Book News

A woman wearing a hooded jacket and shoulder bag, holding orange headphones.

So I did an audiobook thingy…

Back when we published Black and Blue, it occurred to me that we should probably have an audiobook version of it – particularly for accessibility reasons, given that most of my clients have low or no vision.

We looked at a few voice actors, but had trouble finding someone:

  • with the right ethnic and cultural background (if you’ve read the book, you’ll hopefully understand why a white person probably shouldn’t be reading for Jade’s mum in the 21st century),
  • who could stay in a convincing Australian accent 99% of the time,
  • with a good home recording studio setup,
  • that we could actually afford.
Mockup of a reader holding a mobile phone displaying Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh, with earbuds plugged into a headphone jack.
Image credit: AllAuthor

Long story short, a few people suggested I should just read it myself. So I did, but it ended up taking a few years to complete, lol. That’s what happens when you don’t pay people what they’re worth. 😜

In all sincerity, thank you to my colleagues at VisAbility for volunteering their time to bring an audiobook of Black and Blue into the world.

That meant, among other things, painstakingly listening to my voice. For hours. Hours. You think I’m sitting around listening to hours of myself talk? Hell no! But these amazing humans subjected themselves to it willingly.

Right now, the audio is just available at VisAbility Library – so you’ll need to have a print disability to download it. But I may make it commercially available in due course if that’s what people want. 😉

Download Black and Blue from VisAbility Library.

Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect the views of my employer or any other staff members.

Close-up of a pair of hands typing on a typewriter.

Sonnet No.1 implies the existence of further sonnets

I haven’t written many sonnets. I mean, they’re often poems about love and I hate everyone. Just kidding. I’ve just traditionally been more of a free verse and blank verse girl, I guess.

But I did pen my first ever sonnet earlier this year, creatively titled “Sonnet No.1”. (Hey, it’s good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for me.)

Front cover of The Other Side of Pain: poetry, art, and photos by members of the poetry club. The cover features a black and white close-up of a woman holding a lit match in front of her face.
The Other Side of Pain: poetry, art, and photos by members of the poetry club.
November 2023 member magazine.

You can find “Sonnet No.1” in the official 2023 Poetry Club member magazine. The theme was healing and the collection is called The Other Side of Pain. It’s available as a free downloadable ebook so go check it out! You might even discover your new favourite poet/artist (probably not me, but I’ll be flattered if it’s me, lol).

Read The Other Side of Pain by the Poetry Club.

I’m planning to release a poetry book at some point… but first I need to sculpt my scraps into a reasonably coherent collection. 😉

Text reads: The burnout bar. Background contains photo of a fuel gauge close to empty.

The burnout bar

Hey blog world. I’m not dead! Just really busy. And sleep deprived (yay for chronic insomnia).

But it’s the WA Day public holiday here in Western Australia, so I carved out some time to pen a few thoughts. And with “state daddy” Mark McGowan announcing his resignation as Premier and Member for Rockingham a week ago due to burnout, it got me thinking about my own breaking point.

It was late on a Sunday afternoon in the summer of 2012. I was in my friend’s car, and he was driving me home from the Scarborough pub that would later loosely inspire the Sherlock Arms in Black and Blue.

But that manuscript was still a while away. On this Sunday, I was just a girl in a car, crying because I had to go to my Toxic Job the next day.

I would continue to alternate between crying, nausea and total numbness every week until I finally quit that job with nothing lined up. I was still at the beginning of my career, but I’d always been quite anxious and cautious – so up until that moment, I never thought I’d be the person who left a job without a backup plan.

I realise many people don’t have the luxury of being able to do that anyway. But I did, I took the chance and I don’t regret it. I was burnt out and dying inside.

It’s been 10 years now but I did actually learn a lot from Toxic Job. Like how not to behave as a professional… Think workplace affairs between managers and direct reports, threats against ex-employees, exploitation of recent graduates less likely to know how to advocate for themselves, and just gross misconduct.

But more to the point, Toxic Job became my bar.

I have high levels of social anxiety and moderate levels of generalised anxiety. I find I have to put up with things I’m uncomfortable with pretty much every day of my life in order to participate in society. That’s just the way it is, and it can be exhausting, but I handle it.

However, Toxic Job is the standard I won’t walk past. If anything ever gets as bad or feels as icky as that, whether it’s in a professional or personal context, I’m checking out.

Writing-wise, things are moving pretty slowly but I’ve got two projects in the works: my second novel and a poetry collection. So that will probably be books 2 and 3 – I don’t know which will be ready first at this stage, but that answer should reveal itself in due course.

A cup of coffee on a wooden desk with a laptop, camera, and notebook.

My Book Reality interview… and a reading of Black and Blue

Back in August, I sat down for a Zoom interview with Ian Hooper, executive director of Leschenault Press and The Book Reality Experience.

That interview is now up on YouTube:

Book Realities vodcast interview with Lee-Ann Khoh

I’m a little awkward but hey, it’s my first recorded interview. Awkwardness is on brand for me anyway. 😄

You can also get a sneak peek – or should I say, sneak listen – of Chapter One of Black and Blue:

A reading from Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh

If you’re wondering why I intro’d and outro’d this while standing at the door, it’s because hearing my own voice usually causes me to make a quick getaway. Just kidding… but seriously.

Be sure to check out the other author interviews on the Book Realities podcast… ’cause there are plenty of interesting writers who aren’t me! In fact, most of the interesting writers on the planet are not me. 😛

Close-up of someone holding up a DSLR camera.

My interview with AllAuthor

If you’ve seen my sweet book mockups on social media, like this…

Mockup of Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh displayed on the side of a bus shelter. A person sits on a bench looking out towards the street.

…then you can thank AllAuthor for those. 🙂

Anyway, my recent interview with Mady Joshi at AllAuthor has now been published and you can check it out below:

Lee-Ann Khoh latest interview by AllAuthor Author of Black and Blue, Lee-Ann Khoh grew up in Perth, Western Australia. She used to spend entire weekends just reading books when she was growing up. She studied journalism before deciding to write her own stories. She has also written a story titled “Aiden’s Flowers” in the collection, Flash Fiction Magazine – Issue 1. She is a sucker for beautiful bookish things. Read full interview…

Edited to add: Apparently the first thing I said in this interview is wrong. It’s one of those things you get taught when you grow up in Perth, much like “Black swans are only found in WA” which I’ve since discovered is untrue. 😄

Good thing I write fiction and not geography books!