Australian Women Writers Challenge discussion

Welcome to Australian Women Writers Challenge. Please feel free to share something about yourself here!

I suppose I should start..so hi!

My name is Shelleyrae and I live in Taree, NSW, Australia with my husband and four children. I work part time but I'd rather be reading :)

I love to read and usually manage 200+ books a year. My tastes are fairly eclectic but I have been making a concerted effort to read more Australian authors so when Elizabeth invited me to join the Australian Women Writers challenge I jumped at it.

I started a book blog a year ago called Book'd Out and enjoy making new bookish friends.

I'm supporting the challenge by moderating this group on its behalf since Elizabeth is new to Goodreads, I hope you join us!

Hi! I'm an Australian author currently living in Singapore.

I look forward to reading with the group in 2012!

Regards
Leigh

Hi I'm Brenda, co-mod of Aussie Readers:)

Hi, my name is Michelle (known as Mish on GR). I live in Melbourne Victoria, with my husband, daughter and pug Gomez. I will read just about anything with a good storyline but I do like to get lost in a good romance or fantasy book in between my general fiction.

Really looking forward to this challenge and perhaps sharing recommendation :)

Hi my name is Sally and I live in Darwin in the NT - I have signed up for the challenge - the link to my blog is here:
http://tinyurl.com/7wvuwpj

I haven't come up with my six yet - but am going to have at the very least have
Addition by Toni Jordan as I had just finished Fall Girl and enjoyed it.

Good choice Sally I loved Addition and I know that Dee-Ann really enjoyed it too. It is funny, witty, and sexy and the characters are simply adorable. I think you’ll like it.

I haven’t read Fall Girl yet but I think I might read it for this challenge.

Hello,

My name is Linds, and I a 31-year old blogger am from Pittsburgh, PA. I run a YA book blog, bibliophile brouhaha. I was lucky enough to read Kirsty Eagar's Raw Blue last December, and I've been eagerly seeking out more Aussie titles since then. While I predominantly read YA, I am concentrating on reading and reviewing more adult titles, as well.

Can't wait to pick my books - suggestions are very welcome! Thanks also to Shelleyrae for including me!


-Linds

Welcome everyone - Don't forget to browse our bookshelf for ideas on what to add to your list!

Hi, I'm Jo, I'm an Australian writer, living in Darwin NT with my husband. We have 4 adult children and 7 grandchildren, and we live on our boat in a Darwin marina. Looking forward to reading everyone's reviews, and to reading through my list, (writing deadlines permitting...)

This challenge is an excellent idea!

Hi, I'm Jenny. I write steampunk and paranormal romance (and poetry, on occasion). I read evertything -- well, not war stories or gory horror. I'm excited about discovering new-to-me authors through this challenge and reading some great books. I'd love some recommendations on history books by Aussie women writers for my reading list...but I'd best go check there's not another thread specifically for questions like that :) Thanks for starting the group here on Goodreads, Shelleyrae!

Hi, I'm Nicole. I write fantasy, science fiction, romance and various mashes of the three :) I generally read within those genres so I'm hoping to be inspired next year by recommendations to read outside. Looking forward to some great reading.

I'm Bree and I'm also a book reviewer/blogger from just outside of Melbourne. I've got 2 little kiddies (3 and 11wks, both boys). All of my family live interstate so basically I have a lot of time to read! I'm pretty lucky that we have an awesome library where I live and my husband is a pretty avid reader too so we buy a LOT of books. Most of which I put on a shelf and look at because I'm busy buying more/borrowing more from the library!

Hi, I'm Helene and I'm a reader, writer, blogger and occasional reviewer. I live in North Queensland with my husband and slightly obsessive staffie. I love reading and only wish I could make more time for it! Looking forward to the challenge and discovering more wonderful Australian authors :)

I'm Bernadette and live in Adelaide. I'm a crime fiction junkie and co-host a blog called Fair Dinkum Crime with a fellow Adeladian. We don't focus exclusively on women writers but we do discuss and review a lot of Australian women crime fiction writers over there.

I haven't decided which level of the challenge to sign up for - maybe I'll surprise everyone and dable a bit in some other genres based on recommendations from other participants. I do like historical fiction and general fiction too so I'll wait and see a little bit.

Looking forward to the challenge and to reading everyone's reviews and finding some new (to me) authors.

Hi - I'm Judi and I live on the far south coast of WA. I love reading YA and have been a judge in this category for CBCA and WA Premier's Awards but will devour all manner of books, real and electronic. Enjoy crime, literary fiction, steampunk and am coming to appreciate SciFi and fantasy.

I just found this thread - thanks, Shelleyrae for setting it uo, and please excuse me, everyone else, while I get the hang of GoodReads.

It's so good to learn more about people I've only "met" so far on Twitter.

I'm Elizabeth, I've been an avid reader most of my life in a range of genres, except when I'm head down writing, when I prefer to listen to radio so as not to be too influenced by the style of what I'm reading. Then, I go for podcasts mostly on Radio National, such as All in the Mind, Late Night Live, Rear Vision, The Philosopher's Zone...

If anyone's still wondering why I created this challenge, you can read the piece which Aussie author Lindy Cameron invited me to write for Sisters In Crime (my first guest blog!):

http://www.sistersincrime.org.au/cont...

I live in the beautiful Blue Mountains of NSW with my partner (an extremely private and wonderful photographer). I come from a huge family which rivals the united nations, cook indifferently, clean sporadically and have occasional bouts of activity in my neglected vegie garden.

I'm thrilled word of the challenge is spreading and really hope to see a further flowering of interest in Australian women's writing in 2012. Can't wait for those reviews. (I'm still working on the lists, by the way, so if you know any great books that should be there - especially nonfiction...)

Also, if anyone wants to know more about the "Our Story" option of the challenge (which looks for books that might have made the Love2Read lists for the National Year of Reading, but didn't) - just ask!

Hi! My name is Steph and I live in Adelaide SA - I have a BA (Hons) in English Literature and I work as an office dogsbody while I save up to go back to school! Really looking forward to this challenge, as I have a brand new book blog: http://stephslittlelibrary.blogspot.com/

Also looking forward to getting to know everyone, should be a good challenge!

Hi I'm Sarah and I blog about crime fiction at http://crimepieces.wordpress.com. I also review crime books at www.crimesquad.com

I live most of the time in the UK in the Derbyshire Peak District but as my husband is currently working in Athens, Greece I spend a lot of time there too. Where I am likely to be next year is anyone's guess given the current economic situtation. I have just finished my first crime novel and have started my second while I embark of the long road to try and get my first book published

I spent 10 years living in London and met loads of Aussies (and Kiwis!) who became good friends. But I am woefuly ignorant about Australian literature hence my participation in this challenge.
I am also new to goodreads in case anyone looks at my profile. I have read more than 5 books this year honestly.

Welcome everyone, it's lovely to see so many new people here:)

Hi I am Sean. I blog at Adventures of a Bookonaut. I live in rural South Australia. I focus (or try to) on speculative fiction and am particularly keen on promoting Australian authors. I try to achieve 50/50 gender split in my reviewing hence my support of the challenge.

Welcome, everyone.

@Sean, great to see you here. I wonder if men's reviewing is different from women's and, if so, in what way. The Stella Prize is trying to get a conversation going for International Women's Day about whether women's writing is different from men's, but how about reviewing? Maybe we should start a thread...

Elizabeth

Elizabeth wrote: "Welcome, everyone.

@Sean, great to see you here. I wonder if men's reviewing is different from women's and, if so, in what way. The Stella Prize is trying to get a conversation going for Internat..."

Not sure. I think if they are academic reviewers, they have probably accrued the same sort of literary biases that come from being restricted to a canon (of mainly male authors). Differences caused by biology? No idea but an interesting subject

Hi, I'm Clare. I live in Sunshine in Victoria with my Partner, Robyn. We're both pretty big readers - with particular interests in Sci-Fi. I have to admit to being pretty bad at reading Australian, so I'm hoping to change that by achieving a Franklin-fantastic level in this challenge.

I joined on day one but have neglected to introduce myself.

My name is Marg and I live in Melbourne. I am an avid reader and have been blogging predominantly about books for quite some time now!

I read mostly genre books with a particular emphasis on romance, historical fiction, YA, and spec fic.

Looking forward to the challenge next year. I haven't chosen my books yet, but I am starting to think about my list!

Hi, I'm Ange. I'm an Adelaidean who now lives in France. I've just been sent a lot of old Aussie books by Mary Grant Bruce, Ethel Turner and the like. I figure this Australian Women Writers Challenge and that pile of books can go hand in hand.

So, I'll be working through this list primarily. It should be fun!

Readingjay wrote: "Hi - I'm Judi and I live on the far south coast of WA. I love reading YA and have been a judge in this category for CBCA and WA Premier's Awards but will devour all manner of books, real and electr..."

Continuation of intro several days later: I am now also doing the Eclectric Reader Challenge and have made it all women Australian writers, so will combine the two. Or is that cheating? Anyhow, this is what I am thinking http://bit.ly/vBWK2J

Angela wrote: "Hi, I'm Ange. I'm an Adelaidean who now lives in France. I've just been sent a lot of old Aussie books by Mary Grant Bruce, Ethel Turner and the like. I figure this ..."

Wow, great list Angela:)

Great to have you all join us!

So glad the group is growing - thanks, Shelleyrae!

Hi, I'm Katie and I'm a School Library & IT Assistant and indie author from Western Australia. I write fantasy, but I read most genres, so I'll be happy to read some Aussie authors I haven't tried yet (as well as a few I have).

I haven't signed up yet because it has been a long day and the rules may as well be written in Chinese at the moment, but I'll try to get my head around them soon!

Catherine wrote: "Hi, my name's Catherine. I'm a Teacher Librarian part-time at a high school in Melbourne. I also work part-time at the State Library as a learning services officer. I've read a lot of Australian wo..."

Catherine - Black Juice contains one of my favourite short stories of all time. Look forward to seeing what you think of it.

Catherine wrote: "Hi Nicole,
I had a little skim when I first bought this book and was instantly hooked. Looking forwards to the holidays, a bit of sun and quality reading head-space =)
Which story was your favourite?"

Singing My Sister Down. Adored it. Margo is one of my favourite writers. Her novel Tender Morsels is incredible. Hard to read because of some of the subject matter, but incredible.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan:)

Hello, my name is Skye and I am really looking forward to discovering some wonderful authors and novels. I will be keeping track and reviewing on my blog -
http://skyelee76.blogspot.com/p/on-ni...

Hi All,
My name is Paula and I live in Melbourne. I sometimes blog but mostly live in Goodreads land where this year I met the 100 books challenge. I am looking forward to this challenge and reading out of my normal comfort genres which are fantasy and paranormal romance. I blogged my complete list of books at my link text. I am going for the 10 book challenge. (Although starting a diploma next year will be a challenge to my challenge) I will upload the books to the booklist

Great to have you join in! I've been making sure to subscribe to your blogs so I don't miss your AWW posts!

Thanks for the subscribe Shelleyrae, I will try to make my reviews interesting enough :)

G'day, I'm Maxine and I'm an ex P.O.M.E living on Queensland's Gold Coast. I'm founder and club secretary for Caffeine and Chapters Social Book Club, who meet on the fourth Thursday of each month. I only average about 60 books a year as I work full time and have other commitments but I do love to read when I get five minutes to myself. At the moment I am loving the Classics but I do have a penchant for horror and have devoted part of my 2012 reading list to some independent horror novels. I'm not committing to any challenges but I will slot in some Aussie Female authors where I can as my reading list is pretty much set for this year. Have fun with it all guys and if anyone lives on the Gold Coast or nearby and would like to come along to one of our book club nights you can find our details in my newsletters which can be found following the links at http://caffeineandchapters.blogspot.com/

I am a British learner writer and a galactic suburbia and Coode street listener who is looking forward to my next challenge.

Hey y'all,

I'm Tez, living in Batmania (aka Melbourne).

I normally don't join challenges because I go where my reading takes me instead of adhering to particular books, so my challenge reads will be incidental rather than deliberate ;-)

I'm planning to make a dent in the 200+ unread books waiting on my shelves - I think Keri Arthur, Erica Hayes, and Claire Corbett wrote books there, so that's a start. Also, there'll be more library books - I've borrowed a Tara Moss book, so I'll have to read that before it's due date ;-)

Thanks for everything, and have a lovely day! :-)

Tez
http://tezmilleroz.wordpress.com

Victoria (vikz) wrote: "I am a British learner writer and a galactic suburbia and Coode street listener who is looking forward to my next challenge."

I am a big fan of both of those podcasts too.

Hi to all the newbies! If anyone would love to join another fantastic Aussie group, and isn't a member already, we'd love to have you:)

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/7...

Hi everyone, and thanks Elizabeth for inviting me to join! It's a somewhat odd time for me to join, since I've just begun a much-needed break from EVERYTHING, up until at least 17 January 2012 - so I'm not even sure if I'm up for a Stella contribution at this stage. But I'll be back when I've recovered from Xmas and New Year.

Meanwhile, here's the basic info - I'm a sometime writer of SF stories, poetry and non-fiction; a keen reader of SF, crime, occasional romance and a mix of more eclectic titles. My goodreads bookshelves are sadly under-representative as I haven't made time to add all my books. (*adds to to-do list*). I'm also a life coach and trainer, and have recently discovered the joys of the graphic novel (as a reader - maybe one day as an author!)

I've about 120 books in my 'to be read' pile (including the books on my beloved Kindle) and I LOVE the idea of this challenge. Woohoo!

Marg wrote: "I joined on day one but have neglected to introduce myself.

My name is Marg and I live in Melbourne. I am an avid reader and have been blogging predominantly about books for quite some time now!

..."

Marg, Did you see on the AWW website challenge page that Alison Stuart has offered to give away an ebook copy of one of her historical romances free if you email her? (She commented 12 Dec, if that's any help!)

Paula wrote: "Hi All,
My name is Paula and I live in Melbourne. I sometimes blog but mostly live in Goodreads land where this year I met the 100 books challenge. I am looking forward to this challenge and read..."

100 books challenge! If someone managed that for AWW 2012 I think we should crowd-source some funds and award a prize. :)

Janette wrote: "Hi everyone, and thanks Elizabeth for inviting me to join! It's a somewhat odd time for me to join, since I've just begun a much-needed break from EVERYTHING, up until at least 17 January 2012 - s..."

Great to have you signed up, Janette. And don't worry about not getting stuck into it straightaway. We have all year. :)

Tseen wrote: "Hi all

Great to find this group on goodreads (thanks for the invite, Elizabeth!). I'm v. new to GR in general so pls excuse stumbles.

I live in Melbourne and work in a university as a research de..."

Hi Tseen, Thanks for joining up. I'm a novice with Goodreads, too. I only just worked out how to replay to people. The old hands are a forgiving bunch here, though. (Waves to Shelleyrae, Brenda, Marg...)

Elizabeth wrote: "Tseen wrote: "Hi all

Great to find this group on goodreads (thanks for the invite, Elizabeth!). I'm v. new to GR in general so pls excuse stumbles.

I live in Melbourne and work in a university as..."

We were all new once too, Elizabeth! ;)

Elizabeth wrote: "Marg wrote: "I joined on day one but have neglected to introduce myself.

My name is Marg and I live in Melbourne. I am an avid reader and have been blogging predominantly about books for quite som..."

Yes, I posted about it in another section of this group