there’s nothing quite like getting lost in a really good book.

We’ve known this since we were wee ones, poring over the Scholastic Book Club catalogue for the perfect after-school reading material. Would we join Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia and co. on their adventures in child-rearing and early entrepreneurship, or get spooked by ghostly next-door neighbours and malevolent dummies come to life? Perhaps an excursion through the human bloodstream would be more intriguing, or learning the history of the Terrible Tudors and Groovy Greeks.

Immersing ourselves in a curious new world is still one of the top ways we get our kicks (also up there: digging into a fresh jar of peanut butter and whacking on some trackies after a long day in stiff jeans), and we have endless appreciation for the imaginative minds who dream them into being. That’s why we reached out to some of Australia’s newest fiction authors for this issue, and picked their brains on everything from why they write to the publishing process and tried-and-true creative rituals.

We’ve also slipped a little treat within our pages: some lovely stick-on bookplates so your favourite novels never go astray. Find them on page 48, then keep on flipping for even more goodies, including an extra-special art card to pop up on your wall and a bonus poster featuring scrummy cocktail and mocktail recipes (to keep your belly nice and warm). Hope you enjoy!