June's Author Digest: A New First Draft Finished!

The past month has flown by! Between COVID, a solo writing retreat, finishing a new manuscript (hurray—and more on that further down!) one of my daughters having her first round of Year 11 exams and my other daughter coming in from Sydney for a couple of soul-restoring visits, we’ve somehow hit the midpoint of the year.

Normally around this time I’d be starting to work on early publicity and marketing for an upcoming book release. But, as you know, I don’t have a book coming out this year—you can only keep writing a book each year for so long before you need a gentle pause between books—so I have a lovely expanse of time ahead of me where I can really focus on writing. And my social media break is one of the best things I’ve ever done; I have no plans to return to Instagram and Facebook any time soon, so this really is the best place to keep in touch and I’m very happy that so many of you are here.

A First Draft Done!

I wrote a post for my paid subscribers recently about what exactly a solo writing retreat is and what I do and why I find these retreats to be so essential. My goal on this retreat was to get close enough to the end of the book I’m writing for 2026 that I could see how it would all come together in the end. Instead of just getting close, I managed to actually finish writing the first draft, which was the best feeling in the world!

When I say “finish writing” I need to emphasise that this is a first draft. I write fast, messy first drafts that have gaps and holes and spelling mistakes and aren’t really something you’d want to print out and sit down and read. But now I have a story, I know the characters a lot better than when I started, the voice of the book has fallen into place and I have the chance now over the course of a few rewrites to make it the best possible book it can be.

The Part of the Writing Process I Love the Most

And the best thing of all is that, after struggling with self-doubt over the writing of the first draft (as I’ve said before, I don’t know if I suffered more than usual this time or if I’ve just forgotten how difficult first draft self-doubt can be) all my self-doubt fell away at the retreat. I immersed myself so completely in the book that I was dreaming about it, thinking about it constantly, and scenes and dialogue and ideas kept pouring into my head any time I moved away from the desk. I absolutely LOVE this part of the writing process: when you can literally feel your creativity spilling out everywhere and it’s wild and gloriously uncontainable. I live for those moments in writing, and when they happen, I revel in them.

It’s one of the things I value most about writing retreats and/or focussed time where I only have to think about writing. When you give a book your devoted time, attention and love, it usually rewards you. The trouble is, you can’t make that wild flow happen. You can create the right conditions in which it might be more likely to occur, but that’s about all. I do think that the less you worry and the less you try to force it, the more likely it is to happen, but we writers are only human (and I’m also a bit of a control freak, so that doesn’t help!) so of course we wish and we hope and exort the muse to give us a break, and when it finally does—the relief!

So, right now I love this book I’ve written for 2026, which I can’t say too much about right now as it’s in a very early stage. But I promise that as soon as I get closer to a final draft, you guys will be the first to know the premise of the story and a little more about it.

One of the most interesting rediscoveries I made in writing this draft was how much I love writing prompts and how important voice is to me as a writer. I’m going to write a bit more about this in a future newsletter, so look out for that.

What Happens Next?

Now that I have a first draft, I’ll take a couple of weeks off from it and let my mind do some passive work on it. What I mean by that is I won’t sit down and actively think: how can I make this book better? I’ll just let my mind cogitate on it whenever it wants to and, out of that, good things usually come.

I’ve also just finished a sort of structural or outlining process that I started doing for my last book, and which really helps me to focus more precisely on what I need to work on in the next rewrite. You can see the printed outline on my desk in the image below.

I use John Truby’s book, Anatomy of a Story a little here, and I add in a whole lot of new columns to Scrivener’s outliner. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed in a rewrite because there are so many things you could concentrate on: character motivations or creating a greater sense of place or fixing the pace or ironing out plot issues, but I sometimes think that if we tinker with too many things without understanding the design of the story, then we actually make things harder for ourselves!

My next post for paid subscribers will go into this outlining/thinking process in a lot more detail because I’m aware that while everyone talks a lot about writing, nobody talks much about rewriting and redrafting, which is actually the most important part of the process! So look out for that next week.

The Mademoiselle Alliance: Update

As you might remember, The Mademoiselle Alliance is my next book and will be published in April 2025. It seems a long way away, but we’re very busy working on it behind the scenes. Yesterday I saw some very early concepts for the Australian cover and I’ll be having a chat with my publisher about those today, so it might mean we’re only a couple of months away from sharing a final cover with you. Similarly, the illustrator that my American publisher has selected to create a specially designed cover is hard at work too, and I think we’ll have something to look at there very soon as well. Exciting!

That also means we’ll be starting to work on blurbs very soon, which will give you a better idea of what the book is about and hopefully start to make everyone as excited about this story as I am. So expect that this section of the newsletter will start to take up lots more space in the next few issues.

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Upcoming Events and Workshops

I’m appearing at a couple of festivals in the second half of the year, so if you’re in Perth or the Kimberley region of WA, I hope I see you!

Kimberley Writers Festival

This has been my dream festival to be invited to. Every author who attends says it’s absolutely amazing, and with a backdrop of WA’s incredible Kimberley region, how could it be anything but? Most events are free, and other authors attending include Sally Hepworth and Jessica Rowe, so make a weekend of it and come along!

When: 2nd-4th August 2024

More Info: Find out more here.

Festival of Fiction

This amazing new festival celebrating all things fiction was just announced on the weekend and already it’s sold out! It’s being held in perth in October and features a wonderful lineup of guests including Dervla Mc Tiernan, Nicola Moriarty and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Yes, I’m appearing at a festival with a duchess—that’s a first! If you’re keen to come along, put yourself on the waitlist for tickets.

When: 19th October

More Info: Find out more and waitlist for tickets here

The Big Reveal: Tension in Narrative Fiction Workshop

27 June, 10am-1pm, State Library of WA

Turning points, tension, drama and conflict: all writers are told their stories should have these ingredients, that there is no story without conflict and that all drama is conflict, but what does any of that really mean? And what if some of that advice is misleading? In this workshop, Natasha Lester will be using her experience as a writer of eight historical and two literary novels to discuss what narrative tension is, and why the focus on turning points, conflict and drama can sometimes lead to a flat story. We'll look at how narrative tension is the key to creating a deep impact upon the reader, how it's different to drama and conflict, and how it can transform your story.

Writing Your Novel Workshop

17 and 24 August, 12pm-4pm, Wanneroo Library

These two workshops are focussed on beginning to emerging writers. We’ll cover everything you need to get started on writing your novel, or to progress a manuscript you’ve already begun. Specifically, Natasha will discuss honing your story idea, the intricacies of voice and point of view, creating memorable characters, the elements of scenes including action, dialogue, thought and description, as well as writing process and getting the words onto the page.

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The Love List

• Books: Okay, I don’t know if this is love yet or not. In fact, it might be the opposite. I just started reading A Man Called Ove (I know, I’m waaaaaay behind the times) and so far, hmmmmm. I don’t need to like a character to like a book, but Ove seems so mean, and even cruel, in a condescending, toxic way. Yes, he’s grieving his wife, but it appears that his meanness/cruelty came before this grief—he loved his wife, but he used to go around turning the radiators down even though he knew she liked them turned up higher? Is that love, or selfishness? But everyone loves this book, so I’m assuming it gets better, hopefully in a believable way? I’m guessing he’s going to have some kind of redemptive arc and see the error of his ways. If you’ve read it, let me know if I just need to hold out a little longer.

• Movies: I recently watched The Idea of You on Netflix and while I don’t think it’s quite the feminist masterpiece some media outlets are touting it to be, can we talk about Anne Hathaway’s wardrobe?! Divine! I’m obsessed with the strapless indigo Chanel dress she wears near the start of the movie. It’s apparently about twenty years old and the stylist found it on the RealReal, but if anyone sees one at their local thrift store (I wish!) let me know because I want it!

• Mahjong: My grandma had a very politically incorrect mahjong set made from ivory, but she also taught me and my brothers to play the game when we were young. I used to love it, and recently and in one of those roundabout ways where you don’t exactly know how something comes about, two friends and I decided to meet every couple of months and play a game or two of mahjong together. We had our first meeting on the weekend, accompanied with chicken finger sandwiches, scones and champagne (all essential mahjong companions!), and it was fun! Anyone else have a set lying around home or have memories of playing something like that with their grandma?

• Vintage serving trays: I bought the mid-century tray in the image below from the wonderful Madame de la Maison, which is just one of

  Ajiri Aki
  ’s many fabulous projects, and in a beautiful coincidence, my mahjong friend served our afternoon tea on a bigger and slightly older silver serving tray. The trays look great as a decorative objet, and they’re practical—what more could you want?!

  

  

• Poems and Sunrises: It’s always a little harder to drag myself out of bed in winter for my run at six o’clock, especially now it’s dark, but in doing so, I’ve been rewarded with the most spectacular sunrises. There’s nothing quite like that shade of dawn-pink that flushes the sky when the sun rises up and it reminded me of this beautiful poem by Alison Luterman that I think you’ll all enjoy.

• Une Femme: I asked my French teacher for some suggestions of French authors whose works I might find both accessible and interesting. She suggested Annie Ernaux, who I’d never heard of, but who’s one of only 17 women to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. After we spent an hour talking about Ernaux’s life, books and achievements, I was super keen to read her work. I’ve started with Une Femme, which, simplistically, is a memoir about her mother, but is really so much more. Ernaux’s prose reminds me a little of Claire Keegan’s; it’s spare but weighty and has a gorgeous rhythm. For anyone out there who knows French but has been scared of reading something in French, I think this is a fantastic choice for both literary heft and ease of comprehension.

And An Ebook Bargain To Finish …

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard is currently available (at the time of posting) for just $4.99 in ebook for Australia/New Zealand readers. It’s been this price for about a week, and I don’t know how much longer it’s on sale for, so grab it while you can. Happy reading!

That’s all for now! See you in the comments!