Our April Member Spotlight features Shelley Burr! Following a successful match at an ASA Virtual Literary Speed Dating event, Shelley signed with agent Sarah McKenzie, and secured a publishing contract. Shelley’s debut novel, WAKE, will be published by Hachette on 27 April 2022.

Shelley Burr grew up on Newcastle’s beaches and her grandparents’ farm in Glenrowan, and on the road between the two. When not writing, she works in environmental policy in Canberra and is studying agriculture at the University of New England, with a focus on soil science. She is an alumnus of the ACT Writers Hardcopy program (2018) and a Varuna fellow. WAKE won the CWA Debut Dagger Award in 2019 was shortlisted for the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award and the Bath Novel Award.

What inspired you to begin writing?

I was seven or eight when I figured out that I could write my own stories, and from that point I was always that kid scribbling away. 

For WAKE, my moment of inspiration came from a brief obsession with reading true crime and unsolved mystery forums. I became uncomfortable with the way amateur sleuths inevitably had to dig into the private details of the family and friends of victims. I was sympathetic to the family in particular—they’d already experienced an intense tragedy, and along with it found themselves in the public eye without any choice in the matter. That inspired the main character, Mina, and the rest of the story flowed from there. 

What does it mean to you to be publishing your debut novel, WAKE, following a successful match with agent Sarah McKenzie at Literary Speed Dating?

I’ve been with Sarah for a little more than a year now, and I’m both amazed that it has only been a year, and that it has been a whole year. 

Quite a lot happens behind the scenes after making a match. I sent a package with an extract and synopsis, from which she requested the full manuscript. We had a phone conversation where we discussed the book, and my future books, and our various approaches to see if we meshed. 

Then she sent me her agency agreement, and I let her know that I would like to have it reviewed. She was really supportive of this, which was a major green flag for me that we would work well together. I used a lawyer, but I know the ASA also offers this service for authors. I really recommend it. 

Going from there to receiving multiple offers for WAKE was surreal. I’m so glad that I had Sarah to talk things over with, she was on top of so many things that would have gone straight over my head—which rights were included and excluded, royalty structures, timing. 

She’s been in my corner all the way—through editing, marketing, publicity, and as I work on my second manuscript. It’s been wonderful. 

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing journey?

I wish I had known how important it is to have a writing community around you. 

Writing is a classic solitary activity, but the real magic happens when you have a support system. I never get more done than when I’m working quietly with a group of friends. They’re there when I need an accountability buddy, sounding board, cheerleader, or someone to tell me to pull my head in. 

Which Australian authors and/or illustrators have been influential for your writing practice and career?

Canberra has an amazing community of writers. In 2018 I attended the ACT Writer’s Centre HARDCOPY program, a year long manuscript development program. There I heard from some remarkable Canberra region writers, like Nigel Featherstone, Sam Hawke, Leife Shallcross and Jack Heath.

Another author who had a huge influence was Rebecca Starford (The Imitator, Allen and Unwin). As part of being shortlisted for the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award I spent a week at Varuna with Rebecca and three other amazing writers – Sam van Zweden, Lisa Emanuel and Matt Millikan. That week, and the incisive feedback I received from Rebecca, made a huge impact. 

Finally, my friend Dinuka McKenzie is my role model. Her crime fiction novel The Torrent came out in February, and watching her promote her own work and tirelessly lift up other debut novelists has been inspiring