When I’m starting a new project, I read constantly. I read my favourite authors’ books over and over, sometimes just opening the book midway and reading a chapter or two. Reading excellent books inspires me to write.
Sometimes, I love a slow-burn book. Don’t get me wrong: I also love a good binge – the kind of page turner that will keep me up at night and make me wonder if it’s possible to read while in the shower. But I also have a deep love for a book that takes its time with me, slowly unpeeling the layers of its characters and plot so that, before I know it, it becomes a kind of hum, and gets under my skin. Books that are as much mood as momentum.
When I wrote Stargazer, my dark academia 90s novel, I wanted to create that kind of feeling. One of my favourite books is The Virgin Suicides (Jeffery Eugenides), a story with a temperature, a soundtrack, a kind of tension that permeates through the entirety of the reading. I wanted that for Diana and Aurelle’s story. Every single line matters. In this way, the plot sort of sneaks up on you.
My first novel, Sister of Mine, is being rereleased with a new cover (!) that I feel really speaks to mood and tension. Sister of Mine is another project about a complicated relationship between two women – in this case, sisters. Billed as ‘literary suspense’, Sister of Mine is less a Whodunnit, but a What Comes After. I’m excited to meet new readers who discover the Grayson sisters, Hattie and Penny, and the secrets that threaten to destroy them.
I am also eagerly awaiting several new books by some of my favourite authors coming out in 2023. These authors are master storytellers: by the line beautiful writing, moody storytelling, and plots that keeping me up well past my bedtime: a killer combination. I can’t wait! Here are some of the books I’m excited to read this year:
Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey – 17th January 2023, HarperCollins
I’m very keen for Monica Heisey’s Really Good, Actually. I adore self-effacing dark humour, and this tale of a newly divorced young woman seems right up my street. I’ll choose a post-romantic book that holds up a cracked mirror to our hearts over a straight up romance any day, and Really Good, Actually is getting so much buzz already that I can hardly wait to read it. And let’s not forget to mention the gorgeous cover!
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline – 7th February, William Morrow
I absolutely loved Empire of Wild, as well as Dimaline’s other books. Her writing is fresh and sharp, the stories deeply compelling and exciting. VenCo promises to be another hit: it has magic, witches, an international headhunting firm and a secret hole in the wall! I am a sucker for stories about witches in all of their forms, and am a fan of Dimaline’s ability to weave long-kept histories of persons and cultures with present-day characters, making deliciously rich tales.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang – 25th May, HarperCollins
Following up the smash hit that was Babel, R.F. Kuang is set to release Yellowface, a sardonic send-up of white publishing and the long history of yellowfacing: a white author steals the book of her late Asian American peer and passes it off as her own. I’m so interested that this is written in close first person, and am fully prepared to cringe my way through this novel that sounds both very familiar and completely new.
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor – 22nd June, Vintage
I have been excitedly waiting for this book since Taylor began talking about crafting it on his social media channels. His first book, Real Life, a campus novel with beautifully written characters and insights, remains one of my all-time favourites. His latest novel, a glimpse at young people at a crossroads of their own personal lives, relationships, and friendships, sounds like another exquisite commentary of contemporary life.
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead – 18th July, Little Brown
I’ll read anything that Colson Whitehead writes, and I’ll read it fast. All of his novels are carved from real time and places with original yet relatable characters who leap off the page. This newest work keeps us in touch with Harlem Shuffle’s Ray Carny, the flawed but sympathetic main character of his last book, as he navigates family life and a city crawling with crime in 1970s New York.
Stargazer by Laurie Petrou is out now, and you can order your copy here. Sister of Mine is now available for pre-order!