I just wanted to let you know that Raw Blue is going to be published in the UK in August, by Catnip Publishing. I’m so happy about this. Hopefully this makes it easier for some of you to get hold of the book. And once again my thanks go out to the blogging community for raising this book’s profile – you know who you are :)

It’ll be coming out in August, smack bang in summer. I LOVE the cover:

1. Two more reviews have come in for Night Beach.

Book’d Out: Night Beach is a novel that got under my skin, complex, breathtaking and compelling, I can only insist you experience it for yourself. This is a story that stays with you, haunts you and despite its young adult label deserves an adult audience.

Spellbound by Books: I’ve read everything she’s written so far, and this is by far my most favourite read.

Thanks to both Shellyrae and Melissa for taking the time to read the book.

2. And due to a late scratching, I’m going to be blogging all this month at Inside A Dog – the Centre for Youth Literature’s website for readers. The CYL have been phenomenally good to me, inviting me to Reading Matters last year, and taking me to Geelong, and now this. And my only response to date has been to steal their Facebook photos. So I’m going to try really hard to be a good Writer in Residence for them.

3. Which leads me to the favour. If you’ve got a chance, I will love you forever if you visit me over there and leave a comment or ask a question, or get involved in the GIVEAWAY I’ll be running. (It’s a separate giveaway to the one that’s happening here on the 27th of May).

Okay, that’s all for now. Have a great day. This is what I’ll be listening to:

(I thought I’d follow her example by sprinkling a few images around to zhush things up a little – all NB inspired, of course):

There’s also a review in Australian Bookseller + Publisher (who I don’t think have ever reviewed my stuff before, so thanks Meg Whelan!):

Dark and seductive, Night Beach will leave you breathless. A thrilling and suspenseful combination of the real and the supernatural, this is not a novel to read alone at night! Kirsty Eagar paints a detailed picture of the claustrophobic surfing town, full of complex and intriguing characters. Highly imaginative and lushly described, it’s an enthralling world that will captivate readers just as it possesses Abbie. Eagar’s novel takes ideas with a usually positive portrayal, such as the ocean, art and love, and subverts them, capturing their darker underside and the dangers of obsession. This is a great book for older young-adult readers. Fans of Eagar’s Raw Blue—which won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for young adult fiction—will love her latest supernatural thriller.

And there are a few reviews out in the blogging community already. So a huge THANK YOU, as always, to you guys for taking the time to read and respond. (I should say, too – I know about reviews when they get passed on to me, either by the reviewer, or by Penguin, or someone in the know, so if you’d like to see yours mentioned, get in touch).

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And my editor, who knows me very well, sent me a link to this one by Trin in the Wind because it’s sort of everything that I was trying to do with the story (which I know doesn’t mean that everybody’s going to feel that way about it, but it’s still nice that one person did!)

I also really like Trin’s instructions for reading the book:

1. Read at night
2. Read at night while it’s raining
3. Read at night while it’s raining and you’re home alone
4. Let yourself go.

Finally, there’s a GIVEAWAY to come, which will kick off on the 27th of May. Yes, a bit delayed, but 27 is a really good number, and you can fill that time in by thinking about whether you prefer chandeliers or moons.

Have a great day, peoples!

Every time I come here I remember I was going to blog a bit more about Night Beach and I feel bad. It hasn’t happened yet, but once I get my current commitments out of the road (please soon God) I’ll do more and hold a giveaway and mention some reviews to self promote my arse off shine some light on what you can expect. O’right? Hope your Sunday’s humming.

Big thanks to Maryanne Hyde and the baby-twirling, Lace-loving staff of Geelong Regional Libraries. The libraries’ program is amazing. I like their Book Chat club, which is kind of like a book club but different in that you turn up and talk about whatever it is that you’re reading at the moment. Also, their strong sense that a library is a community space and definitely no longer a place in which you must be quiet.

And last, but not least – thank you to Adele, Liz and Nicole from the Centre for Youth Literature for looking after us and showing great navigational intuition. Here are some photos I’ve nicked from the CYL’s Facebook page (which you should go and ‘like’ to make up for me nicking photos):

The session is called Her Dark Materials (sexy title, hey what?), it’s on Sunday the 20th May at the Bangarra Theatre from 11.30am to 12.30pm.

For more details, click here. Thus endeth the upcoming events posts.

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PS This has a weird life-revisiting-itself feel, because 3 years ago I went to the SWF just before Raw Blue was published, and I sat in on one of Margo’s events and then hung around afterwards to tell her how much I loved Singing My Sister Down, then I met my publisher, Laura Harris, for the first time, and Melina Marchetta, and Bernard Zuel (the music reviewer in Raw Blue, and in real life, too). And then I caught a bus home, feeling a bit down because I didn’t think I fit in. Overstimulated, probably. People have since told me that they always feel like that at writers’ festivals.  This year, I’ll just be feeling lucky to be there.

The session will be held at Taree Library, at 4pm, so please ring the library directly if you want to book a place on 02 6592 5290.

I love that part of the world, and I’ve got a couple of mates lined up to surf Saltwater with me, so I’ll be sure to be smiley. Come and say hello, get your book signed and stamped, or just hang out.

The festival is mainly aimed at students in years 7 to 9. Apart from the school program, there is one event open to all:

Click here to register your interest.

In terms of the school program, there are two panel sessions on the 18th:

Morning Session:10:00am – 11:30am

Afternoon Session: 1:00pm – 2:30pm

And the 19th is all about student writing workshops. We’ll each be running 2 writing workshops, and there will be other workshops run by: Bernard Caleo, Sue Lawson and Adele Walsh.

For more details on the school program, you can contact Maryanne Hyde on: 03 5272 6021