Event: NSW Writers' Centre Course Program Launch and Inaugural Author Genre Mash-Up

Tonight Shearer’s held the NSW Writers’ Centre July-December Course Program launch where authors were invited to pitch a book idea completely out of their genre and their comfort zone! Stories that have never been told were earnestly sold, with results beyond the unassuming readers’ wildest imaginations!

Crime writer PM Newton (author of The Old School) was given a brief to write a self-help book for children – admitting she doesn’t read self-help books and doesn’t have children! Wandering through such “dangerous” ideas as ‘Sharpen the Saw’ and ‘Even Firefighters Poop’, PM ends up pitching a series of books that star Dexter Dung Beetle, addressing toilet training                                                           for toddlers, and resulting in raucous 

                                                         laughter from all present!

Young adult author James Roy (author of Town) was given the brief to pitch spiritual or supernatural erotica with side-splitting similes, puns, and “not-so-subtle” product placement - even approaching a hardware company for funding! ‘Fifty Shades of Blah’ is a tale of naughty Bunny who enjoys visiting the local hardware store to get “hammered, nailed and very rarely bolted”.

Graphic novelist Pat Grant (author of Blue) was given the brief of mashing a sci-fi with elements of a cookbook. His novel begins each chapter with a recipe, telling the pre-apocolyptic, post-industrial sci-fi tale of the successes of pro-biotics in writing history and solving mankind’s woes! It is the writers of recipes that rule this dystopian futuristic world congested with 

                     predators and poverty.

Several audience members contributed with their own mashed-up genre-benders, with side-achingly hilarious and oft very surprising results! Jennie, “not a writer, but a playwright”, called for any producers in the room to come forward to produce her ‘Travelling with Great Expectations’ – fan fiction mashed with a travel guide. Philippa pitched a horror tale and a gardening book, including such creepy tips as how to keep your tools sharp! Both were awarded with the best pitch idea, winning a free course at the NSW Writers’ Centre. Congratulations ladies!

We have free NSW Writers’ Centre course programs in store, so make sure you pop in on your travels and pick one up!

-By Stef