Polly Phillips currently lives in Australia, although she is originally from the UK. She’s the author of The Reunion and My Best Friend’s Murder, which won the Montegrappa Writing Prize at the Emirates Literature Festival in 2019. Polly has also worked as a journalist in Australia, Dubai, Denmark and the
By Ellie Marney About ten years ago, I watched a BBC Television production called The Bletchley Circle, an historical drama about four women who worked as codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII, and how they regroup a decade after the war to solve a mystery. I was completely fascinated by
Veronica Lando is an Australian crime author who won the 2021 Banjo Prize for her then-unpublished manuscript The Whispering. As a child, she grew up above her parents’ Melbourne bookstore, surrounded by other people’s stories. Now, as an adult, she lives in Queensland and enjoys using the uniquely wild and sometimes
Many aspiring writers dream of an idyllic creative space where they can pen their next masterpiece. Sulari Gentill, who has recently released her 15th book, The Woman in the Library, turned that dream into reality when she installed a writing hut on her property in the Snowy Mountains in Australia.
Kathy Reichs has written over twenty novels featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, including Cold Cold Bones. An international best-seller, she’s also worked as the producer of the television series based upon her work, Bones, and she’s one of very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.
By Allison Tait. If you are a regular visitor to the Australian Writers’ Centre’s courses, a regular listener of our So You Want To Be A Writer podcast, or a regular attendee at our Zoom events and seminars, chances are you’ve come across our amazing director of creative writing, Dr
Kimberley Starr is an Australian novelist and teacher whose novels have won and been shortlisted for multiple literary awards, including the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award and the Text Publishing YA Prize. She lives with her sons and their labrador in semi-rural Victoria and is currently completing a PhD in Creative
Pamela Hart is an award-winning, best-selling author of more than 40 books and novellas, plus short stories and scripts. Her novel, An A-List for Death, is the second book in the Poppy McGowan mystery series, and she’s published regency romances, historical novels, and (as Pamela Freeman) multi-award winning picture books
By Allison Tait. When people talk about landing pages, writers seem to look the other way, assuming that landing pages are for people with, I don’t know, products to sell. The fact is, though, that if you are an author, with a book to sell, you have a product. Not
Sarah Vaughan studied English at Oxford and went on to become a journalist. She spent eleven years at The Guardian as a news reporter and political correspondent before leaving to freelance and write fiction. Her first thriller, Anatomy of a Scandal, was an instant international bestseller, translated into twenty-two languages,
By Valerie Khoo. In the cold weather, is anything better than curling up with a nice cosy mystery? If you’re not sure what a cosy mystery is, it’s a subgenre of crime fiction where the main character is often an amateur sleuth. There is minimal graphic violence or explicit sex
The winners and shortlist of the 2022 Furphy Literary Award have been announced. Acclaimed writer and poet Cate Kennedy won the Award for her story ‘Art and Life’, with second prize awarded to Lisa Moule for ‘The Game’. And Natalie Vella has been awarded third place for her story ‘Winter
By Diane Connell. If you had visited my high school and asked my English teacher to point out the student least likely to end up writing for a living, he would have pointed to me, the irritant sitting at the back of the classroom scribbling what I thought were hilarious
Rae Cairns is a former youth worker who has turned to a life of crime… writing. She is fascinated with how ordinary people manage when faced with extraordinary circumstances, and the lengths everyday characters will go when all they love is put at risk. She writes crime with heart; thriller
A good romantic thriller is more than the sum of its parts. More gripping than a romance novel and with more emotion than a thriller, mastering the genre is no easy feat. You can’t just add a menacing character to your love story, or a love interest to your crime
British-Australian crime and thriller writer L.A. Larkin – who teaches the Australian Writers’ Centre’s popular Crime and Thriller Writing course – is an expert in the art of building suspense and high stakes in a thriller novel. Read on for her top 5 ways to turn your thriller into a
AWC courses completed:
Anatomy of a Crime: How to Write About Murder
Build Your Author Platform
Sonya is now proud to call herself an author with her debut adult novel, Inheritance of Secrets, out now through HarperCollins.
We’re thrilled to share that AWC alumna Petronella McGovern has made the shortlist for the 2020 Ned Kelly Crime Awards for her thrilling debut novel Six Minutes. It’s an incredible achievement as the awards attracted a large number of entries this year. Australian Crime Writers Association chair Robert Goodman said
World-class crime and thriller author and Australian Writers’ Centre presenter, L.A. Larkin, joined Valerie Khoo for the ‘Creative Conversations’ Facebook Live event to discuss the adrenaline-fuelled world of crime and thriller writing. And you get to watch the replay here. L.A. Larkin, also known as Louisa Bennet, talks about her
British-Australian crime and thriller writer L.A. Larkin – who teaches the Australian Writers’ Centre’s popular Crime and Thriller Writing course is our go-to woman for crafting suspenseful, exciting literature. Larkin’s latest thriller novel Prey was released in April 2020, published by Clan Destine Press in Australia and Bloodhound Books in
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