It’s fantastic to see good writing rewarded, and at last Dawn Barker’s novel, Fractured, is in the bookshops. I first met Dawn at the 2010 Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre Development Workshop, and Hachette Australia have now published the book she developed through that process.

I said in my last blog that I was fortunate to be in Launceston, Tasmania, when another Hachette novelist, Poppy Gee, was in town to talk about her book, Bay of Fires. I was still there when Fractured was due out, Tuesday 26 February, and inquired at a local bookshop (all bookshops are independent in Launceston) a few days ahead whether they were expecting any copies. No, but they could order one for me. (They’ll be sorry they don’t have a good supply on hand.) I had only another week in Tasmania, so checked with another bookshop, Fullers, and yes, they had five copies on order. They promised to let me know when it arrived.

I was leaving on the Saturday, and it wasn’t until Friday that my phone whistled to let me know the book had arrived. After keeping in touch with Dawn throughout the publication process, I was delighted to finally be able to buy Fractured across the counter. I started reading it on the plane on the way home to Brisbane, and am finding it very compelling, as well as a little chilling. As you can see from the image on this page, it has a fantastic cover too.

As a result of this publication, Dawn, who is a psychiatrist by profession, is a local celebrity in Perth, Western Australia, where she lives with her husband and three young children – she was an invited speaker at the Perth Writers Festival and will be at the Margaret River Writers Festival in May, and has media interviews completed and lined up. In the release week, a Perth bookshop devoted its whole window display to Fractured. Go Dawn!