Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Georgia. I’ve lived south of Perth for most of my life, and I think this is where I’ll stay. My husband and I live in our own home in the suburbs with our one cat, two dogs, and three chickens. We love to cook using fresh produce from our vegetable and herb gardens and one day dream of retiring to a big farm block down south with lots of trees where we can be self-sufficient and environmentally friendly.
What are/were you studying at university and what’s next?
I’m double majoring in English & Creative Writing and Australian Indigenous Studies. I hope to one day use the skills I’ve gained from my studies to encourage more Indigenous voices in the writing and publishing industries. I think there is a rich variety of stories and language that is unrecognised and undervalued and I hope to be able to build a safe and respectful environment to encourage and empower those artists.
I’m also considering a postgraduate course to be a librarian. My high-school librarian was and still is one of the most influential people for me when it came to shaping my current values. I’d love to be able to do that for someone else one day.
Plus, as you can tell from my extensive answer to the next question; I love to share my passion for reading and books!
Do you have a favourite book or favourite authors?
I have too many to count. This year I’ve been trying to expand my reading experiences with more diverse choices. I’ve read some authors whose first language is not English, some graphic novels, some poetry and short story collections. The stand-out of these was a short poetry book called Finding Wonders by Jeannine Atkins that tells the story of three girls in different time periods who made important scientific discoveries. It’s a beautiful little book, and the stories are empowering, told in clever little verses. It’s a great book for both adults and kids.
My genre would have to be epic fantasy though. My absolute favourite is Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series. They are very dark and very complicated with a smart, amazing, and deadly protagonist and antagonist. Probably one of my most favourite villains ever: you love to hate her. It’s filled with intrigue, politics, betrayal, romance, warrior monks, courtesan spies, Gypsy princes, battles, magic, gods; Everything! It brings the epic into epic fantasy.
The one book I’m always recommending to readers who enjoy fantasy fiction is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It is a lovely, dreamy story of a magical circus and is so beautifully written. The background plot is a long-running duel between two master wizards and their apprentices to decide whose method of magic is the most powerful. You will never look at the circus the same again.
My guilty pleasure: I’ve been binging on Young Adult books during my studies for the quick, easy escapism. They are what I like to call my potato-chip fiction; you can just eat a whole bag / read the whole book without thinking about it. One of my favourites was Patrick Ness’ The Rest of Us Just Live Here about the kids who are not the popular, monster-saving teenagers but everyone else who lives and exists around them.
What did a typical day involve as an intern at Margaret River Press?
At the moment I’m reading a few of the current releases for Margaret River Press. My very first day, Caroline Wood, Publisher, and Director at MRP handed me a copy of Nicole_Sinclair’s Bloodlines and told me I’m expected to read it over the course of my internship.
“Oh, that won’t be a problem!” I said to her.
I’m most of the way through and thoroughly enjoying it! It was refreshing to read something outside of my usual genre, and I especially love that it’s (half) set in my local area. As I’m reading, I’m trying to think of ways to promote the book: picking out quotes I think readers would enjoy, designing cute little graphics to draw people in, doing research on Papua New Guinea where the book is (half) based.
The promotional side of publishing is an important part that I hadn’t properly considered when I first walked into Margaret River Press. My head was full of romantic notions of reading all day - which is not entirely wrong - but of course, we want others to read those books too!
Is there a particular area of publishing you’re looking to head into or another type of work?I’d love to go into editing. I find in my writing that I tend to spend more time cutting and pasting, rearranging and editing my work but I’m never really happy with the final piece. I would love to be able to distance myself from the art and edit someone else’s work.
Yes, I’m an official representative of the Grammar Police!
