August 1, 2019
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#CripLit, Amazon, Are You Seeing Me?, ASD, AYSM, Booktopia, CanLit, Caregiving, Chapters Indigo, Disability, Five Years Ago, LoveOzYA, Orca Book Publishers, Penguin Random House, Random House Australia, Road Trip, Twins, YA, YA Fiction, YA Lit, YA Novels
It doesn’t seem right, but it’s the fifth anniversary of Are You Seeing Me? coming into the world.
The little novel about Justine and Perry’s last glorious vacation together was released August 2014 and things would never quite be the same for its grateful author.
It managed to do amazing things, including this.
And this.
And even this.
Perhaps most impressively, it has managed to stick around, still getting read here, still being discussed there.
To celebrate AYSM’s continuing journey, I thought I’d share a little bit of the behind-the-scenes that shaped the novel we know today. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about AYSM.
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January 17, 2018
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Behold the cover for Infinite Blue, a contemporary fable penned by Simon Groth and his dodgy older brother. It’s hitting North American shelves September 11, 2018.
All credit for this beauty goes to the brilliant pair responsible: artist Iveta Karpathyova and Orca Books designer Teresa Bubela. If you’d like a peek inside the creative process, Iveta has posted a couple of cool videos here and here.
Counting the days!
July 4, 2017
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quickmeme.com
With the AUS/NZ release of my new novel a mere four weeks away, here’s a little insight into the wondering that produced the tale.
Exchange of Heart / Munro vs. the Coyote grew from two story seeds.
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March 7, 2017
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A second round of cover goodness has arrived – this one, the Aussie front for my new YA novel out later this year, titled Exchange of Heart in Oz.
Fans of Are You Seeing Me? might be pleased to see the similarities in style, design and font. I’m pleased to see that I did indeed write Are You Seeing Me? and it wasn’t all just a lovely dream.
If you’re in Australia and wish to pre-order Exchange of Heart, you can do so here.
If you’re in Canada/US and wish to pre-order Munro vs. the Coyote, you can do so here.
January 31, 2017
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Sometimes, Life takes on a life of its own…
Since the sudden death of his younger sister, Munro Maddux has been stuck. Flashbacks. Anger. Chest pains. And a voice – taunting, barking, biting – that his counsellor calls ‘the Coyote’. Munro knows a student exchange will not be the stuff of Disney movies. But in Australia he intends to move beyond his troubled past.
Forced by his new school to join a volunteer program, Munro discovers the Coyote is silenced in one place: Fair Go, an assisted living residence in Brisbane’s west, where Munro gets to know his team of residents: dogged designer Bernie; sleeping refugee Shah; would-be wedded couple Blake and Dale; comic creator Iggy; and self-defence tutor Florence. As this unlikely group shows Munro the sights, Munro’s notion of what it means to be a big brother begins to change.
But the burden Munro carries is not so easily cast aside, and unexpected developments at Fair Go prompt a devastating flashback that threatens to end the student exchange. Will the Coyote ultimately triumph? Or can Munro find the fortitude necessary to mend his heart?
‘Funny-sad, authentic and uplifting – Groth is a writer who can pivot from heartbreak to humour without missing a beat.’ Vikki Wakefield, author of All I Ever Wanted
Exchange of Heart will be published in AUS/NZ July 31, 2017. In CAN/US, the book will be released October 17, 2017 under the title Munro vs. the Coyote.
You can mark it as ‘to-read’ on Goodreads here and here.
January 26, 2017
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My brand new YA novel is coming out this year. In North America, it’s titled Munro vs. the Coyote and the cover looks a little like the awesomeness above.
Not bad, eh?
Every image within the Coyote’s head speaks to moments, elements and characters in the story.
I can’t wait to see this jacket on the real deal come October.
July 11, 2016
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Adelaide Festival Awards, Adelaide Writers' Week, Are You Seeing Me?, AYSM, BC Book Prizes, Book Awards, Book Prizes, Jordan Stratford, Literary Awards, Literary Prizes, PM Lit Awards, WA Premier's Book Awards, Where You Are Now, WYAN
2015 was, without doubt, the year of Are You Seeing Me?. By November, it had achieved nine big-time recognitions on three continents, including five major prize shortlistings. Then the year ended with a nod in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.
Over twelve months, I’d pinched myself so much I took out a self-restraining order.
The ticking over of the calendar to 2016 felt like the end of AYSM‘s dream run, especially with my focus now firmly set on the draft of the follow-up novel, Where You Are Now. The little book with the car and the cracks and the marauding monster on the cover, though, was not yet prepared to shed its sneakers.
In fact, it was saving up a finishing kick of epic proportions.
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