Author spotlight – Tate James

Sometimes you see an authors name get thrown around and you wonder, is the hype warranted. Are they really that good at what they do?

As I said a few weeks ago, I’ve was planning on reading pretty much all romance this month. I had a heap of authors I wanted to try and I managed to snag free kindle unlimited, so I’ve had plenty to choose from. Tate James is a name I’ve been hearing about on instagram for months and when I finally joined the TikTok ranks the romance readers seemed to love her. I selected 6 or so authors and was only going to read one book from each author. 

Author Interview with Khaiah Thomson

I’m incredibly lucky to have Khaiah Thomson, author of Welcome to Blackwood, on the blog today. 

She writes paranormal stories, with a determined, feisty, female lead in the most lush setting you could hope to live. Make sure you check out the giveaway I’m running if you want to win your very own copy of Welcome to Blackwood, links will be at the end. You can see my review HERE.

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Hi Khaiah, thank you so much for taking the time to join me on the blog. Congratulations on the release of Welcome to Blackwood. I had an absolute blast reading it.

Welcome to Blackwood by Khaiah Thomson

A chance encounter at the hairdresser brought this book to my attention and I’m very glad it happened. So thank you to my hairdresser for fitting me in and introducing me to the author in the basin next to me.

Welcome to Blackwood is Khaiah Thomson’s debut novel and she has smashed it out of the park with an engaging, well written story.

It is set in the lush, secretive town of Blackwood. The descriptions are fantastic and I want to live there. Not even for all the supernatural shenanigans, but for the absolutely beautiful setting. It has the forest, beach and small town vibes. It sounds like heaven.

Australian authors I have loved.

I originally posted this in 2018 and I wanted to update it a little to add some other Australian authors that I have since discovered and thoroughly enjoyed. It’s going to make it a chonky post so I hope you make it all the way through.

John Marsden – born in Victoria in 1950, he had an interest in writing from a young age. He was a teacher and has written many books, he is successful internationally as well as at home.

The Tomorrow when the War Began series was my favourite series as a young teen. A group of kids go camping for a weekend and when they get back they discover that their area/country has been invaded. Their loved ones are held captive, so they do the only thing they can do – Guerrilla warfare. Ellie and her friends are a diverse bunch with many skills, they use these country kid skills to cause mayhem for the invading forces. I absolutely loved the idea of kids kicking arse and taking it to the bad guys. The relationships between the kids were complex and well written. John Marsden didn’t skim over the details, he handled the mental challenges the kids faced really well, the fallout for them. It’s not all sunshine and lollipops, these kids go through hell and their mental health reflects this. I still reread this series every couple of years. I cannot wait for my daughter to read this series. There are seven books in the series and I just discovered a follow-up series called the Ellie Chronicles that I have yet to read.

(2021 update – My daughter was not a fan of this and didn’t even make it through the first book… Does this mean I failed as a mum? lol)

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Goodreads  –  Amazon

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The Gulp by Alan Baxter

“Welcome to The Gulp, where nothing is as it seems.”

Moody – Dark – Gorey – engaging – Supernatural

Synopsis – Strange things happen in The Gulp. The residents have grown used to it. The isolated Australian harbour town of Gulpepper is not like other places. Some maps don’t even show it. And only outsiders use the full name. Everyone who lives there calls it The Gulp. The place has a habit of swallowing people.
A truck driver thinks the stories about The Gulp are made up to scare him. Until he gets there. Teenage siblings try to cover up the death of their mother, but their plans go drastically awry. A rock band invite four backpackers to a party at their house, where things get dangerously out of hand. A young man loses a drug shipment and his boss gives him 48 hours to make good on his mistake. Under the blinking eye of the old lighthouse, a rock fisher makes the strangest catch of his life.

Five novellas. Five descents into darkness. 

Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr

Your eyes don’t deceive you, it’s actually happening, I’m reviewing a contemporary read. And what a delightful read it was.

• Australian author 

• Female author

• Own voices

• Autistic female main character

Please Don’t Hug Me ticks all the boxes. That title is simply the best. The story was told in letter format. The characters are all incredibly relatable and just trying to do their best. The family was flawed but truly wonderful. It was heart warming, engaging and an absolute delight. 

Synopsis – A funny-serious own-voices story about what happens when you stop trying to be the person other people expect you to be and give yourself a go.

Erin is looking forward to Schoolies, at least she thinks she is. But things are not going to plan. Life is getting messy, and for Erin, who is autistic, that’s a big problem. She’s lost her job at Surf Zone after an incident that clearly was not her fault. Her driving test went badly even though she followed the instructions perfectly. Her boyfriend is not turning out to be the romantic type. And she’s missing her brother, Rudy, who left almost a year ago.

But now that she’s writing letters to him, some things are beginning to make just a tiny bit of sense.

Erin is the most wonderful main character. She is absolutely adorable and is doing her absolute best to be who everyone wants her to be. But it’s not easy and as she is growing up, she realises things aren’t going to work out the way she had planned. 

I can empathise with Erin and her family so much. The way they are written is brilliant. The style brings us right into Erin’s head, we see everything the way she does and I think it’s fantastic. She is a delight with a kind heart. This was a really beautiful coming of age story. The growth throughout was realistic and had me cheering for Erin and her family. Her little brother was such a sweet, innocent character. Also fantastic female friendships for the win!!

Please Don’t Hug Me is such an easy read. The format makes it fly by. I read it a couple of hours as I couldn’t put it down. If you are after a contemporary absolutely brimming with heart, this is the book for you. It will leave you with a massive smile on your face, even after it rips your heart out. 

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Goodreads  –  Amazon  –  Released: 28th April 2020

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Zero fantasy book haul

The fantasy genre is my go to, it’s my happy place, it’s comforting, exciting and magical. I spend 97.5% of my time there. But recently other books have been catching my eye. With bright, bold covers and a range of protaganists, I may be heading into a contemporary binge.

I wanted to share some of the books that have caught my attention over the last couple of months. (Chad if you are reading this, I’m writing this in October, they were all purchased before that).

Melody Finch by Ian B. Boyd and Gary Luck

This year I have read quite a few middle grade books. Thank you NetGalley for sending them all my way. The quality has been outstanding and once again I have picked a winner.

Synopsis – Melody Finch is a story about the hardships of drought in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin river system, as seen through the eyes of its native wildlife. When Melody Klomp turns into a Diamond Firetail Finch, she learns from a secret network of frog spies that big rains are coming. An amazing journey begins from Charleville in Queensland to the Coorong in South Australia, so Melody can tell her Nana of the incoming rains before she sells her beloved tour boat, The Isabella. Along the way, Melody meets many wonderful birds, frogs, seals, and even a platypus. At the end of her journey, she and her network of bird friends must fight together to defeat an evil net fisherman and his pet osprey, Silverclaw, to protect the future of all animals living in the Coorong.

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Author recommendation – Alan Baxter

I’m pretty much the worst reviewer ever this year. I’m struggling to review everything I read and it has meant some truly brilliant books have slipped through the gaps. So I thought this would be a good way to alleviate my guilt while shoving my love of an author and his books straight into your eyeballs.

Alan Baxter is an English/Australian author, who writes dark, gritty, often brutal urban fantasy and horror, so I figured October would be the perfect time to showcase some of his work.

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