More than 70 books published by AWC alumni and presenters in 2020!

There are a lot of adjectives you could use to describe the year that was 2020, but our favourite is ‘superlative’. Why? Because so many of our amazing alumni and priceless presenters have been published, some for the first time.

In fact, 2020 saw more than 70 books come out with an AWC name on the cover!

Our alumni and presenters have been published across every genre you can think of, including picture books, middle grade and young adults, historical fiction, thrillers and crime, romance, travel, philosophy and absolutely everything in between.

Here are some notable novels from our glamorous graduates. (It’s 2020, you can be glamorous in your pyjamas.)

• Adept A.L. McDonnell explored the sci fi genre with her novel Abandoned in Exile.
• Amazing Astrid Scholte followed up her award-winning debut with the action-packed The Vanishing Deep.
• Brilliant Bexy McFly delighted cat lovers with PUSSWEEK: A Cat’s Guide to Feline Empowerment.
• Disarming Dinuka McKenzie’s Flood Debris won the Banjo Prize for 2020.
• Jazzy J. E. Gaulton published her historical fiction novel Our Tom.
• Fantastic Frances Chapman struck gold with her debut YA novel Stars Like Us.
• Incredible Ingrid Alexandra launched her thriller Across the Water.
• Jovial Jenna Guillaume delighted YA readers with You Were Made For Me.
• Jubilant Joanna Nell added to her run of bestselling novels with The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home.
• Joyful Julie Sprigg made leaps and bounds with Small Steps: A Physio in Ethiopia.
• Luscious Linda King launched The Smart Travelista’s Guide: Finding the best travel bargains & managing your budget.
• Playful PJ Mayhem charmed readers with Call Me Kismet.
• Majestic Mark Rutherford coolly delivered his climate change thriller Volcanic Winter.
• Marvellous Melanie Duffy reached epic proportions with I Am Lilith.
• Noteworthy Nicole Kelly published her debut Lament.
• Nimble Nicole Webb let her hair down with China Blonde.
• Popular Penelope Janu delighted us with The Six Rules of Christmas.
• Phenomenal Petronella McGovern gave thriller lovers a lesson with The Good Teacher.
• Redoubtable Rach Ranton explored leadership with Dauntless.
• Radiant Rachel Givney travelled through time with Jane in Love.
• Scintillating Sandie Docker published her fourth novel, taking us to The Banksia Bay Beach Shack.
• Sizzling Sandy Barker swept us away with That Night in Paris and A Sunset in Sydney plus The Christmas Swap.
• Sensational Sarah Bacaller explored faith and friendship in The Fault Lines Founding Liberty.
• Superstar Sarah Clutton made us all keep The Daughter’s Promise.
• Silvery Sarah Epstein thrilled us to the core with Deep Water.
• Skilful Sonya Bates released her gripping debut Inheritance of Secrets.
• Spirited Susan Francis took readers on a journey to find The Love that Remains.
• Talented Tania Blanchard followed up her bestselling novels with the fabulous Letters from Berlin.
• Tantalising Theresa Miller spun a heart-stopping tale with The Spin Doctor’s Wife.

Our awesome alumni have also written a bevy of books for younger readers. Here are some smashing successes.

• Bodacious Brooke Graham tackles childhood anxiety with Go Away, Worry Monster! 
• Shining Charlotte Barkla published three books! The empowering picture book All Bodies are Good Bodies, and two new chapter books Edie’s Experiments: How to make friends and Edie’s Experiments 2: How to be the best.
• Charming Chelsea Davies released her picture book Come Home Ella.
• Fabulous Felicity McVay brought out The Boy Who Burped.
• Joyous James Antoniou heralded his Hedgehog Heart.
• Jolly Judith Gurvich found a home for When Joanie Came to Stay.
• Captivating Krys Saclier won fans with Vote 4 Me.
• Marvellous Maggie Hutchings tackled issues big and small, with I Saw Pete and Pete Saw Me and Your Birthday Was the BEST!
• Mesmerising Mandy Foot illustrated the charming picture book Esmeralda’s Nest.
• Nifty Nat Amoore got us all thinking with The Power of Positive Pranking.
• Passionate Pat Morgan took readers to Africa with Grandma Ugogo’s Zulu Hut.
• Perspicacious Penny Harrison brought us something Extraordinary!
• Rhapsodic Renee Irving Lee sallied forth with Rosie Leads the Way.
• Riveting Rick Foster delightfully asked Why Worry Wally?
• Sensational Seacia Christensen teases out mental health issues in Sarah O’Haira Gets a Knot.
• Soaring Stef Gemmill takes kids on a fantastic journey In My Dreams.
• Vivacious Victoria McKinlay delighted littles with Ribbit Rabbit Robot.
• Vibrant Vikki Conley took us on a fun and unexpected search for The Lost Moustache.

Whew! And don’t even get us started on our presenters! Okay, get us started.

You won’t believe this, but beloved Writing Picture Books presenter Zanni Louise published three books in her Human Kind series: Persistence, Courage, and Honesty.

Tim Harris continued to make kids Laugh Out Loud with Toffle Towers 2: The Great River Race, Toffle Towers 3: Order in the Court, Exploding Endings 2: Dingbats and Lollipop Arms, Exploding Endings 3: Cursed Pants and Cranky Cops and Exploding Endings 4: Screenshots and Laughing Gas.

Sue Whiting, who presents our popular How to Write for Children and Young Adults course, published the absolutely delightful Good Question, a tale told backwards which answers an age-old question, as well as teen mystery novel, The Book of Chance.

Our Director of Creative Writing Pamela Freeman released another extraordinary historical fiction novel, The Charleston Scandal, under the name of Pamela Hart. When she’s not penning brilliant stories, she presents many of our creative writing courses.

Nicole Hayes brought her love of footy to kids books, releasing Ozzy Rules!: AFL Little Legends #1 and Taking Sides: AFL Little Legends #2. Nicole is one of our amazing presenters for Creative Writing Stage 1.

It’s no secret that Natasha Lester can tell a great tale – and her latest is The Paris Secret. Learn Natasha’s (industry) secrets with Pitch Your Novel: How to Attract Agents and Publishers and 2 Hours to Scrivener Power.

Our talented Crime and Thriller Writing presenter L.A. Larkin published Prey, an action-packed thriller that has readers raving!

Lesley Gibbes continues to delight littlies, this time with her charming picture book Three Little Mermaids. If you want to learn how she captivates the imagination of younger readers, check out her course Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 year olds.

Bestselling author Kate Forsyth turned her literary light on little known fairy tales in Snow White, Rose Red and Other Tales of Kind Young Women. And with her sister Belinda Murrell, she published Searching for Charlotte: The Fascinating Story of Australia’s First Children’s Author – who just happens to be their great-great-great-great grandmother! If you want to tap into some of Kate’s magic, she presents History, Mystery and Magic, The Story Doctor and Plotting and Planning.

Writing Picture Books presenter Judith Rossell doesn’t just write books for kids – she’s also a prolific illustrator with more than 80 books to her name! Her latest is Pink! with text by Margaret Wild about a dinosaur who just wants to fit in. She also released Play With Your Plate, a fun book that allows kids to play with their food without getting messy.

Crime thriller queen Candice Fox added to her outstanding oeuvre with Gathering Dark, another gripping tale this time set in LA. Candice gets into grisly detail as the presenter of our unique course Anatomy of a Crime: How to Write About Murder.

Angela Slatter released her stunning collection of vignettes, Red New Day & Other Microfictions, proving once again that she is a master of fantasy and horror. Angela presents our creative writing courses such as Write Your Novel. She is also the co-creator of our essential editing course Cut, Shape, Polish: How to edit your own stories.

And last, but certainly not least, A. L. Tait – known to podcast listeners as Allison Tait – released the first book in her new middle grade adventure series The Fire Star: A Maven & Reeve Mystery. Between doing all the things, Allison also presents the Creative Writing Quest for Kids, Build Your Author Platform, and Make Time to Write, as well as several others.

2020 has been a lot of things, and for these published authors it has definitely been extraordinary. Here’s to even more success in 2021.

Are you one of our awesome alumni? Have you had publishing success? Let us know! We LOVE to hear stories of graduates doing great things. 

You can also let us know if you think we missed any adjectives, but we think we got most of them.