An interview by Jess Gately Elizabeth Kuiper grew up in Zimbabwe before emigrating to Perth with her mother. In 2016 she graduated from the University of Melbourne with a degree in politics and philosophy and she is now a writer and law student living in Melbourne. Her debut novel Little Stones was released 1 June…
Category: Jess Gately
Review: My Father’s Shadow by Jannali Jones, by Jess Gately
Title: My Father’s Shadow Author: Jannali Jones Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller Favourite Part: Just when you think you’ve figured it out, Jones throws a curve ball at you! The Black&Write! Fellowship has produced some cracking reads so of course I couldn’t wait to dig into Jannali Jones’s debut. The blurb for My Father’s Shadow doesn’t give…
Freelance Writing Series Part 11: A word from the professionals
Article by Jess Gately Image from Canva Free Stock Images The last few posts have been a whirlwind of information! While it may feel daunting and overwhelming, our resident professional freelancers Ruth Dawkins, Lindy Alexander and Abby Alexander are here to help you break it all down. So, what do they have to say about portfolios, pitching, and…
Writing Advice from 7 Contemporary Australian Authors, by Jess Gately
Image from Canva Free Stock Images We’ve all seen those lists of lovely quotes from classic writers telling us all we need to know about writing. But what about writing in the modern world? What about the dangers of submitting too quickly and dealing with instant feedback? What about marketing yourself and building an author platform? What…
Freelance Writing Series Part 10: Pitching
Article by Jess Gately Image from Canva Free Stock Images In our last post we discussed finding your first clients and getting your first paid gig. If you’re looking to write for magazines, blogs or newspapers, a large portion of your career is going to be spent pitching. So, what is pitching? Pitching is when you put…
Freelance Writing series part 9: Getting your first paid gigs
Article by Jess Gately Image from Canva Free Stock Images In the last post we discussed ways that you can start a portfolio of your writing by incorporating articles you may have written for university, for your personal blog or things you’ve written for former employers, or by listing previous ‘clients’ you’ve worked with for free. In this…
Review: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, by Jess Gately
Title: Four Dead Queens Author: Astrid Scholte Publisher: Allen & Unwin (2019) Genre: YA Fantasy Every so often a book comes along where the pacing is so perfect—the tension rises steadily and the plot races forward—that you find yourself turning the last pages at two o’clock in the morning wondering how ‘just one more chapter’…
Freelance writing series part 8: Building a Portfolio
Article by Jess Gately Image from Canva Free Stock Images Your business is now pretty much set up and ready to go, but there’s one last thing you’ll normally need to attract clients—a portfolio. Just like in any business, people want to know that you can actually do what they’re asking you to do and the best…
8 Aussie Podcasts for Writers, by Jess Gately
Image from Canva free stock images Writing is something you can learn in many different ways and while many will tell you to learn by reading, we can also learn by listening! The rise of the podcast means that speciality shows catering to all your passions, learning and entertainment needs, are just a click away. So, of…
Freelance writing series part 7: A word from the professionals
Article by Jess Gately Image from Canva Free Stock Images We’re welcoming back Ruth Dawkins, Lindy Alexander and Abby Alexander, our resident freelancers who are discussing some of the things we’ve been talking about so far and giving us an insight into the working world of freelance writing. What was the hardest thing you had to learn…
Interview: Kerri Turner, author of The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers and Underground Writers Alumni
Interview with Kerri Turner, author of The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers and Underground Writers Alumni In 2017, Kerri Turner submitted her short story The Cause and an Effect to Underground Issue 17: Hitchhiker. Now her debut novel, The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers, has just been released and the second is on…
Planning a Novel, by Jess Gately
Image from Canva Free Stock Images Take what you will from this process and build upon it in a way that best suits you. You may wish to use all of the steps, or you may wish to use only some, but the key is to work in a way that is best suited to you and…
Freelance Writing series part 6: Tax & Superannuation
Image from Canva Free Stock Images Article by Jess Gately Those dreaded words. The ones that fill our heads with question marks and swear words. For many people tax is frustrating, confounding and unintelligible. Having a tax agent is a really good idea when you’re freelancing, but there are still lots of things you can do to…
Freelance Writing series part 5: Setting Rates, Quoting and Invoicing
Image from Canva Free Stock Images Article by Jess Gately Here we are at part 5, and we still haven’t even started writing yet! And sadly, there’s still lots to do before you do start writing. In this post we look at the finance side of things like quoting and pricing structures. For some of you keeping…
Issue 25 is here!
It’s a new year and we’re happy to be presenting issue #25 of the Underground Writers zine, featuring more fantastic work by a selection of creative writers from around Australia. Our work this issue includes poetry from Ion Corcos, Jasmin Seabrook-Benson, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, and Wendy Lichtenberg. Our short stories comes from Christos Sevastidis and Paul…
Freelance Writing series part 4: Business Set-up
Image from Canva Free Stock Images As you’ve seen in the previous posts, there’s a lot more to freelance writing than just writing. Setting up your business correctly is the first and possibly most important step to ensuring your success as you step out into the freelance world. In this post we’ll cover the set-up of some…
What We Learnt in 2018
2018 was a big year for learning, and our editors were happy to discuss and share as much as they could. This post pulls together everything we learnt over the year about writing, reading and publishing. Take a look and check out the posts you may have missed or the ones you might want to…
Aussie Titles Reviewed in 2018
2018 was a huge year for reviews with our editors covering a range of genres, themes and authors. Take a trip down memory lane to see all the great Aussie titles we reviewed in 2018! Defying Doomsday edited by Tsana Dolichva and Holly Kench, reviewed by Jemimah Halbert Brewster Grace Beside Me by Sue…
3 things to consider when choosing books for your loved ones this Christmas
Have you ever heard of Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve? Translated to ‘The Christmas Book Flood’, Icelanders spend months pouring over book catalogues in the lead up to Christmas before exchanging books and chocolate on Christmas Eve and spending the night reading together by a cosy fire. Ok so the…
Freelance Writing series part 3: Freelancers in action
Image from Canva Free Stock Images Freelance writing comes in many different forms which means there are lots of different ways to approach it. This is why every so often in the Freelance Writing series we’re going to check back in with our three resident professionals. A massive thank you to Ruth Dawkins, Lindy Alexander and Abby…
Issue 24 has arrived!
Issue 24 has arrived! The cover this issue was designed by WA-based artist Jonathan Park, whom you can find on Instagram at @fresh_kb Our Editors shone throughout this year, and they’ve worked hard on the short stories and poems you’ll find within the pages of issue 24. Download the issue for a fresh assortment of short…
Freelance Writing series part 2: What to know before you start
Image from Canva Free Stock Images Freelancing isn’t an easy gig. There’s no job security, no sick pay, no holiday leave, and you’re in charge of literally everything to do with your business. All those departments you see in an office are now you: legal, accounts, marketing, admin… So, it’s good to know a bit…
Freelance Writing series part 1: Types of Freelance Writing
Image from Canva Free Stock Images One of the most common topics we get asked to cover at Underground is freelance writing. It’s never a straight up question, rather it’s a somewhat vague ‘tips on freelancing would be nice’. When someone asks about being a freelancer my first question is always: what type of freelance…
Review: Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman, by Jess Gately
Title: Terra Nullius Author: Claire G. Coleman Genre: Fiction/Science-fiction Favourite part: Esperance reflecting on how the Settler’s colonisation methods set the Natives up for failure. Favourite quote: ‘He knew now though, that when you plant bones, nothing grows from them. Nothing but pain.’ For all the fiction in this book, it is the truths that…
Underground Books is now open for all your Australian debut reading needs
Underground Books, the new online bookshop from Underground Writers, officially launches this weekend. The online store will only stock debut titles from Australian or Australian-based authors with all profits from the sales going towards funding the group’s projects to support emerging Australian writers. Operations Manager and Editor-in-Chief Jemimah Halbert Brewster said the store had ‘already…
Writing big topics for the small page, by Jess Gately
[Image Description: A silhouette of a soldier carrying another soldier who is presumably injured or dead across an empty battlefield. The text reads ‘The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the road. You pick…
Jess G.’s Character List
A Character List by Jess Gately Have you ever read a book and when the character died you cried, or when something good happened to them you smiled, and when they didn’t get the ending you thought they deserved you were angry? I love a character-driven novel, and I love to fall in love with…
Underground Writers announce bold new initiative to support debut Australian authors
Underground Writers have announced that they will launch an online bookstore called Underground Books which will only stock debut Australian titles. All profits from the store will go towards supporting the group’s projects which provide information, education, and encouragement to emerging Australian writers. Underground Operations Manager and Editor-In-Chief, Jemimah Halbert Brewster, said the bookstore will…
Review: The Sisters’ Song by Louise Allan, by Jess Gately
Title: The Sisters’ Song Author: Louise Allan Genre: Historical Fiction A review by Jess Gately If you’re struggling to understand why gender roles are so persevering, this book might be a good place to start. As more and more mothers admit to feeling judged, Louise Allan’s debut novel can tell us a lot about the…
Writer’s Block. Is it real and how to get past it? by Jess Gately
Writer’s Block is the bane of all writers. Whether it takes the form of staring at a blank page not knowing what to write, or helplessly writing and rewriting the same line over and over again and never actually moving forward, writer’s block can be very destructive to those who allow it to rule them….
Review: Songs That Sound Like Blood by Jared Thomas, Jess Gately
Title: Songs That Sound Like Blood Genre: New Adult Fiction Themes: Coming of Age, Change, Coming Out, Racism Favourite quote: “[Dad] always said that people are supposed to move, that it recharges and calms us down. He explained that our ancestors formed our country perfectly to give us everything we needed. Water and bush tucker were…
Jess G.’s TBR list – round 2
The great thing about the New Year is that I get a chance to re-evaluate my reading goals. In 2017 I had two main goals: to read more and to read things outside of my usual genres. Whilst I accomplished my second goal, I did not accomplish my first. Looking back I realise that the…
Australian titles reviewed in 2017!
Below are all the Australian titles reviewed by Underground Writers in 2017! The Other Woman by Kylie Jones, reviewed by Kate, Shelley, and Jess Rae That Eye, the Sky by Tim Winton, reviewed by Kate Lomas Glendenning Rubik by Elizabeth Tan, reviewed by Jess Gately Portable Curiosities by Julie Koh, reviewed by Jemimah…
3 Things I Learnt During NaNoWriMo, by Jess Gately
3 Things I Learnt During NaNoWriMo By Jess Gately Over the years I have participated or skipped NaNoWriMo as I see necessary. For me, NaNoWriMo has always been an opportunity to fully explore an idea and get the groundwork going for a novel. It’s also a great time to build your writing skills, identify your…
3 Tips for Generating Ideas During NaNoWriMo, by Jess Gately
Stuck for ideas during NaNoWriMo? Here’s 3 tips to get you back on track… Whether you’re pantsing it and having a bit of a dry spell or planning it and need a little something to fill the gaps, it’s almost a given that at some point in NaNoWriMo you’re going to be stuck for ideas…
Review: Watching Cartoons With Boys by Emma Michelle, reviewed by Jess Gately
Issue 20’s Review Watching Cartoons With Boys by Emma Michelle A review by Jess Gately (this review can be found in Issue 20: Nostalgia) It stands that any book that introduces it themes using The Simpsons and links it in with such classics as Pokemon and Futurama was always going to grip me from the…
7 Tips for Surviving NaNoWriMo, by Jess Gately
Are you ready? Tomorrow is November 1st and the beginning of NaNoWriMo! If you haven’t already, I sincerely suggest you head on over to our first NaNo post, Pantser or Planner, Top Tips for Preparing for NaNoWriMo, to get some tips on preparing for the month ahead. First, a recap, because there’s some stuff in…
Pantser or Planner: 5 Top Tips for Preparing for NaNoWriMo, by Jess Gately
NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month for those of you new to the concept) is the annual challenge that gets writers writing. The challenge, should you choose to accept, is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Now of course the work you produce in that 30 days is not going to be the final…
Review: The Good Girl of Chinatown by Jenevieve Chang, reviewed by Jess Gately
Earlier this year I mentioned this book as part of my TBR list. Its blurb about a journey through Chang’s past peppered with themes of racism and reverse-racism intrigued me, but whilst it certainly delivered these things, this was not the book I was expecting. This was much more the story of a lost soul…
Interview: Robert Edeson, author of ‘Bad to Worse’
Robert Edeson talks writing with Underground Writers’ Jess Gately “I don’t know a lot about how people write, I’ve just always enjoyed living in my own imagination and that’s where these books come from.” It is an unusually cold and wet day in Perth when Robert Edeson and I meet at Subiaco’s Café Café….