Steph Bowe

Where I've been

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 09:24:00 +0000

It's been tough for me to know when was the right time to share this publicly, or what to say. So I'll keep it simple.

In April, I was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma. I've been in treatment for the ensuing 8 months, and I'm currently in hospital waiting to start a bone marrow transplant in early January. Having cancer has been terrible, and I've been very unwell.

I've written about my illness and treatment sporadically across the year on my personal Facebook, if you would like to know more. I'll definitely be updating you all with positive news after my transplant.

In the meantime, I hope that you have a happy and healthy New Year, and a magical 2020. I can't wait to be telling you about a brand new Steph Bowe book this time next ye
ar - I've certainly got a lot of new material to write about!

Emerging Writers' Festival!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:06:00 +0000

I'm excited to be part of this year's Emerging Writers' Festival - I'll be running the Writers’ Night School: Writing for Young Adults workshop. Here's what it's all about:

Get some one-on-one writer attention in our intimate, limited capacity Writers’ Night School series.

This session will cover how to craft characters and worlds that will draw your audience in, and hear about the pleasures and pitfalls of dealing with dark themes for a younger audience.

It's on Wednesday 20 June, 6.30-8pm at the Wheeler Centre. Tickets are $35 full/$30 concession.

For further details, and to book a ticket, visit the Emerging Writers' Festival website. And definitely check out the program - there's an extraordinary number of terrific events on throughout the festival, so don't miss out.

Brisbane events: Love YA! Girls Write Up! & More!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 02:54:00 +0000

Love YA - Brisbane
I am beyond excited to be appearing at Love YA in Brisbane on May 12, in conversation with the amazing Cath Crowley, who is literally one of my favourite Young Adult authors of all time. I'm just going to be fan-girling through the entire event. The event is called Author to Author: Cath Crowley and Steph Bowe and here are the details:

Put two talented, powerful, and all-round awesome authors together and what do you get? A fun but fierce conversation of sexuality and strong female protagonists, writing practices, and the hope and beauty found in YA literature that will inspire writers and readers alike.

Cath Crowley’s latest book Words in Deep Blue (Pan MacMillan) has already been winning awards throughout the industry including the Gold Inky Award, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and the Indie Book Award for Young Adult fiction in 2017.

Steph Bowe, whose debut novel Girl Saves Boy was written when she was only sixteen, has stolen hearts, chronicled the complexity of families and charmed readers with her third novel Night Swimming (Text Publishing).

Together Cath and Steph will take the stage and talk all things YA at Love YA.

Presented in partnership with LoveOzYA.

When: Sat 12 May, 12:00 – 13:00

Where: Flowstate Pavilion, South Bank

For more details, to check out the rest of the program and to buy tickets, check out the Uplit website. Do say hi if you come along!

Girls Write Up - Brisbane
I'll also be presenting at Girls Write Up in Brisbane on May 11! Here are some details:

GWU Brisbane 2018: ‘The politics and performance of language’

How can we make language and art work to change the future?

Friday 11 May 2018

State Library of Queensland
Stanley Place, South Brisbane QLD 4101

Girls Write Up is for anyone who has felt limited by gender and wants to understand how language can be used to liberate and empower. It is an inclusive event open to all teens.

Over the day, authors, journalists, activists, artists, poets and other creative thinkers will share the ways they have used their writing to define their identities and shape the world around them. The program of panels and practical workshops explores the relationship between language, gender and power, and the effects of unconscious bias on our sense of self. Girls Write Up gives participants the opportunity to discover their own creative voice, equipping them with the skills and the confidence to use it.

I'll be presenting a workshop on character development, and there are so many wonderful speakers and workshops and events across the day that you'd be silly to miss out (it's an event for all teenagers, and one that's committed to being inclusive and accessible. Teachers and carers can attend, too). Head over to the Stella Prize website for more details and to book tickets!

A podcast!
I recently chatted on the podcast Seeking Tumnus about Night Swimming - if you want to hear me read some of Night Swimming in my very Blinky Bill-esque accent then ramble about my love of very Aussie literature, you should check it out. Seeking Tumnus is a wonderful podcast about children's literature so it's worth listening their other episodes while you're there.

Night Swimming is a CBCA Notable! Somerset Celebration of Literature! Podcast!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 04:55:00 +0000

Oh. Hi. I did not, in fact, forget I had a blog. Honest. I just haven't had a chance to blog in so very long. I've been having a rather busy (but excellent!) time visiting schools and writing a thesis and working on my novel. I do have some posts on the way (I have had a chance to read for fun again - and there are a number of wonderful YA titles I want to tell you all about) but for now I'm just quickly popping in to let you know what's been happening.

(I hope you have been well and 2018 is treating you kindly. Yes, I know it's March! What is with time?)

So here are a few exciting updates!

First of all, I am beyond thrilled that NIGHT SWIMMING is a CBCA Notable for Older Readers! It's an extraordinary list with a lot of fabulous titles on it (check it out here) and I feel very honoured to be featured alongside such talent!

This is my first CBCA Notable and it's a pretty special feeling!

Secondly, I will be appearing at the Somerset Celebration of Literature on the Gold Coast this week! It's an awesome festival and I've had such fun attending in the past. I'll be presenting a number school sessions, and I'll also be appearing on a panel on Storytelling in the Electronic World. For more info, check out Somerset's festival guide.

Finally (for now!), I recently appeared on the Words and Nerds podcast. You can listen to me chat about NIGHT SWIMMING and developing unique characters here.

I think that's it. I hope to have lots more cool stuff to tell you soon. (I post a little more often on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so do follow over there if you fancy!)

State Library of Queensland Young Writers Conference 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 01:19:00 +0000

I am thrilled to be appearing this Saturday (November 25) at the State Library of Queensland for their inaugural Young Writers Conference. Here's what it's all about:

Come along for a day of industry seminars and hands-on writing workshops for young writers, led by young authors and publishing professionals.

If you’re aged 15 to 25 and interested in the art of writing and the how-to of getting published in Australia, the Young Writers Conference will excite, inform and inspire you.

With sessions designed to expand your knowledge, accelerate your craft, and provide advice and support for getting ahead in the business of writing, this is your opportunity to learn from some of Australia’s finest young creators in an inclusive and interactive environment.

Featuring Lech Blaine, Steph Bowe, Shastra Deo, Laura Elvery, Mindy Gill, Jerath Head, Rebecca Jessen, Bri Lee, Grace Lucas-Pennington, Grace McCarter, Jackie Ryan, Kristina Schulz.

I'll be appearing on a panel and running a workshop on the day:

How to get a book published in your twenties Panel | SLQ Auditorium 2, level 2|10am
Featuring Lech Blaine, Steph Bowe, Shastra Deo, Bri Lee and Rebecca Jessen
In this inspiring session, young published authors share the journeys behind how they made it to where they are now. From why they became interested in writing, to how they got published, hear from the writers who made their dream a reality and what they plan on doing next.

Make them real: writing complex characters Workshop | SLQ Auditorium 2, level 2 | 12.30pm
Featuring Steph Bowe
Learn how to make your characters come to life on the page with Steph Bowe, author of YA novels Night Swimming, All This Could End and Girl Saves Boy.

For further details, check out the State Library of Queensland's website.

Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 05:00:00 +0000

To say I was looking forward to Take Three Girls would be the understatement of the year. When I found out it was being written I was at first unsure if this was real life or some sort of coma dream. Three of my favourite authors collaborating on a novel does seem very much like something my brain would invent. But luckily for me (and you!), Take Three Girls is a real (and wonderful) novel. (Either that or I'm still in the coma dream.)

Take Three Girls focuses on Ady, Clem and Kate, boarders at a prestigious private girls' school who are thrown together by a school 'wellness' program and who are dealing with a whole slew of issues - including being targeted by a sexist and disgusting website.

I found the novel a little jarring at first - it took me a while to get a sense for each of the girls' voices, and the multiple viewpoints, plus diary entries, plus wellness program sheets, plus excerpts from PSST (the website) made for a beginning that was very busy.

I'm mentioning this because if you pick up this book and struggle through the start - keep reading! Though I read the start slowly, once I was familiar with the characters (and once they had met each other), I found it much more involving and I read the rest in one sitting. The format that had seemed excessive at the start gave the novel depth and realism, and made for a more immersive experience. The character voices are distinct, but work together really well. I would love for these three authors to collaborate again.

My personal theories, on which author wrote which character are as follows (and completely unconfirmed!): Clem definitely feels like a Simmone Howell character - she writes complex, sometimes-unlikeable girls like no one else. Kate's romance storyline and love interest - I will not give anything away! - felt very much in the style of Cath Crowley and had echoes of Words In Deep Blue. Ady's thoughts on and passion for social justice issues reminded me of the protagonist in Fiona Wood's Cloudwish. Note that it is entirely possible that I am zero for three here, but it's fun to speculate. (Other readers I have discussed this with have had very different interpretations!)

Take Three Girls is a novel I would recommend to any fan of contemporary YA novels - teenagers and adults alike. I think there can sometimes be a tendency for YA now to be aware of the size of its adult audience and (consciously or not) cater to that audience, and though Take Three Girls is a complex and thoughtful novel that engages with themes around feminism and social justice, it is still unashamedly about and for teenage girls.

While each character has a romantic plotline (and I really appreciated Ady's romance storyline and how her bisexuality was depicted in the book), themes of friendship are definitely the focus. It is both very thought-provoking and very accessible - the issues (and they are many!) are never at the expense of the enjoyability of the novel. It's engaging and sincere and uplifting and a novel I hope many, many teenagers read.

Take Three Girls on the publisher's website.

Tracks Brisbane with Express Media

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 23:00:00 +0000

I'm super excited to be presenting a workshop as part of Tracks: Brisbane on Saturday, October 21. It's an awesome all-day program of workshops and masterclasses for writers aged 14 to 25, and it promises to be amazing.

Here are some more details, from the Express Media website:

Express Media is delighted to present Tracks, a travelling pop-up program for young writers that brings the best of Express Media’s workshops, masterclasses, networking opportunities and special events to communities across Australia.

In 2017 we’re bringing the Tracks program to Brisbane, partnering with Queensland Writers Centre and Backbone Youth Arts to take the best of Express Media right to your backyard.

If you’re aged 14 to 25 and have a love of writing and storytelling, Tracks: Brisbane is an exciting weekend event just for you. Across the day, you’ll learn from some of the best writers in Queensland, and expand your skills to develop and crafting captivating stories, find out what opportunities there are for you in Brisbane and beyond, and discover what happens when you’ve been selected for publication.

Tracks is free for Express Media members to participate in and attend. If you’re not a member already, Tracks: Brisbane costs $25 and includes joint membership to Express Media and Queensland Writers Centre (normally $55).

Here's what my workshop is all about:

Crafting Character & Representing Real Life with Steph Bowe

9:30am – 11:00am

Character is a key element of successful writing. What makes a memorable character in fiction and do you represent real-life people ethically? Do we have to be able to relate to all characters as a reader? How can you get inside your characters’ heads – when they came from yours? Explore strategies for creating believable, fleshed-out figures in your own work.

Tracks is on at the East Brisbane Bowls Club on Saturday October 21, and runs from 9am to 5pm. It's an awesome opportunity for young writers, especially considering it's free for Express Media members and only $25 for non-members. To find out more, and to book, head to the Express Media website.

Girls Write Up Brisbane!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 22:00:00 +0000

I'm thrilled to be running a character workshop as part of Girls Write Up in Brisbane! The event is being held on Friday 24 November from 8.45am to 3.45pm at the State Library of Queensland, and there's an awesome line up of presenters.

Girls Write Up is for anyone who has felt limited by their gender and wants to understand how language can not only constrain but also be used to liberate and empower. It is an inclusive event open to all teens aged 12–18.

Over the day, authors, journalists, activists, artists, poets and other creative thinkers will share the ways they have used their writing to define their identities and shape the world around them. The program of panels and practical workshops explores the relationship between language, gender and power, and the effects of unconscious bias on our sense of self. It unpacks the ways that the female voice has been devalued in literary and popular culture, and gives participants the opportunity to discover their own creative voice, equipping them with the skills and the confidence to use it.

For more details, and to buy tickets ($35), check out The Stella Prize website.

Come along to the National Young Writers Festival!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 22:00:00 +0000

I'm excited to be attending the National Young Writers Festival in Newcastle later this month. The festival runs from September 28 to October 1 and I'm looking forward to attending lots of events! I'll be appearing on two panels and a roundtable (all free!) so do come along and say hi if you live nearby!

YYWP Session C: Advanced fiction
Friday, September 29, 2017 at 1:15 pm

1.30pm | PANEL: Diverse fiction
Do we write fiction to represent or to escape? Why not both? What does it look like when we include a spectrum of characters in our fiction? And how do we practise diversity responsibly? With Elizabeth DeLoria and Steph Bowe.

Creative Wordshop, 170/164 Hunter St, Newcastle NSW 2300

Writing for Kids and Young People
Saturday, September 30, 2017 at 10:00 am
What makes young readers tick? Four writers talk about what sets it apart, the challenges, and the practice of writing for younger readers.

#children #youngadult

Vinyl Cafe, 4 Perkins St, Newcastle NSW 2300

(Care)ering for Yourself
Saturday, September 30, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Care about your career but also care about your person? Do you want to? This roundtable is a place to share tips and tricks on how to survive the pressures and travails of this writing life and keep your mental and physical health while you’re at it!

The Royal Exchange, 34 Bolton St, Newcastle NSW 2300

YA Bookmeet at Sydney Dymocks this Saturday!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 02:05:00 +0000

Sydney friends! I'll be appearing at the YA Bookmeet at Dymocks Sydney this Saturday (September 2) at 2.30pm, to chat about Night Swimming!

Full details below! I'm super excited to be visiting Sydney and would love it if you came along! RSVP to eventscoordinator@dymocks.com.au.

Interview with Pip Harry, author of Because of You

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 23:00:00 +0000

I know I never stop talking about the sheer wonderfulness of Australian contemporary YA, but I am genuinely astounded at the number of truly gorgeous novels written in this country for teenagers. Because of You by Pip Harry is one of them. It's a novel that focuses on the difficult and important topic of homelessness, and characters in terrible circumstances, but it's written in an incredibly thoughtful and uplifting and accessible way - I would highly recommend it to literally anyone aged twelve and over, and think it would be a terrific novel to study in schools. It's both really important and beautifully heartwarming, and puts friendship to the forefront, which I think we need more of in YA. If you would like to read some reviews that are far more articulate than I could ever be, you should check out the glowing reviews on Books+Publishing and the Readings website!

It was wonderful to have a chance to chat with Pip about her real-life inspiration and research that led to writing Because of You, her writing process, favourite novels and upcoming projects!

Steph: Because of You explores homelessness in a very thoughtful and humanising way, and focuses both on characters who are homeless and characters who work with homeless people. What motivated you to write a novel focusing on homelessness, and what sort of research did you undertake?

Pip: I was motivated to write a novel about homelessness as I spent three years as a volunteer with a creative writing program in a homeless shelter in Darlinghurst, Sydney. I would go each week to the shelter and meet all kinds of people in the homeless community – both people who were homeless or in government housing, or those volunteering or working with them to rebuild their lives. When the time came to write a novel that fictionalised my experiences, I knew I didn’t want to preach or be heavy handed in my depiction of what it’s like to be homeless, so I’m very happy to hear you found my exploration of the subject thoughtful! As further research, I also spent time at the Rough Edges drop in café in Darlinghurst. I met so many funny, interesting and intelligent homeless people during my volunteering and research, so I wanted to do them justice on the page.

Steph: I loved both of your previous novels (I’ll Tell You Mine and Head of the River) but Because of You is definitely my new favourite – one of those books you have to sit with for a few minutes after having finished it, because you’re still half in that world with those characters. I went through the emotional wringer reading it – was writing it an emotional process? (I found Tiny talking about her baby so heart-wrenching and tender and beautiful.)

Pip: Thank you! It was a very emotional process to write Because of You. I found myself in tears while writing many scenes, having to go to places that were so bleak and tough for my characters. As I suffered from post-natal depression myself after the birth of my daughter, I could really relate to Tiny’s feelings of isolation and despair around new motherhood. To be honest, writing this book was so difficult that at the halfway point, I nearly abandoned the manuscript because I wasn’t sure I had what it took to finish the story. I’m so glad I didn’t!

Steph: I interviewed you after Head of the River was released, and asked you about how the experience of writing a second novel differed from the first, so naturally now I have to ask what your experience was like writing Because of You! Was Book Three easier? How has your writing process changed and evolved? Do you feel like you’ve hit your stride?

Pip: No! I wish Book Three was easier, but it was the same hard slog, with feelings of uncertainty and imposter syndrome throughout. Of my three books, Head of the River was the easiest to write, and Because of You was the hardest. Having said that, I think my writing process is now more experimental. I’m less afraid to try new things (like poetry, who knew?!) and stretch myself as a writer. I also found the structural editing easier and I could slash, chop and kill my darlings with much more certainty and confidence.

Steph: The novel is told from the first-person perspective of two characters, Tiny (who is living on the streets in the city, far away from her family) and Nola (who is volunteering so she can pass Year 12 at her private school). How did you establish distinct character voices? Do you have any advice for writers writing from multiple points-of-view?

Pip: Although in some ways I wanted Tiny and Nola to sound similar (they are both 18-year-old girls after all) I also wanted there to be a distinction between their voices. Tiny speaks in a simpler language, with more slang. “Nah” instead of “No” for example and “get a feed” instead of “go out for dinner”. Nola is more formal and sophisticated. Writing from multiple POV’s it’s important to really know your characters inside out and to establish early on their individual speech patterns, slang, vocab and dialogues. This helps he reader switch between voices more easily.

Steph: Something wonderful about Because of You is that it explores relevant real-world issues and contains beautiful messages about empathy without being didactic or talking down to teenage readers. Were you conscious of avoiding writing a moralistic or educational novel? Do you have any particular reader or audience in mind as you write?

Pip: I was absolutely conscious of not talking down to my young adult readers. The issues contained in the book are complicated, confronting and multi-layered, but they’re more than capable of absorbing and exploring them. I try not to moralise or “educate” my readers. Instead, I present difficult issues from different angles, and allow the reader to make up their own minds as to how they feel as a result. I do think about my audience being aged from around 12 years, and keep that in mind in terms of language and content, but I also know adults find my work, too.

Steph: I love the back cover quote: ‘Books can save anyone. If they’re the right ones.’ Meredith, who speaks the line in the novel, runs a street library for the benefit of people like her son, who has passed away. Despite only appearing in a couple of scenes, she, like many other minor characters in the novel, is deftly and realistically drawn. How did you approach creating these characters, many of whom are affected by trauma and grief, and fleshing them out so authentically?

Pip: I love that line too and I believe it with all my heart! Books are life-changing. Along with Meredith the book lady, there are lots of minor characters who make a big difference in Because of You, so each one had to be real and make an impression on readers. Fleshing out the smaller characters took time – to begin with they didn’t have backstories or depth, but in later drafting, I dug deeper to find out why they were important to the story.

Steph: The transformative power of books is a major theme in the novel, and one that I (obviously!) very sincerely believe in. What were the books that were the most significant to you, as a teenager? And what do you read – and love – now?

Pip: I read tons of Judy Blume, who influenced my honesty in my writing (she wasn’t afraid to really go there!) I also loved Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park, Homecoming by Cynthia Voight, Bridge to Terabithia by Catherine Paterson. Now, I voraciously read contemporary Australian YA, including your own funny and heartwarming Night Swimming and Cath Crowley’s gorgeous bookstore love story Words in Deep Blue. I’ve also fallen madly in love with verse novels, especially The Weight of Water and One by Sarah Crossan and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.

Steph: Having now read Because of You, I am looking forward to the next Pip Harry novel (no pressure!) – are you working on anything new at the moment? You’re currently based in Singapore – is that influencing your writing?

Pip: Lately I’ve been thinking about a story set in the steamy city of Singapore, but that’s just in my head! On the page, I have completed a verse novel for middle grade readers with the working title The Little Wave. I’m still negotiating a deal, but hope to have more news on its release soon!

--

To find out more about Pip Harry, Because of You and her previous novels, visit Pip's website.

If you live in Melbourne, you should attend the book launch for Because of You! It's on September 2, as part of Melbourne Writers Festival. Find all the details here.

We might be young, but we're not stupid

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Originally published on Birdee Mag in July 2013.

Recently I had an article published in the Sun-Herald called ‘Parenting advice from a teenager’.

Now, hear me out: I don’t think teenagers are universally great or parents universally terrible – I think most people are just doing their best. And I don’t think that I am an expert of any kind.

I wrote my article on that topic because my new novel is largely based on a tricky mother/daughter relationship. I received many nice comments, but also a few rather incensed ones – largely based on the premise that it’s wildly presumptuous for me, as a teenager, to have an opinion.

The writings and opinions of young people are so often criticised – not based on their merit, but based on the age and perceived arrogance of the teenager expressing these opinions.

I don’t think that the opinions of young people lack validity by virtue of the fact that they are young. It’s actually incredibly important that they are able to express their ideas and work through concepts, even if their opinions may change with time, experience and age.

Are we supposed to emerge as adults with fully–formed beliefs without ever having the opportunity to critically examine and express our ideas? Are we supposed to just accept what we are told by older people to be the truth?

Putting your opinion out there is a fairly risky thing to do – people will eat you alive on the internet, and being told that your opinion is irrelevant can be pretty crushing. It can dissuade you from sharing your thoughts in the future, too. (Fortunately I’ve never faced anything especially bad myself.)

dont-judgeSo I’m not entirely sure why everyone feels the need to discourage critical thinking in young people.

There’s a tendency for people to assume my work as a novelist is invalid based on my age (I’m nineteen), and decide against reading my books as a result. Or, if they read my novel and don’t like it, they assume that it’s because of my youth. I don’t want to be treated any differently just because I was born in the 90s.

I’m not the kind of person who wants people to be kinder to me just because I’m young – and I didn’t want that when I was fifteen either – I would much prefer honesty. Preferably not ‘this is a good novel… for a teenager’ or ‘this novel is unreadable because the author is a teenager’. Really, I’d much rather just be seen as a ‘writer’ rather than a ‘teenage writer’, and avoid all the unfortunate assumptions.

I think it’s important that teenagers have access to safe forums and are surrounded by people who are supportive of their ideas. I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t have to accept criticism sometimes, but I do believe that the writings and opinions of teenagers should be judged based on their merit, not on the age of the writer.

It’s unfair to assume that what teenagers have to say is meaningless. Everyone deserves to be heard, and to be treated with respect. We’ve all behaved as if we know everything at some point, but we realise just how much we don’t know when we have the opportunity to hear someone else’s perspective. Really, we’re all just making it up as we go along, and nobody knows everything.

Though on the internet, we’re prone to acting like we do.

Stop buying stuff, you crazy kid!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

You can buy the exact right combination of things – the perfect pair of jeans, a brand new phone, that very specific eyelash plumping mascara that costs $72 because it’s got that name in nice font on the side – and you will be complete. You will be sure of yourself. You will be beautiful. You will fit in.

You have been very effectively programmed. Thank you, advertising. Sometimes, you’re more effective than religion.

I don’t have these thoughts consciously anymore. I did when I was twelve, though. I genuinely believed black skinny jeans and high-tops would make me into some sort of tough, cool, emo teenager. They did not. Even once you’re aware that buying things will not change you, there’s still this sort of urge – this sense that you need to buy things – for the status! To be better-looking! To keep up with your peers! That weird pull; the feeling that you are just one purchase away from perfection. (But we all know the truth is that no matter how much clothing you have, it never seems like enough, and it can’t really instil any confidence in the cripplingly awkward.)

More is not better. There’s a certain point at which some specific thing you longed to buy stops being desirable, and it’s very shortly after you buy it. The sheen wears off. A new possession does not change you in any way, apart from making you a little bit poorer. And this specific thing is lumped in with all your other clothes in the corner of your room, or tucked away in the bathroom cupboard alongside all the other things you wanted so very badly, or shoved to the back of the closet to gather dust.

And it becomes stuff. Stuff is different to things. You don’t buy stuff. Stuff hangs around and gets in the way. It gets cobwebby, or becomes musty, or just goes out-of-date. Stuff eventually gets given away, or thrown out. Eventually it ends up on a rubbish tip somewhere. By this stage you’re focused on the next thing that will complete you, and you don’t think about that old stuff and where it ends up anymore.

I am not suggesting that you immediately cease purchasing things altogether and convert to freeganism (won’t someone think of the economy?!) but I think we can all benefit from thinking a bit more critically about what motivates our purchases. Mindlessly buying into consumer culture is probably not the greatest idea – the immediate gratification is an addictive thrill, but the joy of a new purchase is not a lasting one.

The more you get caught up in this cycle, the more your life is dedicated to the acquisition of money to spend on all of these things, and if that’s the sort of life you’d like, that’s fine! I’d much rather try to tackle these things head on – think critically about how advertising influences me, cut back on the things I buy to things I truly need – and have more freedom, and time. Be less distracted from the things that actually matter, like, for instance, other humans I like? Following my dreams? Which, you know, generally don’t involve the purchase of skinny jeans.

Whenever you want to buy something, think realistically about how much you’ll use it (maybe work out cost per wear, if you’re keen on maths), whether something else you own can serve its role, where it’ll eventually end up. Don’t default to shopping when you feel sad or bored. Remind yourself that acquiring things doesn’t change you, only you can do that – and you’re pretty alright at the moment anyway. Think about what experiences that money could pay for instead.

Challenge yourself not to buy anything new for a week. Luxuriate in your radicalness! You’re practically destablising capitalism, you crazy kid.

Originally published on Birdee Mag.

Are you too afraid to fly?

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve got this theory that everyone is at their peak when they’re a baby, brand new (I have no evidence to back this theory up. It really can’t be proved).

You’re full of magic! There is so much genius lurking in your synapses, ready to fire. You figure everything out so quickly – proprioception! Whole languages! How to manipulate your parents! You are entirely fearless during this brief, glittering period of your life, and everything is possible.

Unfortunately you have to grow up. The trouble with growing up is that you stop being this pure angelic thing entirely unto yourself, yet to be impacted by the neuroses of those around you, and start becoming a creature of our world. Our world is confusing and weird and scary at times, and you’ve got all these messages being lumped at you from all sides, and lots of these messages come from fear – the world is dangerous! Money is exceptionally difficult to acquire! Everyone is out to get you!

And then you become entirely mad just like every other living human. It’s okay; it’s a process we all go through. Unavoidable.

Curiosity and fearlessness are two highly undervalued traits that we seem to part with entirely. You arrive at your later years of high school and start being ‘realistic’ about your career prospects. You panic that your dreams are too big, downright impossible. You start having to worry about stuff… It’s awful. Fear can be a really powerful force in your life, convincing you that failure is inevitable, that you’ll disappoint your parents, that it’s not worth even having a go.

I have a photo of myself at the age of three at the beach. I’m wearing a triple j t-shirt and an exceptionally sun-smart hat – the kind with the flap at the back. I appear to be dancing. Maybe I was; I don’t remember the picture being taken. I will never be cooler than I was in that moment. I was an awesome child, which makes up for me being a decidedly mediocre adult.

Whenever I am freaking out about anything – which is more often than not – whether it’s the impossibility of a long-term writing career or a talk I have to do or how rubbish my work-in-progress novel is, I ask myself, ‘What would Young Steph do?’

Young Steph would not freak out. Young Steph would marvel at the awesomeness of Older Steph’s life. Failure would not even occur to Young Steph because Young Steph would be too busy having fun with it. Because books, and writing, and talking about books and writing? Those are the things I love (and the things Young Steph will very shortly love, when she learns to write – at age three she’s too busy being rock ‘n’ roll).

When I was fifteen and an aspiring author, I was keenly aware of the possibility of failure. I couldn’t really shut it out. But authordom was something I had been dreaming of for years, and I knew that all authors had tonnes of rejections. I figured if I started submitting to publishers then, I might be published by the time I was thirty. I could cope with that.

I didn’t get my expected result; instead I ended up with a book deal. If I’d allowed myself to be crippled by the fear of failure and rejection, nothing would’ve happened. My manuscript would’ve languished and I would’ve continued to envy ‘real’ writers and wonder ‘what if?‘.

So, when it comes to pursuing your dreams, you have options (Hint: giving up isn’t one of them! I won’t allow it!). Either get back to the core of what you want to achieve and stop thinking about the possibility of failure – instead think about how you as a kid would view your dreams: entirely possible, and pretty magic. It’s not about deluding yourself; it’s just about shifting the focus away from the negative.

Or, incorporate failure into the plan. It’s part of the journey, and the eventual successes certainly make it worthwhile. The main thing is that you don’t fear failure. The fear of it is worse than failure itself, I assure you! You will have many fabulous adventures, I can tell.

Originally published on Birdee Mag.

Everybody's Faking It

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

There are many things I like about reality. Like Icy Poles on hot days, the smell of rain on dirt, and when the public transportation system runs on time.

There are other things that I don’t like about reality, like the flu, and poverty, and paper cuts. One of the things I like least about being a real person in reality (which I’m fairly sure I am, though it is entirely possible we are all just in the Matrix right now) is that you are always stuck in your own head. Unless, that is, you are a ghost who has the ability to possess others. Unfortunately, I’m not (to the best of my knowledge), though that would be super awesome (and slightly immoral).

This is one of the reasons why I love stories – the ability to escape your own head for a little while and examine the world from someone else’s point of view. I’m fascinated by what the internal realities of other people’s lives are like, and am always trying to work them out. In this way, I think, stories teach us empathy. Writing allows us ways to explore other worlds and new experiences that we wouldn’t otherwise have. Stories make our world limitless.

But the trouble with always being in your own head is that you have no idea what’s going on in anyone else’s head. You probably guess at it all the time, but unless you’re Edward Cullen (I really hope you’re not), you’re likely just basing all of your guesses on external signs.

So it’s easy to see other people succeeding in life and assume that everything is wonderful for them; that they have boundless confidence and travel through the world with ease. And then freak out, because you find life pretty challenging, and they’re obviously totally fearless, and you’ll never be that excellent.

Of course this is all rubbish. We live in a society where everyone is faking it, all the time. Displaying vulnerability and letting people know that you struggle and maybe saying ‘hey, I could use some help’ is generally frowned upon. You’ve got to keep up appearances. And that’s unfortunate. Because everyone is struggling. Life is a tricky and confusing thing to navigate.

Just because your logical mind is aware that everyone is at least a little bit insecure and neurotic – that the way people present to the world is not necessarily representative of how they’re feeling – doesn’t really stop your irrational mind from continuing to freak out. It’s something you need to remind yourself of over and over again.

When I was younger I believed for a very long time that grown-ups were somehow inherently whole – that I would hit 18 and metamorphose into an Adult who Knew About Stuff and possess incredible self-assurance. I got a little bit older and realised that no-one is ever absolutely sure of themselves – that I’ll probably still be trying to work it all out for the rest of my life. And that’s okay, although disappointing to figure out after a childhood of believing in the infallibility of adults.

Unless you are a super Level 10 extrovert (in which case, good on you! Be nice to us introverted weirdo types), parties are probably a prime time for being neurotic, and assuming that you are the only person there feeling awkward and out of place because other people are smiling and obviously having a great time. I guarantee you that 9 out of 10 people in the room are entertaining a similar thought process.

Remind yourself that everyone’s too caught up feeling awkward to notice your perceived awkwardness. People are like icebergs, or socially awkward penguins. I don’t know; I’m bad at similes.

I’m great at projecting the appearance of having my act together when I’m freaking out, though, and I think it’s reassuring to be reminded: hey, even people who appear successful struggle. You’re not an outlier. Everybody’s faking it.

Originally published on Birdee Mag.

The Worst Generation Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Every couple of months a story runs on an evening current affairs program about how the current generation of teenagers is out of control.

They get a bit of footage of 18 year-olds stumbling about on a night out and a social commentator shakes her head and makes inane and insulting comments – like she’s never worn impractical shoes herself.

News stories about teenagers stealing and fighting and forming gangs are continually broadcast, with a special horror reserved for girls. In ads they’re given solemn voiceovers: ‘Are you really safe?’

If we’re not being demonised as randomly violent in the news – causing elderly people to side-eye us at the bus stop like we might nick off with their bag at any moment – we’re criticised for being lazy and unambitious narcissists who rely on our parents.

What’s missing from all these stories about teenagers are the voices of actual teenagers.

What’s missing is balance, reason, and logic. All people get to hear is a select few negative and sensationalised opinions. After all, stories about teenagers doing well just wouldn’t get people watching, would they?

Fear and sensationalism sells papers and drives ad clicks. All those dumb opinion pieces are written to be deliberately controversial – the writers and publishers know they’ll get a whole lot more attention if they get people riled up.

On coffee table breakfast shows they fret over how out of control the teenagers of today are, yet if they genuinely cared about teenagers there’d be a whole lot less ‘It wasn’t like this in our day!’ and a whole lot more ‘Here’s how we can actually tackle drinking culture / sexualisation of young people / mental illness.’

I believe the media engineers negative stories about teenagers to increase fear and ad revenue, which is a great disservice to both young people and older people – surely we’re bright enough not to accept at face value the line that is fed to us. Surely we’re bright enough not to believe grandiose statements about entire sections of our population. Surely adults can remember being teenagers themselves: making mistakes, and being treated as less-than, simply because of their youth.

Comparatively, Generations Y and Z have a lot more of a voice than Generation X or the Baby Boomers did, which is great, but that voice is still massively under-represented in our media.

I would love to see a bit more truth and a bit more objectivity in the media – less hyperbole, and some actual statistics every now and then. Maybe some statistics that show us how things are improving? For example, how there are now more young people achieving higher education qualifications than ever, or that this generation has lower rates of teenage pregnancy.

I want to hear more about the great things young people are doing. I know so many teenagers who are passionate about equal marriage, and equal pay, and equal rights. We’re heading towards a much more egalitarian Australia, and that’s a wonderful thing.

I like to think that in forty years I won’t be ranting about the unsavoury youths and their blasted devil music, or believing everything I see on TV (or whatever hologram or brain implant we get information through in the future).

I like to think I’ll remember that hating on teenagers is timeless (if parents in the sixties had issues with how much young people loved The Beatles, I hate to think what their opinion of today’s music might be), and that even if technology changes, the experience of being a teenager is inherently the same.

It’s confusing and tricky. You feel distinctly at-sea and do some idiotic things, but there’s no other way to work it all out. Everyone goes through it and does their best, and I think this generation is doing a much better job than the media gives them credit for.

Originally published on Birdee Mag.

The upside of video gaming

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Growing up, I obsessively played the video game The Sims.

And by ‘growing up’ I mean I played it a great deal from the age of about 8 all the way through until yesterday, when I played it for four hours before I became really, really frustrated with the lag (it’s all those damn expansion packs) and annoyed by my own lack of productivity. ‘You should be accomplishing something, Steph! You have so little time on this earth! Whatever happened to carpe diem?’ is on constant replay in my head (my internal guilt trip narrator would never use the word ‘yolo’, even ironically).

People idealise childhood as this magical time in their lives, when they didn’t have a care in the world. I think the further you move away from being a kid, the easier being a kid seems. I feel like I am still just young enough to remember things as they were. Sure, you don’t have to worry about finding a career and earning money and eating properly when you’re a kid – you’ve got your parents to look out for you. And there are lots of fun times (before you get all weird and self-conscious and emo).

But, gosh, being a kid can be downright terrifying. You’re pretty much powerless. You’re at the mercy of parents and teachers and older siblings. As you get a little older you gradually realise there’s so much terrible stuff in the world – people starving and wars going on – that you can do nothing about. It’s depressing.

Personally, I found being a kid really frustrating, largely because people treated me like a kid, and I was aware of lots of stuff I could do nothing about. Which was why I loved video games so much. I’ve never really understood action games, or those first person shooters – why on earth would I want to run over someone? Or shoot anybody? (To this day I am baffled by Grand Theft Auto.)

But the world-building ones, and the family-creating ones? I loved them. I created narratives for my characters. I lost hours and hours and hours to The Sims. It seems like a huge timewaster now, but back then, it helped me. It gave me a sense of control over a reality, even a tiny little pixel-driven one. The satisfaction of achieving something, that sense of success, was what kept me playing; it’s very hard to stop once you’re involved. There is always something else to achieve.

People claim kids being to addicted to video games is a sign of the coming apocalypse. Well, maybe they don’t use terms as dramatic as that. But still, violence has always been a problem. Apathy has always been a problem. Poor health has always been a problem – only the causes and distractions differ from decade to decade.

Video games aren’t the root of all evil, like television isn’t, like rock and roll isn’t.

I don’t think devoting years of your life to video games is a good idea, but I don’t think losing years to reading is a good idea either – I think having balance in your life and not reaching the point of addiction is important. Trying to escape into other worlds shouldn’t be what motivates you on a daily basis (perhaps that’s a bit hypocritical, as someone who, as a novelist, is pretty much a full-time escapist).

Despite all this, my video game obsession has helped me as a writer. Even though I was channelling all this imagination and creativity into a very unproductive virtual world, I was still using that imagination and creativity. I was still thinking in narratives and making up stories in my head. Eventually the limitations of video games started to frustrate me, and more of my attention was put into writing stories down. The obsession was transferred to something slightly more productive.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Mario Kart tournament play. Very important stuff.

Originally published on Birdee Mag.

I'm not impressed by remarkable youth

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

People are always so impressed when young people accomplish great things.

If you do something cool and you happen to be a kid, the attention isn’t focused on whatever cool thing you've done, but on the fact that you're a kid. You are a writer / musician /s martie at just 16!

On the surface, this isn't such a bad thing: we're recognising awesome young people. But if you think about it more deeply, there are a few problems with fetishizing young people’s achievements. By being surprised at the awesomeness of one particular young person, in a way, we’re assuming that most other young people are unimpressive. That one kid might be an exception, but young people generally? Well, they're lazy and entitled, right? I don't think this is the case.

Personally, I'm impressed by remarkable whoever. I don't think there's excellent young people and excellent old people – there are just people. So, in order to avoid further asking, here are some reasons why I'm not impressed by remarkable youth.

1. Age should not our primary defining characteristic. Human beings are incredibly complex, and we generally see ourselves that way - different to everybody else… unique. But obviously we can't see everybody like this (brain limitations, or something - that old 150 people theory), so we have to start categorising: women, teenagers, Twilight fans. We expect things of people at certain ages, as dictated by our society’s teachings, our upbringing, and what we’ve come to expect from previous generations, and of course this varies between towns, cities and countries. Trying to work out what you want to do with your life in your early twenties is a pretty standard ‘thing’ in middle class Australia, but in other places, 21 might be an age where people are already becoming parents. Although age is sometimes relevant, often it really is not.

2. Don’t always compare yourself to people who are the same age as you. Everyone has a different journey, and everyone has different expectations for their life, depending on their family, culture, attitudes and beliefs. There are so many different levels on which we mature as we age. Being inspired by other young people accomplishing the things you might dream of doing is awesome, but just because they've achieved something by a certain age doesn't mean you're a failure if you haven’t, too. A successful young person doesn't just 'make it' – there’s still plenty of stuff they're working out, just like you. There is no leveling up in real life, fortunately or unfortunately. You're on your own path, and your version of being 18, 27, or 103 is going to be different from everyone else's.

3. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you're not capable of great things. I refuse to believe that young people who do amazing things are the exception, and that the rest of us are lazy and useless. I believe media coverage is too often focused on out-of-control youth, which skews people's perceptions of what it’s like to be young. You don’t magically transform from an obnoxious little kid into a capable adult: you are yourself the whole time, and I think your capacity for excellence is proportionate to how much faith you have in yourself, and often how much faith you have in yourself is as a result of how much faith other people have had in you. Anyone who believes in you, whether they’re your parents, teachers, friends or mentors, is invaluable.

Originally published on Birdee Mag.

Guest Post: The YA Character Trope is becoming extinct

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 01 May 2017 23:00:00 +0000

I first met Tamasine Loves at a writing event I presented at in Melbourne several years back, so it's awesome to be be hosting a guest post from her today as part of the blog tour for her debut YA novel, Remhurst Manor. She's an Australian author who's now based in Northern Ireland. I hope you enjoy her post about the extinction of YA character tropes!

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As infuriating as they are, if a character in a YA novel is a trope, a storytelling shorthand for a concept that the reader will recognise and understand instantly, their inclusion in a narrative serves a function. This is because stereotypes and tropes are narrative devices. They’re there because they have a job to do, and most of the time, across all media forms, for better or worse, tropes get the job done.

YA character tropes have been around as long as YA, lending themselves particularly well to a genre where word count is everything – young adult novels are shorter than their ‘adult’ genre fiction counterparts. Plots have to move faster and have fewer words with which to build a character. Now, it’s not impossible to effectively make a wonderful, rounded character, and develop them, in a plot with 60,000 words or less. It’s been done loads of times. It’s an impressive thing to be able to do. Not all writers can or want to do it, though, and so phone-in-a-trope means a half-built character from the get-go. The inclusion of a trope means reliance on a reader's prior knowledge of that trope and the connotations that go along with it.

Their use has widely gone uncontested, seeming like a lot of YA fiction readers sort of resign to their inclusion in the books because after all, when you love something, you are more likely to overlook flaws that would otherwise be obvious. But lately, the number of YA character tropes being cast in new releases in young adult fiction have noticeably been on the decline. Sure, there’s still Chosen One’s a-plenty, and heroine’s left, right, and centre are still ‘letting out breaths they didn’t know they’d been holding’. But the numbers are dwindling.

It seems as though authors aren’t using character tropes as often because the surety of their effectiveness as a narrative device is becoming more and more shaky.

What has changed is that now we’ve got things like Goodreads and Tumblr. With the advent of platforms like these, book readers have become more vocal and have proven that you can be part of a fandom but also think critically about themes within novels that don’t sit quite right with your own views and values.

Readers of YA can be excited about the absence of character tropes in their fiction because of what that means: space. That space is a promise and opportunity for more diverse content in YA fiction, richer casts of characters that are more representative of books’ target audiences and their concerns.

The extinction of YA character tropes may be slow, but it is also inevitable: because they were not made to survive in the world of YA. The very nature of Young Adult Fiction and the trait that sets it apart from genres of fiction (other than intended age range) is the freedom to challenge current societal norms.

Yes, it’s true that tropes and stereotypes have their place as a storytelling device. Using them doesn’t immediately equate to offensive sterotyping, and there are instances where they’re used masterfully. But, it is becoming increasingly evident that the place for tropes and stereotypes is not in modern young adult novels.

YA books are transformative in every sense of the word, and the genre moves fast, with roughly 10,000 books being published every year. It’s incredibly influential, and its ideas are increasingly becoming more representative of its readership. YA readers want their fiction to reflect their state of affairs; a global community. This globalisation of young peoples’ peer groups via online forums like Tumblr (specific to YA fiction is Bookblr) instils hope.

This community of young people, who are already thinking critically and holding socially-aware understandings of their world, are focused on the traditional YA-novel theme of ‘understanding your place in society as a whole’, but are focused on making the society they’re trying to understand a global one. Their interests are reflective of their want to make the world in their immediate surroundings, and the young adult novels immediately available to them, reflect the way they see the online young adult community – a global, reciprocal, critical, varied and ever-progressing and expanding, organism. That, I think it is safe to say, is pretty hopeful for the future of the world at large.

About Remhurst Manor:
There is a mystery that lies in the grounds of Remhurst Manor; a mystery concerning the unsolved 19th century murders of four teenagers.

Laine Brimble is slipping between two lives. Her life at home in present-day Australia, and the life of a nobleman’s daughter living in 19th century England’s Remhurst Manor.

Until now, Laine was able to keep her two lives separate and secret. But, Laine is about to find out that though centuries past and oceans over, Remhurst’s mysterious history is about to get a lot closer to her than she expected; a dark presence has arrived in her hometown, seeking to settle a centuries-old vendetta.

Between home and school and the 19th-century, not to mention a blossoming relationship with new-boy-in-town, Laine struggles to keep past and present on parallel paths … but it seems as if they are on a collision course where the inevitable outcome is death.

Will Laine unearth the mysteries lying in the grounds of Remhurst Manor? Can she be the one to finally put Remhurst’s past behind it? Will she do it before a deadly history repeats itself?

You can find Remhurst Manor on Amazon, or find out more at the book's site. You can also find Tamasine on Twitter.

NIGHT SWIMMING publication day!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 23:00:00 +0000

I'm incredibly thrilled that my third YA novel, NIGHT SWIMMING, is published in Australia and New Zealand today! It's a novel I'm really proud of, and that I really enjoyed writing - and I hope you enjoy it, too.

If you're in Brisbane on April 4 (tomorrow!) or in Melbourne on April 20, I'd love to see you at one of my launches! Details at the links.

Want to read it?
You can find it at Readings, Dymocks, Angus & Robertson, QBD, Booktopia, and wherever else books are sold! (You can also order it through my publisher, Text Publishing, who offer free shipping in Australia.)

The ebook is available on Amazon, iTunes, Booktopia, eBooks.com, GooglePlay, and Kobo.

And if you post photos of NIGHT SWIMMING, I would love to see and share them! Feel free to tag me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. (I'm also on Tumblr. And Snapchat, as stephmbowe. But I'm sort of confused by Snapchat. If you want to explain to me how to Snapchat, that would be helpful.)

You can add NIGHT SWIMMING to your shelves on Goodreads, too.

Here's the blurb:
Steph Bowe is back. Night Swimming is a love story with a twist, and a whole lot of heart.

Imagine being the only two seventeen-year-olds in a small town. That’s life for Kirby Arrow—named after the most dissenting judge in Australia’s history—and her best friend Clancy Lee, would-be musical star.

Clancy wants nothing more than to leave town and head for the big smoke, but Kirby is worried: her family has a history of leaving. She hasn’t heard from her father since he left when she was a baby. Shouldn’t she stay to help her mother with the goat’s-milk soap-making business, look after her grandfather who suffers from dementia, be an apprentice carpenter to old Mr Pool? And how could she leave her pet goat, Stanley, her dog Maude, and her cat Marianne?

But two things happen that change everything for Kirby. She finds an article in the newspaper about her father, and Iris arrives in town. Iris is beautiful, wears crazy clothes, plays the mandolin, and seems perfect, really, thinks Kirby. Clancy has his heart set on winning over Iris. Trouble is Kirby is also falling in love with Iris…

And here are some of the nice things people have said about it so far:
‘A funny, diverse, authentic story of family, love, musicals, crop-circles and goats.’ - Lili Wilkinson

‘Night Swimming is at once sweet and serious; a love-letter to outsiders, the kooky and complex—it’s an ode to first times and best friends…but above all else, it’s a reminder of how lucky we are to have a writer like Steph Bowe in our midst.’ - Danielle Binks, Alpha Reader

‘Steph Bowe’s latest novel is the utterly charming story of two best friends, the small town they live in and the girl they both fall for. It is a tender and humorous tale of family ties, friendship and first love.’ - Erin Gough

‘This bittersweet comedy of romantic misunderstanding, life management and family relations is poised at the emotional intersection between forgiveness and self-acceptance. Despite its whimsical tone, Night Swimming tackles serious themes of mental health, family upheaval and sexual coming-out with commendable delicacy and humanity.’ - Readings

‘Night Swimming is a sweet story of coming of age, family and first requited love. There is a genuine-feeling desire in the story to see the good intentions in lightly sketched but complex characters, which gives the book a lot of heart. It will appeal to fans of realistic Australian YA and to readers searching for sweet and hopeful queer love stories.’ - Books + Publishing

Melbourne Book Launch for NIGHT SWIMMING!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 03:04:00 +0000

Hey, Melbournites!

I'll be having a Melbourne launch for my new novel, NIGHT SWIMMING, on Thursday April 20 at 6.30pm!

It's on at Readings Kids (315 Lygon St, Carlton) and I'll be in conversation with the amazingly talented Lili Wilkinson!

It's free, and there's no need to book - everyone is welcome and it would be wonderful to see you there!

Details are on the Readings website.

Brisbane Book Launch for NIGHT SWIMMING!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:11:00 +0000

Brisbane and Gold Coast friends!

I am having a book launch for NIGHT SWIMMING (my first ever book launch!) in Brisbane on Tuesday April 4.

It's at Where The Wild Things Are (191 Boundary St, West End - the kids' bookshop next door to Avid Reader) and it's on from 6pm to 8pm.

I'm thrilled to have the amazing Paula Weston, author of the Rephaim series, helping launch it - there will be a Q&A! There will be wine! There will be speeches!

It would mean the world to me if you came along. Just register with the bookshop at the link below! I hope to see you there!

Register at the Where the Wild Things Are website. Everyone is welcome! Please come along!

The cover of NIGHT SWIMMING!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 01:43:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am super excited (and nervous!) that NIGHT SWIMMING is only six weeks away from being published! Here is the immensely gorgeous cover. I can't wait to see it in the real world!

Here are some of the really lovely things some writers I admire have said about it:

‘A funny, diverse, authentic story of family, love, musicals, crop-circles and goats.’ - Lili Wilkinson

‘Night Swimming is at once sweet and serious; a love-letter to outsiders, the kooky and complex—it’s an ode to first times and best friends…but above all else, it’s a reminder of how lucky we are to have a writer like Steph Bowe in our midst.’ - Danielle Binks, Alpha Reader

‘Steph Bowe’s latest novel is the utterly charming story of two best friends, the small town they live in and the girl they both fall for. It is a tender and humorous tale of family ties, friendship and first love.’ - Erin Gough

All the info about NIGHT SWIMMING can be found on my publisher's website, where you can also preorder!

Hexenhaus by Nikki McWatters

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 01:00:00 +0000

A powerful novel about three young women caught in the hysteria of their own times.

In 1628, Veronica and her brother flee for their lives into the German woods after their father is burned at the stake.

At the dawn of the eighteenth century, Scottish maid Katherine is lured into political dissent after her parents are butchered for their beliefs.

In present-day Australia, Paisley navigates her way through the burning torches of small-town gossip after her mother’s new-age shop comes under scrutiny.

While I'm not a big reader of historical fiction, Hexenhaus intrigued me. Hysteria! Witchcraft! Three interconnected stories! It's dark and compelling, and once I started reading, I had trouble putting it down. Knowing its basis in real events made this novel especially disturbing - Veronica, Katherine and some of their family members and other characters are based on real historical figures, and the horrifying 'hexenhaus' (a witch prison, where Veronica's parents are killed in the novel) is based on a place in Bamberg where witch trials were conducted and about a thousand people died. It's awful.

The strongest parts of Hexenhaus are Veronica's and Katherine's stories; the historical fiction seems well-researched, reads easily, and has a strong sense of time and place. While Paisley was a likeable protagonist and her town felt well-drawn, I never quite bought her story; the townspeople's horror about witchcraft isn't something I could imagine in present-day Australia. If their loathing of Paisley's mother was instead motivated by some other social difference (cultural or socioeconomic, perhaps) or financial goal (like some other businessperson wanting the prime real estate of the new-age shop), then it would have been easier to understand. I still enjoyed Paisley's story, but it didn't gel quite as well as the other two. Veronica was my favourite character, and I found her story the most compelling, though Katherine's voice was engaging.

I love the narrative through-line that connects Veronica's, Katherine's and Paisley's stories, and felt that the three worked well together. I think this novel will appeal most to readers of historical fiction. And it is straight-up historical fiction - those put to trial as witches are mostly politically inconvenient, or killed for the economic gain of the witch finder, as it was in reality. No witchcraft here. It merges the historical well with the contemporary, though I would've been more intrigued to read Paisley's story had it been set at a different point in Australian history - perhaps during the early 20th century, when a fear of witches in a rural town might be more realistic. Paisley's story adds a certain lightness - while Veronica's and Katherine's stories are full of death and suffering and tragedy and injustice, ultimately there is hope, through Paisley (it'll make sense when you read the novel). This is a bit of a spoiler alert, but if you're worried Hexenhaus ends too tragically for you to want to read it, rest assured the ending is uplifting. For at least one character.

Hexenhaus is a dark but enjoyable novel which really shines in the historical sections. Well worth a read if you're particularly interested in witch trials, and a nuanced exploration of mass hysteria.

Hexenhaus on the publisher's website.

My new YA novel: NIGHT SWIMMING!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph Bowe) — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 09:41:00 +0000

I am so excited to tell you that my new YA novel, NIGHT SWIMMING, is being published by Text Publishing on April 3 2017!

I loved writing this novel, and I love so many of the characters in this novel - the awkward and adorable Kirby, and her hilarious best friend, Clancy, and their glamorous love interest, Iris - and I am so excited for other people to read it and I hope they love them as much as I do. It's weird and it's funny and it's silly but hopefully it's also got a lot of heart.

Here's what it's about!

Steph Bowe is back. Night Swimming is a love story with a twist, and a whole lot of heart.

Imagine being the only two seventeen-year-olds in a small town. That’s life for Kirby Arrow—named after the most dissenting judge in Australia’s history—and her best friend Clancy Lee, would-be musical star.

Clancy wants nothing more than to leave town and head for the big smoke, but Kirby is worried: her family has a history of leaving. She hasn’t heard from her father since he left when she was a baby. Shouldn’t she stay to help her mother with the goat’s-milk soap-making business, look after her grandfather who suffers from dementia, be an apprentice carpenter to old Mr Pool? And how could she leave her pet goat, Stanley, her dog Maude, and her cat Marianne?

But two things happen that change everything for Kirby. She finds an article in the newspaper about her father, and Iris arrives in town. Iris is beautiful, wears crazy clothes, plays the mandolin, and seems perfect, really, thinks Kirby. Clancy has his heart set on winning over Iris. Trouble is Kirby is also falling in love with Iris…

You can find out more about it on my publisher's website. You'll be hearing a whole lot more about it over the next few months in the lead up to publication!