Three third birthdays, changing leaves & an excerrifying update

May has been eventful!

Happy May!

Crunchy leaves everywhere. Autumn soups. Cool nights. Unfortunately, it’s still very hot during the days here in Perth, and we’re desperately thirsty with no rain in sight. But at least it means my daughter can still happily play outside all day (gotta look for the bright side, right?).

🗞️ In this newsletter

• Winner of last month’s giveaway

• What I’ve been up to

• What I’m working on now

• Recommendations

• Epiphany

• Puzzle

• Giveaway!

Winner of last month’s giveaway

The lucky winner has been contacted by email! Make sure you check your junk mail and reply to me so I can organise postage.

Check below for next giveaway.

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What I’ve been up to

I hosted a writing event for kids over the April school holidays, and it was a full house! As always, my little writers blew me away with their skills and imagination. I’m planning to ease up on my primary school presentations and workshops as I start gearing up for my YA-based series, so it was nice to have one of my last hoorahs for now.

I’m heading out to Bianca Breen’s book launch at the end of the month. I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate the release of Made of Steam and Stardust. Bianca is a treasure in our local YA community. Everybody knows her name! There’s still time to book your ticket if you haven’t already.

Also, my daughter turned three – three times! (There were a lot of celebrations this year.) So that’s where most of my May disappeared to.

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What I’m working on now

I’ve seen the final cover of The Escape Game and I. Am. In. Love. The typeset pages are due in a week or so, and there’ll be a few graphic surprises inside! This also means early copies will start going out VERY soon. Terrifying/exciting. Terror-citing? Exerrifying?

Marissa and I are also tackling revisions of book two, which feels a little bit like hitting it with a sledgehammer to find the right angle for those cheeky plot threads, then using a teeny tiny hammer and chisel to fine-tune them. Tiring, but rewarding.

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Recommendations

Writers Off the Page

I was saving this one for a bit later because the podcast had wrapped up, but then surprise! The lovely Chenée Marrapodi is dropping a new series of minisodes about the publishing industry! This is mostly Australian-based, but the interviews (both past and present) are so professional and so interesting, I would recommend it no matter what country you’re in.

The Cheeky Toddler Alphabet by Davina Bell

A picture book recommendation for you this month! I’ve bought so many copies for so many parents. An absolutely beautiful book that just… gets it. Trust me.

The Recycle InTent

Bel is, honestly, one of the most amazing people I’ve had the privilege to meet. On the first Sunday of every month, she heads to the Kalamunda Markets to collect people’s specialised recycling. Stuff that isn’t taken by our recycling trucks, like plastic lids, used toothbrushes, blister packs, old pens. She’s passionate about recycling and does the hard work that most people (myself included) don’t do, despite the fact it’s better for the environment. If you live anywhere near Kalamunda in Western Australia, start collecting your specialised recycling and bring it to Recycle InTent. While this business is a local venture, there might be a similar one near you – please take a few minutes to do an online search and see if you can find one!

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Epiphany

A snippet of wisdom that’s helped me become a better writer.

I’ve mentioned before the podcast The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing -

The Shit About Writing Team

- and honestly, I can’t get enough of delving deep into interiority. When something big happens to a character, I ask myself: Has this happened to them before? How do their past experiences influence the way they’ll react? When they meet another character, I ask myself: How do they compare themselves to this person, both aesthetically and personality-wise? How do they feel about those comparisons – proud or self-conscious?

It’s an ongoing practice, but it’s a fun one!

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Puzzle

Answer to last month’s puzzle:

I march, I drag, I do not sleep,

I heal, I kill, I race, I creep.

What am I?

Answer: TIME! Well done to the people who answered in the comments!

Did you get it? Are you ready for another? Here’s a cryptic clue.

Cryptic clue:

A person who is easily frightened? Sounds like they have hidden.

(6 letters)

(Answer next month. Or in the comments section if someone gets it before then.)

Giveaway

I’m giving away a copy of Blood & Stone: A Radazan Mystery, a fantasy murder mystery written under my pen name Tamara M Bailey. All you have to do is be a subscriber of this newsletter by June 15^th 2025. Open internationally.

About Blood & Stone

Tomi Cardozo, the top Justice Official in the thriving metropolis of Radaza, has been called to investigate a gruesome murder of a professor who has been mutilated in his own apartment.

She discovers both the professor and his killer were witches, and therefore illegal residents of the city.

As Tomi is on probation for alleged witch sympathies, she is determined to prove her loyalty to the Justice Department by catching the professor’s killer within the four-day grace period given by the court.

But, as she untangles the knots of the case, Tomi discovers odd similarities between the professor’s death and the unsolved murder of her parents 23 years before.

She soon learns that she is tied to the world of the witches, and that no one in her life, living or dead, is who they appear.

Tomi must decide whether upholding the law is worth exposing the people she loves, while racing to catch a killer who has the one thing she lacks – magic.