Writing – Michelle Scott Tucker

Emerging Writers Festival

Writers! The Emerging Writers' Festival is always terrific (whether you’re an emerging writer or not). Most writers' festivals are actually readers' festivals - they focus on the content of the books under discussion. But the Emerging Writers' Festival focuses in the loveliest way on the act of writing, and on being a writer. And yes, all writers' festivals struggle with where to put the apostrophe! From Wednesday 14 - Saturday 24 June, EWF invites you to discover new stories, new voices, and new worlds. Over eleven days, dive into performances, [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2023-05-25T20:20:39+10:00May 25th, 2023|Aaron Fa'Aoso, Author Talk, Writing|3 Comments

Unusual publication deal includes $20,000 in donations

Our publishing deal for So Far, So Good was a bit unusual - it included substantial donations to Indigenous-led charities. Pantera Press have issued a media release about it, which I've included in full below. Do you have thoughts? I'd love to hear them. Leave a comment, below, and let me know. Pantera Foundation donates $10,000 each to Seed Mob and the Indigenous Literacy Foundation on release of So Far, So Good by Aaron Fa’Aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker In February 2021 Pantera Press acquired world rights for So Far, So [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2022-09-08T18:30:41+10:00September 8th, 2022|Aaron Fa'Aoso, Writing|4 Comments

So Far, So Good – Publication Day!

Today our book is officially out in the world. Three years ago today (yes, exactly today - I checked!) Aaron and I started talking about working together on this project. I can’t tell you if this book is any good – that’s for others to say – but I can tell you that I gave it everything I had. We were introduced by the literary agents who represent us both – Jacinta Di Mase and Danielle Binks, from JDM Management. Aaron had some really powerful things he wanted to say; [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2022-08-30T14:46:33+10:00August 30th, 2022|Aaron Fa'Aoso, Writing|10 Comments

Patricia Wrightson – all about erasure

As a young reader, Patricia Wrightson was one of my favourite authors. But in this short piece I wrote for the Australian Women Writers Challenge, I reevaluate Wrightson's use of Indigenous culture. Drawing on Aboriginal stories and culture, Wrightson’s fictional spirit characters held all the power and mystery of 60,000 years of Dreaming – power distinctly lacking in invented colonial fantasies like May Gibb’s saccharine Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. A gifted and evocative writer, Wrightson opened my eyes (and my mind) to the possibility of magic and mystery that belonged to this place, this continent. [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2022-08-10T16:38:28+10:00August 10th, 2022|Interesting Articles, Writing|2 Comments

And what does an editor do, exactly?

This isn't, of course, a question I can answer. I'm not an editor. But I can tell you something about what it is like to be edited. And the short answer is: it's wonderful. For my next book, So Far So Good, I've been working closely with Pantera Publishing's Senior Editor Anne Reilly and she has been an absolute delight. Her editorial (and, later, her author emotional support) comments were invariably insightful, always practical and often hilarious. The draft manuscript was submitted just before Christmas. At about 80,000 words it [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2022-06-10T16:43:14+10:00June 10th, 2022|Aaron Fa'Aoso, Work in Progress, Writing|4 Comments

Lunch on the mountain with writers

At long last! The very first, much-anticipated Mountain Writers Festival event is out in the world. I'm on the organising committee and it's been quite the wild Covid-cancellation ride - so we're all very excited. Sophie Cunningham It’s a lunch on Saturday 26 March at The Wine Collective in Macedon with 4 amazing writers speaking – see below. Tickets on sale now at mountainwritersfestival.com.au If you happen to be free and able to come along, I’d love to see you there BUT – absolutely no pressure! Totally understand that you might [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2022-03-06T11:29:54+11:00March 4th, 2022|Author Talk, Writing|0 Comments

Mountain Writers Festival

So. I'm on a committee. And we're trying to run some interesting bookish events, in a beautiful place. If that's your bag too, consider following Mountain Writers Festival, which will be held in Macedon, Victoria - in the beautiful Macedon Ranges. The Mountain Writers Festival will run on 5-6 November 2022. Friends of the festival just call it Mountain - you can too. The festival’s focus on place, story and nature not just as a theme, but as the festival’s entire purpose now and into the future, is unique in Australia. [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2021-12-21T12:00:39+11:00December 21st, 2021|Author Interviews, Author Talk, Writing|3 Comments

Online Writing Workshop

Still a couple of places left in this one-day workshop (Sat 9 Oct, 2021). I'd be super grateful if you could spread the word! Book here. Last time I ran it we had a terrific time - great discussions, and lots of laughter. Interstate peeps and non-members of Writers Vic are very welcome too. Suits writers at all levels. Sometimes the most compelling stories are about other people. Whether you’re writing biography, interested in ghost writing, drawing together your family or local history, or even thinking about feature interviews–if you [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2021-09-28T11:36:28+10:00September 17th, 2021|Writing|0 Comments

Literary Grants: how to win them

You’ve volunteered to be a member of a grant assessment panel. The submissions have all been sent through, and you’re looking at the vast pile of proposals in horror. There are so many, and the pot of money you can distribute is so small. So you pour yourself a cuppa, and settle in to read and take notes. And all the while, as you look through each proposal, you’re sorting them out in your mind (or, better, on a spreadsheet). In this first read-through, though, you’re probably just skim-reading, and [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2021-07-02T19:29:58+10:00June 15th, 2021|Writing|8 Comments

Podcasts: my bookish faves

Full confession: I've fallen in love with podcasts. And I think it's going to be a lasting relationship. For the uninitiated, a podcast is like your favourite radio program, only there are usually multiple episodes and you can play it whenever you like. In fact most popular radio programs also are available in podcast form. Like Netflix, except for your ears. I use an app on my phone, called Pocketcasts, to listen. At first I listened only in the car, usually on the long commute to and from work. Then [...]

Michelle Scott Tucker2021-05-14T22:35:52+10:00May 14th, 2021|Writing|3 Comments