Latest / The Book Deal / Book launches, author events and pre-release pressures

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Book launches, author events and pre-release pressures · The Book Deal

• 0:09
  Tina and Madeleine: This is the Book Deal Podcast.
• 0:10
  Tina and Madeleine: Where you will discover the inspiring stories of the authors behind your favourite books.
• 0:15
  Tina and Madeleine: No matter what stage of writing you are at, we've got you covered.
• 0:19
  Tina and Madeleine: I'm Tina Strachan.
• 0:20
  Tina and Madeleine: And I'm Madeleine Cleary.
• 0:21
  Tina and Madeleine: And join us as we pull back the curtain of published authors.
• 0:25
  Tina and Madeleine: One deal at a time.
• 0:29
  Tina and Madeleine: The Book Deal Podcast acknowledges the traditional owners of the land and waters which it's recorded on.
• 0:35
  Tina and Madeleine: And pays respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging.
• 0:43
  Madeleine Cleary: Tina, it's been a month since we've last spoken.
• 0:46
  Madeleine Cleary: It's been ages.
• 0:47
  Tina Strachan: I know it's so long.
• 0:48
  Tina Strachan: I miss our more regular chats.
• 0:51
  Madeleine Cleary: I know, but we did this for a reason because
• 0:53
  Tina Strachan: We're busy.
• 0:55
  Tina Strachan: We're very busy.
• 0:57
  Tina Strachan: But, I have missed our chats, but I've also really enjoyed having Natasha Rai on the show as well.
• 1:04
  Tina Strachan: Ejecting a little bit of, something different, which has been great.
• 1:08
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes, we are big Natasha Rai fans.
• 1:10
  Madeleine Cleary: And, um, and actually Natasha's own episodes are where I'm going to be interviewing Natasha because and Onslaught of Light is coming out and this is Natasha's debut novel.
• 1:20
  Madeleine Cleary: And her episode will be coming out on the 6th of March to coincide with the release of her novel.
• 1:24
  Madeleine Cleary: So I'm very looking forward to that as well.
• 1:27
  Tina Strachan: it's a busy couple of months.
• 1:28
  Tina Strachan: She's busy too.
• 1:29
  Tina Strachan: She's going to be super busy afterwards.
• 1:31
  Madeleine Cleary: She is.
• 1:32
  Tina Strachan: Oh, so yes, a lot has happened, hasn't it?
• 1:34
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay.
• 1:35
  Madeleine Cleary: So let's, let's go back to the start.
• 1:37
  Madeleine Cleary: So, Tina, last time we spoke, I interviewed you about your pathway to publication.
• 1:43
  Madeleine Cleary: You're a few days away from launch.
• 1:47
  Madeleine Cleary: Big, big feels, vibes going on.
• 1:51
  Madeleine Cleary: Tell us, how are you feeling?
• 1:53
  Madeleine Cleary: Probably about three or four weeks, I think, after Neeka and the Missing Case come out.
• 1:58
  Madeleine Cleary: How are you feel three weeks.
• 2:00
  Madeleine Cleary: How are you feeling right now?
• 2:02
  Tina Strachan: Oh, um, maybe sort of just like living a dream a little bit.
• 2:07
  Tina Strachan: I think it's, you know, it's been so busy, but good busy.
• 2:11
  Tina Strachan: Uh, like literally, you know, I've had time off work, but my days have been full still like super busy, but it's just been so fun.
• 2:18
  Tina Strachan: Um,
• 2:19
  Madeleine Cleary: what does a day in a life of a published author look like?
• 2:23
  Tina Strachan: well at the moment I'm, actually doing edits for book two as well.
• 2:27
  Tina Strachan: So there's a bit of that, but it's been up and down and, Yeah.
• 2:31
  Tina Strachan: I mean, so when it first came out, it was that, that was super exciting.
• 2:36
  Tina Strachan: So that day, I don't know, it was all of it.
• 2:38
  Tina Strachan: It was a bit, um,
• 2:40
  Madeleine Cleary: what, okay, so tell us about when you first saw it on the shelf.
• 2:43
  Madeleine Cleary: That would have been the most amazing experience.
• 2:46
  Tina Strachan: and that wasn't until it was out, day two that it was out because on the first day that it was out, like I was a little bit scared because I didn't want to go into any bookshop that just didn't have it.
• 2:56
  Tina Strachan: And then I walk in and I'm like.
• 2:57
  Tina Strachan: My book's not here.
• 2:58
  Tina Strachan: This is so sad.
• 3:00
  Tina Strachan: So, um, but super exciting cause it was, it's in big W.
• 3:04
  Tina Strachan: So I thought surely they'll have stock.
• 3:05
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 3:06
  Tina Strachan: I can count on that.
• 3:07
  Tina Strachan: Um, except my, my youngest child decided that he just didn't want to go to the shops.
• 3:12
  Madeleine Cleary: I remember this message you sent me.
• 3:15
  Tina Strachan: I look, Madeleine, on my release date, I just wanted to walk around like a princess all day.
• 3:19
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 3:20
  Tina Strachan: I wanted to be spoiled.
• 3:22
  Tina Strachan: I want to just to The just living the life.
• 3:25
  Madeleine Cleary: You told me massages, you, you know, beach walks.
• 3:29
  Tina Strachan: Um, and I had a soak, which was nice'cause I, I think it's'cause I just knew what was coming and I was kind of delaying it a little bit.
• 3:36
  Tina Strachan: But prepping myself for it.
• 3:38
  Tina Strachan: So that was nice.
• 3:39
  Tina Strachan: And then, yeah, I mean, like, no one keeps you grounded, like children.
• 3:42
  Tina Strachan: So that just brought me right back down.
• 3:44
  Tina Strachan: But it was still, and then, yeah, and then I wanted to go out, I thought.
• 3:48
  Tina Strachan: I'll take the kids out for dinner, but no, no, I wanted to do that either.
• 3:51
  Tina Strachan: So I was
• 3:51
  Madeleine Cleary: Oh!
• 3:53
  Tina Strachan: checked
• 3:53
  Madeleine Cleary: So wait, did you drag your son into BW?
• 3:56
  Tina Strachan: No, no, I, you know what?
• 3:57
  Tina Strachan: I did it because he was having a little tantrum and I was like, no, you're like killing my vibe now.
• 4:02
  Tina Strachan: This is not how I want to see my book dragging you around trying.
• 4:05
  Tina Strachan: So no, I'm not going to do it.
• 4:07
  Tina Strachan: But that was fine.
• 4:08
  Tina Strachan: And I ended up just, you know, I've got some yummy takeaway and of course some bottles of champagne for at home.
• 4:12
  Tina Strachan: And then I dragged them along the next day, day two.
• 4:16
  Madeleine Cleary: So where did you see it?
• 4:17
  Madeleine Cleary: And tell us about that moment.
• 4:19
  Tina Strachan: local Big W because that's the closest to the school for school pickup.
• 4:23
  Tina Strachan: Um, and yeah, that was, yeah, just so strange and so amazing to just see it sitting on a, on the shelf.
• 4:33
  Tina Strachan: I mean, you know, the, you know, the book quite well by that point, you've seen it, you've held it and, and, um, Yeah.
• 4:39
  Tina Strachan: So it's just this thing that's so familiar to you that, you know, only a few people have ever seen.
• 4:44
  Tina Strachan: And now it's just there on the shelf.
• 4:46
  Tina Strachan: And, and my eldest son was standing in the aisle.
• 4:48
  Tina Strachan: And every time someone walked down, he'd be like, Hey mom, can you please buy me a copy of Neeka and the missing key?
• 4:54
  Tina Strachan: I hear it's really good.
• 4:56
  Tina Strachan: He'd say
• 4:57
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay! He's redeemed himself, then.
• 4:59
  Tina Strachan: No, that was my eldest.
• 5:00
  Tina Strachan: He's he's, he's fully appreciative of, of what that means.
• 5:03
  Tina Strachan: So.
• 5:04
  Tina Strachan: That was pretty funny, but yeah, that was great.
• 5:06
  Tina Strachan: But honestly, just, you know, going, I just, of course, like I did anyway, before my book was published, I'd go into every bookstore that I went past and I still do that.
• 5:16
  Tina Strachan: And now just to see them, there's just incredible.
• 5:19
  Madeleine Cleary: And not just see them yourself, but have everyone who sees them share them on social media as well, because my feed's been full of Neeka and the Missing K, which I love.
• 5:29
  Tina Strachan: it's so nice.
• 5:30
  Tina Strachan: I've been so appreciative of people just because everyone's so excited for you as well, you know, so just taking photos and sharing it and it's just been incredible and, all the bookstores and the booksellers doing an amazing job, you know, making sure she's out there front and center and yeah, it's, it's been, it's been a ride that's for sure.
• 5:48
  Tina Strachan: So, so yeah, it's been a bit up and down and that, that was some pretty fun weeks and everything kind of feels a bit new.
• 5:54
  Madeleine Cleary: I do want to talk, I want to talk about your launch and how you felt during that.
• 5:57
  Madeleine Cleary: But before we do, um, this is something we shared on social media.
• 6:03
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, I went into Dimmicks, Melbourne, so on Collins street.
• 6:07
  Madeleine Cleary: First, the day of, I think I, I must've seen it on the shelf before you did.
• 6:11
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, you did.
• 6:11
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 6:13
  Madeleine Cleary: I was at work and I was like, absolutely.
• 6:16
  Madeleine Cleary: I'm going to go down to Dymocks and see if I can find Tina's book, day one.
• 6:20
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, and it was so, it was amazing.
• 6:23
  Madeleine Cleary: Cause I, I actually asked the lady.
• 6:25
  Madeleine Cleary: Can you point me to it?
• 6:26
  Madeleine Cleary: Dimmix Melbourne's a massive store.
• 6:28
  Madeleine Cleary: I only had a brief amount of time.
• 6:30
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, she pointed me to the shelf.
• 6:33
  Madeleine Cleary: There were two copies on the shelf and I was like, Oh, and so I was like, Oh, I'll just put the two copies as a face out, you know, put it all on display and everything.
• 6:41
  Madeleine Cleary: And I was with my colleague and she's like, Oh, Hey, look at this.
• 6:46
  Madeleine Cleary: And I turn around and there's this giant stack.
• 6:50
  Madeleine Cleary: of Nica and the Missing Key.
• 6:51
  Madeleine Cleary: Huge, huge pile.
• 6:53
  Tina Strachan: my gosh.
• 6:55
  Madeleine Cleary: just got this, like, it wasn't even my book, but I got so proud and I was like, tingles.
• 6:59
  Madeleine Cleary: I'm so excited for you.
• 7:03
  Madeleine Cleary: And so I was, you know, filming content as you do.
• 7:05
  Madeleine Cleary: And then this young girl comes up and she's, you know, maybe eight or nine.
• 7:10
  Madeleine Cleary: And she's like, oh, I'm looking for a book.
• 7:12
  Madeleine Cleary: What should I get?
• 7:13
  Madeleine Cleary: She's talking to a younger brother.
• 7:15
  Madeleine Cleary: And I just like.
• 7:16
  Madeleine Cleary: Here, take this book.
• 7:17
  Madeleine Cleary: This is written by my friend.
• 7:19
  Madeleine Cleary: It's about a girl who lives in a zoo and it's wonderful and I've read it and you'll really love it.
• 7:24
  Madeleine Cleary: And so yeah, she bought it.
• 7:25
  Madeleine Cleary: So, um, yeah, I just, I mean, I felt like I was living the journey.
• 7:31
  Madeleine Cleary: I've been living the journey with
• 7:32
  Tina Strachan: You have,
• 7:33
  Madeleine Cleary: weeks.
• 7:33
  Tina Strachan: you have, you have been living the journey.
• 7:35
  Tina Strachan: Thank you.
• 7:36
  Tina Strachan: Oh, how's those wonderful bookseller skills coming back for you?
• 7:40
  Tina Strachan: Oh yes.
• 7:41
  Tina Strachan: It's like having, it's like having a street team, you know, like everyone's out and they're like, okay, I've saw it here.
• 7:45
  Tina Strachan: Um, I turned it face out for you cause it was spine out.
• 7:49
  Tina Strachan: It's like, thank you.
• 7:50
  Tina Strachan: Good work.
• 7:51
  Tina Strachan: Um, but I do have to say on the face out thing, I actually bought a book the other day, literally just cause it was face out.
• 7:57
  Tina Strachan: Like I just.
• 7:58
  Madeleine Cleary: explain what face out
• 7:59
  Tina Strachan: Yes, yes, yes.
• 8:00
  Tina Strachan: Do you want to explain it?
• 8:01
  Madeleine Cleary: So when you look at a book, when you go into a bookstore and you're looking at the shelf, obviously spine out is where you've got all the little books.
• 8:08
  Madeleine Cleary: And so spine outs generally are for books where you've got two, one or two or three copies.
• 8:14
  Madeleine Cleary: Anything more than that booksellers will try and do a face out.
• 8:17
  Madeleine Cleary: So at least you can see the cover and it's actually creates.
• 8:21
  Madeleine Cleary: more room on the shelf when you can stack them face out.
• 8:25
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, but you tend to only do that when you've got four, five, six copies.
• 8:29
  Madeleine Cleary: Like you said, that's why selling into bookstores, getting your book into bookstores and getting them to buy multiple copies is so important because often it's the cover that sells a book.
• 8:38
  Madeleine Cleary: The cover does matter.
• 8:39
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 8:40
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 8:40
  Tina Strachan: No, I truly like, you know, I was in a bookstore and it can be really overwhelming.
• 8:44
  Tina Strachan: I've managed to go to some really amazing, huge bookstores, which we just don't have here on the Gold Coast.
• 8:49
  Tina Strachan: When I was in Sydney, the other week and
• 8:52
  Madeleine Cleary: Oh, just casually when you're in Sydney.
• 8:54
  Madeleine Cleary: Oh my gosh.
• 8:54
  Madeleine Cleary: We have so much to talk about.
• 8:55
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay.
• 8:56
  Madeleine Cleary: So let's, let's start to talk about your launch.
• 8:59
  Madeleine Cleary: So this actually happened.
• 9:00
  Madeleine Cleary: Was it about a week and a half after your release?
• 9:03
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay.
• 9:04
  Tina Strachan: yes, yes.
• 9:05
  Tina Strachan: So,
• 9:05
  Madeleine Cleary: about the day.
• 9:06
  Tina Strachan: oh, it was, you know, the whole day was just really good and everything just went really well and, I didn't feel really nervous or anything.
• 9:17
  Tina Strachan: I think I was prepared.
• 9:19
  Tina Strachan: Because I, you know, had a fair bit of time to, to prepare for it.
• 9:23
  Tina Strachan: And I had my beautiful friend Kate Foster, who is also a children's book author, be my emcee on the day.
• 9:30
  Tina Strachan: So I knew that together we would be okay.
• 9:33
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, I had like, everyone had jobs.
• 9:35
  Tina Strachan: My family had jobs.
• 9:36
  Tina Strachan: I had my kids.
• 9:37
  Tina Strachan: I was so keen to help.
• 9:39
  Tina Strachan: And it was just super fun.
• 9:40
  Tina Strachan: I had like craft for the kids to keep them entertained because, um, the, my book obviously is called Neeka and the missing key about a missing key.
• 9:48
  Tina Strachan: So I had this little like key ring making, little craft set up for them, which was really And, it was at.
• 9:54
  Tina Strachan: Fleay's cafe, it's called it, which is at, David Fleay's wildlife park here on the Gold Coast.
• 9:58
  Tina Strachan: So it was the most, oh, it was the most perfect backdrop.
• 10:02
  Tina Strachan: You know, you walk in and they have these beautiful snakes there and there was a wild koala in a
• 10:06
  Madeleine Cleary: snakes.
• 10:07
  Madeleine Cleary: Is
• 10:07
  Tina Strachan: snakes.
• 10:08
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 10:08
  Tina Strachan: Big, beautiful, stunning snakes.
• 10:11
  Tina Strachan: And there was a wild koala in the tree right out the front.
• 10:14
  Tina Strachan: I was just like, this is just a sign.
• 10:16
  Tina Strachan: Today's just.
• 10:16
  Tina Strachan: going perfectly, um, which was so amazing.
• 10:20
  Tina Strachan: So, you know, lots of people went into the wildlife park afterwards and had to look around and the venue was just, everything went perfectly.
• 10:26
  Tina Strachan: It was just fun and went smoothly.
• 10:28
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, I was
• 10:30
  Madeleine Cleary: have a Prosecco or a glass of the bubbles?
• 10:32
  Madeleine Cleary: I hope.
• 10:33
  Tina Strachan: you know, you try, but it's super busy because you're talking and I didn't want to have anything until after I, you know, had a chat and you're super busy and trying to say hi to everyone.
• 10:42
  Tina Strachan: And, um, And then someone brought me, yeah, some bubbles and I had like a sip and then I started signing and then I signed for an hour.
• 10:50
  Tina Strachan: I just didn't stop
• 10:52
  Madeleine Cleary: did you forget anyone's name?
• 10:53
  Madeleine Cleary: Because I've heard this is a common.
• 10:57
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 10:57
  Tina Strachan: But I actually had QBD, they're selling books for me and they were so prepared.
• 11:04
  Tina Strachan: I had heard, before.
• 11:05
  Tina Strachan: And so I had brought some post it notes with me and I'd asked a friend to be my post it note person.
• 11:11
  Tina Strachan: So for those people that don't know, a little trick, is If you, if you're in line to get a book signed, if someone can, you know, take your name and put on a postnote, put it on your book.
• 11:22
  Tina Strachan: It is because, uh, whoever is signing your book, there's spelling.
• 11:26
  Tina Strachan: Also some people want it for other people's names, not their own.
• 11:30
  Tina Strachan: But also the author is, who is at the event is so, Overwhelmed and busy and their head is so full that it's, I've heard stories of people forgetting their relatives names.
• 11:43
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 11:44
  Tina Strachan: Or just spelling it wrong.
• 11:46
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, I think I caught myself once where I actually completely left out a word in, you know, I wrote like a, I hope you enjoy niggas wild adventures or something in the book.
• 11:55
  Tina Strachan: And I just completely left out a word, but I I thought I've probably did that five times, but, um, Yeah.
• 12:01
  Tina Strachan: As long as you don't forget your own names, you're probably okay.
• 12:04
  Tina Strachan: But QBD was amazing.
• 12:05
  Tina Strachan: Ava from QBD, she had pens and she had post it notes and she had it all under control anyway.
• 12:10
  Madeleine Cleary: done this before,
• 12:11
  Tina Strachan: she has done this before.
• 12:12
  Tina Strachan: Um, so yeah, everything just went amazingly and, and perfectly.
• 12:16
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, so it was an incredible day.
• 12:18
  Tina Strachan: It was perfect.
• 12:19
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 12:20
  Tina Strachan: And then I felt like it was a bit of a whirlwind after that.
• 12:22
  Tina Strachan: There was lots of social media stuff to come from that.
• 12:26
  Tina Strachan: There was lots of organizing and then, yeah, I went to Sydney the following week, to meet Maraya from HarperCollins, who was incredible and, Max Hamilton, who's the illustrator of the book, met her as well, which was so fun.
• 12:40
  Tina Strachan: I love, I've met Max a couple of times before, but we got to spend the day together and, um, we just spent a whole day going from bookstore to bookstore.
• 12:48
  Tina Strachan: We went to Dimmicks and George Street, which is amazing.
• 12:50
  Tina Strachan: I'd never been there before.
• 12:52
  Tina Strachan: Like,
• 12:52
  Madeleine Cleary: my
• 12:52
  Tina Strachan: like, How many, like three or four store levels or something like that.
• 12:56
  Madeleine Cleary: gorgeous, isn't it?
• 12:58
  Tina Strachan: amazing.
• 12:58
  Tina Strachan: I went back the next day and just spent like an hour in there.
• 13:01
  Tina Strachan: And Harry Hart Hog and Constant Reader and I'm probably gonna say this wrong, kinna, Kuna.
• 13:07
  Tina Strachan: Is that right?
• 13:08
  Tina Strachan: Kinakuna?
• 13:08
  Madeleine Cleary: I think that's how you say it.
• 13:10
  Tina Strachan: That, that is just an amazing shop as well.
• 13:12
  Tina Strachan: So beautiful.
• 13:14
  Tina Strachan: And, um, and also we got to go to the Booktopia offices, which was such a dream.
• 13:21
  Madeleine Cleary: tell me about this because like it's, you always see this and it's kind of like a dream of every author to, to, to have this
• 13:28
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 13:30
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 13:31
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 13:31
  Tina Strachan: And it was, it was pretty surreal and,
• 13:33
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay, so, so tell us about what Booktopia signing is.
• 13:38
  Tina Strachan: Well, so we went to the, I couldn't even tell you what suburb it's in, but it's a little bit out.
• 13:42
  Tina Strachan: And, you walk in and it just looks beautiful and, they have this table, with all your books on it, but also the table is actually signed, like the whole thing's just like got signatures all over it from like anyone that you've ever seen do a Booktopia signing has like signed this
• 14:00
  Madeleine Cleary: Oh, how
• 14:01
  Tina Strachan: which is incredible.
• 14:01
  Tina Strachan: And we got to sign it too, which is really cool.
• 14:04
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 14:05
  Tina Strachan: So I managed to find a little spot and sign that.
• 14:07
  Tina Strachan: And that was amazing.
• 14:09
  Madeleine Cleary: How long did it take to sign all your
• 14:11
  Tina Strachan: Uh, not very long, not very long.
• 14:13
  Tina Strachan: Me, me and Max have it down pat.
• 14:15
  Tina Strachan: We've got a, like, a nice little, um, process.
• 14:18
  Tina Strachan: Cause, cause that's been really cool too to have your illustrator around have double signatures in the book.
• 14:23
  Tina Strachan: It's been really incredible.
• 14:25
  Tina Strachan: But then the highlight actually was going, going to see the, was going to see the little, the robots.
• 14:31
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes! Yes!
• 14:34
  Tina Strachan: them before and um, yeah, they, cause they go and, you know, help collect all the, the books.
• 14:40
  Tina Strachan: So the orders come in and these little robots go off with their little baskets and help collect all the books.
• 14:46
  Tina Strachan: And they have these faces and these names and you stand there and they just all move around you and move around each other.
• 14:51
  Tina Strachan: So it was so cute.
• 14:53
  Tina Strachan: I kind of felt like I wanted to cuddle them, but at the same time it was a bit strange, but yeah, that was like my highlights.
• 14:58
  Tina Strachan: I was just, I'd seen them before and just thought.
• 15:00
  Tina Strachan: How interesting they were.
• 15:01
  Tina Strachan: So, oh, and then the next day we went to Glee Book Club, which I keep, I always hear people talk about and I see people post about, but I'd never been able to go there.
• 15:10
  Tina Strachan: And, um, so that was amazing with Rachel there.
• 15:12
  Tina Strachan: And we did, me and Max did their, their book club that afternoon, which was so cute.
• 15:18
  Tina Strachan: We just hung out and chatted to the kids and we all made our own little zoo, um, craft.
• 15:23
  Tina Strachan: It was so fun.
• 15:24
  Tina Strachan: It was so fun.
• 15:25
  Tina Strachan: It was such a good weekend.
• 15:27
  Tina Strachan: So yeah, it's been busy.
• 15:28
  Madeleine Cleary: Wow, it feels like surreal as well.
• 15:30
  Madeleine Cleary: Like, these are the types of things that are just so fraught, far beyond normal life, isn't it?
• 15:35
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 15:36
  Madeleine Cleary: you out of it.
• 15:37
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 15:37
  Tina Strachan: But like you said, and you, you follow authors and you see them do these amazing things all the time.
• 15:41
  Tina Strachan: And it's like, We're actually doing them.
• 15:43
  Tina Strachan: That's incredible.
• 15:44
  Tina Strachan: So being, very appreciative of, yeah, everything that I've been able to do.
• 15:48
  Tina Strachan: So yes, but now, um, edits for book two,
• 15:52
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes, yes, and so when is book two coming out?
• 15:56
  Tina Strachan: July.
• 15:57
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay, July.
• 15:58
  Madeleine Cleary: It
• 15:58
  Tina Strachan: a little bit of time.
• 15:59
  Madeleine Cleary: It actually must be really difficult to come down because I feel like publicity is a different type of brain power compared with your creative power when you're writing, editing.
• 16:12
  Madeleine Cleary: Has it been difficult to come down from the high to sit down and do the work?
• 16:20
  Tina Strachan: I think I, Yeah, welcomed having the edits come in and it had been so long since I've seen the manuscript, so I was looking forward to that.
• 16:27
  Tina Strachan: But, yeah, it has, it is a bit of a change a yeah, a gear shift because you're kind of running on this high of like, all the publicity and the, all the events and just meeting people and, um, yeah, social media is, yeah, definitely has been taking a bit of time, but I've been grateful to have the time to do that.
• 16:46
  Tina Strachan: Because it's, it's, um, time sensitive too, isn't it?
• 16:50
  Tina Strachan: Like you, you can't, sometimes I'm not particularly quick to post things that I've been up to, but I'm like, I have to do it for this, you know, quite quickly.
• 16:56
  Tina Strachan: So, yeah, no, but it's great.
• 16:58
  Tina Strachan: It's been great.
• 16:58
  Tina Strachan: It's been great to get my head back into the editing space.
• 17:01
  Tina Strachan: So.
• 17:03
  Madeleine Cleary: You're always so good.
• 17:04
  Madeleine Cleary: Have you been able to maintain your writing every day while on publicity?
• 17:09
  Madeleine Cleary: Really?
• 17:10
  Madeleine Cleary: You're amazing.
• 17:11
  Madeleine Cleary: I don't know how you do it.
• 17:12
  Tina Strachan: I think, well, cause I've taken some time off, but it's been really awesome.
• 17:15
  Tina Strachan: I've been able to get into a manuscript that I'd almost finished completely outside of this series.
• 17:21
  Tina Strachan: And, um, I was actually a bit worried if I'd be able to get back into it, but you know what?
• 17:25
  Tina Strachan: I've just written some awesome chapters on that too.
• 17:28
  Tina Strachan: So I feel like I've had my head in a few different places, but, yeah, I'm just trying to make the most of my time.
• 17:33
  Madeleine Cleary: I really admire you, Tina.
• 17:35
  Madeleine Cleary: I don't think I could do that, because that's what I'm struggling with at the moment, is trying to Well, I think the last time we spoke and had this kind of chat was in December.
• 17:46
  Madeleine Cleary: And I thought, I think back then I was like, Oh yes, I'm progressing this manuscript.
• 17:51
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, I've pretty much halfway.
• 17:53
  Madeleine Cleary: If I just keep going, I want to have it done by the end of the year.
• 17:56
  Madeleine Cleary: Well, you know, things end up.
• 17:58
  Madeleine Cleary: It, I haven't really done any work on it since then.
• 18:01
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, and very mindful of that as well.
• 18:04
  Madeleine Cleary: Like it's been a couple of months since I've actually picked it up because I, I find I struggle to actually have two things going at once because there's been so much stuff going on with the butterfly women.
• 18:16
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, in the background, that's taken up a lot of my energy and time.
• 18:22
  Madeleine Cleary: And I really struggled to put anything else towards.
• 18:26
  Madeleine Cleary: Book two that I'm working on at the moment.
• 18:29
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, so I've had to, um, I think come to just sit with that and, and accept that.
• 18:36
  Madeleine Cleary: And at first I was feeling super guilty and bad, but I think, and this is not just for published writers, but for emerging writers as well, things happen in life that you can't control and you can't just, or if creative life pursuits.
• 18:53
  Madeleine Cleary: You need to put your best self into them, put the right energy into it.
• 18:56
  Madeleine Cleary: And I just know that over the last couple of months, I haven't been able to put that right energy to it.
• 19:01
  Madeleine Cleary: So, this book that I'm writing, it's going to be written in the pockets of time, which is very different to how I've written, how I wrote The Butterfly Women, which was over a nice consistent period.
• 19:12
  Madeleine Cleary: Mmm.
• 19:14
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 19:14
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 19:15
  Tina Strachan: I know.
• 19:15
  Tina Strachan: And I guess, well, I guess things are changing now, you know, you're all very close to being a published author and yeah, things will change your writing style, I suppose.
• 19:24
  Tina Strachan: Um, but have you, but you have only just finished your absolute final edits though haven't you?
• 19:31
  Madeleine Cleary: Uh, yeah, literally yesterday.
• 19:33
  Tina Strachan: Yesterday.
• 19:36
  Tina Strachan: Isn't it funny?
• 19:36
  Tina Strachan: Like that's, we put so much pressure on ourselves.
• 19:39
  Tina Strachan: Like that's, so it's, it's not even been 24 hours, Madeleine.
• 19:42
  Tina Strachan: And um, I think, yes, let's, you will find, you'll probably find that time now because you can kind of maybe put a, put a little like stop up now behind.
• 19:55
  Tina Strachan: Behind the butterfly women for a little bit, you know, it's a different kind of work that you're going to do on it now, right?
• 19:59
  Tina Strachan: You're going to work on the promo.
• 20:01
  Tina Strachan: You've
• 20:01
  Madeleine Cleary: Mm hmm.
• 20:02
  Tina Strachan: that, you know, and commitments that you have to do around that, working up to it and your launch, and it's a different kind of work, but it won't be that.
• 20:10
  Tina Strachan: As creatively writing, I don't think.
• 20:13
  Madeleine Cleary: No, no,
• 20:14
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 20:14
  Tina Strachan: So you'll probably, yeah, you'll probably feel like you'll want to get back to work because you do have that space and that outlet.
• 20:20
  Tina Strachan: And yeah, it's funny.
• 20:22
  Tina Strachan: You sound like me.
• 20:22
  Tina Strachan: I get sometimes if I'm not progressing, I like, I get super anxious about it, like, and, and really kind of annoyed, like, Oh, I've still haven't written it.
• 20:31
  Tina Strachan: I must write it.
• 20:32
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, it reminds me of an interview that I did recently on the book deal, um, with, uh, Kirsten Ealand and she had that quote.
• 20:40
  Tina Strachan: I think I used it as our quote on socials.
• 20:41
  Tina Strachan: That was something along the lines of it.
• 20:44
  Tina Strachan: These are self imposed.
• 20:46
  Tina Strachan: Timelines that you're putting on yourself.
• 20:48
  Tina Strachan: No one, yeah, no one else is doing this.
• 20:51
  Tina Strachan: No one else is making you work this hard.
• 20:52
  Tina Strachan: Just, you just got to do what you can.
• 20:55
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, Kirsten, she, she suggested just quitting.
• 21:00
  Tina Strachan: She found if she quit writing for a bit, it would just, you know, the flow would just come back to her anyway.
• 21:06
  Tina Strachan: But, um, yeah, it is, it's all, we're just putting those timelines on ourselves, aren't we?
• 21:10
  Tina Strachan: So,
• 21:11
  Madeleine Cleary: That's right.
• 21:12
  Madeleine Cleary: That's right.
• 21:12
  Madeleine Cleary: And it is, it is definitely self imposed.
• 21:14
  Madeleine Cleary: But, um, I think I hit a point in my writing where I felt stuck.
• 21:22
  Madeleine Cleary: And so, and I tried a couple of times, but it was also, and then it got stuck, but it was also coinciding with lots of other things going on in my personal
• 21:31
  Tina Strachan: Mm hmm.
• 21:31
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 21:32
  Tina Strachan: And I think you can try as much as you want to block that out.
• 21:35
  Tina Strachan: Like I really try to compartmentalize, but I found this and I think this is where you are now in the weeks before, um, launch of the book.
• 21:46
  Tina Strachan: You do have these other deadlines that aren't in self imposed, they are actual, like your book launch is this date and your book is coming out on this date.
• 21:53
  Tina Strachan: Like you're, you, there's nothing you can do to change that.
• 21:56
  Tina Strachan: So sometimes you do need to actually just let that go because these right now is your actual book that is on the shelf that is coming out and people are going to be able to buy it.
• 22:06
  Tina Strachan: And that is, that is where all the energy probably should go in that time.
• 22:12
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes.
• 22:12
  Madeleine Cleary: And it's pretty consuming, this type of energy you have to give to these types of things as well.
• 22:17
  Madeleine Cleary: Like it's, it's really consumed a lot of my thoughts, like normally, you know, in a normal time I'd sort of be thinking about my book and, and, and you sort of, it's a really great time to be able to ponder questions in the book and plot holes and all sorts of things.
• 22:35
  Madeleine Cleary: I'm not doing that.
• 22:36
  Madeleine Cleary: At the moment, it's okay, my to do list.
• 22:38
  Madeleine Cleary: There's 20 things I have to do.
• 22:40
  Madeleine Cleary: How am I going to prioritize this while also working full time social life is a lot at the moment as well.
• 22:48
  Madeleine Cleary: We've, you know, got lots of things going on every weekend.
• 22:51
  Madeleine Cleary: So it's like, how do I sort of plot out that time?
• 22:54
  Madeleine Cleary: So for me, the creative writing has just had to drop in the last two months, and that's been the first time in years that's had to drop.
• 23:01
  Madeleine Cleary: And it's so super sad, but like you said, I've got a focus, I've got the Butterfly Women coming out in two months now, so that has to be my number one focus.
• 23:09
  Madeleine Cleary: And I'm okay with that, like, I've come to that acceptance, I'm just not gonna put that pressure on myself, so.
• 23:15
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 23:15
  Tina Strachan: And it'll come back.
• 23:16
  Madeleine Cleary: imposed deadlines, it will come back.
• 23:18
  Madeleine Cleary: And I'm very happy.
• 23:19
  Madeleine Cleary: Yeah, I'm very excited to get back to it too, but I want to also have a bit of space to get back into it because I'm afraid if I jump back in, in a month's time, it's, it's all going to blow up again.
• 23:32
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 23:32
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 23:33
  Tina Strachan: No, you're right.
• 23:34
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 23:34
  Tina Strachan: And you can't force it.
• 23:36
  Tina Strachan: Hey, it's, it's hard,
• 23:42
  Speaker: I'm Bronwyn Rivers, author of The Reunion, a crime thriller being released by Hachette on the 11th of February 2025.
• 23:50
  Speaker: I was born and grew up in Newcastle, and now I live here in Sydney's inner west with my partner and two children.
• 23:57
  Speaker: The hunting party meets the dry in this tense thriller set in the Australian bush.
• 24:02
  Speaker: The pitch indicates how The Reunion derives from three things I love.
• 24:07
  Speaker: Atmospheric country house mysteries, tense, secret filled psychological thrillers, and the harsh beauty of the Australian bush.
• 24:16
  Speaker: It is set in a fictional location somewhere within the rugged forests of the Greater Blue Mountains region west of Sydney.
• 24:22
  Speaker: A place I visited every year while growing up.
• 24:25
  Speaker: The story.
• 24:27
  Speaker: Ten years ago, six young friends went on a hike into this bushland.
• 24:31
  Speaker: Only five came out alive.
• 24:34
  Speaker: Now, on the tenth anniversary of Ed Fletcher's death, the remaining five friends are reuniting at the home of Ed's mother Martha, a farmhouse lying deep within the forest.
• 24:44
  Speaker: When the friends arrive, the house is in terrible condition and Martha is obviously disturbed.
• 24:50
  Speaker: The weather is very hot and the house is very isolated.
• 24:54
  Speaker: Something is about to go horribly wrong.
• 24:57
  Speaker: What is the truth about Ed Fletcher's death all those years ago?
• 25:01
  Speaker: And how far will someone go in order to get it?
• 25:05
  You
• 25:09
  Tina Strachan: But you have been having a, um, very exciting social life.
• 25:13
  Tina Strachan: You just mentioned, you've, you've been to a few fun things recently.
• 25:17
  Tina Strachan: It's
• 25:21
  Madeleine Cleary: fun last Tuesday night, um, Affirm Press put on, and it was in conjunction with Simon Schuster, um, the, it was Author and Aperol Roadshow, which was to introduce authors from Simon Schuster and Affirm Publishing this year, so it was really fun.
• 25:39
  Madeleine Cleary: That's about 12 authors, I think.
• 25:41
  Madeleine Cleary: And I actually had no idea what to expect.
• 25:45
  Madeleine Cleary: So, um, Christine Newell, who's, um, another debut with Affirm.
• 25:49
  Madeleine Cleary: She's amazing.
• 25:50
  Madeleine Cleary: And I've read her book.
• 25:51
  Madeleine Cleary: I just finished it this morning and it's amazing.
• 25:53
  Madeleine Cleary: Five Seasons and Soul.
• 25:54
  Madeleine Cleary: So I'll be putting a post up on my social media.
• 25:57
  Madeleine Cleary: It comes out on Tuesday this week.
• 25:58
  Madeleine Cleary: So here's a bit of a plug.
• 25:59
  Madeleine Cleary: It, it's amazing.
• 26:01
  Madeleine Cleary: It was such a beautiful book.
• 26:03
  Madeleine Cleary: So Christine and I.
• 26:04
  Madeleine Cleary: We met up beforehand because we thought we'll go into the party together and I was on a
• 26:09
  Tina Strachan: safety in numbers.
• 26:10
  Madeleine Cleary: safety numbers rooftop in Melbourne.
• 26:13
  Madeleine Cleary: We walked up there.
• 26:14
  Madeleine Cleary: It's gorgeous afternoon.
• 26:16
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, and yeah, we didn't really know what to expect, but they had name tags for us, like special author name tags.
• 26:22
  Madeleine Cleary: So there's 12 of us.
• 26:23
  Madeleine Cleary: And then I looked at the, I looked, I didn't know who the other authors were.
• 26:26
  Madeleine Cleary: And I looked and I was like.
• 26:27
  Madeleine Cleary: Brie Lee and Kate Mildenhall, Mark Russell, Matt Rogers, like all these like very big name authors.
• 26:35
  Madeleine Cleary: And, um, and so I was like, Oh, this is cool.
• 26:37
  Madeleine Cleary: And so then they introduced, so they invited a whole bunch of booksellers from around Victoria and it.
• 26:44
  Madeleine Cleary: Instead of doing formal presentations, which is what they do each year, authors will present their books and pitch their books.
• 26:49
  Madeleine Cleary: Instead, it was a bit of a game.
• 26:51
  Madeleine Cleary: So, which was really cool.
• 26:53
  Madeleine Cleary: They had this little passport and, um, booksellers had to approach you when you have your little name tag on, they know you're an author and they have to ask for your pitch and then get your signature in their passport.
• 27:08
  Tina Strachan: oh my gosh.
• 27:10
  Madeleine Cleary: And any bookseller who has all the signatures at the end of the night goes into a draw to win a thousand dollar gift card.
• 27:16
  Tina Strachan: Oh, this is so cool.
• 27:20
  Madeleine Cleary: it's really
• 27:21
  Tina Strachan: idea.
• 27:22
  Madeleine Cleary: So that means that we as authors don't have to awkwardly, especially us debuts who don't.
• 27:27
  Madeleine Cleary: I don't really know many people awkwardly tap people on the shoulder and say, hello, can you please buy my book?
• 27:33
  Madeleine Cleary: So,
• 27:34
  Tina Strachan: That, that is awkward, isn't it?
• 27:36
  Tina Strachan: And even having to do the whole pitch is awkward.
• 27:38
  Tina Strachan: So how many times did you have to do your pitch during the night then?
• 27:40
  Madeleine Cleary: well, I've, and this is the thing, this is the, this, it would, this is why it was so surreal.
• 27:44
  Madeleine Cleary: And I was talking with Kate Mildenhall about this after the event, like it's, um, first time I've actually really.
• 27:50
  Madeleine Cleary: I haven't talked and pitched the book to anybody because the book has been in my little circle, my nice little comfy editorial circle for like the last 18 months.
• 28:00
  Madeleine Cleary: And so I had developed a pitch at lunchtime in my day job.
• 28:06
  Madeleine Cleary: Because I hadn't really had time to think about it.
• 28:08
  Madeleine Cleary: I was like, okay, this will do.
• 28:10
  Madeleine Cleary: And cause I thought I better prepare a pitch.
• 28:12
  Madeleine Cleary: They didn't tell us to, but I thought I better pair one just in case.
• 28:15
  Tina Strachan: work.
• 28:16
  Madeleine Cleary: And yeah.
• 28:16
  Madeleine Cleary: And then, um, when I rocked up with them, I was like, yep.
• 28:18
  Madeleine Cleary: So you'll have a minute to pitch to each of the booksellers.
• 28:21
  Madeleine Cleary: And I was like, okay, cool.
• 28:22
  Madeleine Cleary: Glad I've got that ready.
• 28:24
  Madeleine Cleary: And, um, and so, yeah, so by the end of the night, it's interesting.
• 28:28
  Madeleine Cleary: And Christine and I were chatting about this.
• 28:31
  Madeleine Cleary: At first it was quite stilted the pitch because it was came out of memory.
• 28:35
  Madeleine Cleary: And then by the end of the night, It was, we, you tested it so many times that you got to know when to add in information and insert things and play with things.
• 28:46
  Madeleine Cleary: And it was like quite natural and, and comfortable.
• 28:49
  Madeleine Cleary: And, and thankfully,
• 28:51
  Tina Strachan: the Aperol spritzes as the night went on was certainly helpful for people.
• 28:56
  Madeleine Cleary: it was helpful for some people, but I was in this really also awkward.
• 29:00
  Madeleine Cleary: Oh God, I shouldn't say this on the podcast, TMI, but anyway, everyone knows all my, my bowel
• 29:07
  Tina Strachan: wouldn't be the first time.
• 29:10
  Madeleine Cleary: so, so, and this is, it was hilarious, actually.
• 29:13
  Madeleine Cleary: I, um, had a, had to do a procedure on Thursday last week.
• 29:19
  Madeleine Cleary: And so Tuesday was prepping for this procedure.
• 29:23
  Madeleine Cleary: And so Tuesday, I was meant to take my first laxative.
• 29:31
  Tina Strachan: You were so brave!
• 29:34
  Madeleine Cleary: So
• 29:34
  Tina Strachan: before booksellers and
• 29:37
  Madeleine Cleary: I was meant to take it just before the evening and I thought, I spoke to the pharmacist and I explained, I had a very important event to attend.
• 29:46
  Madeleine Cleary: And she said, I would highly recommend you do
• 29:49
  Tina Strachan: Don't!
• 29:49
  Madeleine Cleary: take it.
• 29:52
  Madeleine Cleary: She's like, if you wait till when you get home, it should be okay.
• 29:55
  Madeleine Cleary: So I was like, okay.
• 29:56
  Madeleine Cleary: So I was not allowed to eat
• 29:58
  Tina Strachan: I'm glad you checked.
• 29:59
  Tina Strachan: It'll be fine.
• 30:04
  Tina Strachan: Surely it'll be okay if I just have one.
• 30:06
  Madeleine Cleary: you imagine?
• 30:07
  Madeleine Cleary: Anyway.
• 30:07
  Madeleine Cleary: So at the event, um, uh, yeah, I was.
• 30:11
  Madeleine Cleary: I couldn't eat or drink anything except for water.
• 30:15
  Madeleine Cleary: And there was all this delicious food and I was so hungry.
• 30:18
  Madeleine Cleary: And this poor, lovely server, she kept coming up with all these different food options for me.
• 30:24
  Madeleine Cleary: And I kept saying, no, uh, no, that's okay, no.
• 30:27
  Madeleine Cleary: And she, I could tell she was getting frustrated.
• 30:29
  Madeleine Cleary: So then she brought this whole other dish for me and she's like, it's not meat.
• 30:33
  Madeleine Cleary: It's cauliflower.
• 30:34
  Madeleine Cleary: Like she must've thought I was a vegetarian.
• 30:36
  Madeleine Cleary: Uh, And I was like, I didn't want to say, oh, I'm not eating because I'm about to.
• 30:43
  Tina Strachan: issue.
• 30:46
  Tina Strachan: Oh, good on her for keeping on trying.
• 30:49
  Madeleine Cleary: I was like, I'm just not eating.
• 30:51
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, so yeah, I was starving.
• 30:54
  Madeleine Cleary: I was so hungry and my, you know, you're trying to like pitch and, and it would have been nice to have a glass of Prosecco or an Aperol.
• 31:01
  Madeleine Cleary: But, um, but no, it was great.
• 31:03
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, I had this one woman, she was so lovely.
• 31:06
  Madeleine Cleary: She beelined after the initial chat, she'd like beelined towards me.
• 31:10
  Madeleine Cleary: And she's like, Sales reps just come into the bookshop to talk about your book.
• 31:13
  Madeleine Cleary: I am so excited.
• 31:15
  Madeleine Cleary: I just wanted to say how excited I am about the Butterfly Women.
• 31:18
  Madeleine Cleary: Very keen to get you on to have to, you know, get you to sign books, do an event, whatever.
• 31:22
  Madeleine Cleary: Like, I was like, oh, I didn't even have to pitch.
• 31:25
  Madeleine Cleary: She's like, you don't need to pitch because I already know what it's about.
• 31:27
  Madeleine Cleary: I'm so excited.
• 31:28
  Madeleine Cleary: Like, I was, it was just this surreal fairy tale night and I was on a high for the rest of the day.
• 31:34
  Madeleine Cleary: So I got home at about 10 30 PM, took my laxative, um, logged in to work at 8 AM the next day.
• 31:42
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 31:43
  Tina Strachan: I, it's, I know what you mean by you feel like it's just in your little comfy editorial sort of enclosed people and for early readers and stuff like that, the only ones, and then all of a sudden people outside, no, and they're talking to you about it and they've read it or they've seen it or there's comment on it.
• 32:00
  Tina Strachan: It's, it's a whole new world and that's very exciting, Madeleine.
• 32:03
  Tina Strachan: It's all just
• 32:04
  Madeleine Cleary: Okay.
• 32:05
  Madeleine Cleary: So I want to ask you, um, because the, the thing that I'm getting the common thing, common thread, I suppose, for all authors before their books come down, so they're quite anxious in the lead up to, but then as soon as the books released, they feel fine.
• 32:22
  Madeleine Cleary: I didn't get the sense from you that you were overly anxious in the lead up.
• 32:26
  Madeleine Cleary: It's that I knew you were very busy, but I don't know if you felt that, but I'm keen to hear what you think.
• 32:32
  Tina Strachan: I don't think I felt anxious.
• 32:34
  Tina Strachan: I think I had the same sort of, um, concerns, I guess that, oh, what if, what if it's just really bad?
• 32:44
  Tina Strachan: What if it's a really bad book?
• 32:47
  Tina Strachan: No one wants to read it.
• 32:48
  Tina Strachan: Um, and I've made a big mistake in this somewhere that somehow no one's picked up, you know, all those things that we all do,
• 32:55
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes.
• 32:56
  Tina Strachan: but that's, that's, I think just.
• 32:58
  Tina Strachan: normal, um, for any author, but I didn't really feel too much anxiety in the lead up.
• 33:04
  Tina Strachan: I just think I was excited.
• 33:06
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, it's been such a long, it's been two years since I signed and I think I was just like, here, we're here.
• 33:12
  Tina Strachan: We're finally here.
• 33:13
  Tina Strachan: so I think it was a different kind of, it was more of an excitement of what's to come.
• 33:17
  Madeleine Cleary: Mm hmm.
• 33:18
  Madeleine Cleary: Mm hmm.
• 33:18
  Tina Strachan: come.
• 33:19
  Tina Strachan: And I just knew, you know, I was pretty excited to have, you know, six weeks off, off work to, to do writery stuff.
• 33:25
  Tina Strachan: And, um, you know, I've got lots of words down and in between, doing all the publicity stuff and just enjoying the ride.
• 33:33
  Tina Strachan: I just really wanted to have that time to enjoy the ride.
• 33:35
  Tina Strachan: So I knew that was all coming and I was just excited, I think for it.
• 33:38
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 33:38
  Tina Strachan: Are you feeling the anxiety Madeleine or?
• 33:41
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, no, I don't feel anxious at the moment.
• 33:43
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, I feel very excited.
• 33:45
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, I had, did have a Bit of a sort of last couple of days, oh, is everything I'm writing really crap.
• 33:52
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, but I've, I've moved past that.
• 33:54
  Madeleine Cleary: I recognize that's just a natural thing for people to think.
• 33:59
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, no, I'm, I'm really, really excited now and it's time is going fast.
• 34:04
  Madeleine Cleary: I didn't quite, I think, I quite, I think last year I was like, Oh, time's going really slowly.
• 34:08
  Madeleine Cleary: It's still end of April, still six months away.
• 34:10
  Madeleine Cleary: And then suddenly it's like, Oh, okay.
• 34:12
  Madeleine Cleary: We're two months out now.
• 34:13
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 34:13
  Tina Strachan: I, I felt the same and I don't know if it was because there was Christmas in the last and all that sort of thing in the last month before it came out, but it just, that all of a sudden it was just here and it's out and it just flies.
• 34:23
  Tina Strachan: And it's been out for three weeks now, you know, that's, um, that's pretty crazy, you
• 34:29
  Madeleine Cleary: So what does your next few weeks look like then?
• 34:32
  Madeleine Cleary: So you've still got the time of work, so you've got, and you've got book two edits.
• 34:35
  Madeleine Cleary: Do you have other Neeka and Missing Key events?
• 34:38
  Tina Strachan: I do and I have one this weekend and that's exciting because this episode will be um, aired when there's still a couple of days to go.
• 34:45
  Tina Strachan: So if anyone's in Brisbane, uh, and would like to come to, I'm actually having a Brisbane launch as well at Where the Wild Things Are and in Brisbane and that's on this Saturday, which is the 1st of March and it's at 10am.
• 35:01
  Tina Strachan: And, um, yeah, we'll put the link in the show notes, but where the wild things are, lots of people know what it is.
• 35:06
  Tina Strachan: It's right next to Avid Reader,
• 35:08
  Madeleine Cleary: Mm
• 35:08
  Tina Strachan: In Brisbane and, it's an incredible kid's bookstore and the team there are amazing.
• 35:14
  Tina Strachan: And yeah, come along, we'll be there.
• 35:16
  Tina Strachan: There'll be cupcakes.
• 35:17
  Tina Strachan: There'll be key ring making.
• 35:18
  Tina Strachan: There'll be, there'll be my animal game called, who's food and who's poo.
• 35:23
  Tina Strachan: There's two parts to it.
• 35:25
  Tina Strachan: Super fun.
• 35:27
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 35:27
  Tina Strachan: So, so that's what's happening this weekend.
• 35:30
  Tina Strachan: And then, you know, um, returning back to work the following weekend.
• 35:33
  Tina Strachan: So I feel like, uh, everything will just sort of settle into the new normal,
• 35:39
  Madeleine Cleary: hmm.
• 35:39
  Tina Strachan: we're working, um, edits are due at the end of this week, so I'll get them in and, you know, just work towards book two in July.
• 35:46
  Madeleine Cleary: So exciting.
• 35:46
  Madeleine Cleary: I can't believe it.
• 35:47
  Madeleine Cleary: July, another one.
• 35:49
  Madeleine Cleary: You're going through all this again.
• 35:50
  Tina Strachan: I know.
• 35:51
  Tina Strachan: Hey, you know, what else exciting that's happening in July for all our listeners is, the CYA conference.
• 35:57
  Tina Strachan: Um, is,
• 35:58
  Madeleine Cleary: everyone will know about this if you've been listening to the podcast for a while.
• 36:01
  Tina Strachan: yes, they've just released a whole new round of, editors and agents from all the different houses, for assessments.
• 36:09
  Tina Strachan: So you can, book in to, um, get assessments from many, many different, publishing houses and, and editors and agents as well.
• 36:18
  Tina Strachan: So, and they book out really quickly.
• 36:20
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 36:21
  Madeleine Cleary: Get onto that, everybody.
• 36:22
  Madeleine Cleary: Very, very.
• 36:24
  Madeleine Cleary: Are you going to be part of the assessing crew, Tina?
• 36:27
  Tina Strachan: No, but I'm going to be a presenter there because I'm a CYA success story.
• 36:32
  Tina Strachan: They call it.
• 36:33
  Tina Strachan: Um, so yeah, I'll be presenting.
• 36:36
  Tina Strachan: So the conference is in July as well.
• 36:38
  Tina Strachan: So that's very exciting.
• 36:39
  Madeleine Cleary: amazing.
• 36:40
  Madeleine Cleary: Amazing.
• 36:41
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, I'm so excited and we've, we've been having some fun chats as well in the interim with, um, some of our day 20, 25 debuts, we've had some great releases coming out this year, the start of this year, so.
• 36:54
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, yeah, we really encourage everyone to, to support, you know, your Australian debut authors.
• 37:00
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, and if you do enjoy their book, share it on social media, um, tell them about it.
• 37:05
  Madeleine Cleary: Cause it's just, you know, I know from your experience, it's just great, isn't it?
• 37:09
  Madeleine Cleary: To hear from, from readers.
• 37:11
  Tina Strachan: It's so nice.
• 37:11
  Tina Strachan: Honestly, that's the, that was probably the most exciting part of launch day.
• 37:15
  Tina Strachan: Just having my phone just constantly, like someone's shared another reel.
• 37:19
  Tina Strachan: Cause I've, you know, they've seen the book in the store and, and just knowing how excited everyone is.
• 37:25
  Tina Strachan: Um, so also, yes, if you do see the debut crew books on the shelves, make sure to turn them cover out.
• 37:30
  Tina Strachan: So I
• 37:33
  Madeleine Cleary: a list of our debut books as well.
• 37:36
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, so Natasha.
• 37:38
  Madeleine Cleary: Um, on the podcast, um, actually has a newsletter, um, that she releases every month with a little bit of a Q and a, um, with all of our debut authors for this year.
• 37:48
  Madeleine Cleary: So definitely sign up to that.
• 37:51
  Tina Strachan: And fellow Debut crewer, Holly Braunbauer, if you follow her on Insta, she does, monthly updates as well of everybody's books that are coming out in that month.
• 38:02
  Tina Strachan: So that's, that's a really good way of keeping on top of, the Debut crew for this year and finding some new reads and a new author maybe to follow.
• 38:10
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes, do we really encourage it?
• 38:12
  Madeleine Cleary: So, um, and I, we had the debut panel interview last week as well with some of our amazing crew.
• 38:18
  Madeleine Cleary: So, um, it was great chat and perhaps.
• 38:21
  Madeleine Cleary: Panel chats are a way forward for the book deal.
• 38:24
  Madeleine Cleary: I think it was really fun.
• 38:25
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 38:26
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 38:26
  Tina Strachan: It's definitely fun.
• 38:27
  Tina Strachan: Uh, yeah.
• 38:27
  Tina Strachan: I think we're going to do a kid lit one soon as
• 38:29
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes!
• 38:30
  Tina Strachan: keep an ear out or eye out for that one.
• 38:33
  Tina Strachan: Um, yeah, very soon.
• 38:35
  Madeleine Cleary: Amazing.
• 38:36
  Tina Strachan: Oh, so great to catch up with you, Madeleine.
• 38:40
  Madeleine Cleary: it's been too long, Tina, and um, I'm just so thrilled for you on your success.
• 38:45
  Madeleine Cleary: And from all of the sounds, it sounds like your book's flying, which is amazing when I've been turning to booksellers.
• 38:51
  Madeleine Cleary: So we are so happy for you, Tina.
• 38:53
  Tina Strachan: Oh, thanks.
• 38:54
  Tina Strachan: That's so exciting.
• 38:55
  Tina Strachan: But I'm, I'm very excited to follow you in these next few months before the butterfly women come out.
• 39:00
  Madeleine Cleary: Yes.
• 39:01
  Madeleine Cleary: And we will be talking before then.
• 39:04
  Madeleine Cleary: And, um, you will be interviewing me as well, I
• 39:07
  Tina Strachan: Oh! I am so excited for this! When do I get my arc?
• 39:12
  Madeleine Cleary: Yeah, that's right.
• 39:13
  Madeleine Cleary: Well, I've just finished the, uh, proofread.
• 39:15
  Madeleine Cleary: So,
• 39:16
  Tina Strachan: Okay, send it over! I'm excited.
• 39:21
  Madeleine Cleary: all right.
• 39:22
  Madeleine Cleary: Lovely to chat.
• 39:23
  Madeleine Cleary: It was always, you know,
• 39:24
  Tina Strachan: Same for you, bye!
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the book deal podcast.
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the pod so you can receive updates as soon as our new apps drop.
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: And to keep up to date with what the pod is doing, you can also find us on Instagram.