Luke Johnson
Luke is a writer from Ocean Grove, on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. He is married with two daughters. He is a physiotherapist by trade, combining this with his love of reading and writing. A fan of literary fiction, crime fiction, and strong Australian-facing narratives and overtones, his debut, King Tide, is due out on July 29 2025 through Affirm Press / Simon & Schuster.
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Tanya Scott
Tanya Scott is an Australian writer, doctor and educator. She is an accomplished survivor of near misses, including escaping from an engineering degree out of high school, crashing a car with a huntsman (spider, not human) on her lap and getting caught in a rip off the coast of Cocos Island. She also managed to finish medical school with her sense of humour intact.
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Over a varied medical career, she has learned more from her patients than from any textbook – not just about physical and mental health, but about humanity, resilience and the absurdity of life. While these themes inform her writing, her love of twisty mysteries has made her an accidental crime writer.
After growing up on the coast in western Victoria, Tanya studied and worked in -
Kate Mildenhall
Kate Mildenhall is the author of Skylarking (2016) The Mother Fault (2020) and The Hummingbird Effect ((2023). She lives in Hurstbridge on Wurundjeri lands, with her partner and two children.
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Skylarking was longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017, and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. The Mother Fault was longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2021 Aurealis Science Fiction Novel of the Year. The Hummingbird Effect is due for release August 2nd 2023.
With friend and author Katherine Collette, Kate co-hosts The First Time Podcast – conversations with Australian writers – a podcast now in its sixth season.
Kate is currently undertaking her PhD in creative writing at RMIT. She can be -
Rachel Givney
A writer and filmmaker originally from Sydney, Australia, Givney has worked on many of Australia's most beloved and successful shows such as Offspring, and McLeod's Daughters.
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Rachel Givney's international bestseller Jane in Love was published in 2020 to critical acclaim. Booklist Magazine judged Jane in Love as "outstanding", and Publisher's Weekly named it in their top ten releases for fall 2020. Amazon Studios and Di Novi Pictures (Little Women) have acquired the rights to adapt Jane in Love for the screen. Givney will write the screenplay.
Givney's second novel, Secrets My Father Kept, was published in June 2021, again to critical acclaim.
Her third novel, Don't Say His Name, is out August 2025. -
Margaret Hickey
Margaret Hickey is an award-winning author and playwright from North East Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and is deeply interested in rural lives and communities. She is the author of Cutters End and Stone Town.
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Mark Brandi
Mark Brandi's bestselling novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, and the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime.
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Mark's second novel, The Rip, was published to critical acclaim in 2019, and his third novel, The Others, was shortlisted for the Best Fiction prize in the 2022 Ned Kelly Awards. His fourth novel, Southern Aurora, was Highly Commended in the 2024 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. His fifth novel, Eden, was published in July 2025.
Mark's shorter work has appeared in The Guardi -
Jane Caro
Jane Caro wears many hats; including author, lecturer, mentor, social commentator, columnist, workshop facilitator, speaker, broadcaster and award-winning advertising writer. Jane runs her own communications consultancy and lectures in Advertising Creative at The School of Communication Arts at UWS. She has published three books: The Stupid Country: How Australia is dismantling public education co-authored with Chris Bonnor (2007), The F Word. How we learned to swear by feminism co-authored with Catherine Fox (2008), and Just a Girl (UQP, 2011). She has also appeared on Channel 7’s Sunrise, ABC’s Q&A and ABC’s The Gruen Transfer.
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Angie Faye Martin
Angie Faye Martin is a writer and editor of Kooma, Kamilaroi and European heritage. With a Bachelor of Public Health from the Queensland University of Technology and a Masters of Anthropology from the Australian National University, Angie spent many years working in policy roles in state and federal government before launching Versed Writings in 2019. Her work has been published in Meanjin, Garland, The Saltbush Review and The Rocks Remain. She is a member of the First Nations Australia Writers Network and accredited with the Institute of Professional Editors. Melaleuca is her debut novel.
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Laura McCluskey
Laura McCluskey is a Melbourne-based writer, editor and actor. She created the production company Sibylline Films and co-founded Three Fates Theatre Company. The Wolf Tree is her first novel.
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Emma Babbington
Emma Babbington writes psychological thrillers full of twists and turns and is the author of The Neighbours, released in 2025.
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She is a London-born, now Sydney-based journalist and is currently news editor for Woman’s Day, heading up the real life and crime section. Her 20 year career in the UK and Australia on newspapers and magazines, has seen her interview celebrities, everyday heroes and even the occasional criminal. Emma lives with her husband, children and cat not far from Sydney harbour.
Instagram @emmababbington
Facebook @emmababbingtonauthor -
Ali Berg
Co-founder & Professional Aussie Book Ninja at Books on the Rail & Co-author of The Book Ninja, While You Were Reading and Fancy Meeting You Here.
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Tegan Bennett Daylight
Tegan Bennett Daylight is a fiction writer, teacher and critic. She is the author of three novels and a collection of short stories, Six Bedrooms, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Stella Award, the ALS Gold Medal and the Steele Rudd Award. She lives in the Blue Mountains with her husband and two children.
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Paul Daley
Author and journalist Paul Daley's books—Canberra, Collingwood: A Love Story, Beersheeba and Armaggedon—have been finalists in major literary awards, including the Nib, the Manning Clark House Cultural Awards and the Prime Minister's History Prize. He is the winner of the Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism and the Paul Lyneham Award for Press Gallery journalism. In 2013 he co-wrote, with Katie Pollock, the acclaimed political play, The Hansard Monologues. He also writes essays and short stories, and about history and national identity for The Guardian and Meanjin. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Lenore Taylor, and their children. This is his first novel.
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Rebecca Starford
Rebecca Starford is the author of Bad Behaviour, a memoir about boarding school and bullying. The book was optioned for television by Matchbox Pictures and aired in Australia on STAN, as well as streamed through more than 20 other countries across the world. Rebecca's first novel, The Imitator, was published in Australia, and in the United States, Canada, the UK and South Africa under the title An Unlikely Spy.
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She is also the co-founder and publishing director of Kill Your Darlings, and has previously worked for Text Publishing and Australian Book Review. Originally from Melbourne, Rebecca currently lives in France. -
Michael Robotham
Two-times Gold Dagger winner (2015 and 2020), twice Edgar best novel finalist (2016 and 2020) and winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (2021), Michael Robotham was born in Australia in November 1960 and grew up in small country towns that had more dogs than people and more flies than dogs. He escaped became a cadet journalist on an afternoon newspaper in Sydney.
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For the next fourteen years he worked for newspapers and magazines in Australia, Europe, Africa and America. As a senior feature writer for the UK’s Mail on Sunday he was among the first people to view the letters and diaries of Czar Nicholas II and his wife Empress Alexandra, unearthed in the Moscow State Archives in 1991. He also gained access to Stalin’s Hitler files, which had -
Paul Daley
Author and journalist Paul Daley's books—Canberra, Collingwood: A Love Story, Beersheeba and Armaggedon—have been finalists in major literary awards, including the Nib, the Manning Clark House Cultural Awards and the Prime Minister's History Prize. He is the winner of the Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism and the Paul Lyneham Award for Press Gallery journalism. In 2013 he co-wrote, with Katie Pollock, the acclaimed political play, The Hansard Monologues. He also writes essays and short stories, and about history and national identity for The Guardian and Meanjin. He lives in Canberra with his wife, Lenore Taylor, and their children. This is his first novel.
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Margaret Hickey
Margaret Hickey is an award-winning author and playwright from North East Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and is deeply interested in rural lives and communities. She is the author of Cutters End and Stone Town.
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Patricia Wolf
Patricia Wolf grew up in Queensland, Australia, and now lives in Berlin. She likes whisky and strong coffee, busy cities, surf beaches and wild places. Patricia has been a journalist for almost twenty years. She is a regular contributor to newspapers including the Guardian, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph, among others, and was formerly a design columnist at the Independent and the Lisbon correspondent for Monocle magazine. Outback is her fiction debut.
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Jane Caro
Jane Caro wears many hats; including author, lecturer, mentor, social commentator, columnist, workshop facilitator, speaker, broadcaster and award-winning advertising writer. Jane runs her own communications consultancy and lectures in Advertising Creative at The School of Communication Arts at UWS. She has published three books: The Stupid Country: How Australia is dismantling public education co-authored with Chris Bonnor (2007), The F Word. How we learned to swear by feminism co-authored with Catherine Fox (2008), and Just a Girl (UQP, 2011). She has also appeared on Channel 7’s Sunrise, ABC’s Q&A and ABC’s The Gruen Transfer.
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Michael Brissenden
Michael Brissenden is an author and journalist. His first book of fiction – ‘The List’ was published in 2017 and ‘Dead Letters’ 2021 also features the Federal investigator Sidney Allen.
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'Smoke' was published in June 2024 and his new book 'Dust' is published in September 2025.
Michael was a journalist with the ABC for 35 years. He was posted to Moscow, Brussels and Washington and worked in Canberra for many years in various roles – including as the Political Editor for the daily television current affairs program – the 7.30 Report, as the ABC’s defence and security correspondent and as the presenter of the ‘AM’ Current Affairs program on ABC radio. From 2017 to 2021 he was a reporter with the ABC’s investigative television documentary program -
Darcy Tindale
Darcy is an author, drama teacher, actor, theatresports player, and director. Her versatile talents have seen her appear in television commercials, films, and on stage.
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In 2022, Darcy was one of six finalists in the Penguin Books Literary Prize for her adult crime novel, The Fall Between. This accolade led to a literary contract with Penguin Books for her Detective Giles series. Her first novel, The Fall Between, was released in May 2023, and her second novel, Burning Mountain, followed in April 2025.
In 2024, The Fall Between was nominated for The Davitt and The Ned Kelly Awards for Best Debut Crime Novel, further cementing Darcy's talent in the literary world.
Her work extends to writing comedy for radio, stage, media personalities, comedian -
Laura McCluskey
Laura McCluskey is a Melbourne-based writer, editor and actor. She created the production company Sibylline Films and co-founded Three Fates Theatre Company. The Wolf Tree is her first novel.
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Tanya Scott
Tanya Scott is an Australian writer, doctor and educator. She is an accomplished survivor of near misses, including escaping from an engineering degree out of high school, crashing a car with a huntsman (spider, not human) on her lap and getting caught in a rip off the coast of Cocos Island. She also managed to finish medical school with her sense of humour intact.
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Over a varied medical career, she has learned more from her patients than from any textbook – not just about physical and mental health, but about humanity, resilience and the absurdity of life. While these themes inform her writing, her love of twisty mysteries has made her an accidental crime writer.
After growing up on the coast in western Victoria, Tanya studied and worked in -
Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Ashley Kalagian Blunt is an author, speaker and podcaster. Her number one bestselling psychological thriller, Dark Mode, was published in Australia/NZ, the UK, South Korea and Germany. It was shortlisted for the 2024 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year, the Ned Kelly Awards and the Danger Awards.
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Her latest thrillers are Cold Truth and Like, Follow, Die.
She has two earlier books, How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, a thriller novella and collected essays. Her writing appears widely across Australian and international publications.
Ashley is a frequent speaker and panel moderator, and co-hosts James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health. She has taught creative writing across Austr -
Mark Brandi
Mark Brandi's bestselling novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, and the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime.
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Mark's second novel, The Rip, was published to critical acclaim in 2019, and his third novel, The Others, was shortlisted for the Best Fiction prize in the 2022 Ned Kelly Awards. His fourth novel, Southern Aurora, was Highly Commended in the 2024 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. His fifth novel, Eden, was published in July 2025.
Mark's shorter work has appeared in The Guardi -
Dervla McTiernan
Number one internationally bestselling author Dervla McTiernan is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of six novels, including the much-loved Cormac Reilly series and two number 1 bestselling standalone thrillers, The Murder Rule and What Happened to Nina?, both New York Times Best Thrillers of the Year and both currently in development for screen adaptation. Dervla is also the author of four novellas, and her audio novella, The Sisters, was a four-week number one bestseller in the United States. Before turning her hand to writing, Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer in her home country of Ireland. Following the global financial crisis, she relocated to Western Australia where she now lives with her husband, two chil
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Jessica Dettmann
Jessica Dettmann is the author of two novels, a couple of short stories and many blog posts. She was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, and there she remains, disappointing her fourteen-year-old self who thought she would be living in the pensione in Florence from A Room With A View by now.
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She is married and has two children and two cats. She does not enjoy walking on the beach with her dog because parking is very expensive at the beach and she does not have a dog.
Before she became a writer, she worked for a long time as a book editor. She is very lucky Instagram didn't exist back then or she would have been fired for timewasting. Now she is her own boss and she is on her last warning for timewasting on Instagram Stories.
She loves to -
Michelle Prak
Coming in April 2025: BARREN CAPE.
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Michelle Prak's debut thriller THE RUSH was published by Simon & Schuster ANZ; Crooked Lane Books (US); and by HarperCollins France, as LE DELUGE. It's a road trip thrill ride that takes place over two frantic days.
THE RUSH was voted into Better Reading's annual Top 100 reads (2024), and longlisted in the Sisters of Crime Australia Davitt Awards.
Also a short story writer, Michelle was runner-up in the Furphy Literary Prize, 2021.
Between 2019 and 2020, Michelle self-published three women's contemporary novels. Now she's turned to the thriller genre and hopes fans will follow along.
Long before Michelle began writing professionally she was a reader and continues to share on Goodreads.
If you don't want to miss -
Rachel Givney
A writer and filmmaker originally from Sydney, Australia, Givney has worked on many of Australia's most beloved and successful shows such as Offspring, and McLeod's Daughters.
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Rachel Givney's international bestseller Jane in Love was published in 2020 to critical acclaim. Booklist Magazine judged Jane in Love as "outstanding", and Publisher's Weekly named it in their top ten releases for fall 2020. Amazon Studios and Di Novi Pictures (Little Women) have acquired the rights to adapt Jane in Love for the screen. Givney will write the screenplay.
Givney's second novel, Secrets My Father Kept, was published in June 2021, again to critical acclaim.
Her third novel, Don't Say His Name, is out August 2025. -
Sinéad Stubbins
Sinéad Stubbins is a writer, editor and cultural critic in Melbourne.
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She writes popular TV recaps for Junkee, most notably on Game of Thrones, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Neighbours, and also writes about film, music and culture for The Guardian, ELLE, frankie, The Big Issue, New York Magazine, Pitchfork and others.
In 2016 she contributed to the University of Queensland Press anthology ‘Doing It’ and has also appeared in two frankie press collections, ‘Something to Say’ and ‘Look What We Made’. She has spoken at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, National Young Writers’ Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and The Wheeler Centre’s Storytelling Gala.
In 2018 she was long-listed for the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. In 202 -
Shelley Burr
Shelley Burr works at the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment in Canberra, Australia. She grew up splitting her time between Newcastle and Glenrowan, where her father's family are all sheep farmers.
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Angie Faye Martin
Angie Faye Martin is a writer and editor of Kooma, Kamilaroi and European heritage. With a Bachelor of Public Health from the Queensland University of Technology and a Masters of Anthropology from the Australian National University, Angie spent many years working in policy roles in state and federal government before launching Versed Writings in 2019. Her work has been published in Meanjin, Garland, The Saltbush Review and The Rocks Remain. She is a member of the First Nations Australia Writers Network and accredited with the Institute of Professional Editors. Melaleuca is her debut novel.
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Emma Babbington
Emma Babbington writes psychological thrillers full of twists and turns and is the author of The Neighbours, released in 2025.
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She is a London-born, now Sydney-based journalist and is currently news editor for Woman’s Day, heading up the real life and crime section. Her 20 year career in the UK and Australia on newspapers and magazines, has seen her interview celebrities, everyday heroes and even the occasional criminal. Emma lives with her husband, children and cat not far from Sydney harbour.
Instagram @emmababbington
Facebook @emmababbingtonauthor -
Madeleine Cleary
Madeleine's debut novel, The Butterfly Women (29 April 2025, Affirm Press), inspired by her family history, was chosen as Dymocks Fiction Book of the Month. Her writing was shortlisted for The Australian Fiction Prize in 2024. She holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne and an associated honours degree from RMIT University. Oblivious to her history, Madeleine completed her studies a block from her family’s brothel in Juliet Terrace, which inspired her debut novel. Madeleine served as an Australian diplomat in China. Before joining the public service, Madeleine spent five years working in bookshops, where she met her husband. Madeleine is from Naarm/Melbourne and lives at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges.
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Holden Sheppard
Holden Sheppard is an award-winning Australian novelist once described as "the lovechild of Rambo and Rimbaud". A country boy, a weightlifter and a self-proclaimed “bromosexual”, Holden has won acclaim for the raw, blokey honesty of his emotional novels about the modern experiences of Aussie men.
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Holden's bestselling debut Invisible Boys (Fremantle Press, 2019) - a confessional novel about young gay men growing up in rural Australia - picked up major accolades including the WA Premier's Prize, the Kathleen Mitchell Award and the Hungerford Award. In 2025, Invisible Boys was adapted as a critically acclaimed ten-episode television series for Stan Australia, which was the #1 most watched series on that platform nationally upon release.
Holden -
Madeleine Cleary
Madeleine's debut novel, The Butterfly Women (29 April 2025, Affirm Press), inspired by her family history, was chosen as Dymocks Fiction Book of the Month. Her writing was shortlisted for The Australian Fiction Prize in 2024. She holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne and an associated honours degree from RMIT University. Oblivious to her history, Madeleine completed her studies a block from her family’s brothel in Juliet Terrace, which inspired her debut novel. Madeleine served as an Australian diplomat in China. Before joining the public service, Madeleine spent five years working in bookshops, where she met her husband. Madeleine is from Naarm/Melbourne and lives at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges.
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Lyn Yeowart
Lyn Yeowart is a professional writer and editor with more than 25 years of experience in writing and editing everything from captions for artworks to speeches for executives. Her debut novel, The Silent Listener, is loosely based on events from her childhood growing up in rural Victoria. She is now happily ensconced in Melbourne, where there is very little mud, but lots of books.
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Kate Broadway
Kate Broadway lives in Melbourne with her husband and enjoys quiet afternoons with a good story—be it a book, movie, or TV series—and a cup of tea. A lifelong dog lover (Western Bulldogs included), she finds joy in simple moments, exploring local markets and eating nachos on her own with zero shame.
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With a background in theatre, Kate brings her stories to life through atmosphere, character, and emotion—creating layered, vivid worlds that feel deeply real. Her debut novel, Private Morey’s Jacket, was inspired by her beloved dog Murray, who passed away in early 2025. Kate blended her love of history (passed down from her dad), dogs, and rural Victoria to craft the book’s setting and soul.
She began writing Private Morey’s Jacket by hand during -
Casey Nott
Casey Nott is a contemporary fiction author.
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Her stories celebrate women and explore the challenges they face in modern society.
Her debut novel, Forgotten, was long listed in the 2022 Hawkeye Manuscript Development Competition and is due for release on 26th July 2024, with Hawkeye Publishing.
When she’s not writing (or reading) she enjoys keeping active by practicing yoga and playing pickle ball. She is happiest when she’s creating and making things.
She lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children, of whom she’s quite fond. -
Nin Mok
Author of 𝙎𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡: 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙅𝙤𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄𝙡𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨.
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Inspiring and heartfelt memoir, told with honesty and humor, demonstrates the power of reframing adversity when one’s situation cannot be changed. A sudden medical trauma forces a young executive's driven lifestyle to a standstill, sparking profound introspection on life’s meaning and purpose.
—"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦" Maria Victoria Beltran
—"𝘈 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦" Asher Syed
—"𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨" Emma Megan