adult fiction

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Authors, Book talk, Illustrators, Publication day

Publication day of Secrets of the Good Fairy House!

Today is the publication day of Secrets of the Good Fairy House, my new Pardalote Press production with Lorena Carrington. It’s been a real passion project for us both, and we’re so delighted to see the book out there! We hope lots of readers will take it to their hearts.

The book is available from any good bookshop across Australia, and can also be ordered directly from our Pardalote Press website, here. And to whet your appetite, here’s a beautiful review of the book, by writer and reviewer Ashleigh Meikle, of the popular Book Muse blog.

Celebration time now!

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Book talk, novels, Paris, Publishers

Pre-order of The Paris Cooking School

Sumptuous…Romantic..Escapist: The Paris Cooking School is now available for pre-order via the Ultimo Press website. Exciting! The book will be released in November. On the pre-order page there’s also a new author photo of me, one of a portfolio of several fabulous new author portraits, in both colour and black and white, which the very talented Lorena Carrington has created for me.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Cover reveals, forthcoming books, France, Publishers

Cover reveal of The Paris Cooking School!

Absolutely thrilling–my publisher has just revealed the gorgeous cover of my forthcoming adult novel The Paris Cooking School, written under my pen-name of Sophie Beaumont, and to be published by Ultimo Press in November. Isn’t it beautiful–and how about that perfect strawberry tart!

(Really love the way the book is described too: sumptuous, romantic, escapist. And delectable!)

Here’s the blurb:

Life doesn’t always serve up the perfect dish, but second chances are always on the menu

There’s nothing quite so beautiful as Paris in the spring; and when you add in the chance to learn the French way of food, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, who can resist? Not Gabi Picabea or Kate Evans who have come from Australia to Sylvie Morel’s Paris Cooking School.

Both are at a crossroads, and learning to cook the French way in Paris, far away from all their troubles, seems like the perfect escape. 

Still bruised from a shocking betrayal by her ex-husband, Kate is trying to find a new place for herself in life, and emotional peace, while French-Australian artist Gabi is struggling with a crippling creative block.

Meanwhile, Sylvie herself is facing challenges of her own – a mysterious harassment campaign against the School and a reassessment of her relationship with her commitment-shy lover Claude. 

For each of the women, that extraordinary April in Paris will bring unexpected twists and transformations that will change the course of their lives.

A delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart, The Paris Cooking School is a treat for the soul.

The Paris Cooking School will publish in November 2023. Pre-order from your local bookshop, or online, or via the Ultimo website, here.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Art, Book talk, Creative work, forthcoming books, Inspirations, memoir, Pardalote Press

Announcing the new Pardalote Press production!

I’m absolutely delighted to announce the forthcoming arrival of the new Pardalote Press production, my latest collaboration with the wonderful Lorena Carrington!

It’s a beautiful little book titled Secrets of the Good Fairy House, which will be out at the beginning of June and distributed nationally through our distributor Peribo. Below you can see the book’s gorgeous front and back covers which Lorena created, as well as the lovely page Peribo have for the book in their June catalogue.

Secrets of the Good Fairy House is a unique exploration in words and images of the magic a beloved childhood home can confer on people, through its sheer atmosphere and the objects in it too. Both in words and images, it’s a mix of memoir–about my childhood home in rural France and Lorena’s in regional Victoria–and fiction, to create what we hope will be an enticing, imaginative blend. Each page features a space or an object or an aspect of the good fairy house, and, as well,  there are interactive elements at the end: an encouragement to create memory maps(with ours as samples), ideas on how to use the ideas and concepts in the book to create your own exploration of your own ‘good fairy house’, and a maze game, for a bit of fun 🙂 We absolutely loved creating this unique little book, and we hope many readers will take it to their hearts too. It’s for a general audience, for adults as well as younger readers, and makes a great gift too.

Secrets of the Good Fairy House is a beautiful small square book of 48 pages, in full colour, retailing at $25.  The ISBN is 9780645563429. It will be available in all good bookshops across Australia, and can also be pre-ordered, via your local bookshop, or directly via our website.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Authors, Book talk, forthcoming books, France, Paris

Super exciting news about a new novel!

I’ve had to sit on this super exciting news for ages, but now it’s been announced by the publisher, so I can announce it in my turn now!

In November 2023, my new novel for adults, The Paris Cooking School, will be published under my new pen-name of Sophie Beaumont, by wonderful Ultimo Press. It was acquired by them via my lovely agent Margaret Connolly, who has encouraged, supported and helped to inspire me every step of the way as I’ve been creating the novel. And it’s been an absolutely wonderful experience working with publisher Alex Craig and the Ultimo Press team, and I’m looking forward so much to the rest of the process!

This is a book that I have so loved writing, which has taken me in a new and exciting direction in terms of my writing, a delicious novel about love, hope, second chances–and food! And it’s also a love letter to the most beautiful city in the world.

Here below is the publisher’s announcement. I’ll be writing more about the book as the months go on, and starting a special page for it on this blog too, but in the meantime you can follow the Paris Cooking School on Facebook and/or Instagram, where I’ll be posting news, pics, bits and pieces.

The official announcement from Ultimo Press!

Oh la la, do we have a delicious novel on its way to you 🍓⁠

⁠It was impossible not to be enticed by The Paris Cooking School by Sophie Beaumont. It’s a treat for the soul – a delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart.⁠

⁠Sophie says, ‘I love Paris. It’s as simple as that. Steeped in history, yet fresh as morning bread, elegant as spun sugar yet earthy as onion tart, it’s a city of delicious contrasts and magical charm. It’s also a place of potential and possibility: the perfect setting for a story of second chances. And of course, there’s the food! I loved writing this book so much: and I hope readers love it too.’ ⁠

⁠Publisher Alex says, ‘The Paris Cooking School is a sheer delight, and I couldn’t be happier working with Sophie on a gorgeous novel set in a city she knows inside out. Following three women’s stories during a springtime in Paris, this novel is for anyone who dreams of the what-ifs and second acts, escaping to the City of Lights, and learning to cook the French way.’ ⁠


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Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, Art, Book talk, Illustrators, New books, retellings, Reviews

Lovely first review for Magical Tales from French Camelot

There’s a lovely first review of Magical Tales from French Camelot, by the fantastic book blogger Ashleigh Meikle, on The Book Muse.

Here’s a couple of bits from the review:

Sophie’s retellings are lyrical and emotive, and as she explains in her rationale at the end of each tale, she chose the most powerful moments in each tale to retell, leaving off where she needed to, and at times, explaining the rest of the story and its context within the French canon as well as its relationship to the British stories. Doing this gave an extra layer to the book, and it is the same process Kate Forsyth uses for her Long Lost Fairytales collections as well. In giving readers a history of the tale and letting us know what they have done, Sophie, like Kate, invites us into her world and writing process….

These stories bring part of the Arthurian legends and myth cycle to life for adult and young adult readers, and I loved reading them, loved feeling like I was part of the world that they came from, and loved the beautiful illustrations by Lorena, created with many different aspects digitally to tell the stories just as much as the words did. I find it hard to put her illustrations into words because I think they are the kind of illustrations you have to experience for yourself – they’re just that magical!

You can read the whole review here.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Book talk, fantasy, forthcoming books, launches, retellings

Online launch of Magical Tales from French Camelot

Delighted to be celebrating the launch of Magical Tales from French Camelot, online (livestreamed via FB) this Sunday, the 21st August, at 5.30 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, 3.30 pm West Australian time. Lorena and I will be talking about the book with our publisher Karen McDermott of Serenity Press. Do consider joining us, we’d love to see you there! You can find all the details on the Serenity Press Facebook page, here.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, animals, Art, Book talk, collaborations, creative activities, crowdfunding, fantasy, Illustrators, Pardalote Press, Poetry, Publishing business

Crowdfunding campaign to launch Pardalote Press

Exciting news! The wonderful illustrator Lorena Carrington and I have established Pardalote Press, a tiny Press making small surprising things. We’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign this morning to support our first two projects, Bird’s Eye View and Wayfarer. Bird’s Eye View is a chapbook of words—poetry and prose—and black and white images, which together form glimpses into the world of birds, and the world as seen by birds. Wayfarer is a unique set of sixteen beautiful full colour cards which in words and pictures take you on a journey of mystery, magic and meaning.

The campaign is to raise funds towards production and printing of the projects. We hope you might be interested in having a look! Here’s the direct link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pardalote-press-launch#/

You can learn more about the Press and our first two projects on our website, and social media: Facebook and Instagram. There’s also a great little news item about it at Books+Publishing. And here below are a few words from Lorena and I, extracted from that article, as to why we started Pardalote Press:

It was in fact a mock medieval bestiary—published as an appendix to our joint book Magical Tales from French Camelot—which first made us think of the idea of working on unusual little projects. We started with the idea of Bird’s Eye View, and then, later, came the idea for Wayfarer.

We knew these were a bit too left-field to fit into mainstream publishing lists, so decided to create our own tiny press to produce them and other things we might come up with.

So–do check us out, have a look, and if you are interested, we would be very grateful for your support in the launch of this tiny press making small surprising things to help the imagination take flight!

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, Book talk, Celebrations, Publishers

A Hundred Words for Butterfly in bookshops now

The print edition of A Hundred Words for Butterfly is now available through any bookshop, across Australia! Returning from my big five-week trip to Europe–including to the Basque country–I was delighted to receive copies from my lovely publisher, Bronwyn Mehan of Spineless Wonders, and to meet in person with her and SW team members Camilla Cripps and Bettina Kaiser, on a beautiful sunny day in Sydney!

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Book talk, forthcoming books, new editions

A Hundred Words for Butterfly to be published in print!

I’m very pleased to announce that A Hundred Words for Butterfly, my adult audio-first novella published by Spineless Wonders Audio in September 2021, will now also be published in print! It will be released in the ES-Press imprint of Spineless Wonders in April, and distributed nationwide by NewSouth Books. Available in all good bookshops across the country, it has the same gorgeous cover as the audiobook, and the back cover also has lovely endorsements from the wonderful writers Wendy James, Nick Earls, and Carmel Bird. An ebook edition of the novella will also be available. So happy with Butterfly having new ways to reach readers!