Category: Tips for writers

From Fremantle Press to Night Parrot Press, Linda Martin has been an advocate of West Australian writing and publishing for decades. In her upcoming release, A Tale of Two Publishing Houses, she shares her experiences with risk-taking, author–editor relationships and building an independent press from the ground up. What inspired you to research and write […]

Assuming a new identity to enter the thrilling and dangerous illegal shadow network at Fremantle Port, undercover operative Paul Cutler returns in O’Keefe by David Whish-Wilson, David chatted to us about how he conducted his underworld research, his own similarities with Paul Cutler/O’Keefe and his feelings around incorporating violence into his novels. What kind of […]

Lawyer-turned-author Lisa Ellery returns to the world of crime with her new outback mystery, Hot Ground. This pacy new tale follows Detective Jessy Parkin as she investigates the disappearance of a gold prospector in Kalgoorlie. In this interview, Lisa tells us about why she chose Kalgoorlie as the setting, how she bonded with her main […]

In Karen Herbert’s broody new crime novel, The Ghost Walk, protagonist and amateur sleuth Ruby Rose Gillespie lives with cystic fibrosis. As she sets out to solve the murder of her secret lover, she starts to wonder whether she really knew him at all. In this interview, Karen tells us more about writing a disabled […]

Love exists in many forms, and in her new collection of poetry, Love Like This Isn’t Harmless, Bron Bateman writes about the wide variety of love she’s experienced, from self-love to erotic to familial, and even harmful. In this article, publisher Georgia Richter asks Bron about her writing process and what goes into creating poetry […]

Shortlisted for the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award, Nock Loose is Patrick Marlborough’s screwball comedy revenge thriller, centred on a small Australian town that takes its annual medieval festival very seriously. In this interview, Patrick tells us how their novel – and chaotic characters – became into existence. Where did the idea of Agincourt come from? […]

Whether you are searching through handwritten scraps or rediscovering travel journals, compiling a collection of poems can be a difficult but inspiring activity. In this behind-the-scenes interview, poet and performer Andrew Sutherland takes us through how Act Cute, his latest poetry collection with Fremantle Press, came to life. Can you tell me about the notion […]

720 ABC Radio Perth will be crackling with big themes and lively conversations when it welcomes readers to its East Perth studios for the Big Day of Books on Saturday 28 June. WA’s favourite radio presenters Jo Trilling, Gary Adshead, Hilary Smale, Carrie Cox, Ali Colvin and Claire Nichols will chat to some of the […]

Jay Martin, the 2018 Hungerford Award winner, introduces her new novel, Boom Town Snap. Set among the Canadian oilfields and Australian mining towns, the story follows Georgie as she navigates tricky relationships and environments. In this interview, Jay tells us about some of the very real elements behind the fiction. Did the Me Too movement […]

Andrew HC McDonald tells stories in many forms – through photos, comedy, visual arts, and now novel writing. In this interview, Andrew tells us how his debut fiction book, The Montegiallo School of Swearing, came to be, and how swearing in a foreign language may actually help you learn. Where did this idea come from, […]

After seventeen years of writing, Emily Paull’s The Distance Between Dreams was shortlisted in the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award. Emily is a Western Australian librarian, author and book reviewer. In this interview, Emily shares her behind-the-scenes process. Where did the idea for this novel and its structure come from? What were the most challenging aspects […]

So your organisation has decided to publish a book. You plan to use Fremantle Press as your publishing consultant and you’re now busy creating the book’s content. You’ve found a writer, who’s well underway with the text. But what about images? You know you want the book to be visual, but you’re not quite sure […]

When author Andrea Thompson accidentally discovered that every other gender-diverse person on the planet was also writing a memoir, she switched her focus. She began writing for a central character who taught her the value and peace of the ordinary, and to never give up the fight. In this interview, Andrea introduces us to that […]

Poet Bron Bateman is the editor of Women of a Certain Courage, a new collection of inspiring stories by Australian women. In this interview, Bron gives us insight into her experience connecting with courageous women writers. How did you go about creating the list of women you wanted to contribute to this collection? Were there […]

Fremantle Press and Alphabet Soup Books are excited to announce that submissions are open for a poetry anthology for children, the companion to Right Way Down and Other Poems. The anthology, to be published in 2026, will be co-edited by Rebecca M. Newman and Dr Sally Murphy. Rebecca said, ‘We are thrilled to be collaborating […]

Crime writer Alan Carter‘s latest release, Prize Catch, was inspired by living in close proximity to Tasmania’s controversial salmon farms. In this article, Alan dives deeper into how the landscape around him inspires his best-selling crime novels. How much does the place where you live inspire you when coming up with crime ideas? From the […]

Dave Warner‘s Broome detective Dan Clement is back in When It Rains, investigating crime as plentiful as wet season rain. In this article, Dave takes us behind the scenes of his award-winning crime writing procedure. What is it like to work with a protagonist over a number of books? Do you think about Clement between […]

Josh Kemp’s debut novel Banjawarn won the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award and the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction. In his new thriller, Jasper Cliff, which was shortlisted for the Fogarty Literary Award, he deliberately leaned in to the spookier side of Australian gothic, imbuing his narrative with disturbing insights into the […]

When Robert Edeson needs facts, he often makes them up. Edeson says, ‘In my view, that’s the sublime (and subversive) prerogative of a fiction writer. It is also strangely liberating after an obediently truthful life in science.’

Ten Western Australian writers are longlisted and in the running for the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. Judged anonymously, the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is a biennial prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author for a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction. The winner receives a cash prize […]

Personal Logistics details the poet’s experiences and observations of life in Kununurra and the East Kimberley, as someone who has worked as a farmhand and as a stay-at-home dad. Coursing through the collection, in both the wet season and the dry, are the dual themes of naturally flowing water and hydroelectricity, without which Kununurra would […]

Holding a published copy of One Wrong Turn in my hands was a dream come true. I never entertained the idea of there being a sequel and the fact that it now exists is largely thanks to the enthusiasm of Australia’s dance community and of course, the wonderful team at Fremantle Press! Dance has been […]

As Australia’s last great unregulated waterway, the Martuwarra Fitzroy River represents potential untapped revenue for government, farmers and industry. It has both Western Australian Aboriginal Cultural and National Heritage listings – and is a venerated Living Ancestor who must be protected. Tossed Up By the Beak of a Cormorant: Poems of Martuwarra Fitzroy River is […]

As one of the Fogarty Literary Award judges, I am delighted to present to you our third Fogarty Literary Award winner’s book: The Skeleton House. This book caught my attention from the very first sentence. I rode the waves of foreboding and revelation with my heart in my mouth. It is one of those books […]