2012 Davitt Awards: How well do you know your crime?

The 2012 Davitt Awards will be announced tonight at a dinner in Melbourne. The Davitts are a national crime writing award sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia. They are awarded each year for the best crime books by Australian women. The categories are best Adult Fiction, Children's/YA, True Crime, Debut and Reader's Choice.

"Sisters in Crime Australia named the award The Davitt in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud  in 1865. Her achievement is extraordinary when it is considered that Wilke’s Collins’ The Woman in White, generally regarded as the first full-length mystery novel, was published only in 1860. Force and Fraud was serialised in the Australian Journal, starting with its very first issue. It begins with a murder and ends with its solution, with red herrings, blackmail, and a dramatic court scene in between." (From the Sisters in Crime website.)

The short- and long-listed books are given below, along with links to AWW reviews. What is noticeable is how few of the long-listed books have been reviewed for the challenge. Notable exceptions are when the book is cross-genre, especially with Speculative Fiction. One reason for this may be that these are 2011 titles, rather than new releases. Current AWW crime reviews may be of books that qualify for next year's awards. However this could also indicate that Australian women's crime writing is not as well known in Australia as, for example, romance, or at least not among challenge participants.

How many of the following books have you read?

(If your AWW review of one of the following has been overlooked, or if you reviewed one or more of these books in previous years, please mention your review in the comments below.)

Adult Crime Fiction
Shortlist

• Jaye Ford, Beyond Fear (Bantam/Random) Kevin Rennie,
• Sulari Gentill, Decline in Prophets (Pantera Press) Caroline Sully
• Carolyn Morwood, Death and the Spanish Lady (Pulp Fiction) Crime Pieces, Naturally Dotty#
• Jennifer Rowe, Love Honour & O'Brien (Allen & Unwin)
• Kim Westwood, The Courier’s New Bicycle (Harper Voyager), Mark Webb, David Golding, Annabel Smith, Jason Nahrung, Bookonaut
• Helene Young, Shattered Sky (Hachette Australia), Bookdout, 1girl2manybooks,  

Longlist

• Sydney Bauer, The 3rd Victim (PanMacmillan)
• A.A. Bell, Hindsight  (HarperCollins)
• Claire Corbett, When We Have Wings (Allen & Unwin) Tsana, CAR Torres V, Annabel Smith, Angela @ Literary Minded, Mark Webb, Ann-Marie Sjoberg, Bookonaut
• Sandy Curtis, Fatal Flaw (Clan Destine Press)
• Miranda Darling, The Siren’s Sting (Allen & Unwin)
• Virginia Duigan, The Precipice (Random House), Librarians Adrift, Bernadette,
• Y A Erskine, The Brotherhood (Bantam/Random House): 1girl2manybooks, Brenda, Crime Pieces, Bookdout, Oanh,
• Helen Fitzgerald, The Donor (Allen & Unwin)
• Carol Gibson, Click Click, You’re Dead (Zeus Publications)
• H.M. Goltz, Death by Sugar (Atlas Productions Publishing Company)
• Kerry Greenwood (interviewed by Tara Moss), Cooking the Books (Allen & Unwin) Tenna Miller,
• Judy Johnson, The Secret Fate of Mary Watson (HarperCollins)
• Sylvia Johnson, Watch Out for Me (Allen & Unwin), Helen McKenna, Bernadette,
• Adriana Koulias, The Sixth Key (Random House)
• Phyllis King, ed., Scarlet Stiletto: The Second Cut (Clan Destine Press) [Readers Choice vote by SinC members only] Narelle Harris
• Nicole Watson, The Boundary (University of Queensland Press) Bookdout,
• Tracey O’Hara, Death’s Sweet Embrace (Harper Voyager)

Young Adult/Children’s
Shortlist

• Ursula Dubosarsky, The Golden Day (Allen & Unwin) Suburban Sonnet,
• Nansi Kunze, Dangerously Placed (Random House)
• Meg McKinlay, Surface Tension (Walker Books) Michelle

Longlist

• J.C Burke, Pig Boy (Random House)
• Susan Green, The Truth about Verity Sparks (Walker Books)
• Jacqueline Harvey, Alice-Miranda at Sea (Random House)
• H J Harper, Star League series Book 1: Lights, Camera, Action Hero!; Book 2: Curse of the Werewolf; Book 3: Raising the Dead; Book 4: The Ninja Code (Random House)
• Karen Healey, The Shattering (Allen & Unwin)
• Gabrielle Lord, Conspiracy 365 (Scholastic Australia)
• Sophie Masson, The Understudy’s Revenge (Scholastic Australia)
• Tara Moss, The Spider Goddess (PanMacmillan Australia), Phillip A Ellis, Duke,
• Belinda Murrell, The Ivory Rose (Random House)
• Joanne Van Os, The Secret of the Lonely Isles (Random House)
• Lili Wilkinson, A Pocketful of Eyes (Allen & Unwin)

True Crime  
Shortlist

• Wendy Lewis, The Australian Book of Family Murders (Pier 9/Murdoch Books)
• Liz Porter, Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science (PanMacmillan)

Longlist

• Carol Baxter, Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady: The true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg (Allen & Unwin)
• Jo Chandler and Christine Nixon, Fair Cop: Christine Nixon (Melbourne University Press)
• Rachael Jane Chin, Nice Girl: Whatever Happened To Baby Tegan Lane? (Simon & Schuster)
• Helen Cummings, Blood Vows: a haunting memoir of marriage and murder (The Five Mile Press)
• Nichola Garvey, Beating the Odds (Harper Collins)
• Fiona Harari, A Tragedy in Two Acts: Marcus Einfeld and Teresa Brennan (Victory Books)
• Vikki Petraitis, The Frankston Serial Killer (Clan Destine Press)

 NB: This post will be cross-posted with the new, AWW test site on WordPress.
# Inadvertently left off original post (thanks Alex Adsett for noticing)

2012 Queensland Literary Award Shortlist

The shortlists for the crowd-funded 2012 Queensland Literary Award were announced recently. Congratulations to all the writers who made the lists, including the following. A number of the books have been reviewed by AWW challenge participants (links to their reviews appear with their names below). 

For a full list of shortlisted books, including children's books, see here.

Fiction

• Anna Funder, All That I Am: 1girl2manybooks, Jon Page, Janine Rizzetti, Kevin Rennie, Marg Bates, Chris Wolak
• Kate Grenville, Sarah Thornhill: MD Brady
  

Young Adult Book Award

• Kirsty Eagar, Night Beach: Speculatef, Bookdout, VeganYANerds, 1girl2manybooks, Australian Bookshelf
• Judith Clarke, Three Summers:* 
• Margo Lanagan, Sea Hearts (also published as The Brides of Rollrock Island): Lizabelle, Literary Minded, Krissing Kneen, Astrid, Sue Luus, Dark Matter Fanzine, Coleen Kwan, Mark Webb, Jason Nahrung, 
• Vikki Wakefield, All I Ever Wanted: Lia Weston

Australian Short Story collection - Steele Rudd Award

• Marion Halligan, Shooting the Fox*
• Janette Turner Hospital, Forecast: Turbulence: Rebecca Howden, Janine Rizzetti

Non-fiction

• Robin de Crespigny, The People Smuggler:* 
• Jane Gleeson-White, Double Entry: Yvone Perkins
• Alice Pung, Her Father’s Daughter: James Tierney

Science Book Award

• Robyn Arianrhod, Seduced by Logic*

History Book Award

• Robyn Arianrhod, Seduced by Logic*
• Nicole Moore, The Censor’s Library*

Judith Wright Calanthe Poetry Award

• Rhyll McMaster, Late Night Shopping*

(* denotes books yet to be reviewed)


Are you planning to review any of the above books that haven't yet been reviewed? 

NB: This post will be cross-posted to the new, draft AWW site on WordPress.

Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography by Jill Roe - guest reviewer Yvonne Perkins

Today's guest post is by historian Yvonne Perkins. Yvonne is a dedicated reviewer for the AWW challenge, mainly in the areas of history, memoir and biography.  She has just published a review of Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography by Jill Roe. Here she introduces the work to AWW readers, lists reviews of Franklin's work that have been written for the challenge so far, and suggests other titles which could be reviewed. Yvonne's own review can be found on her website, Stumbling Through the Past.

Yvonne Perkins writes:
Jill Roe's biography of Miles Franklin is an important book for Australian Women Writers Challenge. Miles Franklin is one of the most influential Australian female writers in our history, both through her own writing and her encouragement of Australian writers. Who was this person who is such an important part of our literary heritage? Roe's life of Miles Franklin is an entree into the world of Australian literature of the first half of the twentieth century. My reading notes are dotted with "I must read xxx".

Jill Roe has produced an excellent biography. She has skilfully managed the large volume of sources available to her and written a book which is enjoyable to read. Few would dare to undertake such a comprehensive biography; others would be swamped by the sources. Roe recognised that Miles Franklin was the kind of person who could sustain a lengthy biography. She was a complex person who sought out what life could offer.

I hope that my review of Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography will prompt others to read and review this book. In a little under 1500 words there was so much that my review didn't address. Perhaps other reviewers could discuss Jill Roe's treatment of Miles Franklin's literary legacy or how gender issues affected Miles Franklin's life. Diversity of opinion is an important part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge. I thought that this biography was well constructed - did you?

Some reviewers for the Challenge this year have already reviewed Miles Franklin's novels (see below). I have mentioned some of her more well known published work in my review and there are others that may interest you.

The anniversary of the birth of Miles Franklin is on 14th October. Perhaps reviewers could mark this date by publishing a review of her biography or her published work? Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography was published in 2008, so some of the Australian Women Writers Challenge reviewers may have already reviewed this book prior to 2012. If so, could you please add a link to your review in the comments below.

AWW2012 Reviews of Miles Franklin's Writing

• My Brilliant Career: Reviewed by Jessie, Lucy Graham.  
• My Career Goes Bung: Reviewed by David Goldman. 

Some Other Miles Franklin Books
In addition to the books above you may wish to review:

• Franklin's books published under the pseudonym Brent of Bin Bin - Up the Country: A Tale of the Early Australian Squattocracy; Ten Creeks Run: A Tale of the Horse and Cattle Stations of the Upper Murrumbidgee; Back to Bool Bool: A Ramiparous Novel with Several Prominent Characters and a Hantle of Others Disposed as the Atolls of Oceania's Archipelagoes; Prelude to Waking: A Novel in the First Person and Parentheses; Cockatoos: A Story of Youth and Exodists; Gentlemen at Gyang Gyang: A Tale of the Jumbuck Pads on the Summer Runs 
• All that Swagger. 
• Written with Kate Baker - Joseph Furphy: The Legend of a Man and his Book. 
• Laughter, Not for a Cage: Notes on Australian Writing, with Biographical Emphasis on the Struggles, Function, and Achievements of the Novel in Three Half-centuries. 
• Childhood at Brindabella: My First Ten Years 
• On Dearborn Street 

[End post]

Read Yvonne's review of Jill Roe's biography of Stella Miles Franklin here.


About: Since completing her degree in history at the University of Sydney Yvonne Perkins has worked on a number of historical research projects, most recently an investigation of the history of teaching reading in Australia. Currently she is researching the beliefs, religious or otherwise, of soldiers who served in World War I.

In her spare time Yvonne explores issues in history on her blog, Stumbling Through the Past.  She is passionate about promoting the excellent work produced by Australian historians which is influencing people around the world.

WTF is ‘women’s fiction’?!

Today's guest author contributor is Paddy O'Reilly. Paddy’s debut novel, The Factory, was listed among the best books of the year in 2007 in the Australian Book Review and the Sydney Morning Herald, and performed as the Radio National Book Reading in 2009. Her latest novel, The Fine Colour of Rust , was released earlier this year in Australia and the UK, and comes out in the USA on September 4. She'll be talking about various kinds of fiction at the Melbourne Writers Festival from August 25.

Paddy writes:

When Elizabeth Lhuede asked me to write about why I wouldn’t want my book classified as ‘women’s fiction,’ my first thought was that I don’t actually know what the classification ‘women’s fiction’ means. I know the publishing and bookselling industries use it for marketing. And yet having my work categorised that way would make me very uncomfortable indeed. It feels dismissive. It feels like being shunted off into the section of the bookshop set aside for trivialities. It feels, in fact, like a throwback term, something that would have been used in the time when a woman’s place was supposed to be in the kitchen, reading her lovely unthreatening ‘women’s fiction’ once the house had been made all spick and span and the scones were rising in the oven.

What is ‘women’s fiction’ anyway? Unlike crime or romance or SF, it isn’t a genre with identifiable characteristics and conventions.

           Is it writing for women?

           Is it writing about women?

           Is it writing by women?

I asked a few fellow writers for their thoughts about the term ‘women’s fiction’. Here’s what they said.

• My understanding is that men don’t read fiction much these days, but women still do. (Is that right?) In which case nearly all fiction is women’s fiction.
• If there’s any such thing, it’s fiction about a female protagonist, written by a woman, that women want to read (and possibly men, too). Apart from that, it could be any genre, any style and about anything at all. 
• ‘Writing by women’ is nice, ‘women’s fiction’ not - it has an unhelpful air of relegation in terms of readers or subject matter or level. 
• On reflection I think women’s fiction is an irritating term. We have fiction about women. We have fiction by women. These are just statements of fact (and fiction about women is not necessarily by women, and vice versa.) But women’s fiction... that’s not fact, that’s someone’s judgement call. (It will suit women, it’s about women’s issues - relationships, parenting, etc, as if men don’t take part in those parts of life.) And it’s way too broad. I hate books about shopping and dating. I love books that examine relationships and family. And both those types of books are called women’s fiction. More ghettoising. 
• Women readers do seek out ‘women’s fiction’, whatever that means to them. It doesn’t mean it has to be confined to any particular type of writing, though. (And women also seek out other things to read.) But others (critics, prize judges, lit editors, possibly even booksellers) think it means commercial fiction about domestic life or about relationships with men and family members – like that’s a bad thing. So it’s really not a very helpful term in any way. 
• If I think of women’s fiction at all it would be as an offshoot of popular fiction and would include Mills and Boon, superficial romances and novels involving much shopping for products with trendy names. I recall a genre called ‘sex and shopping’, definitely women only stuff. I imagine it’s a useful category for marketing and shelving books. Readers of literary fiction might use the term derisively to show how intelligent they are. 
• There is no such category as ‘Men’s Fiction’ that I know of in the mainstream, so that would indicate that ‘Women’s Fiction’ is used to corral, marginalise and fence off the work by women from the mainstream. Do women writers themselves refer to their colleagues’ work as ‘Women’s Fiction’ – I seriously doubt it – so the question remains who uses this term and for what purpose? In the same way good writing has no gender, it is just good writing, only the author has a gender, which should not reflect on the quality of the work. 
• I’d be asking someone who uses it what she means by ‘women’s fiction’ – it’s usually only used in a demeaning way in my opinion

Meg Wolitzer, an American writer, also has a few thoughts on the topic.

‘...any lumping together of disparate writers by gender or perceived female subject matter separates the women from the men. And it subtly keeps female writers from finding a coed audience, not to mention from entering the larger, more influential playing field. It’s done all the time, and not just by strangers at parties or by various booksellers that have no trouble calling interesting, complex novels by women “Women’s Fiction,” as if men should have nothing to do with them. A writer’s own publisher can be part of a process of effective segregation and vague if unintentional put-down. Look at some of the jackets of novels by women. Laundry hanging on a line. A little girl in a field of wildflowers. A pair of shoes on a beach. An empty swing on the porch of an old yellow house.

'Compare these with the typeface-only jacket of Chad Harbach’s novel, “The Art of Fielding,” or the jumbo lettering on “The Corrections.” Such covers, according to a book publicist I spoke to, tell the readers, “This book is an event.”’ (You can read Wolitzer’s entire article here)

How tempting it is to write a book and give it the title ‘Women’s Fiction’. Then, to introduce a little cognitive dissonance, the cover must have large imposing lettering, and no pictures.

Why does it seem like that book would be ironic?

'Stella!!' - AWW tops 1000 reviews

This week the Australian Women Writers Challenge reached a milestone: over 1000 reviews have been linked to the site.

We should be celebrating, right?

Or should we?

Over at Meanjin last week, while discussing the progress of funding for The Stella Prize, Chris Flynn wrote: "Is it too late to predict contenders for the inaugural Stella Prize? Too late, I'm doing it."

Flynn proceeded to list 10 books of fiction released in 2012.

So far, six of these have been reviewed for AWW :

• Carrie Tiffany Mateship with Birds, reviewed by  Angela Meyer, Tony’s Reading List, Janine Rizzetti
• Deborah Robertson Sweet Old World, reviewed by  Lisa Walker, Angela Meyer, Whispering Gums
• Paddy O’Reilly The Fine Colour of Rust, reviewed by Kate Rizetti, Shelleyrae, Maree K, Helene Young, Jenny Schwarz, Lisa Walker, Angela Meyer
• Susan Johnson My Hundred Lovers, reviewed by  Jessica White, Marg
• Drusilla Modjeska The Mountain, reviewed by  Stephanie RIASS
• Romy Ash Floundering, reviewed by  Shambolic Living, Jon Page, Su Luus, Sian Campbell, Jessica White

Four of the ten have not.

It made me wonder to what extent the challenge has achieved what it set out to achieve: to help redress the gender imbalance of reviews in literary pages. Would these participants have read and reviewed the above books anyway?

What about the other books on Flynn's list? Any plans to read and review?

• Josephine Rowe Tarcutta Wake
• Toni Jordan Nine Days (forthcoming in September) 
• Chloe Hooper The Engagement 
• Michele De Kretser Questions of Travel 
  

2012 releases reviewed for AWW: What's in a genre?

In the past week, this blog has posted several lists of reviews written by participants in the Australian Women Writers challenge of books released this year (2012). These lists have been organised as follows:

• Literary works (including some nonfiction)
• Crime
• Speculative Fiction/Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal/Sci-Fi
• Historical Fiction
• Memoir/Biography/History
• Romance/novels with "romantic elements"
• Contemporary/Popular/Mainstream/Women's Fiction

The intention wasn't to exclude books from the "literary" category. Rather it was to organise titles so readers could find reviews of books that were likely to interest them, and to invite challenge participants to identify books of literary merit which deserve to be regarded as possible future prize winners, despite having "generic" qualities. (This is in keeping with The Stella Prize's aim of including a wider net than what some might deem purely "literary".)

Bookbloggers and publishers were approached for their views on which books they consider literary; invitations for readers and authors to comment were posted on Twitter, Facebook and in the list posts themselves. The aim was to try to identify and include many more books than those published by recognisable literary imprints.

Despite these efforts, some books slipped through the net and at least one author expressed dismay at having her book connected to the label "women's fiction".

My apologies. It's an imperfect system, but it's by far from being prescriptive. It's open to correction and relies on community input. If there are any other titles that should go on the "literary" page, please let me know.

On another point of contention: an author of Young Adult (YA) fiction commented a while ago on the blog, expressing bemusement as to why YA books appear on a separate tab on this website. Many YA books have more in common with the various genres listed above than with each other, and appeal to adult as well as young adult audiences. With this in mind, rather than compiling a separate list of YA books, I ask YA authors and readers to nominate which tally recent (2012) YA releases should appear on. If you can help, please add your comment.

Just for the record. Paddy O'Reilly has accepted an invitation to write a blog post for AWW explaining why she objects to the label "women's fiction". I'll keep you posted.

• O'Reilly, PA - The Fine Colour of Rust (HarperCollins), Literary-commercial.
  
  Reviewed for AWW by: Maree K, Helene Young, Angela@LiteraryMinded, Lisa Walker, Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out, Jenny Schwarz

Contemporary, Popular, Mainstream, Women's Fiction: 2102 Tally

When the call went out last November for recommendations of "popular" novels by Australian Women Writers, book bloggers recommended far fewer books in this category than for "literary", Speculative Fiction/Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Crime and Romance. Yet recent mainstream contemporary fiction has generated the greatest number of reviews for the challenge so far.

Because of the sheer number of books, the broad category of "contemporary" a temptation has been to break down this category into subgenres.

But which books should go where?

In attempting to answer this question I found myself grappling with several more questions.

What's the best way to recognise "contemporary women's fiction"? Is this type of fiction "popular", easy reads, whereas literary fiction is more demanding? Or should a "contemporary" list include literary novels? What about lighter books, commonly known as "Chick Lit"? Should these be counted as a separate sub-genre?

Most contentiously of all, what about novels that focus on the domestic relationship between two people? If it ends happily, or happily for now, should it be considered "romance", while relationships with a less obvious sense of closure be regarded either as literary or mainstream?

Behind all these questions looms an even larger one. If we let book publishers' and sellers' marketing decisions dictate how we categorise books, do we run the risk of making books of literary merit that are "generic" or "popular" in nature less visible to those compiling long lists for literary awards? Equally, do we risk marginalising the "literary"?

In consultation with writers and reviewers on Twitter, I've decided to include here novels labelled by reviewers as "chick lit", as well as books marketed as "rural fiction", even though some of these novels may include a courtship (which arguably makes them "romance" or books with "romantic elements"). New releases which obviously fall into a generic category such as Fantasy/Speculative Fiction/Sci-Fi, Crime and Romance (where the focus is on the courtship to the virtual exclusion of all other story), as well as books with a historical setting* and those marketed as "literary", have been tallied elsewhere.

Arguably, though, all are "contemporary" fiction.

Disclaimer: I've only read a fraction of these books and only skimmed many of the reviews. Putting the reviews into a format that helps readers looking for recent titles by Australian women - rather than having them try to decipher the Mr Linky boxes of reviews posted on the AWW challenge page - has taken a great deal of time and effort. If some authors object to having their books categorised as "popular" or "women's fiction", instead of "literary", my apologies. Same goes for authors listed previously as "literary" who believe their books also belong here. Any mistakes will gladly be rectified. EL

Tally: 37 books, 90 reviews, 40 reviewers, 12 publishers.

Publishers: Allen & Unwin (9 books, 20 reviews); Random House (9 books, 25 reviews);Hachette (2 books, 5 reviews); Pan Macmillan (2 books, 5 reviews); HarperCollins (3 books, 10 reviews); Penguin (7 books, 16 reviews); Harlequin (3 book, 10 reviews); Simon & Schuster (1 book, 1 review); Indigo Dreams* (1 book, 2 reviews); Joshua Books* (1 book, 1 review); Even Before Publishing* (1 book.1 review).

NB: It's unclear whether the publishers marked * are independent small presses or vehicles for self-publication.
 

• Adlerstein, Marion von - The Freudian Slip (Hachette)
     Lisa Walker, Stephanie McGlinchey
• Ahearn, Ali & Ros Baxter - Sister Pact (HarperCollins)
     Tarran Jones Collins Booksellers Edwardstown 
• Amin, Manisha Jolie - Dancing to the Flute (Allen & Unwin)
     AustBookshelf
• Booth, Alison - The Indigo Sky. (Random House) - sequel
     Brenda
• Dharmapala, Su - The Wedding Season (Simon & Schuster)
     Steph @ RIASS
• Duncan, Susan ­ The Briny Café. (Random House)
     Denise Imwold
• Evans, Tess - The Memory Tree. (Allen & Unwin)
     Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
• Fedler, Joanne - The Reunion (Allen & Unwin)
     Monique @WriteNoteReviews, Shelleyrae @Book'dOut  
• Foster, Zoe - The Younger Man (Penguin/Michael Joseph) ChickLit
     Michelle Mck 
• Groff , Maggie - Mad Men, Bad Girls & Guerrilla Knitters Institute (Pan Macmillan)
     Lisa Walker, Book'd Out, Heather Contemp Myst/Humour 
• Ham, Rosalie - There Should Be More Dancing (Random House)
     Coleen Kwan, My Journal, JudiJ  
• Heidke, Lisa - Stella Makes Good (Allen & Unwin) ChickLit
      Monique @ Write Note, Rachael Johns, Bree @1girl2manybooks, Paula, Book'd Out
• Higgins, Fiona - The Mothers' Group (Allen & Unwin)
     Phillip A. Ellis, Bree @1girl2manybooks, YA Erskine, Monique @ Write Note, Helen
• Hill, Loretta - The Girl in Steel- Capped Boots Random House  Rural Fiction
     Danielle Binks, Bree @1girl2manybooks, Paula, Jet Silver, Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out, Jenny, Monique (scroll down), Jenny,  Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
• Jacenko, Roxy - Strictly Confidential (Allen & Unwin) ChickLit
     Peta-Jo
• Johns, Rachael – Jilted Harlequin  Rural Fiction
     @austbookshelf, Kylie Scott, Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out, Bree @1girl2manybooks
• Lane, Karly - Morgan's Law Allen & Unwin Rural Fiction
     Bree @1girl2manybooks, Shelleyrae @Book'dOut
•  Lette , Kathy - The Boy who fell to Earth (Random House)
     Nalini Haynes
• Limerick, Louise - Lucinda's Whirlwind (Pan Macmillan)
     Book'd Out, AustBookshelf
• MacDonald, Fleur - Purple Roads Allen & Unwin Rural Fiction
      AustBookshelf, @Book'd Out
• McCallum, Fiona - Wattle Creek Harlequin
     Book'd Out, AustBookshelf, Bree @1girl2manybooks
•  McIntosh, Fiona - Lavender Keeper (Penguin)
     Tarran @ Collins Booksellers, Bree 1girl2manybooks, Book’d Out
• McKenna, Helen - The Beach House (Joshua Books)
     Olivia (Indie published?)
• McNamara, Catherine - A divorced lady's companion to living in Italy (Indigo Dreams Publishing) Contemp/Chick Lit
     Whispering Gums, C Powell
     Contemp/Chick Lit
• Magro, Mandy - Jacaranda (Penguin) Rural Fiction
     AustBookshelf
• Marinelli, Carol - Putting Alice Back Together (Harlequin)
     Marg, Shelleyrae@Book'dOut, R Johns
• Moriarty, Nicola – Free Falling (Random House)
     Bree: review and interview, Stephanie @RIASS Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out Contemp/RomCom
• Nunn, Judy - Tiger Men (Random House)
     Jacqui @MyJournal Saga/Contemp Fiction
• Osborn, Margareta - Bella's Run Random House Rural Fiction
     Lisa Chappel, Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out, RIASS, Brenda, R Johns 
• Palmer, Fiona - The Road Home Penguin Rural Fiction
     AustBookshelf, Brenda, Bree @1girl2manybooks, Shelleyrae @ Book'd
• Rennie, AnnMcCullagh - Under Southern Skies Penguin 
     VeganYANerds, Breen @1girl2manybooks, AustBookshelf, Paula Rural Fiction 2011  
• Richell, Hannah - Secrets of the Tides (Hachette)
     Jon Page, Stephanie @ RIASS ContFic/Saga
• Scoullar, Jennifer - Brumby's Run Penguin
     Bree @1girl2manybooks 
•  Stedman, ML - The Light Between Oceans (Random House)*
     Stephanie @ RIASS, Peta-Jo, Book'd Out
• Trope, Nicole - The Boy Under the Table (Allen & Unwin)*
     @ Book'd Out 
• Walker, Lisa - Liar Bird. (HarperCollins) ChickLit
     Bree @1girl2manybooks, Marg, Kate Cuthbert
• Wanmer, Jo - Though the Bud Be Bruised (Even Before Publishing)
     Michelle Dennis Evans

* Shelleyrae of Book'd Out suggests both M L Stedman's The Light Between Oceans and Nicole Trope's  The Boy Under the Table should also be included in the tally of "historical fiction", but as that wasn't obvious to me from my cursory glance at the reviews, they were included here.

Post modified: title and summary paragraph deleted (22/7/12).

Are there any other authors who would prefer not to have their books on this list?