Meet Sandie Docker, who shares her journey and strategies for ensuring longevity in your author career. Sandie emphasises the importance of networking, connecting with readers, and seeking help in areas outside of one’s expertise. She also discusses her role in starting the Northern Beaches Readers Festival and how it has benefited her career.
00:00 Introduction 00:19 Upcoming webinar on avoiding infringement in fiction writing 03:38 Nat Newman's lighthouse residency experience 07:27 Writing tips from Nat Newman 12:45 Exciting book giveaway: The Oxenbridge King by Christine Paice 16:07 Word of the week: Gravamen 17:45 Interview with author Sandie Docker 27:06 Establishing an author career 28:47 Building industry relationships 33:40 Connecting with readers 37:02 The role of an agent 41:06 Starting a literary festival 48:35 Writing routine and final thoughts
Australian author, Sandie Docker grew up in Coffs Harbour, and first fell in love with reading when her father introduced her to fantasy books as a teenager. Her love of Women’s Fiction began when she first read Jane Austen for the HSC, but it wasn’t until she was taking a translation course at university that her Mandarin lecturer suggested she might have a knack for writing – a seed of an idea that sat quietly in the back of her mind while she lived overseas and travelled the world.
Now back in Sydney, Sandie writes about love, loss, family and small country towns. Her debut novel, The Kookaburra Creek Café, was released in 2018, The Cottage At Rosella Cove in 2019, the German edition of The Kookaburra Creek Cafe – Das kleine Café der großen Träume, was released in Jan, 2020, The Banksia Bay Beach Shack in 202O, The Wattle Island Book Club in 2021 and The Redgum River Retreat in 2023. Her new novel, The Lyrebird Lake Ladies Choir, will be released in June 2024. Sandie is also the founder and director of The Northern Beaches Readers Festival.
