Anita Heiss

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Anita Heiss

Goodreads Author


Born
Sydney, Australia
Website

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Member Since
June 2012


Professor Anita Heiss – bio

Anita is a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, and is one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors, publishing across genres, including non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children’s novels.

Her adult fiction includes Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming, Paris Dreaming and Tiddas. Her most recent books include Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms which was longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize and was named the University of Canberra’s 2020 Book of the Year.

The anthology Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia which Anita edited, was named the Small Publisher Adult Book of the Year at the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards
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Popular Answered Questions

Anita Heiss I’m often asked for advice on writing chick lit and so I thought I’d put my top tips here for those on the road to writing their first novel! Hope the…moreI’m often asked for advice on writing chick lit and so I thought I’d put my top tips here for those on the road to writing their first novel! Hope they’re helpful.

Write characters you yourself would like to hang out with. The kinds of women you would have fun with, would empathise with, would feel comfortable sharing your oh so embarrassing stories with.

Read in the genre, read around the genre to understand the difference between chick lit and romance. In chick lit our characters don’t have to end up with Mr. Right, but they do have to evolve and grow.

Think about what YOU like as a reader of chick lit and work your own story and style around that. I’ve learned that readers of my work appreciate characters they can relate to and settings they live in, have lived in, have been to, or want to go to. Entice your readers through your settings to want to go to the places you write about. i.e. Canberra, Melbourne, Paris, Manhattan. I have also written about towns I love that may never be on the literary map otherwise: Moree and Deniliquin (Paris Dreaming), and Goulburn (Manhattan Dreaming) for example.

Research is just as important in Chick Lit as any other book. To me research is as important as the writing. I wouldn’t have much of my material without extensive research. I don’t write about places I haven’t been to, because I want my settings to be authentic. So I go and sit in the suburb or the town and I watch, listen, eat local produce, smell what’s around me, talk to locals and ask them things like local myths, or where’s the best coffee, what’s the most significant land mark. I ask them, what a story about their place must include. I spent a lot of time researching in Melbourne for Avoiding Mr Right. I had to eat cakes and other delish pastries from every shop in Acland Street. I do suffer for my craft.

Best research tip: Always make a schedule for your research. Have a plan of what you need to see, who you need to speak to, where you need to go. I am very structured in my research and usually compact it into a certain period of time early on in the process. I don’t usually start writing until the bulk of research is complete.(less)
Average rating: 3.98 · 12,359 ratings · 1,789 reviews · 39 distinct worksSimilar authors
Growing Up Aboriginal in Au...

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Barbed Wire and Cherry Blos...

3.74 avg rating — 658 ratings — published 2016 — 8 editions
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Am I Black Enough For You?

3.87 avg rating — 592 ratings — published 2012 — 8 editions
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Tiddas

3.36 avg rating — 577 ratings — published 2014 — 8 editions
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Who Am I? The Diary Of Mary...

3.94 avg rating — 388 ratings — published 2001 — 9 editions
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Manhattan Dreaming

3.22 avg rating — 369 ratings — published 2010 — 10 editions
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Not Meeting Mr Right

2.96 avg rating — 358 ratings — published 2007 — 8 editions
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Paris Dreaming

3.43 avg rating — 224 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions
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More books by Anita Heiss…

Love Unleashed by Melanie Saward

I’m super excited for Melanie Saward on the forthcoming release of her first rom com novel LOVE UNLEASHED, through Penguin Books Australia

LOVE UNLEASHED is the rom com the Australian literary landscape has been waiting for. Thanks to Saward’s lens we journey with Bigambul woman Brynn Wallace in search of the New York magic her Ancestors laid down for her, while chasing her dreams of a career i

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Published on July 18, 2024 11:47
Our Race For Reconciliation
(1 book)
by
3.82 avg rating — 84 ratings

Anita’s Recent Updates

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Loved this beautiful Australian faery tale.
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Loved this beautiful Australian faery tale.
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Absolutely LOVED this story. For young and old alike.
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Gunflower by Laura Jean McKay
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Absolutely LOVED this story. For young and old alike.
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Sidelines by Karen Viggers
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by Karen Viggers (Goodreads Author)
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As a non-parent, I learned so much about parents on the sidelines!
As an author I was inspired by the use of different POVs to tell the story. Couldn't put this novel down.
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Quotes by Anita Heiss  (?)
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“Who do we know in Canberra who wears a suit?’ Libby asked. ‘More importantly, who looks good?’ I asked. ‘Stephen Smith,’ Libby offered. ‘Wayne Swan,’ Denise countered. ‘Peter Garrett?’ Libby asked ‘Greg Combet, most definitely,’ I insisted. ‘Julia Gillard,’ Libby said adamantly. Both Denise and I looked at her strangely. ‘What? Seriously, she wears a suit better than any of those guys. Especially that purple one she has.”
Anita Heiss, Manhattan Dreaming

“How can you possibly be an agent of positive change in the world when you are full of bitterness and hatred?”
Anita Heiss, Am I Black Enough For You?: 10 Years On

“I know who I am until somebody questions it, and then I have to start all over again. It’s exhausting.”
Anita Heiss, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia

Polls

June 2023 Group Read - Reconciliation week; books with First Nations authors

 
  20 votes, 42.6%

 
  15 votes, 31.9%

 
  6 votes, 12.8%

 
  6 votes, 12.8%

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Aussie Readers: Indigenous Australian Literature and Authors 51 243 Oct 03, 2011 09:46PM  
Aussie Readers: February Challenge - Read an Indigenous Author 73 117 Mar 23, 2013 06:26PM  
The Next Best Boo...: This topic has been closed to new comments. The Title Game 20218 14601 May 30, 2013 12:53PM  
The Great Barrier...: Aboriginal Books 3 5 Sep 19, 2013 03:45AM  
Australian Women ...: Sally906's 2013 Challenge 20 54 Nov 14, 2013 03:20AM  
“Who do we know in Canberra who wears a suit?’ Libby asked. ‘More importantly, who looks good?’ I asked. ‘Stephen Smith,’ Libby offered. ‘Wayne Swan,’ Denise countered. ‘Peter Garrett?’ Libby asked ‘Greg Combet, most definitely,’ I insisted. ‘Julia Gillard,’ Libby said adamantly. Both Denise and I looked at her strangely. ‘What? Seriously, she wears a suit better than any of those guys. Especially that purple one she has.”
Anita Heiss, Manhattan Dreaming

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message 2: by Anita

Anita Thanks Karen - I'm just getting the hang of this but will pop over to your page right now (and I'll tweet your link!). Much peace, Anita


message 1: by Karen

Karen Tyrrell Thanks Anita for friending,
Please check out Me and Her: A Memoir of Madness,
A Teachers gutsy story of parent harassment, mental breakdown & Recovery. How did I reclaim my life?
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Cheers,
Karen :)


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