John Purcell
@bookeboy.bsky.social
Head of Books Australia - The Nile Group. Also a bestselling author - The Girl on the Page, The Lessons & The Secret Lives of Emma trilogy. New thriller coming in 2026.
My blog (yes some people still have blogs): https://www.johnpurcellauthor.com/blog
My blog (yes some people still have blogs): https://www.johnpurcellauthor.com/blog
Pinned
John Purcell
@bookeboy.bsky.social
· Dec 3
New Short Story - Rainier
I apologise, I have written another short story, Rainier . I don't know what has come over me. No short stories for decades and now two in the space of a month? And this one is quite odd. I feel...
www.johnpurcellauthor.com
I have posted two short stories on my blog, The Collaborators and Rainier. Short reads perfect for public transport, for waiting for pasta to boil, pretending to watch kids sport etc
The Collaborators:
www.johnpurcellauthor.com/blog/new-sho...
Rainier:
www.johnpurcellauthor.com/blog/new-sho...
The Collaborators:
www.johnpurcellauthor.com/blog/new-sho...
Rainier:
www.johnpurcellauthor.com/blog/new-sho...
Seascraper is such a perfect little novel. Keeps within its world. Happy to be a small story beautifully told. Captures the strange pull of dreary places so well. The power of being expert in one thing, no matter how small. The sharp tang of the new. And the tug of big, unlikely dreams on all of us.
November 13, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Seascraper is such a perfect little novel. Keeps within its world. Happy to be a small story beautifully told. Captures the strange pull of dreary places so well. The power of being expert in one thing, no matter how small. The sharp tang of the new. And the tug of big, unlikely dreams on all of us.
If a novel has been in the bestsellers list for two hundred plus years, it's safe to say, the author got something very, very right. So, when turning it into a film, there is only one safe approach, keep it as close to the original as possible. There endeth the lesson.
November 7, 2025 at 9:46 PM
If a novel has been in the bestsellers list for two hundred plus years, it's safe to say, the author got something very, very right. So, when turning it into a film, there is only one safe approach, keep it as close to the original as possible. There endeth the lesson.
Tom Gauld on the desk of a late, great author – cartoon www.theguardian.com/books/pictur...
Tom Gauld on the desk of a late, great author – cartoon
Lacks polish, has legs …
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Tom Gauld on the desk of a late, great author – cartoon www.theguardian.com/books/pictur...
42 Writers, Editors, and Booksellers on the Best Books They've Read in the Last 25 Years
lithub.com/58-books-you...
lithub.com/58-books-you...
58 Books You Need to Read (Recommended by People Who Know)
In honor of Literary Hub’s tenth birthday, we asked over 200 authors, editors, booksellers, publishing professionals, and other literary luminaries to weigh in on a few questions about the pa…
lithub.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:46 AM
42 Writers, Editors, and Booksellers on the Best Books They've Read in the Last 25 Years
lithub.com/58-books-you...
lithub.com/58-books-you...
Thank fuck for books. No other media can explore ideas as thoroughly, thoughtfully or as intelligently.
Yes, I am watching a documentary on TV.
Yes, I am watching a documentary on TV.
October 15, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Thank fuck for books. No other media can explore ideas as thoroughly, thoughtfully or as intelligently.
Yes, I am watching a documentary on TV.
Yes, I am watching a documentary on TV.
Reposted by John Purcell
On the Reading train is a trip down memory lane. Last century sat opposite F.R.Leavis .He disappeared into the toilet, leaving his briefcase on the seat. What was a young English Lit student to do ? What if Leavis had joined God’s other Great Critics in the sky?
October 11, 2025 at 7:02 AM
On the Reading train is a trip down memory lane. Last century sat opposite F.R.Leavis .He disappeared into the toilet, leaving his briefcase on the seat. What was a young English Lit student to do ? What if Leavis had joined God’s other Great Critics in the sky?
Reposted by John Purcell
Marina Hyde nails the AI bosses' brazen theft of work that legally belongs to its creators. The tech bros say their industry will collapse without stealing our stuff - it's that valuable. But also so unimportant & worthless they won't pay for it or ask consent.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
It’s Sam Altman: the man who stole the rights from copyright. If he’s the future, can we go backwards? | Marina Hyde
His AI video generator Sora 2 has been reviled for pinching the work of others. One giant leap for Sam: for everyone else, not so much, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Marina Hyde nails the AI bosses' brazen theft of work that legally belongs to its creators. The tech bros say their industry will collapse without stealing our stuff - it's that valuable. But also so unimportant & worthless they won't pay for it or ask consent.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A bookshop announcing the cancellation of an author event just said the quiet part out loud:
'Unfortunately due to lack of numbers we have had to cancel this event. We apologise for any inconvenience.'
Pretty much every author's worst nightmare (and daily reality).
The truth must not out.
'Unfortunately due to lack of numbers we have had to cancel this event. We apologise for any inconvenience.'
Pretty much every author's worst nightmare (and daily reality).
The truth must not out.
October 10, 2025 at 10:41 PM
A bookshop announcing the cancellation of an author event just said the quiet part out loud:
'Unfortunately due to lack of numbers we have had to cancel this event. We apologise for any inconvenience.'
Pretty much every author's worst nightmare (and daily reality).
The truth must not out.
'Unfortunately due to lack of numbers we have had to cancel this event. We apologise for any inconvenience.'
Pretty much every author's worst nightmare (and daily reality).
The truth must not out.
Reposted by John Purcell
“He had no doubt that she had earmarked him for future use, in which case she had made a grave mistake. He was not so stupid as to take her on trust or to tolerate any demands she might make of him. No doubt she thought to seduce him into this.” #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/a...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/a...
A Private View by Anita Brookner
I’ve been making my way through Anita Brookner’s exquisitely written novels slowly but steadily over the past eight years. As a long-term reading project, I’m finding it fascinating to see how Broo…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:08 AM
“He had no doubt that she had earmarked him for future use, in which case she had made a grave mistake. He was not so stupid as to take her on trust or to tolerate any demands she might make of him. No doubt she thought to seduce him into this.” #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/a...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/a...
'A stunning tour de force, Man in the Holocene constructs a powerful vision of our place in the world by combining the banality of an aging man's lonely inner life and the objective facts he finds in the books of his isolated home.'
Delightful Saturday reading.
Or my life.
Delightful Saturday reading.
Or my life.
October 3, 2025 at 10:45 PM
'A stunning tour de force, Man in the Holocene constructs a powerful vision of our place in the world by combining the banality of an aging man's lonely inner life and the objective facts he finds in the books of his isolated home.'
Delightful Saturday reading.
Or my life.
Delightful Saturday reading.
Or my life.
Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones was just on. I have heard their stuff all my life so I never pay any attention to their lyrics. Then I thought I heard something lewd. So, of course, I looked it up.
Yep, that's what I heard.
Yep, that's what I heard.
October 3, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones was just on. I have heard their stuff all my life so I never pay any attention to their lyrics. Then I thought I heard something lewd. So, of course, I looked it up.
Yep, that's what I heard.
Yep, that's what I heard.
I think it's odd that after all this time publishers are still not aware of all the unintended signals they send to cautious booksellers about their upcoming titles.
Long before the marketing kicks in publishers might have killed a book's chances by any number of, for them, workaday decisions.
Long before the marketing kicks in publishers might have killed a book's chances by any number of, for them, workaday decisions.
September 27, 2025 at 10:11 PM
I think it's odd that after all this time publishers are still not aware of all the unintended signals they send to cautious booksellers about their upcoming titles.
Long before the marketing kicks in publishers might have killed a book's chances by any number of, for them, workaday decisions.
Long before the marketing kicks in publishers might have killed a book's chances by any number of, for them, workaday decisions.
Reposted by John Purcell
I do! I do love to see it!!
You luv to see it: @roffwrites.bsky.social’s Here Are My Demands is fiction-book-of-the-week in the Age/SMH! “meticulously constructed speculative fiction, which shows off a command of novelistic structure & form..philosophical ambit & sharp insights (of his debut)” www.theage.com.au/culture/book...
From serial-killer chiller to the history of play: 10 new books
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction titles
www.theage.com.au
September 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
I do! I do love to see it!!
Reposted by John Purcell
Are blurbs and endorsements on book covers pointless? Author @damonyoung.com.au digs into whether the industry should do away with the puff.
To Puff or Not to Puff
Do away with blurbs? I don’t think so.
www.killyourdarlings.com.au
September 25, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Are blurbs and endorsements on book covers pointless? Author @damonyoung.com.au digs into whether the industry should do away with the puff.
You can tell when a writer hasn't done the work. I don't mean research, I mean, hasn't lived fully. Hasn't read widely & deeply. Hasn't tried to see the world as it is, even if they only have access to a small patch of it. Hasn't taken the time to befriend people they have nothing in common with. 🌍📚
September 24, 2025 at 9:44 PM
You can tell when a writer hasn't done the work. I don't mean research, I mean, hasn't lived fully. Hasn't read widely & deeply. Hasn't tried to see the world as it is, even if they only have access to a small patch of it. Hasn't taken the time to befriend people they have nothing in common with. 🌍📚
I only just noticed the quote on the front of Gliff by Ali Smith.
'Miraculous... tender, hilarious and ultimately uplifting. A ray of hope' Paul Murray, Irish Times
Hilarious?
'Miraculous... tender, hilarious and ultimately uplifting. A ray of hope' Paul Murray, Irish Times
Hilarious?
September 23, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I only just noticed the quote on the front of Gliff by Ali Smith.
'Miraculous... tender, hilarious and ultimately uplifting. A ray of hope' Paul Murray, Irish Times
Hilarious?
'Miraculous... tender, hilarious and ultimately uplifting. A ray of hope' Paul Murray, Irish Times
Hilarious?
Reposted by John Purcell
It felt like Australian publishing was shrinking with mergers and the shock closure of Meanjin - waiting to see the full story behind that!
But there's a few new players bring fresh energy and new books in recent months.
With thanks to @jocaseau.bsky.social for excellent editing.
But there's a few new players bring fresh energy and new books in recent months.
With thanks to @jocaseau.bsky.social for excellent editing.
5 new Australian publishers are making defiant, weird, grass-roots books
The launch of 5 new Australian book publishers is good news, for once. Meet Perentie Press, Pink Shorts Press, Evercreech Editions, Aniko Press and Bakers Lane Books.
theconversation.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:38 AM
It felt like Australian publishing was shrinking with mergers and the shock closure of Meanjin - waiting to see the full story behind that!
But there's a few new players bring fresh energy and new books in recent months.
With thanks to @jocaseau.bsky.social for excellent editing.
But there's a few new players bring fresh energy and new books in recent months.
With thanks to @jocaseau.bsky.social for excellent editing.
Opinion pieces follow the same tiresome pattern. Headline promising a solution. Retreat in the opening passages to dull scene setting, often with way too much personal information. Followed by detailed reiteration of the problem & a recap of the current inciting incident. Then, no solution. End.
September 18, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Opinion pieces follow the same tiresome pattern. Headline promising a solution. Retreat in the opening passages to dull scene setting, often with way too much personal information. Followed by detailed reiteration of the problem & a recap of the current inciting incident. Then, no solution. End.
Reposted by John Purcell
Are you starving for beauty? Well feast your eyes on the official 2026 Smith & Taylor Classics line-up!
📮 Preorder our annual subscription service at unnamedpress.com now to receive books throughout the year!
📮 Preorder our annual subscription service at unnamedpress.com now to receive books throughout the year!
September 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Are you starving for beauty? Well feast your eyes on the official 2026 Smith & Taylor Classics line-up!
📮 Preorder our annual subscription service at unnamedpress.com now to receive books throughout the year!
📮 Preorder our annual subscription service at unnamedpress.com now to receive books throughout the year!
Just saw a novel called Water Dressed in Brown. Which I know as an Ani DiFranco lyric. 'And the coffee is just water dressed in brown.' Which is probably what the title is referring to because it's about being young in the nineties. But now I'm wondering if DiFranco is quoting a famous line? Anyone?
September 10, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Just saw a novel called Water Dressed in Brown. Which I know as an Ani DiFranco lyric. 'And the coffee is just water dressed in brown.' Which is probably what the title is referring to because it's about being young in the nineties. But now I'm wondering if DiFranco is quoting a famous line? Anyone?
Reposted by John Purcell
When you tell people you're trying to sell one novel and are writing another, they look at you like you've just told them you soil yourself because you enjoy it.
September 8, 2025 at 11:11 AM
When you tell people you're trying to sell one novel and are writing another, they look at you like you've just told them you soil yourself because you enjoy it.
Reposted by John Purcell
Deal news! Really excited to share that @justinehausheer.bsky.social's book debut, "The Vanishing Wild. Australian Wildlife and the Fight Against Extinction", will be appearing courtesy of @newsouthpublishing.bsky.social in May next year! unsw.press/news/the-van...
NewSouth Acquires Justine E. Hausheer's The Vanishing Wild
NewSouth Publishing is thrilled to announce the acquisition of world rights to The Vanishing Wild: Australian Wildlife and the Fight Against Extinction, via literary agent Martin Shaw, a powerful and ...
unsw.press
September 10, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Deal news! Really excited to share that @justinehausheer.bsky.social's book debut, "The Vanishing Wild. Australian Wildlife and the Fight Against Extinction", will be appearing courtesy of @newsouthpublishing.bsky.social in May next year! unsw.press/news/the-van...
I have never been made to feel so complicit in my own demise and the demise of all that is good about modern democracy. A chilling but necessary read.
September 8, 2025 at 9:19 PM
I have never been made to feel so complicit in my own demise and the demise of all that is good about modern democracy. A chilling but necessary read.
I am surprised every time I rediscover John Galsworthy won The Nobel Prize for Literature. According to Wikipedia 'Galsworthy himself did not think he deserved the award. "As the least worthy of the Nobel prizemen honoured today I shall have but few words to say", he wrote in his acceptance speech.'
September 6, 2025 at 3:24 AM
I am surprised every time I rediscover John Galsworthy won The Nobel Prize for Literature. According to Wikipedia 'Galsworthy himself did not think he deserved the award. "As the least worthy of the Nobel prizemen honoured today I shall have but few words to say", he wrote in his acceptance speech.'