It's February, so it must be love 💘💘💘
The last month of summer, school's back and love is in the air: for books, that is!! Some to win, some to read plus updates on my latest novel
Well hello lovely,
I started writing this newsletter on the very last day of the school holidays, which also marks the start of my very last start of the school year. Well, actually, my son’s but as us mothers know, I have been there every wobbly step of the way. It feels like my last year of school too!
The thing I love about school holidays is that I get so much more work done. Up early, at my desk with a cuppa and not a peep out of the teenagers until almost lunchtime. Bliss! So yes, I bet you can guess what I’m going to tell you? THE NOVEL IS FINISHED!!!
I feel so much better for shouting that out loud. I’ll tell you all about it in Behind the Scenes. Meanwhile, I have been throwing myself into the poor neglected garden. Weeding, pruning, feeding and mulching. On repeat. Gardening is one of those jobs that sucks up time. You think to yourself, I’ll just pop out and do …. 2 hours later. Every single time! But it makes me happy, is good exercise and most of the plants seem to be thriving, which is always a relief.
And I’ve been reading, a lot, because only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. So I have plenty of new releases to share and a giveaway to kick off the start of 2025. Appropriately, it is Rachael Johns’ The Bad Bridesmaid. Appropriate because her last book, The Other Bridget was about a character named after Bridget Jones and there’s a new Bridget Jones movie coming too. And if you loved Kell Woods’ After the Forest, wait until you read her newbie, Upon a Starlit Tide. Plus my review of the new Kylie Ladd, The Mix Up and Hannah Richell’s chilling One Dark Night.
Speaking of movies, have you seen Conclave yet? So good! Amazing cast, beautiful cinematography and a fantastic script. It’s based on the Robert Harris novel of the same name and stars Ralph Fiennes, Stan Tucci John Lithgow and Isabella Rosselini. Excellent performances from everyone. No wonder its scored eight Oscars nominations.
Now, time to talk books.
Behind the Scenes
Finally, FINALLY, I can tell you that the manuscript is done. I sent it off to my agent and publisher last month. I cannot tell you what a blessed relief it was to have it off my desk and onto someone else’s.
It’s an important step in the process. Not only for the obvious reasons — it won’t be published if my publisher doesn’t have a copy! But there comes a point when I’ve edited every scene from every angle multiple times — think ten, sometimes twenty times. I’ve worried about character arcs, plot development, reveals, pace, symbols and laughs (yes, because making you laugh is important to me.) There comes a point where I am too close to the story and can no longer view it with fresh eyes. This is the time, for me anyway, where I have to hand it over to the editorial experts.
If I’ve done my job properly, my agent and publisher will be thrilled. Even so, they will see ways the story can be improved and/or better serviced and that’s where the work starts all over again. But this time I’ll have a whole team of people behind me who are just as dedicated to this story as me and equally invested. If I have not quite hit the mark, it may come back for a complete rewrite. And that’s okay too. That’s the world of writing books. I have to be prepared for both scenarios.
Am I kicking back relaxing? No way. I now have to write the synopsis for my agent so she can approach overseas publishers. Synopses are hard yakka. How do I condense a 100,000 word story into 250 words? Words that make it sound exciting, that carry the tone of the story and show my writing style? It will take a week, minimum, possibly two to make sure every word counts and pulls its weight.
And, this week, I also had lunch with the TV producer behind the adaptation for The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison. Doesn’t that sound fancy? I’ll tell you this for free, they’re not words I’ve ever imagined writing!
We had lots of fun casting our fantasy actors into the various roles. I’m not going to say who here but I bet you’ve wondered about who would make the perfect Derek, the Doc, Joey and Jane. Who is our Brian, Mick, Sean or Carl. And how much fun will the actors have who get to play Lorraine and Sharon? There are worse conversations to be having over lunch :-) The guys at the next table were almost falling off their chairs they were eavesdropping so hard!!
Bear with me as I tease you with little anecdotes so you know things are happening. I promise I’ll reveal the big news here first. Screen timelines are very long, elastic and fraught with things not going quite to plan. It’s a bit early to break out the champagne. Fingers crossed, we will know more by the April edition of the newsletter!
Books to Love
In the meantime, I’ve been immersed in reading. Apart from the books I read for New Voices Down Under, I’ve read six novels. Here are four I think you might like.
The Mix Up by Kylie Ladd
Kelsey and Raf Maccioni have been divorced for years. Their now fourteen year old daughter, Ammy, is rebelling and testing boundaries — dying her hair blue, wagging school and starting a rock band. Whereas Shona and Nathan James live a privileged life with their high-paying jobs and private school educations for their two perfect children, fourteen year old Zac and his little sister. Raf offers to help Ammy with a school assignment on the family tree, for which one of the requirements is a DNA test. When Ammy’s results come back, Raf is expecting it show fifty percent Italian and the balance a reflection of her mother’s Scottish background. But the results show no trace of Ammy’s Italian heritage. Confused, Raf and Kelsey order new tests for all three of them. There was no mistake. Ammy is not their child.
Both families find themselves at the IVF clinic where Ammy and Zac were conceived. A medical mix-up, apologies and offers of compensation. But that’s not the issue. Their children are fourteen, old enough to know what has happened but not quite old enough to comprehend the meaning and implications for them. Ammy immediately claims her new family and insists on moving in with the James. Zac is unsure if he wants a relationship with his “real” parents because isn’t this house where he lives, his parents, his little sister his real family? How do they all move on from this, can they even do that? Or is there some other way the two families can keep the children they have nurtured all their lives yet make space for the child that is biologically theirs?
Kylie Ladd, writer and neuropsychologist, has taken a nightmare scenario and extrapolated what would happen if the discovery of a medical mix up occurred when the children were old enough to make decisions about where they lived and who they loved. Like her previous novels, The Mix Up is a nuanced discussion about the implications for the parents, children and the broader family and community. It’s a path most of us will never have to navigate (thank goodness!) and it makes for compelling reading as Ladd raises interesting and serious questions about the fallout of such a discovery.
In her usual style, Ladd balances the alarming with compassion and humour. As if the journey through adolescence isn’t hard enough, Ladd explores how three very difference children try to make sense of who they are and parents who are trying equally to be supportive while dealing with their own emotional needs. How do they create a bridge between what they thought were their families and the sudden realisation that their families are bigger and more complicated than they have always believed. It’s a wonderful premises, explored in a way that is thought-provoking and entertaining. The Mix Up is definitely the perfect read for your next book club.
The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns
Winifred Darling, “Fred”, is a serial dater. Unlike her best friend, fellow librarian and romantic, Bridget Jones, who we met in Johns’ last book, The Other Bridget, Fred lives by her 21 Rules for Not Catching Feelings. Thus no one could be more horrified than Fred when her mother announces she’s getting married for the sixth time. Worse, she wants Fred to be her maid of honour.
Who is this man who has captured her mother’s heart? An old school friend. A man with grown children of his own. Fred cannot let this happen again. Her mother has appalling taste in men (mostly) and it is beyond a joke that she can possibly think this man is THE ONE when she’s already said that five times before. Fred knows she has to stop her mother making another terrible mistake. Somehow, she has to hatch a plan to stop the wedding going ahead.
Arriving on Norfolk Island for the wedding, Fred finds she has an ally in the groom’s son, Leo. As the pair collude to cause marriage mayhem, Fred unexpectedly finds she has feelings for Leo. Could it be that she’s actually broken her own Rules?
The Bad Bridesmaid is already number 2 on the Australian Bestsellers list and deservedly so. Johns weaves her trademark humour, romance and gentle craziness into this delightfully entertaining novel. Of course Fred and Leo are destined to fall in love. Of course her mother’s childhood sweetheart is the real deal. As readers, we already know that things are going to end happily ever after. But what makes Johns the queen of romance is the wonderfully complex plots and side stories. The Bad Bridesmaid builds on the characters Johns introduced us to in The Other Bridget with a fresh new story to disappear into and have fun along the way. And that’s what we want from such a book—a tonic for our souls.
Scroll down to Giveaways Galore for your chance to win a copy of The Bad Bridesmaid
One Dark Night by Hannah Richell
In the small town of Thorncombe in England, the ghost of a bride murdered many years ago is seen roaming the woods in her white dress, silencing the birds, luring the unsuspecting to their deaths. This doesn’t stop the students of the local private school holding a Halloween party in these woods near the stone folly where the murdered bride was pushed to her death. They hold a seance, calling to her ghost and she answers. The next day, a girl is found dead at the bottom of the folly. She’s wearing a Halloween mask and a white dress, with strange markings on her body.
Detective Ben Chase is called to the scene. The girl, Sarah, is one of the students from the private school, where his daughter Ellie attends and his former wife is a counselor. Was it a prank gone wrong or was Sarah targeted and why? As the investigations unfold, it appears Ellie may know more than she is letting on. Ben’s impartiality is called into question. The close knit school community harbours a killer but is it one of the teachers, a staff member or a student.
Hannah Richell’s latest novel One Dark Night is a twisty thriller that keeps you guessing. According to Richell, the story was sparked by the story of ‘Sally in the Wood’, a stretch of road near where she now lives. But what unfolds is a very modern dilemma faced by many teenagers and the parents unable to stop them using the technology we are now all addicted to for purposes other than chatting with their friends. Richell explores peer group pressure, striving to be oneself even when it doesn’t fit the mould, jealousy and how small transgressions can mutate into something far more sinister.
The story is told from multiple points of view. Ben Chase’s personal life is complicated. His ex, Rachel, is trying to support the students while also wondering how much information her daughter is withholding. There are strange goings on at the school, perhaps she is in a unique position to help find the killer. Ellie believes that somehow this is all her fault. The action snowballs ending up at the stone folly in the woods. Richell builds the suspense and cleverly misdirects the reader adding a powerful punch to the big reveal. An excellent story told by a writer at the top of her game.
Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758: Lucinde is the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner and, much to her sisters’ chagrin, her father’s favourite. He tells her and anyone who’ll listen that she brings him luck and fortune.
Her sisters are intent on doing everything within their power to secure a suitable husband. Luce prefers spending her time swimming in the cove near their estate and learning how to sail with the English smuggler, Samuel. One morning, after a severe storm, she goes to the cove to discover what treasures the wild seas have thrown upon the shore and finds herself rescuing a handsome sailor from drowning. But he is no ordinary sailor, he is the son of one of her father’s rivals. The chemistry between them is immediate. He would be the perfect match for a girl such as she. He is rich, charming and offers her the kind of life her parents long for her to have.
Samuel though warns her against him. Warns her to look more carefully beneath the surface. Words that apply as equally to Luce. A chance meeting with a sea witch shows Luce another world of fairy magic and ancient spells. A world that speaks to Luce more powerfully than the one she has grown to know and love.
Kell Woods has written a magical tale of love, passion, discovery and betrayal filled with romance, humour and adventure. Paying homage to the fairytales of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella, Woods has created a unique richly imagined story that sweeps readers away. Woods is a storyteller of exceptional skill, warmth and imagination. Upon a Starlit Tide has all the elements of a deeply satisfying read that tugs at the heartstrings and brings a smile to your face. In times when the real world seems all too bleak, this is a story to revive your sagging spirits and carry you away.
Scroll down to Giveaways Galore for your chance to win a copy of Upon a Starlit Tide
Giveaways Galore!
I’m excited to have **three** copies of Upon a Starlit Tide to giveaway, thanks to the wonderful people at HarperCollins Publishers. All you have to do is send me a reply email** with the answer to the question below.
Name one of the fairy tales that inspired Upon a Starlit Tide.
And thanks to the dear folk at Penguin Books Australia, I also have **three** copies of The Bad Bridesmaid to giveaway. Send me a reply email** with the answer to this question to be in with a chance to win.
Whereabouts is the wedding being held?
**Remember, you can answer both questions in the same email.
The fine print: Giveaways are currently only open to subscribers and you must reside within Australia to be eligible to win (postage!) The winners will be picked at random and will be emailed on Tuesday 25 February. Good luck!
New Voices Down Under
Great new books are not limited to writers we already know and love. 2025 promises to be a bumper year for debut writers as well. In Meet the Author in this January’s edition, I talk to romance suspense writer, Emma Pignatiello about her gorgeous new book, Last Shot. In Books to Love, I feature three new titles. Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri about a young woman who travels to Morocco to find the father she’s never met and ends up finding a family who change her life. If you’re a rural crime lover, then When the Deep Dark Bush Swallows You Whole by Geoff Parkes might be just the ticket. Set in New Zealand’s King Country, the disappearance of a Finnish backpacker ends up revealing the dark side of a small country town. Or what about The Inheritance by Kate Horan about how wealth corrupts and a reminder that you can’t choose your family in this funny clever debut. Of course there are Freebies to be won but you have to be a subscriber so pop on over there using the link below for a chance to win a copy of Last Shot.
The end of the cup
And now, my friend, my cup is empty. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I’ll be back in your inbox in April with all my news and reviews and books to win!! If you know someone who might enjoy my ramblings, please share via the link below.
Don’t forget, you can check out updates on events at www.meredithjaffe.com or, why don’t you leave a comment below or drop me a line. I love hearing from you!
Keep well,
Enjoyed reading the newsletter. I haven’t watched the movie conclave, got to watch it. Thank you for sharing what books you liked reading. A few of my favourite authors there. I loved your book The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison.