Wrap it up
Featuring my Australian book gift guide!
We’re almost there!
Less than two weeks til Christmas, and I have HANDED IN MY REVISION of Unhallowed Halls. This book has honestly been kind of a nightmare to work on, I was too clever by half thinking up plot twists, and then every little change I made threw everything else out of whack. But it is done. Is it finished? Absolutely not. But it’s off my desk until the new year.
2023 has been epic. I drafted two entire books. Revised three. Outlined four. Toured all around Australia at events and festivals.
And 2024 is shaping up to be even more epic! I’m looking forward to:
DEEP IS THE FEN coming out in April
a family adventure in Japan
my new junior fiction series BRAVEPAW launching in September
working on some Very Exciting New Projects!
But first, a break. I shall be eating my weight in mince pies, going to the beach, reading many books and spending quality time with family and friends. I hope you all have a lovely break, too!
Give books, be excellent
Here are some 2023 Australian books that you should give to your loved ones (remember, adults can read YA, too - around 50% of YA readers are adults!)
For the plant-witch: A Hunger of Thorns by Lili Wilkinson (that’s me, hello).
For your friend/relative who is obsessed with true crime podcasts: literally anything by Ellie Marney but how about both None Shall Sleep and Some Shall Break?
For your friend who loves the smell of salt and the wind in their hair: The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman
For the cocktail-obsessed glamorous feminist: Nightbirds by Kate J Armstrong
For your teen who is hungry for queer romance and family drama: We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis
Or why not a whole anthology of queer fairy tales? Everything Under the Moon edited by Michael Earp
For your friend who loves monsters and time travel: Only a Monster and Never a Hero by Vanessa Len
For your friend who always sides with the villain: Dark Rise and Dark Heir by CS Pacat
For your teen who is hungry for Aboriginal stories about youth justice: We Didn’t Think It Through by Gary Lonesborough
For your gamer romantics: Two Can Play That Game by Leanne Yong
For the dinosaur-obsessed 8-12 year old: Deadlands: Hunted and Deadlands: Trapped by Skye Melki-Wegner
Read
I loved Nettle and Bone by T Kingfisher. I am painfully aware how hard it is to use fairytale tropes in a fresh way, and this book just nails it. It’s fresh. It’s deep. It’s occasionally funny. There’s a chicken with a demon inside it. Need I say more?
Watch
I enjoyed the first season of Our Flag Means Death, but the second season got me in my feels in a way I did not expect at all. Still enjoying For All Mankind. Wish I could say the same for The Crown. Oh, and The Artful Dodger was an unexpected delight.
Play
Remember when we all played The Room on our phones? Well it’s incredible in VR. But I need a new Switch game - any recommendations?
Make
Mince pies, of course. Here’s a previous newsletter with my recipe (don’t skip the overripe banana, just trust me).
Lili Wilkinson is the award-winning author of eighteen books for young people, including The Erasure Initiative and After the Lights Go Out. Lili has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and is a passionate advocate for YA and the young people who read it, establishing the Inky Awards at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. Her latest book is A Hunger of Thorns, which you can purchase here (Australia) or here (US).