CWD Member Interview - Heather Margaret Jephcott

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Heather Margaret Jephcott

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

I am a poet, an artist and a musician….plus a lot, lot more. I come from Ringwood, Melbourne, Australia and for most of the last 32 years have been living in Surabaya, Indonesia. 

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I published a poetry book called “Open Hearts, Quiet Streams” in 2013 and am hoping to publish another poetry booklet - a dual language one, this year that I actually prepared 2 years ago. 

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

Anyone who has my book plus my fb friends. Also, I put videos of my reading of my poetry on Instagram. These readings get more views than any other place (I suspect). I would like everyone to read my poetry that reads English and/or Indonesian and wants to feel the beauty of God’s world and love. 

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I began writing poetry seriously as a reaction to another poet’s poetry which I thought was fantastic but dark. I wanted to see if I could write poetry that gave light and beauty and that would be read across the socio-religious categories. 

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

What an interesting question! I do not have a specific favourite Writing Craft Book. I have been an English teacher. Actually, come to think of it, I still am. I have learned how to write from reading and teaching how to write and have been an avid reader and especially of Victorian literature. Also, I have found Writers and Readers Conferences invaluable. 

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

Sue Jeffrey

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

Ah….let me think about this question. This has been such an extraordinary year BUT I do have one goal that looks like it is coming into being and there is a master hand behind this, and not me. It is the publishing of an Indonesian/English Poetry Book. The publisher I used before went out of business but it appears at the moment that the Organisation we work with, the Indonesian part of it, is publishing and so we are in contact. 

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

I write out of my ruminations on the Word Of God, especially in the morning and also out of life as a follower of Jesus. I write for the specific context I am living in here in Indonesia but people throughout the world still appreciate what I write because truly, the Bible and life are what inspires me.

CWD Member Interview – Elizabeth Tai aka Tai Weiland

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview Elizabeth Tai (who also writes fiction as Tai Weiland)

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

I am Malaysian but lived in Adelaide for about 3 years before returning to Malaysia. I was a journalist for 15 over years for Malaysia’s biggest English daily, The Star. I’m an avid gardener who dreams of having her own urban homestead one day where I can organise writing retreats. 

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I write across many genres.

I currently write non-fiction as Elizabeth Tai and science fiction (space opera adventures) as Tai Weiland. I decided to use a pen name for my fiction because I spent many years building a career as a journalist and non-fiction writer as Elizabeth Tai. I’m also a personal finance blogger in real life, so it’s helpful to have a totally separate brand to write under. I also came up with a pen name because, in the past, I preferred to be more “under the radar” with my fiction. Now I wondered if I should’ve just written under one name because having two pen names is like managing two companies!

Tai Weiland is currently working on the space opera series, Distant Stars. I’ve always wanted to create a universe that I can write endless stories from, and this was my way of doing that! My first novel was conceptualised in 2013, during Nanowrimo.

The first book, a novella, is a prequel to the series - Heretics of Thran. The second is Book 1 - Shadows of Corinar. I’m editing the second book of the series, Nexus Point and hope to publish it by September. You can find out more about Tai Weiland at https://taiweiland.weebly.com

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

The whole of Malaysia has read my articles as Elizabeth Tai the journalist, I suppose, but not many people know me as Tai Weiland. That’s because I’ve not gone all out to promote her. I plan to only do that once I’ve uploaded the second book of my science fiction series, Nexus Point.

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I am a semi-planner. I would have a certain vague framework for my novel and it’s off to the races I go.

Just kidding.

I notice that I need to be able to imagine a scene in my head before I could write the words. I have to be able to connect with my characters emotionally before I get fired up. When the details of the scene and the emotions of the characters connect, I can write really fast. I can complete a novella in a month - but that’s if I have a good idea of what I want to write.

But in general, I get  frustrated at the pace I come up with ideas. My life is so full that I don’t have enough “dreaming” time to come up with the plots of my books. And since my career involves producing words as well, a lot of my creative energy is used up by the day job. 

 I’m also currently in the midst of changing careers and it takes a lot out of me. I spend so much of my time learning about my new career job and industry that it leaves leaves me little time or energy to spend on my books. A lot of times I feel as if I have to choose between my books and my career, and it’s never an easy decision.

If I had one wish, I wish I could stop time so I can just finish all my books and then hit publish!

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

Ooh, this is like asking me to choose a favourite child! I’d say of all the books I’ve read, Editor-Proof Your Writing by Don McNair has brought my fiction writing and editing to the next level.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

I’d like to give a shoutout to Sue Jeffrey who has been my steadfast friend, counsellor, agony aunt and prayer partner! (She’s also an author, writer, editor and illustrator in one package!) She was a literal answer to prayer. When I came to Adelaide in 2012 and started my writing adventure, I asked God for a writing friend, and boy did He deliver! We met during Nanowrimo when Sue and her husband Marc decided to pop in at a Glenelg cafe for a write-in I organised. In the end, we ended up talking more than writing. In fact, we’ve not stopped talking and I’m ever so grateful for her friendship.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

Two main goals: 

1. Finish the second book of my series  
2. Lay down a solid foundation for my author business. Meaning, I want to set up my mailing list, tidy up my website, set up my reader magnet and finally do some book promotion - all that jazz. I would also like to start connecting with fellow authors.

The last 2 years has been very tumultous for me, career wise, and it was hard for me to focus on my authorpreneur business. Fortunately, I came across Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing 101 course - I’m using it as a blueprint to accomplish goal #2.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

I’m still working on this, to be honest. 

I’ve always been a truthteller. I once wrote a fairly popular Christian blog called “Messy Christian”, and many readers tell me they liked my blog because I was honest. I was the kind of person who called out injustice, even if the person I’m highlighting is a well-known Christian figure. I asked difficult questions and poked a lot of rigid mindsets.

But with fiction, the journey has been a little challenging. In my early years I felt really, really constricted by the need to adhere to certain “rules” in writing fiction. I thought a Christians can only write Christian fiction, and that we shouldn’t show violence or even sex. So I felt a lot of guilt when I write fiction and try to “hide” that part of me from God. I kept thinking that God would be mad at the fiction I want to write! I think that’s why I write under so many pseudonyms - on some strange level, I didn’t want people (and God!) to know I was writing them!

But eventually my understanding of faith and my writing evolved, and I realise that I can communicate the truth and the values of the gospel in a unique way via my fiction, even if I had sex and violence in them. 

In fact, my science fiction stories has a faith component in it. It always disturbed me that science fiction worlds are often atheistic, as if that’s the pinnacle of progress. Faith is very much present in my worlds, and God takes an active part. The message of my stories is this: You may have all the technology and wonderful science, but you will still need God to truly be complete.

CWD Member Interview – Marc Z Jeffrey

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Marc Z Jeffrey

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

My mother is a published author and a librarian and my father was a prominent scientist in defence and a sci-fi book nerd, so writing was something that was always going to happen – it was just a matter of when.

I have had a number of careers, through ocean science and IT and I worked in the Australian Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Offices (now known as IP Australia)… So I was pretty exposed to crazy ideas. I am sure some of these have fed into my creative works

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I write what I am interested in, usually in fictional form. I probably only started thinking about writing seriously when I heard about NanoWrimo in about 2001 and thought I’d take it on and write something of length. However, it was 2003 before I first actually took up the challenge. Before that, it had mainly been abandoned attempts plus short stories articles and articles for a staff magazine that I was editing – and usually ended up writing most of, as I got so few contributors.

Oh yeah. I edit too. Probably do way more of that. My skill is shooting down a wandering apostrophe at a hundred paces. My wife tells me I am a good copy-editor, too.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

a) My wife, Susan J Bruce (aka Sue Jeffrey), who is an admin of CWD. Members of my writing group, Literati. Probably my day job bosses, though if they have remote access to my personal computers, I am officially worried. Anyway, in that case I hope I’ve entertained them thoroughly and taken their minds well away from digging for dirt.

b) Editors from major publishers, major movie companies. More realistically, the person who needs to dream more, to believe more and to act on their beliefs more. Other than me, that is…

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

What helps me most? Getting reminded mainly by my wife that I won’t remember much of my current office job when I retire; (I already know that).

Challenges. Finishing. Yep, probably finishing and knowing when to stop finishing and do something about publishing… But seriously, it’s not the sum total (think word count) of what I produce that matters most – (I say as I while away too many hours on silly word games) – but who I influence and what I do on the way. 

I prefer the writing process to be organic, but to be organic I need to be diligent in collecting and mulling over facts, thoughts and observations. I think faith works in a similar way.

Published books would be great but the process, not the product, is the thing of substance.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

Stephen King’s ‘On writing’. One of the first books I ever read ‘on writing’ and it has stayed with me. It is short – good advice and to the point.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

(Am I allowed to pick someone other than my wife?) Claire Bell. Author. She has a keen sense of how things are, not just how they appear to be, and is able to bring that out in prose.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

A year. Well, it was a full year in January. I thought of it as a long time then. I told myself I would write something fresh – but I really want to knock into shape a trilogy that I started way back in 2007 (no, really) and has been waylaid too many times. Nearly half the year has gone without really starting, but who knew about COVID in January? We knew too much about bushfires back then. But the wet, cold weather has arrived – so no more excuses.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

As I write mainstream, I will borrow an analogy used by website developers when determining how to make the site easy to use; be able to access information and submit forms without problem. The analogy used is ‘baking in’ those features that make the site easy to use in the initial style templates, long before the developers get to play and ‘pretty it up’. 

Similarly, I don’t intentionally go about inserting faith blueberries into my story right before it is sent off to beta readers. That would be gauche. The flavour will be there in the mix to start with and be ‘baked’ into the finished product. The story will be faith-flavoured regardless of who is going to read or assess it.

Website: www.alignedcreative.com.au

This is my editing website, launching soon. Special introductory rates will apply for members of Christian Writers Downunder 

Work in Progress: Watch this space.

CWD Member Interview - Catch Tilly

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Catch Tilly 

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

I come from Sydney. Up until this year I was always a bit scornful of S.A.’s lawful tendencies but since Covid19 I’m loving it. Lawful good people really come into their own in a pandemic. 

I get emotional. Like really emotional. I once had a lecturer tell me that if I got any more enthusiastic, I’d need chemicals. Combined with a generalized anxiety disorder it makes for a rollercoaster of a life. That’s where faith really helps. I once read that the opposite of faith isn’t doubt it’s control and I think that’s true. I’ve learnt to let go of any attempt at control and to trust God when I get anxious. That and prayer (mine and others) gets me through the dark times. And the good times are ‘dancing down the street’ amazing. It’s an amazing world we live in. 

I live in my imagination. I created a Facebook page for an imaginary person before I created one for myself. I can tell you the Hogwarts House for the mc of Shadowalker (Gryffindor despite being the Death Lord’s daughter) but I’ve never bothered to do the online test for myself. My second youngest daughter was named after a character on Meldin (where Shadowalker is set). 

And my name. I’ll tell you the story I don’t tell anyone. People ask me where the name Catch comes from and I tell them it’s an old nickname I adopted officially and that’s it’s based on the book Catch 22. And that’s true. What I don’t tell people is the person who’s nickname it is doesn’t officially exist. It was Danielle Warwick, the narrator of a book I started in my teens who—like me—loved the bitter irony of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 whose nickname I adopted. 

That’s who I am, a person whose real name belongs to an imaginary person.

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I want to write genre fiction. I’d love to be able to write exceptional Mills and Boon. And not for the money, though that would be nice, but because I’d love to conquer the craft of writing to a formula and making it good. (It’s like writing a sonnet). I’ll do it one day. But what I write now is YA. I guess I’m stuck being a teenager (see above question on who I am). 

My two published books are both YA. Shadowalker was published by Stone Table Books in 2017 and the sequel Abomination is finished and will come out later this year (God and pandemics willing). Actually, you meet the four horsemen at the end of the second book, so I guess it’s topical. I wrote this because I wanted to share Meldin. I wanted to introduce people to four different types of dragon (five if you count Uriel’s ice cream eating cousin). To take them to regency balls and laser turreted castles and lifts made of Light and air and the bones of the dead. 

The second book is Otherwise known as Pig, published by Wakefield Press last year. And that one I wrote because I had to. It’s a violent, sometimes profane book about bullying with Christian themes (the turn around point is a book of martyrs and turning the other cheek). Christianity and the f-word, I never thought it would get published but I knew God wanted me to write it, so I did. Then, nine years later, Wakefield took it up and it’s a Glam Adelaide Pick of the Year and Katherine England at the Advertiser described it as ‘a brilliant novel. Lesson one as a writer: Trust God.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

I want everyone to read it, of course. Because Stone Table is a small press it’s hard to get books out into the general public so Shadowalker has been read mostly by people I know but I’m hoping with the ability to create an eBook and the increase in online purchasing we can get it out there more. So, if you’re reading this and you like dragons and laser swords and a girl who walks through death then check it out. (But if you are in Australia go to Booktopia, everyone else is shipping from America.)

With Otherwise known as Pig I don’t know who has read it, a number of teachers, I think but the people I really want to read it are teens. I want anyone who’s been bullied to feel validated and heard, to know there are people out there who do understand. The review I am most proud of is a 15-year-old who wrote ‘the sense of satisfaction was overwhelming for a novel’. And I want the rest of us to read it and feel compelled to act when we see injustice, to help create a culture that says no instead of yes to bullying. 

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I must write in the morning. If I don’t my day is a waste of space. I don’t write fast so about 500 to 1,000 words in a day is good for me. My ‘day job’ is looking after my daughter (autistic, non-verbal) and she will usually leave me alone in the mornings, so I get quite a lot of time to write. 

I think my biggest challenge as a writer is how far I get into the character. When I wrote Pig I spent 10 months thinking (and swearing) as a 14-year-old boy from one of the roughest parts of Adelaide. It’s good for voice but it means I have to drag myself out of character to understand what’s happening from outside. It’s probably why I always write in first person (a challenge in fantasy).

And confidence. Do we all have that problem? That’s where I learn on faith. My faith that God wants me to do this. God’s faith in me. And my husband who had lots of practice reminding me I am a good writer and I can do this.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

I tend to write instinctively and only stop and think when I run into problems so my favourite craft book (apart from Mr. Google) tends to be the one I’m reading. Right now, that’s the Master Classes on writing. I’ve just finished Neil Gamian and Margaret Attwood and am part way through Judy Blume. When I did my Master of Creative Writing, I relied heavily on Bell’s Write Good Fiction: Plot and Structure. 

I’ve just purchased Rosanne Hawke’s Riding the Wind and am about to pick up Mark Worthing’s The Sacred Life of Words and considering how much I learnt from them both at Tabor I’m expecting those to become my next favourites.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

That’s a hard one. There are so many people I’ve been blessed to know. My first list was nine people long, so this is the short one.

Rosanne Hawke:  God knew what he was doing when he put Rosanne at Tabor. I learnt so much from her about writing children’s fiction, she was so apparent in her faith and yet she never restricted her students. It was one of my proudest writing moments when I broke the HD barrier and received 85% for my first four chapters of Pig.  And to sneak in two more, I want to mention Claire Bell (who has the amazing gift of editing for both voice and grammar and who was so much a part of making Pig worth publishing  and Mark Worthing, who made poetry so interesting that I did advanced poetry and I am not a poet. And who also published my first book (thank-you).  

Wendy Noble: I really like Wendy’s writing and we share a love of intelligent, unexpected dragons. I also admire her tenacity. But I think the reason I wanted to shout-out Wendy was the way she writes. When asked: “why are the griven in your book so negative about everything?”, Wendy answered: ‘because that’s the way they sounded in my head’. Now that is a response I can relate to. 

Sue Jeffrey: Sue and I were born in the same year. We both did YA novels on bullying for our Master’s (same year) and were invited by Rosanne into CWA together. We then both started working on fantasy books. We both wrote short stories about underpants for the first Stories of Life and both won prizes. (Sue came first, and I came second). In the last couple of years, we’ve been working on different projects, but I still think of Sue as my writing twin. 

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

Write more. 10 years ago my husband was geeking out and asked me what would writing at level 50 (a role playing term) look like for me. I answered it would be writing the books God put on my heart and let him worry about the rest of it. I keep needing to remind myself of that conversation and just write.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

See above: God made me a writer; I am as sure of that as I am of any other aspect of my faith and when I write well it’s an act of faith, of letting go and trusting him. 

I also hope my faith does shape my writing. C.S. Lewis said when he started writing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe he wasn’t trying to write Christian literature that’s just what came out. Allegory doesn’t seem to be my thing, but I want faith to come out in my stories. In Morgan’s response to a book on martyrs or in bones encased in crystal being slowly redeemed by Light. I don’t wrote ‘Christian literature but I hope and prey I write literature as a Christian. 

Changes to the Christian Writers Downunder Admin Team

The dawning of 2020 will bring some changes to our hard-working team, including the stepping down of Paula Vince after almost 5 years on the job. 

Here is what she has to say.

"Being on the CWD Admin team has been a varied and interesting role which I'll always remember with happy nostalgia. I've been among the first to welcome newbies, read a countless number of encouraging blog posts, helped introduce new discussion points, and seen the increase of hundreds of new members. I've also seen authors, illustrators, editors, proof-readers and publishers connected with those whose skills they're seeking. We on the team are always delighted to see new friendships and working bonds form which wouldn't have been possible without the forum we help facilitate.

However, we all know life is full of different seasons. Halfway through last year I entered a new one as a student working toward a Master of Divinity. The workload is proving to be intense enough that a non-multi-tasker like myself will need to apply special focus. As I've never been great at spreading myself too thin, early 2020 seemed the perfect time to assess the limit I can manage.

Stepping down from the team sure doesn't mean leaving Christian Writers Downunder altogether. I'll always be a member who looks forward to staying abreast of what's going on. I'll definitely keep my eye on the blog and Facebook page. And I know that under the capable hands of Jeanette, Mazzy, Sue and Kirsten, the Admin team will go from strength to strength."

Over the course of 20 years, Paula has written nine novels, including contemporary drama for the New Adult market, a fantasy adventure trilogy, and Australia's first and only collaborated Christian novel, with three other ladies. She's currently working (slowly) on a biographical novel about her grandfather, who was a champion South Australian boxer, as well as studying at Tabor College. She hopes to venture into writing non-fiction at some stage.      

Thanks Paula. We have appreciated your wisdom, grace and dedication over the last five years we will miss you on the team. All the best for your Master of Divinity studies and the blessings and ministry that God has in store for you. 

The CWD Admin Team

Jeanette spun tales in the world of Nardva from the age of eight. She enjoys writing fantasy, sci-fi, poetry, and editing. 

Her Nardvan stories span continents, millennia and cultures. Some involve shapeshifters and magic. Others include space stations and cyborgs. She has published over forty stories and poems including Akrad's Children (Book 1 of the Akrad's Legacy series) & the 5 book Under the Mountain series. 

Jeanette lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.

Susan J Bruce, aka Sue Jeffrey, spent her childhood reading, drawing, and collecting stray animals. Now she’s grown up, she does the same kinds of things. Susan has worked for many years as a veterinarian, and writes stories filled with themes of suspense, adventure, romance and overcoming. Susan also loves to paint animals. Susan won the ‘Short’ section of the inaugural Stories of Life writing competition and won the 'Unpublished Manuscript' section of the 2018 Caleb prize. Susan is the editor of 'If They Could Talk: Bible Stories Told By the Animals' (Morning Star Publishing) and her stories and poems have appeared in multiple anthologies. Her e-book, 'Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story' is available on Amazon.com. You can check out some of Susan’s art work on her website https://www.susanjbruce.com/animal-art .


Kirsten (aka K.A. Hart) is a born and bred Territorian who moved to Queensland and had no choice but to stay after her assimilation into the Toowoomba's infamous, collective known as Quirky Quills.

Since then, K.A. Hart has had two short stories published. Stone Bearer, appears in Glimpses of Light and Tedious Tresses, in the As Time Goes By Mixed Blessings anthology. She is currently writing a fantasy trilogy.

Mazzy Adams is a published author of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. She has a passion for words, pictures and the positive potential in people.


Website: www.mazzyadams.com
Email: maz@mazzyadams.com

2019 Reading Recommendations

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year.

For something different, we're starting the year with some reading recommendations from the CWD Admin team

From Mazzy Adams 

1. I finished reading the final instalment of Jeanette O'Hagan's Under the Mountain Series of novellas  - Caverns of the Deep -  in 2019.

What a perfect way to round off her terrific set of YA fantasy adventures. Each novella was a lovely, bite-sized chunk of readerly goodness which left me hungry for more. Although fantasy is not my automatic go-to genre, Jenny's lively and creative approach is wonderful. She makes it easy to connect with the three main protagonists, and I was totally caught up in their exciting adventures.

 At the Toowoomba Omega Writers Retreat bookstall in June, I treated myself to two new books: Catriona McKeown's YA novel, The Boy in the Hoodie, and Paula Vince's New Adult novel, Imogen's Chance. 

2. Imogen's Chance took me gently into the characters' lives when they were at their most vulnerable, wrapped me up in compassion for their problems, and frustration at their responses, added heady moments of suspense that kept me reading much later into the night than I'd planned, and left me soaking in the hope-filled practicalities of God's grace, forgiveness, and unlimited, unconditional love. 

3. The Boy in the Hoodie proved to be a fabulous read. I'd thoroughly recommend it for YA, but heck, if you're older (like me) go for it! It'll take you into the world of teens at school, fraught relationships, self-discovery, the value of true friendship, and a renewed appreciation not only for our young friends and their trials and discoveries, but thankful for the embedded wisdom that unfolds through Catriona's writing. Loved it.

From Sue Jeffrey aka Susan J Bruce

1. ‘A Better Man’ by Louise Penny. One of my favourite authors is Louise Penny. Every year she writes another in her now long series of Chief Inspector Gamache mystery books. It’s a regular, secular mystery but the main character Armand Gamache, is a good man who loves his wife, poetry, the people he works with, his community and his dog. He also is willing to do what’s right even at great personal cost. A Better Man is another beautiful and uplifting book in the series. I’m not sure how murder can be uplifting but these books are  :D. You want to know these people and have them as your friends :). Five star brilliance.

2. Out of the Cages by Penny Jaye, is an excellent YA book about Nepali girls trafficked into slavery. Jaye handles the dark issues sensitively, not shirking the reality of the terrible life trafficked children face but drawing the reader through the struggles of the main character, Meena, as she tries to escape from the world in which she is enslaved. In her author note, Jaye says the book is ‘a kind of prayer that one day we might live in a world that no longer accepts any form of slavery as common place’. I found myself joining in that prayer as this surprisingly beautiful book stirred deep emotions of both anger and hope. This book won the YA section of the 2019 Caleb prize.

From Jeanette O'Hagan

1. Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan. A novelised retelling of the love story between Joy Davidman and C. S. (Jack) Lewis with glimpses of Jack's life and writing at the Kilns as well as a empathetic and honest presentation of Joy, a writer, poet, thinker and soul-mate, and an exploration of Joy's spiritual life.

2. A New Reality - Jewel of the Stars by Adam David Collings. The second episode of the Jewel of the Stars series. Fleeing alien-controlled Earth space, the crew and passengers of the Jewel of the Stars must adjust to an new reality while a group called the Red Guard threaten the peace and safety of the ship. A great second episode with the introduction of new characters.

3. Too Bright by Charis Joy Jackson. A collection of short stories inspired by the author's dreams. A mix of gripping, emotionally intense dystopian stories and more fairytale stories full of wonder and faith.

From Paula Vince

Check out Paula Vince's reading blog The Vince Review for a whole heap of other suggestions :)

Now over to you - what books have you read in 2019 that you'd recommend to others?

Welcome Susan and Kirsten

A couple of weeks ago we announced that Anusha Atukorala was stepping down from the Christian Writers Downunder Admin team after five years to pursue other goals, and that Mazzy Adams would be joining Paula Vince and myself (Jeanette O'Hagan) as a new team member.

Both Paula and I appreciate Mazzy's enthusiasm and contributions.  And all three of us are delighted to announce two newer members to the team: Susan Bruce and Kirsten (K A ) Hart.

Who are they?

Both Sue and Kirsten have been active members of Christian Writers Downunder and, in fact, both have contributed to the CWD anthology Glimpses of Light and are regular CWD bloggers.

Susan J. Bruce

Susan J. Bruce, aka Sue Jeffrey, spent her childhood reading, drawing, and collecting stray animals. Now she’s grown up she does the same kinds of things. Sue worked for many years as a veterinarian, is an animal artist and is notorious for including animals in almost every story – even when she tries not to.

Sue won the ‘Short’ section of the inaugural Stories of Life writing competition and recently won the 'Unpublished Manuscript' section of the 2018 Caleb prize. Sue is the editor of 'If They Could Talk: Bible Stories Told By the Animals' (Morning Star Publishing) and her stories and poems have appeared in multiple anthologies. Her e-book, 'Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story' is available on Amazon.com. You can check out Sue’s animal art on Facebook.

Kirsten (K.A.) Hart

K.A. Hart is a born and bred Territorian who moved to Queensland and had no choice but to stay after her assimilation into Toowoomba’s infamous, collective known as Quirky Quills.


Since then, K.A. Hart has had two short stories published. Stone Bearer, appears in Glimpses of Light and Tedious Tresses, in the As Time Goes By Mixed Blessings anthology. She is currently working on a fantasy novel.


When she is not writing, perfecting the art of starring into oblivion or buying-up all the books in Koorong, she is locked away in the gym learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, playing the guitar and cruising the streets on her Kawasaki Ninja (when she finally gets her licence and replaces the back brakes).

Welcome aboard Sue and Kirsten. 

This brings the CWD Admin team to five:

Jeanette O'Hagan (Coordinator)

Paula Vince

Mazzy Adams

Susan Bruce (aka Sue Jeffrey)

Kirsten Hart

And so you can get to know us a little better, over the next five Thursdays we will be posting a Meet Our Members post on each one of the team. 

Jeanette O'Hagan

Confessions of a Genre Butterfly - Susan J Bruce

Photo copyright Susan J Bruce

The author platform. Do these words fill you with confidence? Do you say ‘I know who I am as an author and I know who I want to reach? I know what my brand is?’

Or do you think, ‘Eerk!’

Earlier this year I realised as I belonged to the second category, I really should do something about it. So I enrolled in Iola Goulton’s appropriately titled course, Kick-start your Author Platform Marketing Challenge. The first few days were fun and I was filled with a sense of purpose. They led me to rethink my author name (that’s another story for another time) and gave me confidence that I was going to succeed. I would make a good website. I would build a social media platform around my brand as an author.

But then we came to the question of genre.

We were given an exercise where we had to identify our genre and find websites of authors who write the same kind of books. The idea was to see what website elements (images, fonts, etc.) are consistent with our genre. If we write romance we want the reader to get a romancey vibe when they visit our website or look for us on social media. If we are a science fiction aficionado we might depict spaceships soaring through nebulae, boldly going where no one has gone before. It makes sense. People should see our name and associate it with our brand so they can know if they will like the kind of books we write.

But what if we don’t write in just one genre?

I know. All the publishers and marketing gurus have crashed to the floor in a dead faint at my words. It makes absolute marketing sense to write in one genre, at least initially. But what if our writing doesn’t fit this pattern?

What if we are a ‘genre butterfly’? What if we flutter from genre to genre like a butterfly flits from flower to flower, collecting all kinds of nectar as it goes on its way.

Our group discussions showed that I was not the only one with this particular affliction, but that didn’t solve our problem. How do we develop an author brand if our writing doesn’t naturally fit one genre?

It must be possible.

Tim Winton comes to mind as a brilliant proponent of literary fiction: stories that are generally more serious and have deep artistic merit. Then there is general fiction. General fiction tends to be more accessible than literary fiction. Some general fiction authors are, I suspect, latent genre butterflies. They gather nectar from different genres and meld it into a new story. The success of a huge number of general fiction authors means that those of us who like variety need not despair. And then there are age-defined categories like young adult (YA) and children’s literature, which can contain multiple genres.

But what if we like to write different types of genre fiction? What if we want to write a cozy mystery followed by a science fiction novel and a love story between two dragons? Can we do that and build our brand as an author? What do we do? There are several options:

1.                  Embrace our eclectic nature. Write what we like, when we like. The catch is that we will probably find it hard to build a brand and to sell books unless we are so prolific that we quickly build up a backlist of several books in each genre.

2.                 Become a genre blender. You like three different genres? Mix ‘em together! I recently read Kerry Nietz’s, Amish Vampires in Space. This science fiction author blended Amish fiction, science fiction, vampire fiction and Christian fiction together to create an excellent space opera with great characters. In his case, merging genres made for excellent marketing. It led me (and many others) to read the book and because I liked it, I bought the sequel (which was great too).

3.                 Establish a unique brand of our own. Genre is a handy way of categorising our writing but it isn’t the only way. We can look at the heart of what we write, find the common themes and build our brand around those themes. 

I wish I wrote contemporary romance or cute cozy mysteries set in a bookstore. Branding would be simpler. But just because branding isn’t simple it doesn’t mean it’s not doable. I’ve chosen to take the third route above. Just about all of my stories, short or long, have themes of overcoming. Many have strong romantic elements, or themes of belonging, and are set in an environment of adventure or danger. Nearly all my work contains animals. Some stories contain deep issues. After a lot of thought I developed my working tagline: Stories of the human spirit – and sometimes other species. If I can write stories that fulfil that promise to the reader, and promote my books accordingly, I’ll be doing well. And should my writing evolve and take on a more speculative bent, I can always change it to Stories of the human spirit – and sometimes alien species J.

My name is Susan J. Bruce and I’m a genre butterfly. How about you?

Go on. Confess in the comments. You know you want to! How do you approach branding as an author?

Edit: Since writing this article I've added some mystery to the mix. The mystery novel is going to happen after all. Check out my website by clicking this link.

Susan J. Bruce, aka Sue Jeffrey, spent her childhood reading, drawing, and collecting stray animals. Now she’s grown up she does the same kinds of things. Sue works part time as a veterinarian, writes stories filled with themes of overcoming, adventure and belonging, and loves to paint animals. Sue won the Short section of the inaugural Stories of Life writing competition and her stories and poems have appeared in various anthologies including Tales of the Upper Room, Something in the Blood: Vampire Stories With a Christian Bite and Glimpses of Light. Her e-book Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story is available on Amazon.com.  You can check out Sue’s animal art on Facebook.