Carol Fitzgerald from BookReporter is a huge champion of books, and does a brilliant job of connecting readers and writers. I was so glad to be able to speak with Carol again recently; and, this time, as part of the Bookaccino Live Book Group series, I was doubly thrilled to be able to answer readers’ questions directly.

We spoke about what it was like to write during the pandemic, and the way that period affected all of our perspectives (whether we were trying to write books or simply to keep our lives on track); how I write and whether I know the ending at the start; what it’s like juggling multiple story threads; the importance of houses and landscapes in my novels; how I develop my storylines; and how being a writer compares with what I imagined it might be like before I was published.

So, make yourself a cup of tea (or a glass of wine, depending on your time zone and according to your wont) and enjoy the conversation. If you prefer to listen, you’ll find the podcast HERE. And, my previous chat with Carol, recorded when Homecoming was first published in 2023, is HERE.

A week or so ago, I had the pleasure of talking all things books and writing with Natasha Boyd from BorrowBox. As a lifelong library lover, it was a privilege to be able to speak to so many librarians, along with devoted readers of all kinds.

Our conversation ranged far and wide, covering the writing and editing process, the ideas behind Homecoming, the challenges of writing during a global pandemic, the difficulty of bestowing titles on novels, my childhood habit of losing library books, and my eternal fascination with time (and the tethering of the present to the past).

The event ended with a fun segment in which I answered questions from viewers, including whether I use the typewriter pictured over my left shoulder to write my books. (Spoiler: it was the plan, until I made an attempt and realised I was going to need to build my finger muscles significantly before I could match the typists of old.)

It’s always a pleasure to talk books with Carol Fitzgerald at Bookreporter, and I was thrilled to have the chance to discuss HOMECOMING at length after its publication in April 2023. Happily, I will be speaking with Carol again for a Bookaccino Live Event on the 24th April 2024, at 8pm ET.

If you’d like to attend, you can register HERE, or via the image below, and find out how to submit a question or your own, or even how to ask it yourself during the event.

It was an honour this week to learn that HOMECOMING has been selected as a LibraryReads pick for April 2023. Libraries have played a huge and happy part in my life — whether the small, stuffy room upstairs near the principal’s office at Tamborine Mountain State School, or the council library near Staffsmith’s Park at Eagle Heights, they have been places of infinite pleasure and possibility. I’m delighted to take this opportunity to send a shout-out to libraries and, most importantly, librarians everywhere — thank you for everything that you do and the joyous spaces you provide!

I recorded a thank you message, which you can listen to HERE as part of the Library Love Fest Podcast; or, for those who prefer to read, here it is in text:

Hello, this is Kate Morton, author of Homecoming, getting in touch to say how honoured I am to be selected by librarians of America as a LibraryReads pick for April.

I’m especially pleased because libraries – and librarians – have played such an important role in my life. Growing up on Tamborine Mountain, a small misty village in the beautiful subtropical rainforest of south-east Queensland, there wasn’t a lot – of an official nature – for kids to do. One thing we did have, was a council library, and some of my favourite memories are of the days mum would take us to renew our library books. Of course, the day always started with a panic because I was not the tidiest child, and I read books in all sorts of weird and wonderful places – tucked behind the sofa, on the shed roof, in the bough of an avocado tree – for some reason, squirrelling myself away to read always made the pleasure that much greater – so there was always a bit of a mad rush to find my library books.

But oh – the wonder of the Tamborine Mountain Library! To adult eyes, it was perhaps an ordinary sort of place: there was nothing objectively charming about the building. A small, single-level square of pale 1980s brick, industrial carpet and plain metal shelves – but none of that was apparent to me at the time. To my eyes, it was a wonderland. I might as well have tumbled with Alice down the rabbit hole.

That smell of paper and ink and possibility; the cli-clunk sound of the date stamp being punched decidedly at the desk; the way time disappeared as I lost myself between the stacks, sliding first this book and then that one from the shelf; and then, the almost uncontainable joy of heading back out the door and down the garden path with a small pile of potential new friends clutched in my hands.

My character, Jess, in HOMECOMING, has remarkably similar fond childhood memories of visiting the library. And why wouldn’t she: libraries are magical places, and librarians, wonderful people – booklovers, of course, but also listeners, empathisers, matchmakers responsible for connecting books to readers. I’ve been reflecting lately on that connection. I love to think that each time one of my books is read, no matter where, when, or by whom, there occurs a meeting of minds across time and place, in which a unique version of the story is created. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping that to happen, and for everything you do in the service of promoting books and reading.

I’m especially pleased that you’ve chosen HOMECOMING for the LibraryReads list because it’s a very special book for me. I started writing it at the beginning of the pandemic when I returned from London to Australia. I was thinking a lot about home and belonging and what it means to ‘come home’, and during uncertain times the manuscript, the world of the book, became a home of sorts for me. It’s very exciting then, after a period of composition even more solitary than usual, finally to be able to share it; and it’s incredibly gratifying to know that you connected with HOMECOMING.

And so, once again, my sincere thanks to the librarians of America: it’s a privilege to have a place on your shelves and a great honour to be chosen as a Library Reads Pick. Until we meet again, may I take this opportunity to wish you all much happy reading.

Photo note: The author as small, serious person, pictured alongside her school library card from 1982-83.

I’m thrilled to announce three virtual events being held in April to celebrate Homecoming’s release. Events are open to US and Canadian readers, and are presented by Mariner Books, Simon & Schuster Canada, and some of the finest booksellers around; I’ll be in conversation each evening with a bookseller or fellow writer, before taking part in a moderated audience Q&A.

For further details, and to book your ticket, please follow THIS LINK.

I so hope you can attend, and very much look forward to discussing Homecoming, writing, families, secrets, big old houses, the past and the present, belonging, coming home, and so much more.

My publishers have made the prologue available ahead of publication and I’m beyond excited that at last you’re going to meet these characters, this place, that mean so much to me. I started writing HOMECOMING in 2020, in the early months of the pandemic, when my family and I found our lives transposed from London to a farmhouse in the Adelaide Hills. It was a surreal time, but ultimately a creative one. Of all my books, HOMECOMING draws most closely on the landscape that inspired it: many of the sights, smells and sounds you’ll find within these pages are drawn from my own life (even if the events that occur are not!). It’s a true pleasure to share them with you and to welcome you inside a book that has been a home of sorts for me over the past few years.  

To enter the world of HOMECOMING, simply open this DOOR and step on through.

To preorder the complete novel, select your favourite bookseller by following the links on my HOMECOMING page.

Happy reading!