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Showing posts from October, 2018

Junior Book Club Review of "You May Already Be A Winner" by Greer

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By Greer (age 10) I really liked You May Already Be A Winner , because it was realistic and described a life that was not like mine.  It made me think about the way that other people might live.  The book gets it's title because although the main character does have a hard life at the start of the novel, she wins back a better life for herself and her family by the end.  However, she never wins any of the hundreds of competitions she enters! Olivia lives with her Mum and sister in a trailer park in America.  Her Dad has left and she doesn't know why, but predicts that he is being a ranger in Bryce Canyon.  She has to take care of her sister Berkeley and her Mum (in a way) so she doesn't go to school much.  She has a wild imagination and she can turn a little ordinary thing into a big dream.  She has her gut talking to her just like in The Song From Somewhere Else (our September book club book).   She makes a friend named Bart, who says he is in the FBI, but he isn

First Chapters Q&A with Katherine Collette

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Katherine Collette is a writer and environmental engineer.  Katherine will be reading at First Chapters on Friday 2 November from her debut novel The Helpline . We asked Katherine a few questions about her writing and here is what she had to say. 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a chapter from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the chapter you have chosen? You will meet Germaine.   Germaine is the main character in The Helpline .   She’s a woman who is very good with numbers and not so good with people, as will become apparent.   2.       How would you describe the kind of books that you write? Officially, the term is ‘up lit’, i.e. uplifting literature. I write and, as a reader, seek positive stories because I think life is good. There’s a lot that’s wrong with the world but there’s a lot that’s great about it too.   To be more specific, I like writing about people who are (overly) invested in things that to an

First Chapters Q&A with Katherine Kovacic

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Katherine Kovacic  was a veterinarian but preferred training dogs to taking their temperatures. She seized the chance to return to study and earned an MA, followed by a PhD, in Art History. Katherine spends her spare time writing, dancing and teaching other people's dogs to ride skateboards. In 2012 she was long-listed for the Voiceless Writing Prize and she continues to contribute to academic publications.  Katherine will be reading from her debut novel The Portrait of Molly Dean . 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a chapter from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the chapter you have chosen? In this extract art dealer Alex Clayton and her friend, conservator John Porter, are just beginning to realise that Molly Dean’s story is far darker and more complicated than they’d thought. 2. How would you describe the kind of books that you write? Mysteries with the Melbourne art world as a backdrop. For The Portrait of Molly Dean , I

First Chapters Q&A with Kate Murdoch

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Kate Murdoch has exhibited widely as a painter both in Australian and internationally before turning her hand to writing.  Her short-form fiction has been published in various literary journals in Australia, UK, US and Canada. Kate will be reading at First Chapters on Friday 2 November.  She will be reading from Stone Circle , a historical novel set in Renaissance Italy. We asked Kate some questions to get to know her better.  Here's what she said. 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a chapter from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the chapter you have chosen? My protagonist Antonius, after months of torment from his rival Nichola, decides to enact revenge.  Using a spell, he changes into a strange beast and sneaks up on Nichola as he lies sleeping.  Nichola wakes and is terrified.  It's the one time in the novel where Antonius turns the tables on Nichola, and he is excited to practice his new skills in magic and alchemy. 2.  How would you d