EVENTS 2025| Sara Foster
I read a short story in 2015 that left me staring at the wall in dumbfounded awe while I tried to absorb it. The story is ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’ by Ursula Le Guin, written in 1973. I’m not even going to try to sum it up, I’m just going to urge you […] The post How Ursula Le Guin inspired me in 2015 first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
I have been a bit quiet lately, and it’s not just that I have been busy writing my new book. We welcomed our second daughter into the world just over two weeks ago, and I am a very proud and busy mum at the moment. I plan to spend the next few months focusing primarily […] The post My latest production… first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
The Indian Ocean on Sunday was cold enough to steal your breath, but we barely noticed. For the fourth time in my life I had the privilege of swimming with dolphins in their own environment – on this occasion with Rockingham Wild Encounters. There are approximately 200 dolphins in the area, and every day the […] The post Wild encounters: meeting my muse first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
Yesterday, one hundred bottlenose dolphins were driven into the Taiji Cove. Thirty-two have been captured, while the rest await their fate tomorrow. This probably means that they will be brutally killed. Dolphins are captured every day that the fishermen can find them between September and March. Find out how to add your voice to the […] The post Terror in Taiji first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
There’s a link to the answers at the bottom of the page when you’ve finished! You can also find the images in the gallery. When you’ve finished, find the answers here! col-md-2 The post Try the book cover quiz from the Shallow Breath launch first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
I had a fantastic time last night celebrating the launch of Shallow Breath at Tiger Lils in Perth. It was a fabulous turn-out, and I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who came. As I said last night, writing might be a solitary occupation, but when it comes to getting books out into […] The post Shallow Breath is officially launched! first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
It’s not about rights (though it seems some rights mean more than others?) It’s not about need (who can say about greed) It’s not about whales (or this rare, safe place they calve) It’s not about flora, fauna, or natural heritage (or dinosaur footprints left 130 million years ago) It’s not about a wilderness few will visit (out […] The post For the Kimberley first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
Signatures have been exchanged, and the deal is done. Most significantly for me at this stage, the deadline has been set. In January 2012, all being well, I will hand over my third novel. I began work in earnest this week, and welcomed back a familiar feeling of giddiness and discomfort – the usual combination […] The post Only 90,000 words to go… first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
Last night, one of the last images I saw before I went to bed was of a terrified Chinese toddler being held at knifepoint in the street by her father. The horror of that situation was not distilled by the frozen photo, the detached computer screen, or the fact I could flick away when I […] The post Helplessness and people power first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
‘The book is too perfect to disappear. Bookstores are fading, but there are also bookstores surviving.’ Annie Proulx ‘Living in a flat in the city it is almost impossible to have a sense of connection to place’ Tim Flannery ‘a still–Volcano–Life’ Lyndall Gordon quoting Emily Dickinson ‘the frontiers of consciousness, where words fail, but meaning […] The post Perth Writers Festival #4: Words I’ll remember first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
To begin with, I was drawn to the writers in the session entitled ‘Reverberations from the past’ more than the topic. Natasha Lester is a friend of mine, whose beautifully crafted book, What is Left Over, After, won the TAG Hungerford in 2009, and I’ve read and heard so much about Gail Jones’ and Jon Bauer’s books […] The post Perth Writers Festival #3: Fiction discussion at its finest first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
On Sunday morning I attended a Perth Writers Festival session discussing the future of printed books in this world of rapid, almost rabid, technological change. I was completely engrossed listening to the panel of Geordie Williamson (chief literary critic of the Australian), James Bradley (novelist), Lev Grossman (novelist) and Angela Meyer (writer, Literary Minded blog) […] The post Perth Writers Festival #2: The death of print? first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
My good friend Natasha Lester has invited me onto her blog to talk about that tricky business of the commercial/literary fiction divide. It’s a frustrating but necessary topic that both of us have become familiar with over the last year or so. To read our thoughts, click here, or visit Natasha’s blog at http://whilethekidsaresleeping.wordpress.com/ Thanks for having me, […] The post Discussing commercial/literary divide on Natasha Lester’s blog first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
I’m still pinching myself that now I have two books out in the big book-buying world. Friends keep asking me how it feels, and to be honest I’m not sure I’ve really taken it in. What with the busy promotional blitz and caring for a toddler, I’m usually doing something work or child-related from the […] The post The big picture – and what’s next first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
I was very excited this morning to read Jessica Rudd’s blog on Mama Mia, speaking out in defence of chick lit and commercial fiction. Go Jessica! While my books don’t fall easily into the chick lit category (they are a bit too dark, although they usually have at least one female chick-lit-style character doing her […] The post There’s nothing wrong with being popular! first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
Read my thoughts on writing ‘Book 2’ in my final outing as guest blogger on Nicole Alexander’s website. Thanks for having me, Nicole! http://nicolealexander.com.au/2010/09/sara-foster-on-the-difficult-2nd-novel/col-md-2 The post That Difficult Second Novel first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
People who work in book publishing always have a ridiculous amount of reading to get through. I once worked on what is pejoratively termed the ‘slush pile’ in the HarperCollins fiction department, where I would often be the first reader. As such, I would get to decide if the story was worth further consideration by those higher […] The post Don’t get rejected before they’ve even read a word… first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
An older version of this blog also appeared on the Random House ‘Random Blogs’ website on 8th April 2010 For me, for a long time my writing was my hobby, and as such I would get through everything else first, promising myself writing time later, as some kind of reward. However, it’s far too easy […] The post Finding the time to write first appeared on Sara Foster.| Sara Foster
I had a fantastic time at the Perth Writers Festival. It was a new experience for me to be on panel discussions, and I am very grateful to Grant Stone, Michael Koryta, Helen Merrick, Liz Byrski and Anita Heiss for making it such a thoroughly enjoyable debut. I very much enjoyed talking about book editing| Sara Foster
When She Was Gone| Sara Foster