Hello hello! The year continues to whizz by like I’m on some kind of crazy carnival ride, and I’m hanging on tight, dear reader! I’m writing hard, Substacking with purpose and watching the book industry intently as it grapples with things like a) is AI going to keep stealing our work? b) how many social media platforms can we reasonably expect authors to be on? and c) in future, how the heck are we going to prove that we wrote our books and didn’t just put our name to something scribed by our bot minions/overlords. All to be continued – but these are mighty interesting times right now.
News and noteworthy
All the books shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards 2026
When She Was Gone is having a lovely time at the moment: on the Sisters in Crime fiction long list, and the WA Premier’s Awards shortlist for Fiction Book of the Year, along with O’Keefe by David Whish-Wilson, King of Dirt by Holden Sheppard, I Am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton and Chance and Necessity: A Novel of Narrogin and Williams by Rosanne Dingli. It’s just a lovely, lovely thing, and I’m obsessed with these little silver numbat-inspired stickers that will now adorn the book!
I’ve also been busy re-energising my backlist, although it’s taking way longer than I thought it would. All the books that have gone out of print in Australia (i.e. everything except The Hush and When She Was Gone) have updated covers, and they are available online on Kindle and will roll out to other platforms very shortly. If you’ve missed any of these, click on the covers to find out more.
My apologies, but I’m also behind in prepping my newsletter giveaway. I’m still working on a way to give you one of these books for free in - hopefully - the next newsletter! More on that shortly.
What I’m writing …
I’m back on track with my next crime-suspense, which is called Ten Ways to Catch a Killer, and has some Agatha Christie vibes running through it. It’s too early to say much more, but I’ve finally sorted out the narrative voices and the plot is thickening nicely. I’m hoping to progress this one quickly now.
EVENTS COMING UP
I’ve got quite a few events coming up in the second half of the year. Here’s one already selling tickets, and there are some more yet to be announced that are happening in October/November. Hopefully I’ll have these details in the next newsletter.
SAT 8 AUG 2026 (State Library of WA) Place Steals the Scene: Locations with main character energy (3.15pm-4.15pm)
From wild coasts to urban grit, discover how a setting can become a force of its own as Rosanne Dingli, Sara Foster, Elizabeth Green, Tasma Walton and David Whish-Wilson dissect the art of making readers feel a place. Moderated by Julia Lawrinson.
This is my session, but there’s heaps more happening in this all-day event: you can see the whole program and book here.
READ: THE CAIRO BRIDAL SHOP
Tess Woods’s upcoming novel The Cairo Bridal Shop is a DELIGHT! A potted blurb: Nestled at the bustling foot of the pyramids lies the iconic Albi Bridal Boutique, where three sisters are about to break the shackles of tradition to fight for their futures. Tess calls this ‘the book of her heart and soul’ and I’ll be helping her launch the novel at Subiaco library on 31 August.
WATCH: WIDOW’S BAY
I’m fully onboard the Widow’s Bay bandwagon. This Apple series, featuring the brilliant Matthew Rhys, is deliciously quirky. Rhys plays a mayor desperate to turn his sleepy, cursed New England island into the next big tourist hotspot, wilfully ignoring the locals warning him the place is haunted. It’s creepy but with a lot of clever, dry comedy too. Perfect if you like a scare without a sleepless night!
LISTEN: READING BETWEEN DEADLINES
My dear friends and fellow WA authors Rachael Johns and Anthea Hodgson run a brilliant podcast where they read and rate the classics and the big books of the moment. I was nodding along to their latest ep on Yesteryear, and I was lucky enough to chat to them recently about my passion for Maggie O’Farrell’s The Hand that First Held Mine.
This month on Resilient Author…
I’ve also ventured into fun new territory on my substack, hosting my first group live call for paid subscribers, offering insights into how I’m re-envisioning my career in the hope it will also help other authors. It can be summed up as: less burnout and overwhelm, more creativity. It requires some strategy in the current times, but my goal is to see a publishing industry with more authors able to support sustainable careers, rather than the situation we have at the moment with 99% of authors feeling like they’re hanging on to their career like it’s the bucking bull at a rodeo.
I’ll be talking to emerging writers this weekend - and these live calls are part of the perks for all my paid subscribers. If you’d like to join in, I’d love to see you there!
And I’ve been writing lots too. Here are some of my recent posts:
This month has also been monopolised by the fact my husband and I love tournament football, which has meant a few very early mornings here in Western Australia! As a long-time England footie fan, who remembers watching Gazza crying in the 1990 semi-final as we all sat around the TV at school, I was hoping we could go one better this time, but alas it wasn’t to be. However, since I always write in the early mornings my schedule has been all over the place, so I’m looking forward to getting that back on track! And Luna the cavoodle is also pleased she’ll get more walks and attention again
Until next time, happy reading!
Sara x