February 26, 2025 • 39 mins
In this episode of the Book Deal Podcast, hosts Tina Strachan and Madeleine Cleary delve into the highs and lows of their busy lives as debut authors. They catch up on their recent book launches, including Tina's 'Neeka and the Missing Key' and Madeleine's upcoming 'The Butterfly Women,' discussing their experiences, challenges, and the emotional rollercoaster of seeing their books on shelves. They also cover the excitement of author events, pitches, and the vital balance between publicity and writing. Additionally, the episode highlights upcoming author panels and conferences, offering invaluable insight for both emerging and established writers.
00:00 Welcome to The Book Deal Podcast
00:43 Catching Up with Tina and Madeleine
01:10 Natasha Rai's Upcoming Episode
01:37 Tina's Pathway to Publication
02:19 The Day in the Life of a Published Author
05:54 Book Launch Day Excitement
12:26 Sydney Bookstore Adventures
15:59 Balancing Publicity and Writing
19:15 Final Edits and Self-Imposed Timelines
19:55 Promo Work and Creative Writing Challenges
23:41 The Reunion: A Crime Thriller Preview
25:09 Exciting Social Events and Networking
26:03 Pitching at the Author and Aperol Roadshow
32:05 Pre-Launch Anxieties and Excitement
34:38 Upcoming Events and Debut Author Support
38:36 Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tina and Madeleine (00:09):
This is the Book Deal Podcast.
Where you will discover theinspiring stories of the authors
behind your favourite books.
No matter what stage of writingyou are at, we've got you
covered.
I'm Tina Strachan.
And I'm Madeleine Cleary.
And join us as we pull back thecurtain of published authors.
One deal at a time.
(00:29):
The Book Deal Podcastacknowledges the traditional
owners of the land and waterswhich it's recorded on.
And pays respect to theirelders, past, present, and
emerging.
Madeleine Cleary (00:43):
Tina, it's been a month since we've last
spoken.
It's been ages.
Tina Strachan (00:47):
I know it's so long.
I miss our more regular chats.
Madeleine Cleary (00:51):
I know, but we did this for a reason because
Tina Strachan (00:53):
We're busy.
We're very busy.
But, I have missed our chats,but I've also really enjoyed
having Natasha Rai on the showas well.
Ejecting a little bit of,something different, which has
been great.
Madeleine Cleary (01:08):
Yes, we are big Natasha Rai fans.
And, um, and actually Natasha'sown episodes are where I'm going
to be interviewing Natashabecause and Onslaught of Light
is coming out and this isNatasha's debut novel.
And her episode will be comingout on the 6th of March to
coincide with the release of hernovel.
So I'm very looking forward tothat as well.
Tina Strachan (01:27):
it's a busy couple of months.
She's busy too.
She's going to be super busyafterwards.
Madeleine Cleary (01:31):
She is.
Tina Strachan (01:32):
Oh, so yes, a lot has happened, hasn't it?
Madeleine Cleary (01:34):
Okay.
So let's, let's go back to thestart.
So, Tina, last time we spoke, Iinterviewed you about your
pathway to publication.
You're a few days away fromlaunch.
Big, big feels, vibes going on.
Tell us, how are you feeling?
Probably about three or fourweeks, I think, after Neeka and
(01:57):
the Missing Case come out.
How are you feel three weeks.
How are you feeling right now?
Tina Strachan (02:02):
Oh, um, maybe sort of just like living a dream
a little bit.
I think it's, you know, it'sbeen so busy, but good busy.
Uh, like literally, you know,I've had time off work, but my
days have been full still likesuper busy, but it's just been
so fun.
Um,
Madeleine Cleary (02:19):
what does a day in a life of a published
author look like?
Tina Strachan (02:23):
well at the moment I'm, actually doing edits
for book two as well.
So there's a bit of that, butit's been up and down and, Yeah.
I mean, so when it first cameout, it was that, that was super
exciting.
So that day, I don't know, itwas all of it.
It was a bit, um,
Madeleine Cleary (02:40):
what, okay, so tell us about when you first saw
it on the shelf.
That would have been the mostamazing experience.
Tina Strachan (02:46):
and that wasn't until it was out, day two that
it was out because on the firstday that it was out, like I was
a little bit scared because Ididn't want to go into any
bookshop that just didn't haveit.
And then I walk in and I'm like.
My book's not here.
This is so sad.
So, um, but super exciting causeit was, it's in big W.
So I thought surely they'll havestock.
Okay.
I can count on that.
(03:07):
Um, except my, my youngest childdecided that he just didn't want
to go to the shops.
Madeleine Cleary (03:12):
I remember this message you sent me.
Tina Strachan (03:15):
I look, Madeleine, on my release date, I
just wanted to walk around likea princess all day.
Okay.
I wanted to be spoiled.
I want to just to The justliving the life.
Madeleine Cleary (03:25):
You told me massages, you, you know, beach
walks.
Tina Strachan (03:29):
Um, and I had a soak, which was nice'cause I, I
think it's'cause I just knewwhat was coming and I was kind
of delaying it a little bit.
But prepping myself for it.
So that was nice.
And then, yeah, I mean, like, noone keeps you grounded, like
children.
So that just brought me rightback down.
But it was still, and then,yeah, and then I wanted to go
out, I thought.
I'll take the kids out fordinner, but no, no, I wanted to
(03:50):
do that either.
So I was
Madeleine Cleary (03:51):
Oh!
Tina Strachan (03:53):
checked
Madeleine Cleary (03:53):
So wait, did you drag your son into BW?
Tina Strachan (03:56):
No, no, I, you know what?
I did it because he was having alittle tantrum and I was like,
no, you're like killing my vibenow.
This is not how I want to see mybook dragging you around trying.
So no, I'm not going to do it.
But that was fine.
And I ended up just, you know,I've got some yummy takeaway and
of course some bottles ofchampagne for at home.
And then I dragged them alongthe next day, day two.
Madeleine Cleary (04:16):
So where did you see it?
And tell us about that moment.
Tina Strachan (04:19):
local Big W because that's the closest to
the school for school pickup.
Um, and yeah, that was, yeah,just so strange and so amazing
to just see it sitting on a, onthe shelf.
I mean, you know, the, you know,the book quite well by that
point, you've seen it, you'veheld it and, and, um, Yeah.
(04:39):
So it's just this thing that'sso familiar to you that, you
know, only a few people haveever seen.
And now it's just there on theshelf.
And, and my eldest son wasstanding in the aisle.
And every time someone walkeddown, he'd be like, Hey mom, can
you please buy me a copy ofNeeka and the missing key?
I hear it's really good.
He'd say
Madeleine Cleary (04:57):
Okay! He's redeemed himself, then.
Tina Strachan (04:59):
No, that was my eldest.
He's he's, he's fullyappreciative of, of what that
means.
So.
That was pretty funny, but yeah,that was great.
But honestly, just, you know,going, I just, of course, like I
did anyway, before my book waspublished, I'd go into every
bookstore that I went past and Istill do that.
And now just to see them,there's just incredible.
Madeleine Cleary (05:19):
And not just see them yourself, but have
everyone who sees them sharethem on social media as well,
because my feed's been full ofNeeka and the Missing K, which I
love.
Tina Strachan (05:29):
it's so nice.
I've been so appreciative ofpeople just because everyone's
so excited for you as well, youknow, so just taking photos and
sharing it and it's just beenincredible and, all the
bookstores and the booksellersdoing an amazing job, you know,
making sure she's out therefront and center and yeah, it's,
it's been, it's been a ridethat's for sure.
So, so yeah, it's been a bit upand down and that, that was some
(05:50):
pretty fun weeks and everythingkind of feels a bit new.
Madeleine Cleary (05:54):
I do want to talk, I want to talk about your
launch and how you felt duringthat.
But before we do, um, this issomething we shared on social
media.
Um, I went into Dimmicks,Melbourne, so on Collins street.
First, the day of, I think I, Imust've seen it on the shelf
before you did.
Tina Strachan (06:11):
Yeah, you did.
Yeah.
Madeleine Cleary (06:13):
I was at work and I was like, absolutely.
I'm going to go down to Dymocksand see if I can find Tina's
book, day one.
Um, and it was so, it wasamazing.
Cause I, I actually asked thelady.
Can you point me to it?
Dimmix Melbourne's a massivestore.
I only had a brief amount oftime.
Um, she pointed me to the shelf.
There were two copies on theshelf and I was like, Oh, and so
(06:36):
I was like, Oh, I'll just putthe two copies as a face out,
you know, put it all on displayand everything.
And I was with my colleague andshe's like, Oh, Hey, look at
this.
And I turn around and there'sthis giant stack.
of Nica and the Missing Key.
Huge, huge pile.
Tina Strachan (06:53):
my gosh.
Madeleine Cleary (06:55):
just got this, like, it wasn't even my book,
but I got so proud and I waslike, tingles.
I'm so excited for you.
And so I was, you know, filmingcontent as you do.
And then this young girl comesup and she's, you know, maybe
eight or nine.
And she's like, oh, I'm lookingfor a book.
What should I get?
She's talking to a youngerbrother.
(07:15):
And I just like.
Here, take this book.
This is written by my friend.
It's about a girl who lives in azoo and it's wonderful and I've
read it and you'll really loveit.
And so yeah, she bought it.
So, um, yeah, I just, I mean, Ifelt like I was living the
journey.
I've been living the journeywith
Tina Strachan (07:32):
You have,
Madeleine Cleary (07:33):
weeks.
Tina Strachan (07:33):
you have, you have been living the journey.
Thank you.
Oh, how's those wonderfulbookseller skills coming back
for you?
Oh yes.
It's like having, it's likehaving a street team, you know,
like everyone's out and they'relike, okay, I've saw it here.
Um, I turned it face out for youcause it was spine out.
It's like, thank you.
Good work.
Um, but I do have to say on theface out thing, I actually
(07:54):
bought a book the other day,literally just cause it was face
out.
Like I just.
Madeleine Cleary (07:58):
explain what face out
Tina Strachan (07:59):
Yes, yes, yes.
Do you want to explain it?
Madeleine Cleary (08:01):
So when you look at a book, when you go into
a bookstore and you're lookingat the shelf, obviously spine
out is where you've got all thelittle books.
And so spine outs generally arefor books where you've got two,
one or two or three copies.
Anything more than thatbooksellers will try and do a
face out.
So at least you can see thecover and it's actually creates.
(08:21):
more room on the shelf when youcan stack them face out.
Um, but you tend to only do thatwhen you've got four, five, six
copies.
Like you said, that's whyselling into bookstores, getting
your book into bookstores andgetting them to buy multiple
copies is so important becauseoften it's the cover that sells
a book.
The cover does matter.
Tina Strachan (08:39):
Yep.
Yeah.
No, I truly like, you know, Iwas in a bookstore and it can be
really overwhelming.
I've managed to go to somereally amazing, huge bookstores,
which we just don't have here onthe Gold Coast.
When I was in Sydney, the otherweek and
Madeleine Cleary (08:52):
Oh, just casually when you're in Sydney.
Oh my gosh.
We have so much to talk about.
Okay.
So let's, let's start to talkabout your launch.
So this actually happened.
Was it about a week and a halfafter your release?
Okay.
Tina Strachan (09:04):
yes, yes.
So,
Madeleine Cleary (09:05):
about the day.
Tina Strachan (09:06):
oh, it was, you know, the whole day was just
really good and everything justwent really well and, I didn't
feel really nervous or anything.
I think I was prepared.
Because I, you know, had a fairbit of time to, to prepare for
it.
And I had my beautiful friendKate Foster, who is also a
(09:27):
children's book author, be myemcee on the day.
So I knew that together we wouldbe okay.
And, you know, I had like,everyone had jobs.
My family had jobs.
I had my kids.
I was so keen to help.
And it was just super fun.
I had like craft for the kids tokeep them entertained because,
um, the, my book obviously iscalled Neeka and the missing key
about a missing key.
(09:48):
So I had this little like keyring making, little craft set up
for them, which was really And,it was at.
Fleay's cafe, it's called it,which is at, David Fleay's
wildlife park here on the GoldCoast.
So it was the most, oh, it wasthe most perfect backdrop.
You know, you walk in and theyhave these beautiful snakes
there and there was a wild koalain a
Madeleine Cleary (10:06):
snakes.
Is
Tina Strachan (10:07):
snakes.
Yes.
Big, beautiful, stunning snakes.
And there was a wild koala inthe tree right out the front.
I was just like, this is just asign.
Today's just.
going perfectly, um, which wasso amazing.
So, you know, lots of peoplewent into the wildlife park
afterwards and had to lookaround and the venue was just,
everything went perfectly.
It was just fun and wentsmoothly.
(10:28):
And, you know, I was
Madeleine Cleary (10:30):
have a Prosecco or a glass of the
bubbles?
I hope.
Tina Strachan (10:33):
you know, you try, but it's super busy because
you're talking and I didn't wantto have anything until after I,
you know, had a chat and you'resuper busy and trying to say hi
to everyone.
And, um, And then someonebrought me, yeah, some bubbles
and I had like a sip and then Istarted signing and then I
signed for an hour.
I just didn't stop
Madeleine Cleary (10:52):
did you forget anyone's name?
Because I've heard this is acommon.
Tina Strachan (10:57):
Okay.
But I actually had QBD, they'reselling books for me and they
were so prepared.
I had heard, before.
And so I had brought some postit notes with me and I'd asked a
friend to be my post it noteperson.
So for those people that don'tknow, a little trick, is If you,
if you're in line to get a booksigned, if someone can, you
(11:19):
know, take your name and put ona postnote, put it on your book.
It is because, uh, whoever issigning your book, there's
spelling.
Also some people want it forother people's names, not their
own.
But also the author is, who isat the event is so, Overwhelmed
and busy and their head is sofull that it's, I've heard
(11:39):
stories of people forgettingtheir relatives names.
Yeah.
Or just spelling it wrong.
And, you know, I think I caughtmyself once where I actually
completely left out a word in,you know, I wrote like a, I hope
you enjoy niggas wild adventuresor something in the book.
And I just completely left out aword, but I I thought I've
probably did that five times,but, um, Yeah.
(12:01):
As long as you don't forget yourown names, you're probably okay.
But QBD was amazing.
Ava from QBD, she had pens andshe had post it notes and she
had it all under control anyway.
Madeleine Cleary (12:10):
done this before,
Tina Strachan (12:11):
she has done this before.
Um, so yeah, everything justwent amazingly and, and
perfectly.
Yeah, so it was an incredibleday.
It was perfect.
Yes.
And then I felt like it was abit of a whirlwind after that.
There was lots of social mediastuff to come from that.
There was lots of organizing andthen, yeah, I went to Sydney the
following week, to meet Marayafrom HarperCollins, who was
(12:34):
incredible and, Max Hamilton,who's the illustrator of the
book, met her as well, which wasso fun.
I love, I've met Max a couple oftimes before, but we got to
spend the day together and, um,we just spent a whole day going
from bookstore to bookstore.
We went to Dimmicks and GeorgeStreet, which is amazing.
I'd never been there before.
Like,
Madeleine Cleary (12:52):
my
Tina Strachan (12:52):
like, How many, like three or four store levels
or something like that.
Madeleine Cleary (12:56):
gorgeous, isn't it?
Tina Strachan (12:58):
amazing.
I went back the next day andjust spent like an hour in
there.
And Harry Hart Hog and ConstantReader and I'm probably gonna
say this wrong, kinna, Kuna.
Is that right?
Kinakuna?
Madeleine Cleary (13:08):
I think that's how you say it.
Tina Strachan (13:10):
That, that is just an amazing shop as well.
So beautiful.
And, um, and also we got to goto the Booktopia offices, which
was such a dream.
Madeleine Cleary (13:21):
tell me about this because like it's, you
always see this and it's kind oflike a dream of every author to,
to, to have this
Tina Strachan (13:28):
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
And it was, it was prettysurreal and,
Madeleine Cleary (13:33):
Okay, so, so tell us about what Booktopia
signing is.
Tina Strachan (13:38):
Well, so we went to the, I couldn't even tell you
what suburb it's in, but it's alittle bit out.
And, you walk in and it justlooks beautiful and, they have
this table, with all your bookson it, but also the table is
actually signed, like the wholething's just like got signatures
all over it from like anyonethat you've ever seen do a
Booktopia signing has likesigned this
Madeleine Cleary (14:00):
Oh, how
Tina Strachan (14:01):
which is incredible.
And we got to sign it too, whichis really cool.
Yeah.
So I managed to find a littlespot and sign that.
And that was amazing.
Madeleine Cleary (14:09):
How long did it take to sign all your
Tina Strachan (14:11):
Uh, not very long, not very long.
Me, me and Max have it down pat.
We've got a, like, a nicelittle, um, process.
Cause, cause that's been reallycool too to have your
illustrator around have doublesignatures in the book.
It's been really incredible.
But then the highlight actuallywas going, going to see the, was
going to see the little, therobots.
Madeleine Cleary (14:31):
Yes! Yes!
Tina Strachan (14:34):
them before and um, yeah, they, cause they go
and, you know, help collect allthe, the books.
So the orders come in and theselittle robots go off with their
little baskets and help collectall the books.
And they have these faces andthese names and you stand there
and they just all move aroundyou and move around each other.
So it was so cute.
I kind of felt like I wanted tocuddle them, but at the same
(14:55):
time it was a bit strange, butyeah, that was like my
highlights.
I was just, I'd seen them beforeand just thought.
How interesting they were.
So, oh, and then the next day wewent to Glee Book Club, which I
keep, I always hear people talkabout and I see people post
about, but I'd never been ableto go there.
And, um, so that was amazingwith Rachel there.
And we did, me and Max didtheir, their book club that
(15:15):
afternoon, which was so cute.
We just hung out and chatted tothe kids and we all made our own
little zoo, um, craft.
It was so fun.
It was so fun.
It was such a good weekend.
So yeah, it's been busy.
Madeleine Cleary (15:28):
Wow, it feels like surreal as well.
Like, these are the types ofthings that are just so fraught,
far beyond normal life, isn'tit?
Tina Strachan (15:35):
Yeah.
Madeleine Cleary (15:36):
you out of it.
Tina Strachan (15:37):
Yeah.
But like you said, and you, youfollow authors and you see them
do these amazing things all thetime.
And it's like, We're actuallydoing them.
That's incredible.
So being, very appreciative of,yeah, everything that I've been
able to do.
So yes, but now, um, edits forbook two,
Madeleine Cleary (15:52):
Yes, yes, and so when is book two coming out?
Tina Strachan (15:56):
July.
Madeleine Cleary (15:57):
Okay, July.
It
Tina Strachan (15:58):
a little bit of time.
Madeleine Cleary (15:59):
It actually must be really difficult to come
down because I feel likepublicity is a different type of
brain power compared with yourcreative power when you're
writing, editing.
Has it been difficult to comedown from the high to sit down
and do the work?
Tina Strachan (16:20):
I think I, Yeah, welcomed having the edits come
in and it had been so long sinceI've seen the manuscript, so I
was looking forward to that.
But, yeah, it has, it is a bitof a change a yeah, a gear shift
because you're kind of runningon this high of like, all the
publicity and the, all theevents and just meeting people
and, um, yeah, social media is,yeah, definitely has been taking
(16:41):
a bit of time, but I've beengrateful to have the time to do
that.
Because it's, it's, um, timesensitive too, isn't it?
Like you, you can't, sometimesI'm not particularly quick to
post things that I've been upto, but I'm like, I have to do
it for this, you know, quitequickly.
So, yeah, no, but it's great.
It's been great.
It's been great to get my headback into the editing space.
So.
Madeleine Cleary (17:03):
You're always so good.
Have you been able to maintainyour writing every day while on
publicity?
Really?
You're amazing.
I don't know how you do it.
Tina Strachan (17:12):
I think, well, cause I've taken some time off,
but it's been really awesome.
I've been able to get into amanuscript that I'd almost
finished completely outside ofthis series.
And, um, I was actually a bitworried if I'd be able to get
back into it, but you know what?
I've just written some awesomechapters on that too.
So I feel like I've had my headin a few different places, but,
yeah, I'm just trying to makethe most of my time.
Madeleine Cleary (17:33):
I really admire you, Tina.
I don't think I could do that,because that's what I'm
struggling with at the moment,is trying to Well, I think the
last time we spoke and had thiskind of chat was in December.
And I thought, I think back thenI was like, Oh yes, I'm
progressing this manuscript.
Um, I've pretty much halfway.
(17:53):
If I just keep going, I want tohave it done by the end of the
year.
Well, you know, things end up.
It, I haven't really done anywork on it since then.
Um, and very mindful of that aswell.
Like it's been a couple ofmonths since I've actually
picked it up because I, I find Istruggle to actually have two
things going at once becausethere's been so much stuff going
(18:14):
on with the butterfly women.
Um, in the background, that'staken up a lot of my energy and
time.
And I really struggled to putanything else towards.
Book two that I'm working on atthe moment.
Um, so I've had to, um, I thinkcome to just sit with that and,
(18:35):
and accept that.
And at first I was feeling superguilty and bad, but I think, and
this is not just for publishedwriters, but for emerging
writers as well, things happenin life that you can't control
and you can't just, or ifcreative life pursuits.
You need to put your best selfinto them, put the right energy
(18:56):
into it.
And I just know that over thelast couple of months, I haven't
been able to put that rightenergy to it.
So, this book that I'm writing,it's going to be written in the
pockets of time, which is verydifferent to how I've written,
how I wrote The Butterfly Women,which was over a nice consistent
period.
Mmm.
Tina Strachan (19:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
And I guess, well, I guessthings are changing now, you
know, you're all very close tobeing a published author and
yeah, things will change yourwriting style, I suppose.
Um, but have you, but you haveonly just finished your absolute
final edits though haven't you?
Madeleine Cleary (19:31):
Uh, yeah, literally yesterday.
Tina Strachan (19:33):
Yesterday.
Isn't it funny?
Like that's, we put so muchpressure on ourselves.
Like that's, so it's, it's noteven been 24 hours, Madeleine.
And um, I think, yes, let's, youwill find, you'll probably find
that time now because you cankind of maybe put a, put a
little like stop up now behind.
(19:55):
Behind the butterfly women for alittle bit, you know, it's a
different kind of work thatyou're going to do on it now,
right?
You're going to work on thepromo.
You've
Madeleine Cleary (20:01):
Mm hmm.
Tina Strachan (20:02):
that, you know, and commitments that you have to
do around that, working up to itand your launch, and it's a
different kind of work, but itwon't be that.
As creatively writing, I don'tthink.
Madeleine Cleary (20:13):
No, no,
Tina Strachan (20:14):
Yeah.
So you'll probably, yeah, you'llprobably feel like you'll want
to get back to work because youdo have that space and that
outlet.
And yeah, it's funny.
You sound like me.
I get sometimes if I'm notprogressing, I like, I get super
anxious about it, like, and, andreally kind of annoyed, like,
Oh, I've still haven't writtenit.
I must write it.
And, you know, it reminds me ofan interview that I did recently
(20:36):
on the book deal, um, with, uh,Kirsten Ealand and she had that
quote.
I think I used it as our quoteon socials.
That was something along thelines of it.
These are self imposed.
Timelines that you're putting onyourself.
No one, yeah, no one else isdoing this.
No one else is making you workthis hard.
Just, you just got to do whatyou can.
And, you know, Kirsten, she, shesuggested just quitting.
(21:00):
She found if she quit writingfor a bit, it would just, you
know, the flow would just comeback to her anyway.
But, um, yeah, it is, it's all,we're just putting those
timelines on ourselves, aren'twe?
So,
Madeleine Cleary (21:11):
That's right.
That's right.
And it is, it is definitely selfimposed.
But, um, I think I hit a pointin my writing where I felt
stuck.
And so, and I tried a couple oftimes, but it was also, and then
it got stuck, but it was alsocoinciding with lots of other
things going on in my personal
Tina Strachan (21:31):
Mm hmm.
Yeah.
And I think you can try as muchas you want to block that out.
Like I really try tocompartmentalize, but I found
this and I think this is whereyou are now in the weeks before,
um, launch of the book.
You do have these otherdeadlines that aren't in self
imposed, they are actual, likeyour book launch is this date
(21:52):
and your book is coming out onthis date.
Like you're, you, there'snothing you can do to change
that.
So sometimes you do need toactually just let that go
because these right now is youractual book that is on the shelf
that is coming out and peopleare going to be able to buy it.
And that is, that is where allthe energy probably should go in
that time.
Madeleine Cleary (22:12):
Yes.
And it's pretty consuming, thistype of energy you have to give
to these types of things aswell.
Like it's, it's really consumeda lot of my thoughts, like
normally, you know, in a normaltime I'd sort of be thinking
about my book and, and, and yousort of, it's a really great
time to be able to ponderquestions in the book and plot
(22:34):
holes and all sorts of things.
I'm not doing that.
At the moment, it's okay, my todo list.
There's 20 things I have to do.
How am I going to prioritizethis while also working full
time social life is a lot at themoment as well.
We've, you know, got lots ofthings going on every weekend.
So it's like, how do I sort ofplot out that time?
(22:54):
So for me, the creative writinghas just had to drop in the last
two months, and that's been thefirst time in years that's had
to drop.
And it's so super sad, but likeyou said, I've got a focus, I've
got the Butterfly Women comingout in two months now, so that
has to be my number one focus.
And I'm okay with that, like,I've come to that acceptance,
I'm just not gonna put thatpressure on myself, so.
Tina Strachan (23:15):
Yeah.
And it'll come back.
Madeleine Cleary (23:16):
imposed deadlines, it will come back.
And I'm very happy.
Yeah, I'm very excited to getback to it too, but I want to
also have a bit of space to getback into it because I'm afraid
if I jump back in, in a month'stime, it's, it's all going to
blow up again.
Tina Strachan (23:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, you're right.
Yeah.
And you can't force it.
Hey, it's, it's hard,
Speaker (23:42):
I'm Bronwyn Rivers, author of The Reunion, a crime
thriller being released byHachette on the 11th of February
2025.
I was born and grew up inNewcastle, and now I live here
in Sydney's inner west with mypartner and two children.
The hunting party meets the dryin this tense thriller set in
the Australian bush.
(24:02):
The pitch indicates how TheReunion derives from three
things I love.
Atmospheric country housemysteries, tense, secret filled
psychological thrillers, and theharsh beauty of the Australian
bush.
It is set in a fictionallocation somewhere within the
rugged forests of the GreaterBlue Mountains region west of
Sydney.
A place I visited every yearwhile growing up.
(24:25):
The story.
Ten years ago, six young friendswent on a hike into this
bushland.
Only five came out alive.
Now, on the tenth anniversary ofEd Fletcher's death, the
remaining five friends arereuniting at the home of Ed's
mother Martha, a farmhouse lyingdeep within the forest.
When the friends arrive, thehouse is in terrible condition
(24:48):
and Martha is obviouslydisturbed.
The weather is very hot and thehouse is very isolated.
Something is about to gohorribly wrong.
What is the truth about EdFletcher's death all those years
ago?
And how far will someone go inorder to get it?
You
Tina Strachan (25:09):
But you have been having a, um, very exciting
social life.
You just mentioned, you've,you've been to a few fun things
recently.
It's
Madeleine Cleary (25:21):
fun last Tuesday night, um, Affirm Press
put on, and it was inconjunction with Simon Schuster,
um, the, it was Author andAperol Roadshow, which was to
introduce authors from SimonSchuster and Affirm Publishing
this year, so it was really fun.
That's about 12 authors, Ithink.
(25:41):
And I actually had no idea whatto expect.
So, um, Christine Newell, who's,um, another debut with Affirm.
She's amazing.
And I've read her book.
I just finished it this morningand it's amazing.
Five Seasons and Soul.
So I'll be putting a post up onmy social media.
It comes out on Tuesday thisweek.
So here's a bit of a plug.
It, it's amazing.
(26:01):
It was such a beautiful book.
So Christine and I.
We met up beforehand because wethought we'll go into the party
together and I was on a
Tina Strachan (26:09):
safety in numbers.
Madeleine Cleary (26:10):
safety numbers rooftop in Melbourne.
We walked up there.
It's gorgeous afternoon.
Um, and yeah, we didn't reallyknow what to expect, but they
had name tags for us, likespecial author name tags.
So there's 12 of us.
And then I looked at the, Ilooked, I didn't know who the
other authors were.
And I looked and I was like.
Brie Lee and Kate Mildenhall,Mark Russell, Matt Rogers, like
(26:32):
all these like very big nameauthors.
And, um, and so I was like, Oh,this is cool.
And so then they introduced, sothey invited a whole bunch of
booksellers from around Victoriaand it.
Instead of doing formalpresentations, which is what
they do each year, authors willpresent their books and pitch
their books.
Instead, it was a bit of a game.
So, which was really cool.
(26:53):
They had this little passportand, um, booksellers had to
approach you when you have yourlittle name tag on, they know
you're an author and they haveto ask for your pitch and then
get your signature in theirpassport.
Tina Strachan (27:08):
oh my gosh.
Madeleine Cleary (27:10):
And any bookseller who has all the
signatures at the end of thenight goes into a draw to win a
thousand dollar gift card.
Tina Strachan (27:16):
Oh, this is so cool.
Madeleine Cleary (27:20):
it's really
Tina Strachan (27:21):
idea.
Madeleine Cleary (27:22):
So that means that we as authors don't have to
awkwardly, especially us debutswho don't.
I don't really know many peopleawkwardly tap people on the
shoulder and say, hello, can youplease buy my book?
So,
Tina Strachan (27:34):
That, that is awkward, isn't it?
And even having to do the wholepitch is awkward.
So how many times did you haveto do your pitch during the
night then?
Madeleine Cleary (27:40):
well, I've, and this is the thing, this is
the, this, it would, this is whyit was so surreal.
And I was talking with KateMildenhall about this after the
event, like it's, um, first timeI've actually really.
I haven't talked and pitched thebook to anybody because the book
has been in my little circle, mynice little comfy editorial
circle for like the last 18months.
(28:00):
And so I had developed a pitchat lunchtime in my day job.
Because I hadn't really had timeto think about it.
I was like, okay, this will do.
And cause I thought I betterprepare a pitch.
They didn't tell us to, but Ithought I better pair one just
in case.
Tina Strachan (28:15):
work.
Madeleine Cleary (28:16):
And yeah.
And then, um, when I rocked upwith them, I was like, yep.
So you'll have a minute to pitchto each of the booksellers.
And I was like, okay, cool.
Glad I've got that ready.
And, um, and so, yeah, so by theend of the night, it's
interesting.
And Christine and I werechatting about this.
At first it was quite stiltedthe pitch because it was came
out of memory.
And then by the end of thenight, It was, we, you tested it
(28:39):
so many times that you got toknow when to add in information
and insert things and play withthings.
And it was like quite naturaland, and comfortable.
And, and thankfully,
Tina Strachan (28:51):
the Aperol spritzes as the night went on
was certainly helpful forpeople.
Madeleine Cleary (28:56):
it was helpful for some people, but I was in
this really also awkward.
Oh God, I shouldn't say this onthe podcast, TMI, but anyway,
everyone knows all my, my bowel
Tina Strachan (29:07):
wouldn't be the first time.
Madeleine Cleary (29:10):
so, so, and this is, it was hilarious,
actually.
I, um, had a, had to do aprocedure on Thursday last week.
And so Tuesday was prepping forthis procedure.
And so Tuesday, I was meant totake my first laxative.
Tina Strachan (29:31):
You were so brave!
Madeleine Cleary (29:34):
So
Tina Strachan (29:34):
before booksellers and
Madeleine Cleary (29:37):
I was meant to take it just before the evening
and I thought, I spoke to thepharmacist and I explained, I
had a very important event toattend.
And she said, I would highlyrecommend you do
Tina Strachan (29:49):
Don't!
Madeleine Cleary (29:49):
take it.
She's like, if you wait tillwhen you get home, it should be
okay.
So I was like, okay.
So I was not allowed to eat
Tina Strachan (29:58):
I'm glad you checked.
It'll be fine.
Surely it'll be okay if I justhave one.
Madeleine Cleary (30:06):
you imagine?
Anyway.
So at the event, um, uh, yeah, Iwas.
I couldn't eat or drink anythingexcept for water.
And there was all this deliciousfood and I was so hungry.
And this poor, lovely server,she kept coming up with all
these different food options forme.
And I kept saying, no, uh, no,that's okay, no.
(30:27):
And she, I could tell she wasgetting frustrated.
So then she brought this wholeother dish for me and she's
like, it's not meat.
It's cauliflower.
Like she must've thought I was avegetarian.
Uh, And I was like, I didn'twant to say, oh, I'm not eating
because I'm about to.
Tina Strachan (30:43):
issue.
Oh, good on her for keeping ontrying.
Madeleine Cleary (30:49):
I was like, I'm just not eating.
Um, so yeah, I was starving.
I was so hungry and my, youknow, you're trying to like
pitch and, and it would havebeen nice to have a glass of
Prosecco or an Aperol.
But, um, but no, it was great.
Um, I had this one woman, shewas so lovely.
She beelined after the initialchat, she'd like beelined
(31:09):
towards me.
And she's like, Sales reps justcome into the bookshop to talk
about your book.
I am so excited.
I just wanted to say how excitedI am about the Butterfly Women.
Very keen to get you on to haveto, you know, get you to sign
books, do an event, whatever.
Like, I was like, oh, I didn'teven have to pitch.
She's like, you don't need topitch because I already know
what it's about.
I'm so excited.
Like, I was, it was just thissurreal fairy tale night and I
(31:32):
was on a high for the rest ofthe day.
So I got home at about 10 30 PM,took my laxative, um, logged in
to work at 8 AM the next day.
Tina Strachan (31:42):
Yeah.
I, it's, I know what you mean byyou feel like it's just in your
little comfy editorial sort ofenclosed people and for early
readers and stuff like that, theonly ones, and then all of a
sudden people outside, no, andthey're talking to you about it
and they've read it or they'veseen it or there's comment on
it.
It's, it's a whole new world andthat's very exciting, Madeleine.
(32:03):
It's all just
Madeleine Cleary (32:04):
Okay.
So I want to ask you, um,because the, the thing that I'm
getting the common thing, commonthread, I suppose, for all
authors before their books comedown, so they're quite anxious
in the lead up to, but then assoon as the books released, they
feel fine.
I didn't get the sense from youthat you were overly anxious in
(32:25):
the lead up.
It's that I knew you were verybusy, but I don't know if you
felt that, but I'm keen to hearwhat you think.
Tina Strachan (32:32):
I don't think I felt anxious.
I think I had the same sort of,um, concerns, I guess that, oh,
what if, what if it's justreally bad?
What if it's a really bad book?
No one wants to read it.
Um, and I've made a big mistakein this somewhere that somehow
(32:52):
no one's picked up, you know,all those things that we all do,
Madeleine Cleary (32:55):
Yes.
Tina Strachan (32:56):
but that's, that's, I think just.
normal, um, for any author, butI didn't really feel too much
anxiety in the lead up.
I just think I was excited.
And, you know, it's been such along, it's been two years since
I signed and I think I was justlike, here, we're here.
We're finally here.
so I think it was a differentkind of, it was more of an
excitement of what's to come.
Madeleine Cleary (33:17):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Tina Strachan (33:18):
come.
And I just knew, you know, I waspretty excited to have, you
know, six weeks off, off workto, to do writery stuff.
And, um, you know, I've got lotsof words down and in between,
doing all the publicity stuffand just enjoying the ride.
I just really wanted to havethat time to enjoy the ride.
So I knew that was all comingand I was just excited, I think
for it.
Yeah.
Are you feeling the anxietyMadeleine or?
Madeleine Cleary (33:41):
Um, no, I don't feel anxious at the
moment.
Um, I feel very excited.
Um, I had, did have a Bit of asort of last couple of days, oh,
is everything I'm writing reallycrap.
Um, but I've, I've moved pastthat.
I recognize that's just anatural thing for people to
think.
Um, no, I'm, I'm really, reallyexcited now and it's time is
(34:03):
going fast.
I didn't quite, I think, Iquite, I think last year I was
like, Oh, time's going reallyslowly.
It's still end of April, stillsix months away.
And then suddenly it's like, Oh,okay.
We're two months out now.
Tina Strachan (34:13):
Yes.
I, I felt the same and I don'tknow if it was because there was
Christmas in the last and allthat sort of thing in the last
month before it came out, but itjust, that all of a sudden it
was just here and it's out andit just flies.
And it's been out for threeweeks now, you know, that's, um,
that's pretty crazy, you
Madeleine Cleary (34:29):
So what does your next few weeks look like
then?
So you've still got the time ofwork, so you've got, and you've
got book two edits.
Do you have other Neeka andMissing Key events?
Tina Strachan (34:38):
I do and I have one this weekend and that's
exciting because this episodewill be um, aired when there's
still a couple of days to go.
So if anyone's in Brisbane, uh,and would like to come to, I'm
actually having a Brisbanelaunch as well at Where the Wild
Things Are and in Brisbane andthat's on this Saturday, which
is the 1st of March and it's at10am.
(35:01):
And, um, yeah, we'll put thelink in the show notes, but
where the wild things are, lotsof people know what it is.
It's right next to Avid Reader,
Madeleine Cleary (35:08):
Mm
Tina Strachan (35:08):
In Brisbane and, it's an incredible kid's
bookstore and the team there areamazing.
And yeah, come along, we'll bethere.
There'll be cupcakes.
There'll be key ring making.
There'll be, there'll be myanimal game called, who's food
and who's poo.
There's two parts to it.
Super fun.
Yeah.
So, so that's what's happeningthis weekend.
(35:30):
And then, you know, um,returning back to work the
following weekend.
So I feel like, uh, everythingwill just sort of settle into
the new normal,
Madeleine Cleary (35:39):
hmm.
Tina Strachan (35:39):
we're working, um, edits are due at the end of
this week, so I'll get them inand, you know, just work towards
book two in July.
Madeleine Cleary (35:46):
So exciting.
I can't believe it.
July, another one.
You're going through all thisagain.
Tina Strachan (35:50):
I know.
Hey, you know, what elseexciting that's happening in
July for all our listeners is,the CYA conference.
Um, is,
Madeleine Cleary (35:58):
everyone will know about this if you've been
listening to the podcast for awhile.
Tina Strachan (36:01):
yes, they've just released a whole new round of,
editors and agents from all thedifferent houses, for
assessments.
So you can, book in to, um, getassessments from many, many
different, publishing housesand, and editors and agents as
well.
So, and they book out reallyquickly.
Yes.
Madeleine Cleary (36:21):
Get onto that, everybody.
Very, very.
Are you going to be part of theassessing crew, Tina?
Tina Strachan (36:27):
No, but I'm going to be a presenter there because
I'm a CYA success story.
They call it.
Um, so yeah, I'll be presenting.
So the conference is in July aswell.
So that's very exciting.
Madeleine Cleary (36:39):
amazing.
Amazing.
Um, I'm so excited and we've,we've been having some fun chats
as well in the interim with, um,some of our day 20, 25 debuts,
we've had some great releasescoming out this year, the start
of this year, so.
Um, yeah, we really encourageeveryone to, to support, you
know, your Australian debutauthors.
(37:00):
Um, and if you do enjoy theirbook, share it on social media,
um, tell them about it.
Cause it's just, you know, Iknow from your experience, it's
just great, isn't it?
To hear from, from readers.
Tina Strachan (37:11):
It's so nice.
Honestly, that's the, that wasprobably the most exciting part
of launch day.
Just having my phone justconstantly, like someone's
shared another reel.
Cause I've, you know, they'veseen the book in the store and,
and just knowing how excitedeveryone is.
Um, so also, yes, if you do seethe debut crew books on the
shelves, make sure to turn themcover out.
So I
Madeleine Cleary (37:33):
a list of our debut books as well.
Um, so Natasha.
Um, on the podcast, um, actuallyhas a newsletter, um, that she
releases every month with alittle bit of a Q and a, um,
with all of our debut authorsfor this year.
So definitely sign up to that.
Tina Strachan (37:51):
And fellow Debut crewer, Holly Braunbauer, if you
follow her on Insta, she does,monthly updates as well of
everybody's books that arecoming out in that month.
So that's, that's a really goodway of keeping on top of, the
Debut crew for this year andfinding some new reads and a new
author maybe to follow.
Madeleine Cleary (38:10):
Yes, do we really encourage it?
So, um, and I, we had the debutpanel interview last week as
well with some of our amazingcrew.
So, um, it was great chat andperhaps.
Panel chats are a way forwardfor the book deal.
I think it was really fun.
Tina Strachan (38:25):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's definitely fun.
Uh, yeah.
I think we're going to do a kidlit one soon as
Madeleine Cleary (38:29):
Yes!
Tina Strachan (38:30):
keep an ear out or eye out for that one.
Um, yeah, very soon.
Madeleine Cleary (38:35):
Amazing.
Tina Strachan (38:36):
Oh, so great to catch up with you, Madeleine.
Madeleine Cleary (38:40):
it's been too long, Tina, and um, I'm just so
thrilled for you on yoursuccess.
And from all of the sounds, itsounds like your book's flying,
which is amazing when I've beenturning to booksellers.
So we are so happy for you,Tina.
Tina Strachan (38:53):
Oh, thanks.
That's so exciting.
But I'm, I'm very excited tofollow you in these next few
months before the butterflywomen come out.
Madeleine Cleary (39:00):
Yes.
And we will be talking beforethen.
And, um, you will beinterviewing me as well, I
Tina Strachan (39:07):
Oh! I am so excited for this! When do I get
my arc?
Madeleine Cleary (39:12):
Yeah, that's right.
Well, I've just finished the,uh, proofread.
So,
Tina Strachan (39:16):
Okay, send it over! I'm excited.
Madeleine Cleary (39:21):
all right.
Lovely to chat.
It was always, you know,
Tina Strachan (39:24):
Same for you, bye!
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Thank you for listening to the book deal
podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe to the pod so
you can receive updates as soonas our new apps drop.
And to keep up to date with whatthe pod is doing, you can also
find us on Instagram.
This is the Book Deal Podcast.
Where you will discover theinspiring stories of the authors
behind your favourite books.
No matter what stage of writingyou are at, we've got you
covered.
I'm Tina Strachan.
And I'm Madeleine Cleary.
And join us as we pull back thecurtain of published authors.
One deal at a time.
(00:29):
The Book Deal Podcastacknowledges the traditional
owners of the land and waterswhich it's recorded on.
And pays respect to theirelders, past, present, and
emerging.
Madeleine Cleary (00:43):
Tina, it's been a month since we've last
spoken.
It's been ages.
Tina Strachan (00:47):
I know it's so long.
I miss our more regular chats.
Madeleine Cleary (00:51):
I know, but we did this for a reason because
Tina Strachan (00:53):
We're busy.
We're very busy.
But, I have missed our chats,but I've also really enjoyed
having Natasha Rai on the showas well.
Ejecting a little bit of,something different, which has
been great.
Madeleine Cleary (01:08):
Yes, we are big Natasha Rai fans.
And, um, and actually Natasha'sown episodes are where I'm going
to be interviewing Natashabecause and Onslaught of Light
is coming out and this isNatasha's debut novel.
And her episode will be comingout on the 6th of March to
coincide with the release of hernovel.
So I'm very looking forward tothat as well.
Tina Strachan (01:27):
it's a busy couple of months.
She's busy too.
She's going to be super busyafterwards.
Madeleine Cleary (01:31):
She is.
Tina Strachan (01:32):
Oh, so yes, a lot has happened, hasn't it?
Madeleine Cleary (01:34):
Okay.
So let's, let's go back to thestart.
So, Tina, last time we spoke, Iinterviewed you about your
pathway to publication.
You're a few days away fromlaunch.
Big, big feels, vibes going on.
Tell us, how are you feeling?
Probably about three or fourweeks, I think, after Neeka and
(01:57):
the Missing Case come out.
How are you feel three weeks.
How are you feeling right now?
Tina Strachan (02:02):
Oh, um, maybe sort of just like living a dream
a little bit.
I think it's, you know, it'sbeen so busy, but good busy.
Uh, like literally, you know,I've had time off work, but my
days have been full still likesuper busy, but it's just been
so fun.
Um,
Madeleine Cleary (02:19):
what does a day in a life of a published
author look like?
Tina Strachan (02:23):
well at the moment I'm, actually doing edits
for book two as well.
So there's a bit of that, butit's been up and down and, Yeah.
I mean, so when it first cameout, it was that, that was super
exciting.
So that day, I don't know, itwas all of it.
It was a bit, um,
Madeleine Cleary (02:40):
what, okay, so tell us about when you first saw
it on the shelf.
That would have been the mostamazing experience.
Tina Strachan (02:46):
and that wasn't until it was out, day two that
it was out because on the firstday that it was out, like I was
a little bit scared because Ididn't want to go into any
bookshop that just didn't haveit.
And then I walk in and I'm like.
My book's not here.
This is so sad.
So, um, but super exciting causeit was, it's in big W.
So I thought surely they'll havestock.
Okay.
I can count on that.
(03:07):
Um, except my, my youngest childdecided that he just didn't want
to go to the shops.
Madeleine Cleary (03:12):
I remember this message you sent me.
Tina Strachan (03:15):
I look, Madeleine, on my release date, I
just wanted to walk around likea princess all day.
Okay.
I wanted to be spoiled.
I want to just to The justliving the life.
Madeleine Cleary (03:25):
You told me massages, you, you know, beach
walks.
Tina Strachan (03:29):
Um, and I had a soak, which was nice'cause I, I
think it's'cause I just knewwhat was coming and I was kind
of delaying it a little bit.
But prepping myself for it.
So that was nice.
And then, yeah, I mean, like, noone keeps you grounded, like
children.
So that just brought me rightback down.
But it was still, and then,yeah, and then I wanted to go
out, I thought.
I'll take the kids out fordinner, but no, no, I wanted to
(03:50):
do that either.
So I was
Madeleine Cleary (03:51):
Oh!
Tina Strachan (03:53):
checked
Madeleine Cleary (03:53):
So wait, did you drag your son into BW?
Tina Strachan (03:56):
No, no, I, you know what?
I did it because he was having alittle tantrum and I was like,
no, you're like killing my vibenow.
This is not how I want to see mybook dragging you around trying.
So no, I'm not going to do it.
But that was fine.
And I ended up just, you know,I've got some yummy takeaway and
of course some bottles ofchampagne for at home.
And then I dragged them alongthe next day, day two.
Madeleine Cleary (04:16):
So where did you see it?
And tell us about that moment.
Tina Strachan (04:19):
local Big W because that's the closest to
the school for school pickup.
Um, and yeah, that was, yeah,just so strange and so amazing
to just see it sitting on a, onthe shelf.
I mean, you know, the, you know,the book quite well by that
point, you've seen it, you'veheld it and, and, um, Yeah.
(04:39):
So it's just this thing that'sso familiar to you that, you
know, only a few people haveever seen.
And now it's just there on theshelf.
And, and my eldest son wasstanding in the aisle.
And every time someone walkeddown, he'd be like, Hey mom, can
you please buy me a copy ofNeeka and the missing key?
I hear it's really good.
He'd say
Madeleine Cleary (04:57):
Okay! He's redeemed himself, then.
Tina Strachan (04:59):
No, that was my eldest.
He's he's, he's fullyappreciative of, of what that
means.
So.
That was pretty funny, but yeah,that was great.
But honestly, just, you know,going, I just, of course, like I
did anyway, before my book waspublished, I'd go into every
bookstore that I went past and Istill do that.
And now just to see them,there's just incredible.
Madeleine Cleary (05:19):
And not just see them yourself, but have
everyone who sees them sharethem on social media as well,
because my feed's been full ofNeeka and the Missing K, which I
love.
Tina Strachan (05:29):
it's so nice.
I've been so appreciative ofpeople just because everyone's
so excited for you as well, youknow, so just taking photos and
sharing it and it's just beenincredible and, all the
bookstores and the booksellersdoing an amazing job, you know,
making sure she's out therefront and center and yeah, it's,
it's been, it's been a ridethat's for sure.
So, so yeah, it's been a bit upand down and that, that was some
(05:50):
pretty fun weeks and everythingkind of feels a bit new.
Madeleine Cleary (05:54):
I do want to talk, I want to talk about your
launch and how you felt duringthat.
But before we do, um, this issomething we shared on social
media.
Um, I went into Dimmicks,Melbourne, so on Collins street.
First, the day of, I think I, Imust've seen it on the shelf
before you did.
Tina Strachan (06:11):
Yeah, you did.
Yeah.
Madeleine Cleary (06:13):
I was at work and I was like, absolutely.
I'm going to go down to Dymocksand see if I can find Tina's
book, day one.
Um, and it was so, it wasamazing.
Cause I, I actually asked thelady.
Can you point me to it?
Dimmix Melbourne's a massivestore.
I only had a brief amount oftime.
Um, she pointed me to the shelf.
There were two copies on theshelf and I was like, Oh, and so
(06:36):
I was like, Oh, I'll just putthe two copies as a face out,
you know, put it all on displayand everything.
And I was with my colleague andshe's like, Oh, Hey, look at
this.
And I turn around and there'sthis giant stack.
of Nica and the Missing Key.
Huge, huge pile.
Tina Strachan (06:53):
my gosh.
Madeleine Cleary (06:55):
just got this, like, it wasn't even my book,
but I got so proud and I waslike, tingles.
I'm so excited for you.
And so I was, you know, filmingcontent as you do.
And then this young girl comesup and she's, you know, maybe
eight or nine.
And she's like, oh, I'm lookingfor a book.
What should I get?
She's talking to a youngerbrother.
(07:15):
And I just like.
Here, take this book.
This is written by my friend.
It's about a girl who lives in azoo and it's wonderful and I've
read it and you'll really loveit.
And so yeah, she bought it.
So, um, yeah, I just, I mean, Ifelt like I was living the
journey.
I've been living the journeywith
Tina Strachan (07:32):
You have,
Madeleine Cleary (07:33):
weeks.
Tina Strachan (07:33):
you have, you have been living the journey.
Thank you.
Oh, how's those wonderfulbookseller skills coming back
for you?
Oh yes.
It's like having, it's likehaving a street team, you know,
like everyone's out and they'relike, okay, I've saw it here.
Um, I turned it face out for youcause it was spine out.
It's like, thank you.
Good work.
Um, but I do have to say on theface out thing, I actually
(07:54):
bought a book the other day,literally just cause it was face
out.
Like I just.
Madeleine Cleary (07:58):
explain what face out
Tina Strachan (07:59):
Yes, yes, yes.
Do you want to explain it?
Madeleine Cleary (08:01):
So when you look at a book, when you go into
a bookstore and you're lookingat the shelf, obviously spine
out is where you've got all thelittle books.
And so spine outs generally arefor books where you've got two,
one or two or three copies.
Anything more than thatbooksellers will try and do a
face out.
So at least you can see thecover and it's actually creates.
(08:21):
more room on the shelf when youcan stack them face out.
Um, but you tend to only do thatwhen you've got four, five, six
copies.
Like you said, that's whyselling into bookstores, getting
your book into bookstores andgetting them to buy multiple
copies is so important becauseoften it's the cover that sells
a book.
The cover does matter.
Tina Strachan (08:39):
Yep.
Yeah.
No, I truly like, you know, Iwas in a bookstore and it can be
really overwhelming.
I've managed to go to somereally amazing, huge bookstores,
which we just don't have here onthe Gold Coast.
When I was in Sydney, the otherweek and
Madeleine Cleary (08:52):
Oh, just casually when you're in Sydney.
Oh my gosh.
We have so much to talk about.
Okay.
So let's, let's start to talkabout your launch.
So this actually happened.
Was it about a week and a halfafter your release?
Okay.
Tina Strachan (09:04):
yes, yes.
So,
Madeleine Cleary (09:05):
about the day.
Tina Strachan (09:06):
oh, it was, you know, the whole day was just
really good and everything justwent really well and, I didn't
feel really nervous or anything.
I think I was prepared.
Because I, you know, had a fairbit of time to, to prepare for
it.
And I had my beautiful friendKate Foster, who is also a
(09:27):
children's book author, be myemcee on the day.
So I knew that together we wouldbe okay.
And, you know, I had like,everyone had jobs.
My family had jobs.
I had my kids.
I was so keen to help.
And it was just super fun.
I had like craft for the kids tokeep them entertained because,
um, the, my book obviously iscalled Neeka and the missing key
about a missing key.
(09:48):
So I had this little like keyring making, little craft set up
for them, which was really And,it was at.
Fleay's cafe, it's called it,which is at, David Fleay's
wildlife park here on the GoldCoast.
So it was the most, oh, it wasthe most perfect backdrop.
You know, you walk in and theyhave these beautiful snakes
there and there was a wild koalain a
Madeleine Cleary (10:06):
snakes.
Is
Tina Strachan (10:07):
snakes.
Yes.
Big, beautiful, stunning snakes.
And there was a wild koala inthe tree right out the front.
I was just like, this is just asign.
Today's just.
going perfectly, um, which wasso amazing.
So, you know, lots of peoplewent into the wildlife park
afterwards and had to lookaround and the venue was just,
everything went perfectly.
It was just fun and wentsmoothly.
(10:28):
And, you know, I was
Madeleine Cleary (10:30):
have a Prosecco or a glass of the
bubbles?
I hope.
Tina Strachan (10:33):
you know, you try, but it's super busy because
you're talking and I didn't wantto have anything until after I,
you know, had a chat and you'resuper busy and trying to say hi
to everyone.
And, um, And then someonebrought me, yeah, some bubbles
and I had like a sip and then Istarted signing and then I
signed for an hour.
I just didn't stop
Madeleine Cleary (10:52):
did you forget anyone's name?
Because I've heard this is acommon.
Tina Strachan (10:57):
Okay.
But I actually had QBD, they'reselling books for me and they
were so prepared.
I had heard, before.
And so I had brought some postit notes with me and I'd asked a
friend to be my post it noteperson.
So for those people that don'tknow, a little trick, is If you,
if you're in line to get a booksigned, if someone can, you
(11:19):
know, take your name and put ona postnote, put it on your book.
It is because, uh, whoever issigning your book, there's
spelling.
Also some people want it forother people's names, not their
own.
But also the author is, who isat the event is so, Overwhelmed
and busy and their head is sofull that it's, I've heard
(11:39):
stories of people forgettingtheir relatives names.
Yeah.
Or just spelling it wrong.
And, you know, I think I caughtmyself once where I actually
completely left out a word in,you know, I wrote like a, I hope
you enjoy niggas wild adventuresor something in the book.
And I just completely left out aword, but I I thought I've
probably did that five times,but, um, Yeah.
(12:01):
As long as you don't forget yourown names, you're probably okay.
But QBD was amazing.
Ava from QBD, she had pens andshe had post it notes and she
had it all under control anyway.
Madeleine Cleary (12:10):
done this before,
Tina Strachan (12:11):
she has done this before.
Um, so yeah, everything justwent amazingly and, and
perfectly.
Yeah, so it was an incredibleday.
It was perfect.
Yes.
And then I felt like it was abit of a whirlwind after that.
There was lots of social mediastuff to come from that.
There was lots of organizing andthen, yeah, I went to Sydney the
following week, to meet Marayafrom HarperCollins, who was
(12:34):
incredible and, Max Hamilton,who's the illustrator of the
book, met her as well, which wasso fun.
I love, I've met Max a couple oftimes before, but we got to
spend the day together and, um,we just spent a whole day going
from bookstore to bookstore.
We went to Dimmicks and GeorgeStreet, which is amazing.
I'd never been there before.
Like,
Madeleine Cleary (12:52):
my
Tina Strachan (12:52):
like, How many, like three or four store levels
or something like that.
Madeleine Cleary (12:56):
gorgeous, isn't it?
Tina Strachan (12:58):
amazing.
I went back the next day andjust spent like an hour in
there.
And Harry Hart Hog and ConstantReader and I'm probably gonna
say this wrong, kinna, Kuna.
Is that right?
Kinakuna?
Madeleine Cleary (13:08):
I think that's how you say it.
Tina Strachan (13:10):
That, that is just an amazing shop as well.
So beautiful.
And, um, and also we got to goto the Booktopia offices, which
was such a dream.
Madeleine Cleary (13:21):
tell me about this because like it's, you
always see this and it's kind oflike a dream of every author to,
to, to have this
Tina Strachan (13:28):
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
And it was, it was prettysurreal and,
Madeleine Cleary (13:33):
Okay, so, so tell us about what Booktopia
signing is.
Tina Strachan (13:38):
Well, so we went to the, I couldn't even tell you
what suburb it's in, but it's alittle bit out.
And, you walk in and it justlooks beautiful and, they have
this table, with all your bookson it, but also the table is
actually signed, like the wholething's just like got signatures
all over it from like anyonethat you've ever seen do a
Booktopia signing has likesigned this
Madeleine Cleary (14:00):
Oh, how
Tina Strachan (14:01):
which is incredible.
And we got to sign it too, whichis really cool.
Yeah.
So I managed to find a littlespot and sign that.
And that was amazing.
Madeleine Cleary (14:09):
How long did it take to sign all your
Tina Strachan (14:11):
Uh, not very long, not very long.
Me, me and Max have it down pat.
We've got a, like, a nicelittle, um, process.
Cause, cause that's been reallycool too to have your
illustrator around have doublesignatures in the book.
It's been really incredible.
But then the highlight actuallywas going, going to see the, was
going to see the little, therobots.
Madeleine Cleary (14:31):
Yes! Yes!
Tina Strachan (14:34):
them before and um, yeah, they, cause they go
and, you know, help collect allthe, the books.
So the orders come in and theselittle robots go off with their
little baskets and help collectall the books.
And they have these faces andthese names and you stand there
and they just all move aroundyou and move around each other.
So it was so cute.
I kind of felt like I wanted tocuddle them, but at the same
(14:55):
time it was a bit strange, butyeah, that was like my
highlights.
I was just, I'd seen them beforeand just thought.
How interesting they were.
So, oh, and then the next day wewent to Glee Book Club, which I
keep, I always hear people talkabout and I see people post
about, but I'd never been ableto go there.
And, um, so that was amazingwith Rachel there.
And we did, me and Max didtheir, their book club that
(15:15):
afternoon, which was so cute.
We just hung out and chatted tothe kids and we all made our own
little zoo, um, craft.
It was so fun.
It was so fun.
It was such a good weekend.
So yeah, it's been busy.
Madeleine Cleary (15:28):
Wow, it feels like surreal as well.
Like, these are the types ofthings that are just so fraught,
far beyond normal life, isn'tit?
Tina Strachan (15:35):
Yeah.
Madeleine Cleary (15:36):
you out of it.
Tina Strachan (15:37):
Yeah.
But like you said, and you, youfollow authors and you see them
do these amazing things all thetime.
And it's like, We're actuallydoing them.
That's incredible.
So being, very appreciative of,yeah, everything that I've been
able to do.
So yes, but now, um, edits forbook two,
Madeleine Cleary (15:52):
Yes, yes, and so when is book two coming out?
Tina Strachan (15:56):
July.
Madeleine Cleary (15:57):
Okay, July.
It
Tina Strachan (15:58):
a little bit of time.
Madeleine Cleary (15:59):
It actually must be really difficult to come
down because I feel likepublicity is a different type of
brain power compared with yourcreative power when you're
writing, editing.
Has it been difficult to comedown from the high to sit down
and do the work?
Tina Strachan (16:20):
I think I, Yeah, welcomed having the edits come
in and it had been so long sinceI've seen the manuscript, so I
was looking forward to that.
But, yeah, it has, it is a bitof a change a yeah, a gear shift
because you're kind of runningon this high of like, all the
publicity and the, all theevents and just meeting people
and, um, yeah, social media is,yeah, definitely has been taking
(16:41):
a bit of time, but I've beengrateful to have the time to do
that.
Because it's, it's, um, timesensitive too, isn't it?
Like you, you can't, sometimesI'm not particularly quick to
post things that I've been upto, but I'm like, I have to do
it for this, you know, quitequickly.
So, yeah, no, but it's great.
It's been great.
It's been great to get my headback into the editing space.
So.
Madeleine Cleary (17:03):
You're always so good.
Have you been able to maintainyour writing every day while on
publicity?
Really?
You're amazing.
I don't know how you do it.
Tina Strachan (17:12):
I think, well, cause I've taken some time off,
but it's been really awesome.
I've been able to get into amanuscript that I'd almost
finished completely outside ofthis series.
And, um, I was actually a bitworried if I'd be able to get
back into it, but you know what?
I've just written some awesomechapters on that too.
So I feel like I've had my headin a few different places, but,
yeah, I'm just trying to makethe most of my time.
Madeleine Cleary (17:33):
I really admire you, Tina.
I don't think I could do that,because that's what I'm
struggling with at the moment,is trying to Well, I think the
last time we spoke and had thiskind of chat was in December.
And I thought, I think back thenI was like, Oh yes, I'm
progressing this manuscript.
Um, I've pretty much halfway.
(17:53):
If I just keep going, I want tohave it done by the end of the
year.
Well, you know, things end up.
It, I haven't really done anywork on it since then.
Um, and very mindful of that aswell.
Like it's been a couple ofmonths since I've actually
picked it up because I, I find Istruggle to actually have two
things going at once becausethere's been so much stuff going
(18:14):
on with the butterfly women.
Um, in the background, that'staken up a lot of my energy and
time.
And I really struggled to putanything else towards.
Book two that I'm working on atthe moment.
Um, so I've had to, um, I thinkcome to just sit with that and,
(18:35):
and accept that.
And at first I was feeling superguilty and bad, but I think, and
this is not just for publishedwriters, but for emerging
writers as well, things happenin life that you can't control
and you can't just, or ifcreative life pursuits.
You need to put your best selfinto them, put the right energy
(18:56):
into it.
And I just know that over thelast couple of months, I haven't
been able to put that rightenergy to it.
So, this book that I'm writing,it's going to be written in the
pockets of time, which is verydifferent to how I've written,
how I wrote The Butterfly Women,which was over a nice consistent
period.
Mmm.
Tina Strachan (19:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
And I guess, well, I guessthings are changing now, you
know, you're all very close tobeing a published author and
yeah, things will change yourwriting style, I suppose.
Um, but have you, but you haveonly just finished your absolute
final edits though haven't you?
Madeleine Cleary (19:31):
Uh, yeah, literally yesterday.
Tina Strachan (19:33):
Yesterday.
Isn't it funny?
Like that's, we put so muchpressure on ourselves.
Like that's, so it's, it's noteven been 24 hours, Madeleine.
And um, I think, yes, let's, youwill find, you'll probably find
that time now because you cankind of maybe put a, put a
little like stop up now behind.
(19:55):
Behind the butterfly women for alittle bit, you know, it's a
different kind of work thatyou're going to do on it now,
right?
You're going to work on thepromo.
You've
Madeleine Cleary (20:01):
Mm hmm.
Tina Strachan (20:02):
that, you know, and commitments that you have to
do around that, working up to itand your launch, and it's a
different kind of work, but itwon't be that.
As creatively writing, I don'tthink.
Madeleine Cleary (20:13):
No, no,
Tina Strachan (20:14):
Yeah.
So you'll probably, yeah, you'llprobably feel like you'll want
to get back to work because youdo have that space and that
outlet.
And yeah, it's funny.
You sound like me.
I get sometimes if I'm notprogressing, I like, I get super
anxious about it, like, and, andreally kind of annoyed, like,
Oh, I've still haven't writtenit.
I must write it.
And, you know, it reminds me ofan interview that I did recently
(20:36):
on the book deal, um, with, uh,Kirsten Ealand and she had that
quote.
I think I used it as our quoteon socials.
That was something along thelines of it.
These are self imposed.
Timelines that you're putting onyourself.
No one, yeah, no one else isdoing this.
No one else is making you workthis hard.
Just, you just got to do whatyou can.
And, you know, Kirsten, she, shesuggested just quitting.
(21:00):
She found if she quit writingfor a bit, it would just, you
know, the flow would just comeback to her anyway.
But, um, yeah, it is, it's all,we're just putting those
timelines on ourselves, aren'twe?
So,
Madeleine Cleary (21:11):
That's right.
That's right.
And it is, it is definitely selfimposed.
But, um, I think I hit a pointin my writing where I felt
stuck.
And so, and I tried a couple oftimes, but it was also, and then
it got stuck, but it was alsocoinciding with lots of other
things going on in my personal
Tina Strachan (21:31):
Mm hmm.
Yeah.
And I think you can try as muchas you want to block that out.
Like I really try tocompartmentalize, but I found
this and I think this is whereyou are now in the weeks before,
um, launch of the book.
You do have these otherdeadlines that aren't in self
imposed, they are actual, likeyour book launch is this date
(21:52):
and your book is coming out onthis date.
Like you're, you, there'snothing you can do to change
that.
So sometimes you do need toactually just let that go
because these right now is youractual book that is on the shelf
that is coming out and peopleare going to be able to buy it.
And that is, that is where allthe energy probably should go in
that time.
Madeleine Cleary (22:12):
Yes.
And it's pretty consuming, thistype of energy you have to give
to these types of things aswell.
Like it's, it's really consumeda lot of my thoughts, like
normally, you know, in a normaltime I'd sort of be thinking
about my book and, and, and yousort of, it's a really great
time to be able to ponderquestions in the book and plot
(22:34):
holes and all sorts of things.
I'm not doing that.
At the moment, it's okay, my todo list.
There's 20 things I have to do.
How am I going to prioritizethis while also working full
time social life is a lot at themoment as well.
We've, you know, got lots ofthings going on every weekend.
So it's like, how do I sort ofplot out that time?
(22:54):
So for me, the creative writinghas just had to drop in the last
two months, and that's been thefirst time in years that's had
to drop.
And it's so super sad, but likeyou said, I've got a focus, I've
got the Butterfly Women comingout in two months now, so that
has to be my number one focus.
And I'm okay with that, like,I've come to that acceptance,
I'm just not gonna put thatpressure on myself, so.
Tina Strachan (23:15):
Yeah.
And it'll come back.
Madeleine Cleary (23:16):
imposed deadlines, it will come back.
And I'm very happy.
Yeah, I'm very excited to getback to it too, but I want to
also have a bit of space to getback into it because I'm afraid
if I jump back in, in a month'stime, it's, it's all going to
blow up again.
Tina Strachan (23:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, you're right.
Yeah.
And you can't force it.
Hey, it's, it's hard,
Speaker (23:42):
I'm Bronwyn Rivers, author of The Reunion, a crime
thriller being released byHachette on the 11th of February
2025.
I was born and grew up inNewcastle, and now I live here
in Sydney's inner west with mypartner and two children.
The hunting party meets the dryin this tense thriller set in
the Australian bush.
(24:02):
The pitch indicates how TheReunion derives from three
things I love.
Atmospheric country housemysteries, tense, secret filled
psychological thrillers, and theharsh beauty of the Australian
bush.
It is set in a fictionallocation somewhere within the
rugged forests of the GreaterBlue Mountains region west of
Sydney.
A place I visited every yearwhile growing up.
(24:25):
The story.
Ten years ago, six young friendswent on a hike into this
bushland.
Only five came out alive.
Now, on the tenth anniversary ofEd Fletcher's death, the
remaining five friends arereuniting at the home of Ed's
mother Martha, a farmhouse lyingdeep within the forest.
When the friends arrive, thehouse is in terrible condition
(24:48):
and Martha is obviouslydisturbed.
The weather is very hot and thehouse is very isolated.
Something is about to gohorribly wrong.
What is the truth about EdFletcher's death all those years
ago?
And how far will someone go inorder to get it?
You
Tina Strachan (25:09):
But you have been having a, um, very exciting
social life.
You just mentioned, you've,you've been to a few fun things
recently.
It's
Madeleine Cleary (25:21):
fun last Tuesday night, um, Affirm Press
put on, and it was inconjunction with Simon Schuster,
um, the, it was Author andAperol Roadshow, which was to
introduce authors from SimonSchuster and Affirm Publishing
this year, so it was really fun.
That's about 12 authors, Ithink.
(25:41):
And I actually had no idea whatto expect.
So, um, Christine Newell, who's,um, another debut with Affirm.
She's amazing.
And I've read her book.
I just finished it this morningand it's amazing.
Five Seasons and Soul.
So I'll be putting a post up onmy social media.
It comes out on Tuesday thisweek.
So here's a bit of a plug.
It, it's amazing.
(26:01):
It was such a beautiful book.
So Christine and I.
We met up beforehand because wethought we'll go into the party
together and I was on a
Tina Strachan (26:09):
safety in numbers.
Madeleine Cleary (26:10):
safety numbers rooftop in Melbourne.
We walked up there.
It's gorgeous afternoon.
Um, and yeah, we didn't reallyknow what to expect, but they
had name tags for us, likespecial author name tags.
So there's 12 of us.
And then I looked at the, Ilooked, I didn't know who the
other authors were.
And I looked and I was like.
Brie Lee and Kate Mildenhall,Mark Russell, Matt Rogers, like
(26:32):
all these like very big nameauthors.
And, um, and so I was like, Oh,this is cool.
And so then they introduced, sothey invited a whole bunch of
booksellers from around Victoriaand it.
Instead of doing formalpresentations, which is what
they do each year, authors willpresent their books and pitch
their books.
Instead, it was a bit of a game.
So, which was really cool.
(26:53):
They had this little passportand, um, booksellers had to
approach you when you have yourlittle name tag on, they know
you're an author and they haveto ask for your pitch and then
get your signature in theirpassport.
Tina Strachan (27:08):
oh my gosh.
Madeleine Cleary (27:10):
And any bookseller who has all the
signatures at the end of thenight goes into a draw to win a
thousand dollar gift card.
Tina Strachan (27:16):
Oh, this is so cool.
Madeleine Cleary (27:20):
it's really
Tina Strachan (27:21):
idea.
Madeleine Cleary (27:22):
So that means that we as authors don't have to
awkwardly, especially us debutswho don't.
I don't really know many peopleawkwardly tap people on the
shoulder and say, hello, can youplease buy my book?
So,
Tina Strachan (27:34):
That, that is awkward, isn't it?
And even having to do the wholepitch is awkward.
So how many times did you haveto do your pitch during the
night then?
Madeleine Cleary (27:40):
well, I've, and this is the thing, this is
the, this, it would, this is whyit was so surreal.
And I was talking with KateMildenhall about this after the
event, like it's, um, first timeI've actually really.
I haven't talked and pitched thebook to anybody because the book
has been in my little circle, mynice little comfy editorial
circle for like the last 18months.
(28:00):
And so I had developed a pitchat lunchtime in my day job.
Because I hadn't really had timeto think about it.
I was like, okay, this will do.
And cause I thought I betterprepare a pitch.
They didn't tell us to, but Ithought I better pair one just
in case.
Tina Strachan (28:15):
work.
Madeleine Cleary (28:16):
And yeah.
And then, um, when I rocked upwith them, I was like, yep.
So you'll have a minute to pitchto each of the booksellers.
And I was like, okay, cool.
Glad I've got that ready.
And, um, and so, yeah, so by theend of the night, it's
interesting.
And Christine and I werechatting about this.
At first it was quite stiltedthe pitch because it was came
out of memory.
And then by the end of thenight, It was, we, you tested it
(28:39):
so many times that you got toknow when to add in information
and insert things and play withthings.
And it was like quite naturaland, and comfortable.
And, and thankfully,
Tina Strachan (28:51):
the Aperol spritzes as the night went on
was certainly helpful forpeople.
Madeleine Cleary (28:56):
it was helpful for some people, but I was in
this really also awkward.
Oh God, I shouldn't say this onthe podcast, TMI, but anyway,
everyone knows all my, my bowel
Tina Strachan (29:07):
wouldn't be the first time.
Madeleine Cleary (29:10):
so, so, and this is, it was hilarious,
actually.
I, um, had a, had to do aprocedure on Thursday last week.
And so Tuesday was prepping forthis procedure.
And so Tuesday, I was meant totake my first laxative.
Tina Strachan (29:31):
You were so brave!
Madeleine Cleary (29:34):
So
Tina Strachan (29:34):
before booksellers and
Madeleine Cleary (29:37):
I was meant to take it just before the evening
and I thought, I spoke to thepharmacist and I explained, I
had a very important event toattend.
And she said, I would highlyrecommend you do
Tina Strachan (29:49):
Don't!
Madeleine Cleary (29:49):
take it.
She's like, if you wait tillwhen you get home, it should be
okay.
So I was like, okay.
So I was not allowed to eat
Tina Strachan (29:58):
I'm glad you checked.
It'll be fine.
Surely it'll be okay if I justhave one.
Madeleine Cleary (30:06):
you imagine?
Anyway.
So at the event, um, uh, yeah, Iwas.
I couldn't eat or drink anythingexcept for water.
And there was all this deliciousfood and I was so hungry.
And this poor, lovely server,she kept coming up with all
these different food options forme.
And I kept saying, no, uh, no,that's okay, no.
(30:27):
And she, I could tell she wasgetting frustrated.
So then she brought this wholeother dish for me and she's
like, it's not meat.
It's cauliflower.
Like she must've thought I was avegetarian.
Uh, And I was like, I didn'twant to say, oh, I'm not eating
because I'm about to.
Tina Strachan (30:43):
issue.
Oh, good on her for keeping ontrying.
Madeleine Cleary (30:49):
I was like, I'm just not eating.
Um, so yeah, I was starving.
I was so hungry and my, youknow, you're trying to like
pitch and, and it would havebeen nice to have a glass of
Prosecco or an Aperol.
But, um, but no, it was great.
Um, I had this one woman, shewas so lovely.
She beelined after the initialchat, she'd like beelined
(31:09):
towards me.
And she's like, Sales reps justcome into the bookshop to talk
about your book.
I am so excited.
I just wanted to say how excitedI am about the Butterfly Women.
Very keen to get you on to haveto, you know, get you to sign
books, do an event, whatever.
Like, I was like, oh, I didn'teven have to pitch.
She's like, you don't need topitch because I already know
what it's about.
I'm so excited.
Like, I was, it was just thissurreal fairy tale night and I
(31:32):
was on a high for the rest ofthe day.
So I got home at about 10 30 PM,took my laxative, um, logged in
to work at 8 AM the next day.
Tina Strachan (31:42):
Yeah.
I, it's, I know what you mean byyou feel like it's just in your
little comfy editorial sort ofenclosed people and for early
readers and stuff like that, theonly ones, and then all of a
sudden people outside, no, andthey're talking to you about it
and they've read it or they'veseen it or there's comment on
it.
It's, it's a whole new world andthat's very exciting, Madeleine.
(32:03):
It's all just
Madeleine Cleary (32:04):
Okay.
So I want to ask you, um,because the, the thing that I'm
getting the common thing, commonthread, I suppose, for all
authors before their books comedown, so they're quite anxious
in the lead up to, but then assoon as the books released, they
feel fine.
I didn't get the sense from youthat you were overly anxious in
(32:25):
the lead up.
It's that I knew you were verybusy, but I don't know if you
felt that, but I'm keen to hearwhat you think.
Tina Strachan (32:32):
I don't think I felt anxious.
I think I had the same sort of,um, concerns, I guess that, oh,
what if, what if it's justreally bad?
What if it's a really bad book?
No one wants to read it.
Um, and I've made a big mistakein this somewhere that somehow
(32:52):
no one's picked up, you know,all those things that we all do,
Madeleine Cleary (32:55):
Yes.
Tina Strachan (32:56):
but that's, that's, I think just.
normal, um, for any author, butI didn't really feel too much
anxiety in the lead up.
I just think I was excited.
And, you know, it's been such along, it's been two years since
I signed and I think I was justlike, here, we're here.
We're finally here.
so I think it was a differentkind of, it was more of an
excitement of what's to come.
Madeleine Cleary (33:17):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Tina Strachan (33:18):
come.
And I just knew, you know, I waspretty excited to have, you
know, six weeks off, off workto, to do writery stuff.
And, um, you know, I've got lotsof words down and in between,
doing all the publicity stuffand just enjoying the ride.
I just really wanted to havethat time to enjoy the ride.
So I knew that was all comingand I was just excited, I think
for it.
Yeah.
Are you feeling the anxietyMadeleine or?
Madeleine Cleary (33:41):
Um, no, I don't feel anxious at the
moment.
Um, I feel very excited.
Um, I had, did have a Bit of asort of last couple of days, oh,
is everything I'm writing reallycrap.
Um, but I've, I've moved pastthat.
I recognize that's just anatural thing for people to
think.
Um, no, I'm, I'm really, reallyexcited now and it's time is
(34:03):
going fast.
I didn't quite, I think, Iquite, I think last year I was
like, Oh, time's going reallyslowly.
It's still end of April, stillsix months away.
And then suddenly it's like, Oh,okay.
We're two months out now.
Tina Strachan (34:13):
Yes.
I, I felt the same and I don'tknow if it was because there was
Christmas in the last and allthat sort of thing in the last
month before it came out, but itjust, that all of a sudden it
was just here and it's out andit just flies.
And it's been out for threeweeks now, you know, that's, um,
that's pretty crazy, you
Madeleine Cleary (34:29):
So what does your next few weeks look like
then?
So you've still got the time ofwork, so you've got, and you've
got book two edits.
Do you have other Neeka andMissing Key events?
Tina Strachan (34:38):
I do and I have one this weekend and that's
exciting because this episodewill be um, aired when there's
still a couple of days to go.
So if anyone's in Brisbane, uh,and would like to come to, I'm
actually having a Brisbanelaunch as well at Where the Wild
Things Are and in Brisbane andthat's on this Saturday, which
is the 1st of March and it's at10am.
(35:01):
And, um, yeah, we'll put thelink in the show notes, but
where the wild things are, lotsof people know what it is.
It's right next to Avid Reader,
Madeleine Cleary (35:08):
Mm
Tina Strachan (35:08):
In Brisbane and, it's an incredible kid's
bookstore and the team there areamazing.
And yeah, come along, we'll bethere.
There'll be cupcakes.
There'll be key ring making.
There'll be, there'll be myanimal game called, who's food
and who's poo.
There's two parts to it.
Super fun.
Yeah.
So, so that's what's happeningthis weekend.
(35:30):
And then, you know, um,returning back to work the
following weekend.
So I feel like, uh, everythingwill just sort of settle into
the new normal,
Madeleine Cleary (35:39):
hmm.
Tina Strachan (35:39):
we're working, um, edits are due at the end of
this week, so I'll get them inand, you know, just work towards
book two in July.
Madeleine Cleary (35:46):
So exciting.
I can't believe it.
July, another one.
You're going through all thisagain.
Tina Strachan (35:50):
I know.
Hey, you know, what elseexciting that's happening in
July for all our listeners is,the CYA conference.
Um, is,
Madeleine Cleary (35:58):
everyone will know about this if you've been
listening to the podcast for awhile.
Tina Strachan (36:01):
yes, they've just released a whole new round of,
editors and agents from all thedifferent houses, for
assessments.
So you can, book in to, um, getassessments from many, many
different, publishing housesand, and editors and agents as
well.
So, and they book out reallyquickly.
Yes.
Madeleine Cleary (36:21):
Get onto that, everybody.
Very, very.
Are you going to be part of theassessing crew, Tina?
Tina Strachan (36:27):
No, but I'm going to be a presenter there because
I'm a CYA success story.
They call it.
Um, so yeah, I'll be presenting.
So the conference is in July aswell.
So that's very exciting.
Madeleine Cleary (36:39):
amazing.
Amazing.
Um, I'm so excited and we've,we've been having some fun chats
as well in the interim with, um,some of our day 20, 25 debuts,
we've had some great releasescoming out this year, the start
of this year, so.
Um, yeah, we really encourageeveryone to, to support, you
know, your Australian debutauthors.
(37:00):
Um, and if you do enjoy theirbook, share it on social media,
um, tell them about it.
Cause it's just, you know, Iknow from your experience, it's
just great, isn't it?
To hear from, from readers.
Tina Strachan (37:11):
It's so nice.
Honestly, that's the, that wasprobably the most exciting part
of launch day.
Just having my phone justconstantly, like someone's
shared another reel.
Cause I've, you know, they'veseen the book in the store and,
and just knowing how excitedeveryone is.
Um, so also, yes, if you do seethe debut crew books on the
shelves, make sure to turn themcover out.
So I
Madeleine Cleary (37:33):
a list of our debut books as well.
Um, so Natasha.
Um, on the podcast, um, actuallyhas a newsletter, um, that she
releases every month with alittle bit of a Q and a, um,
with all of our debut authorsfor this year.
So definitely sign up to that.
Tina Strachan (37:51):
And fellow Debut crewer, Holly Braunbauer, if you
follow her on Insta, she does,monthly updates as well of
everybody's books that arecoming out in that month.
So that's, that's a really goodway of keeping on top of, the
Debut crew for this year andfinding some new reads and a new
author maybe to follow.
Madeleine Cleary (38:10):
Yes, do we really encourage it?
So, um, and I, we had the debutpanel interview last week as
well with some of our amazingcrew.
So, um, it was great chat andperhaps.
Panel chats are a way forwardfor the book deal.
I think it was really fun.
Tina Strachan (38:25):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's definitely fun.
Uh, yeah.
I think we're going to do a kidlit one soon as
Madeleine Cleary (38:29):
Yes!
Tina Strachan (38:30):
keep an ear out or eye out for that one.
Um, yeah, very soon.
Madeleine Cleary (38:35):
Amazing.
Tina Strachan (38:36):
Oh, so great to catch up with you, Madeleine.
Madeleine Cleary (38:40):
it's been too long, Tina, and um, I'm just so
thrilled for you on yoursuccess.
And from all of the sounds, itsounds like your book's flying,
which is amazing when I've beenturning to booksellers.
So we are so happy for you,Tina.
Tina Strachan (38:53):
Oh, thanks.
That's so exciting.
But I'm, I'm very excited tofollow you in these next few
months before the butterflywomen come out.
Madeleine Cleary (39:00):
Yes.
And we will be talking beforethen.
And, um, you will beinterviewing me as well, I
Tina Strachan (39:07):
Oh! I am so excited for this! When do I get
my arc?
Madeleine Cleary (39:12):
Yeah, that's right.
Well, I've just finished the,uh, proofread.
So,
Tina Strachan (39:16):
Okay, send it over! I'm excited.
Madeleine Cleary (39:21):
all right.
Lovely to chat.
It was always, you know,
Tina Strachan (39:24):
Same for you, bye!
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Thank you for listening to the book deal
podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe to the pod so
you can receive updates as soonas our new apps drop.
And to keep up to date with whatthe pod is doing, you can also
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