline, I don't have a second book deal, which is just lovely, I have to say- Mm.
43:29
Sophie Stern: Mm to be able to just spend time noodling around, and I'm really excited by the idea for book two, and I feel really I feel really energized about writing something better.
43:43
Sophie Stern: Like, I'm really proud of my first book, but I'm also, like, really ready to write something new and different and to push myself, um, in a different direction.
43:52
Sophie Stern: So I'm just, I have to say, loving the space now that the sort of real intensity of launch is, is gone.
43:59
Sophie Stern: Um, just enjoying- Mm writing and reconnecting with that is amazing.
44:05
Natasha Rai: And what are you noticing that might be different from the writing of this to when you wrote your first?
44:12
Sophie Stern: I think there's less anxiety around it.
44:15
Sophie Stern: It, the write- like, it's still hard.
44:18
Sophie Stern: Like, it's not pouring out of me.
44:19
Sophie Stern: Mm.
44:19
Sophie Stern: It's still a lot of hard work, but I think when I was writing the first book, I was asking myself, could I write a novel, and also, could I get it published?
44:28
Sophie Stern: And now I know that both of those things are possible.
44:33
Sophie Stern: That's sort of t- taken away that worry, and it's just created more head space for me to just play with it and explore.
44:42
Sophie Stern: Um, so I think that's the main difference for me.
44:45
Natasha Rai: Mm.
44:45
Natasha Rai: And is the actual process that you're using similar or different to...?
44:50
Sophie Stern: Um, it w- I, I thought it was gonna be different.
44:53
Sophie Stern: I thought I'd nailed it.
44:54
Sophie Stern: Um, so I- you know, was going into it sort of planning and being quite, um, structured about it, and doing a spreadsheet, and mapping out all my beats, and then I realized it was sort of dead on arrival and completely changed the story.
45:09
Sophie Stern: Like, pulled out one tiny snippet from that story, and I've just gone back to my original process, if we can call it that, which is mess and vomit on the page, and just finding the story through discovery.
45:21
Sophie Stern: So, um, yeah.
45:23
Sophie Stern: That's, that's the process.
45:25
Natasha Rai: Wow, that's really interesting.
45:26
Natasha Rai: Um, wow.
45:28
Natasha Rai: We'll talk about that more offline.
45:29
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
45:29
Natasha Rai: Um, what about you, Anessa?
45:31
Natasha Rai: What are you thinking about?
45:32
Natasha Rai: What's taking up your kind of creative space at the moment?
45:35
Inessa Jackson: Um, a bit like Sophie, I don't have a second book contract.
45:38
Inessa Jackson: I'm just gonna put yet in brackets for both of us.
45:41
Inessa Jackson: Um, I'm aiming towards having the second book in the Anastasia Brown series, um, published one day.
45:49
Inessa Jackson: I have a draft that I'm rewriting, and I'm not sure if it's completely crazy, but it was the w- it was one that did really well in the Banjo Prize, and the ASE- ASA HQ prize.
46:00
Natasha Rai: Mm-hmm.
46:01
Inessa Jackson: Shortlisted for both, so there's something there.
46:03
Inessa Jackson: There's like, you know, um, I got really good feedback, so I'm working through that.
46:07
Inessa Jackson: And I'm making it Ana's story now, so it's sort of her Genesis story.
46:12
Inessa Jackson: She goes home, um, and there's a murder in her hometown, so pretty accepted sort of, um, genre trope.
46:19
Inessa Jackson: Mm.
46:20
Inessa Jackson: But, um, yeah, it's really fun.
46:21
Inessa Jackson: Like Sophie said as well, um, it's loose.
46:24
Inessa Jackson: The, I'm just noodling through it.
46:25
Inessa Jackson: It's fantastic, actually.
46:26
Inessa Jackson: There isn't that, that pressure.
46:28
Inessa Jackson: Um, there's just me, and it's like a big canvas, and I'm just chucking paint on it, and yeah.
46:33
Inessa Jackson: I'm into draft two, so it's fun.
46:35
Natasha Rai: And how long had it been since you had last looked at it when, before you went back to it?
46:40
Inessa Jackson: Oh, a long time.
46:42
Inessa Jackson: Like, um, probably four years now.
46:46
Natasha Rai: Oh, wow.
46:46
Natasha Rai: Okay.
46:47
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
46:47
Inessa Jackson: So it's, it's great,'cause I can read it like someone else wrote it.
46:51
Inessa Jackson: It's like, ooh, wow, okay.
46:52
Inessa Jackson: Some bits are really good, and some bits are just so tragically bad it's not funny.
46:56
Inessa Jackson: Um, but both, you know, some stay, some go.
46:59
Inessa Jackson: And I just, I just write over the, the scene.
47:01
Inessa Jackson: I think I read it.
47:02
Inessa Jackson: Um, I know what I wanna keep and where it's going, and then I just go through and write over it.
47:06
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, it's good.
47:07
Inessa Jackson: I'm really enjoying it, actually.
47:08
Inessa Jackson: It's fun.
47:09
Natasha Rai: I think that, you know, of the benefit of time is just incredible, like how much you can see in your own work-
47:16
Inessa Jackson: Yeah
47:16
Natasha Rai: if you can leave.
47:17
Natasha Rai: And, and especially years apart, like it's just incredible the things you find and you can notice.
47:22
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
47:23
Inessa Jackson: It is.
47:24
Inessa Jackson: It is- Yeah actually.
47:24
Inessa Jackson: It's wonderful.
47:25
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
47:25
Natasha Rai: And as you said, it's, it is like reading someone else's work.
47:28
Natasha Rai: And parts of it, I don't know, I hope you've had this experience, where you're like,"Wow, I'm pretty good at that."
47:32
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
47:33
Natasha Rai: And parts, yes, of course, you're like,"Oh my God, I've gotta change that." But, you know, that, it's really lovely when you see your own work and you're like,"Oh, you know, that's actually not bad."
47:42
Inessa Jackson: It's all right.
47:42
Inessa Jackson: Mm.
47:42
Inessa Jackson: Yeah, that's true.
47:43
Natasha Rai: Exactly.
47:44
Inessa Jackson: You know.
47:44
Inessa Jackson: Good moment.
47:45
Natasha Rai: So given that it's been a few months for all of you since your, um, novels came out, how do you feel about your debut novels now?
47:53
Inessa Jackson: Good.
47:53
Inessa Jackson: I'll go first.
47:54
Inessa Jackson: Yeah.
47:55
Natasha Rai: Mm-hmm.
47:55
Inessa Jackson: Pretty good.
47:56
Inessa Jackson: I've not looked at Goodreads.
47:58
Inessa Jackson: I've avoided that- Good like the plague.
48:00
Inessa Jackson: Mm-hmm.
48:00
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah.
48:01
Inessa Jackson: Um, but the reviews that came through were, were, they were positive, and people have said they like it and sent me messages, and yeah, I'm, I'm believing them, so I'm happy with it.
48:11
Inessa Jackson: I think it was, it was a decent book.
48:13
Inessa Jackson: Gave it a good go, and yeah, I'm not sure where it'll go.
48:16
Inessa Jackson: Into a movie, if anyone's listening.
48:18
Inessa Jackson: Um.
48:19
Inessa Jackson: Be with it.
48:20
Inessa Jackson: It's good.
48:21
Natasha Rai: Excellent
48:23
Leearna Shaw: Yeah, I'm, I'm so proud of my little book.
48:26
Leearna Shaw: I d- I shouldn't say little, it's, um, not so little.
48:29
Leearna Shaw: But, um, you know, it was the one that taught me how to become an author.
48:35
Leearna Shaw: Not just a writer, but how to become an author.
48:38
Leearna Shaw: Um, and it was the one that, you know, really made me sit down, buckle up, and make this happen.
48:45
Leearna Shaw: And it was just I just love the story still.
48:48
Leearna Shaw: I still, you know, I still enjoy it, and I still love when people come up to me and say,"Oh, I loved Indy and Ben's story so much." Um, so look, uh, you know, um, whether the reviews are, are good or bad, I, I'm, I'm still thrilled with it.
49:02
Leearna Shaw: I still When I see it I still get a little, you know, I still get a little thrill and a, a little smile on my face, so.
49:08
Natasha Rai: Good.
49:08
Leearna Shaw: But it- Good you do definitely It is nice to see some of my writing now and the, the new stuff that I'm working on, and see that development, I think.
49:16
Leearna Shaw: Mm.
49:16
Leearna Shaw: Like, when you think that I wrote this six years ago, the first draft, um, it, it is nice to, to know that I am getting, I am improving, I think.
49:26
Natasha Rai: For sure.
49:26
Natasha Rai: Of course you are.
49:27
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
49:28
Natasha Rai: How about you, Sophie?
49:29
Sophie Stern: Yeah, I think I Going back to what you said about the benefit of time, you know, you I look at my book now and I It's not that I feel detached from it, but it I feel less invested in it than I did when it first came out, which is actually a really nice feeling.
49:45
Sophie Stern: It's more It's sort of like looking at your child and being like,"Yeah," like,"I'm proud of you." And like, maybe there's things I wouldn't do now, but, um, um, yeah.
49:56
Sophie Stern: It, it is just a sense of pride, and I guess kindness towards myself that I did that.
50:03
Sophie Stern: But I, I just don't think about it a lot as well.
50:06
Sophie Stern: Like, I'm just so invested in moving on to the next one- Mm and doing better.
50:11
Sophie Stern: Like Liarna said, like, it's so satisfying to see how you're improving as well, and pushing yourself to do new stuff or different stuff or better stuff.
50:21
Sophie Stern: Um-
50:21
Natasha Rai: Yeah
50:22
Sophie Stern: yeah.
50:23
Natasha Rai: And I think every time we write something new, even if we're just tinkering or it doesn't go anywhere, we're just polishing and getting better-
50:30
Sophie Stern: Yeah,
50:30
Natasha Rai: definitely at our craft, right?
50:31
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
50:31
Sophie Stern: Absolutely.
50:33
Natasha Rai: So that's been an amazing conversation.
50:35
Natasha Rai: Thank you so much for joining me.
50:36
Natasha Rai: But before we go, as, as you know, I'm gonna ask you all for each of your, your top tips or tip for emerging writers.
50:44
Natasha Rai: Um, so whoever has one can jump in.
50:46
Leearna Shaw: I think just take the pressure off.
50:49
Leearna Shaw: Um, you know, if you are publishing your first novel or sort of, you know, um, looking towards that space, I, I, I- I wish I hadn't put so much pressure on myself to get it right the first time.
51:01
Leearna Shaw: Um, you know, it is We're called debut authors for a reason.
51:05
Leearna Shaw: We're going through this for the first time, so I was holding myself to stand- you know, to a standard that you might expect from someone who's done this for the past 20 years.
51:13
Leearna Shaw: Um, which is ridiculous because I'd go to book launches and book talks from authors, from debut authors, and I would never expect them to be, you know, perfect and, and, and, um, you know, wonderful public speakers.
51:26
Leearna Shaw: You know, I, I would never hold them to that standard.
51:28
Leearna Shaw: So it was, don't hold yourself to that standard.
51:31
Leearna Shaw: Just be A- as Sophie said, just be kind to yourself.
51:34
Natasha Rai: Great tip.
51:35
Natasha Rai: Thank you
51:36
Sophie Stern: I have two practical tips, which I wrote down'cause I was thinking about it before.
51:41
Sophie Stern: Excellent.
51:42
Sophie Stern: Um, plan to do something on your launch day, no matter how small, but I think because it is this weird anticlimactic day, you need to arrange to do something.
51:53
Sophie Stern: And then the other tip that I found really helpful was listening to other author interviews in the lead-up to my launch, both to get a sense of, you know, the type of questions, but also to learn how to talk about your book, and because it's not a time to be shy or coy.
52:09
Sophie Stern: Like, you do have to articulate it and sell it and be proud of it.
52:14
Sophie Stern: So I found it helpful to, to hear other authors, how they spoke about their book.
52:20
Natasha Rai: Beautiful.
52:20
Natasha Rai: Thank you.
52:21
Inessa Jackson: I would say, um, start networking early, and not in a superficial way, but in a Like, the You guys know the writing community is just so beautiful.
52:30
Inessa Jackson: Got the best people in it, and you can get such joy from spending time with them, talking about all our favorite books and writing.
52:36
Inessa Jackson: Um, but the benefit also comes in the marketing phase when you do realize you've, you've met and become friendly with the editor of the Woman's Day book review section, and that's a pretty cool feeling when you get a- a go there.
52:49
Inessa Jackson: Um, yeah.
52:51
Inessa Jackson: So you can do it on Instagram as well, become connected with Bookstagrammers, readers and writers.
52:55
Inessa Jackson: Go for your genre.
52:56
Inessa Jackson: Um, there's just lots of people out there to meet and network with and, um, yeah, and become friends with and But then also maybe they are the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.
53:06
Inessa Jackson: You never know, so.
53:08
Natasha Rai: Excellent tips.
53:09
Natasha Rai: Thank you.
53:10
Natasha Rai: And, um, I w- I actually had a look just before we started recording, so you should all go back and see what you said for your first tips,'cause they're quite different now.
53:20
Inessa Jackson: Oh, I'll go.
53:21
Inessa Jackson: Interesting.
53:21
Inessa Jackson: Okay.
53:22
Natasha Rai: Yeah.
53:22
Inessa Jackson: Ooh.
53:23
Natasha Rai: Babies.
53:24
Natasha Rai: Well, it just I, I think I really This is why I, I really like this, having this, you know, double kind of before and after chat because, I don't know, just even the, in the shorter space of time, something significant has happened for all of you, and it just really I don't know, it just really shows how much changes and how much our outlook changes and how much we might start to see things in a slightly different way.
53:48
Natasha Rai: So, um, I really enjoyed it.
53:50
Natasha Rai: Um, but thank you so much, Lianna Shaw, Sophie Stoner and Nessa Jackson for joining me for our Debut Crew 26 panel part two.
53:59
Inessa Jackson: Thank you.
53:59
Inessa Jackson: Thank you.
53:59
Inessa Jackson: It's been wonderful.
54:00
Inessa Jackson: Thank
54:00
Natasha Rai: you.
54:00
Natasha Rai: Thank you.
54:01
Natasha Rai: And good luck with all of your books, regardless of where you are in the process.
54:06
Inessa Jackson: Thank you.
54:06
Inessa Jackson: Thanks
54:07
Natasha Rai: so much.
54:07
Natasha Rai: Thanks,
54:08
Leearna Shaw: it's a pleasure.
54:12
Tina Strachan: Thank you for listening to the book Deal podcast.
54:15
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54:20
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54:29
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54:32
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