How apt is this timing? How are you launching it and getting the word out? Your book is being launched during coronavirus social distancing. It also means I’ve been given lots of delicious donuts since the book came out, so I have Jess to thank for that. They eat them together, not saying much, because Erin is not usually able to process and verbalise straight away, and it’s this lovely little sign of their friendship. The donuts come from a ritual in the book, where Erin’s best friend Dee brings her donuts when she has had a bad day. I particularly like the scrunched paper effect that makes it look like a letter that Erin maybe started writing to her brother Rudy, and discarded midway through. And I got to include a scene with the nightmare-inducing giant roundabout that scares the heck out of everyone doing their driving exam in Cleveland, so that was fun.īecause the cover designer Jessica Horrocks is incredible! She managed to use elements from the story without giving too much away, and I think the result is beautiful. It also gave me the chance to include Minjerribah, the island that sits in the bay and is visible from the mainland, which is an incredibly special place. Setting my debut novel in my hometown felt like a natural choice and allowed me to draw on the strong sense of place that comes from spending your formative years somewhere. It is where I spent most of my childhood years. It is set in Cleveland, which is a coastal suburb in the Redlands, southeast of Brisbane. I love the positive response the title is getting, especially in the context of the pandemic. She spends a lot of time trying to figure out how to navigate the social expectation and ensuing awkwardness, and Please Don’t Hug Me seemed to capture the balance of seriousness and humour of that moment, and the rest of the book. The title came about when I was working on a part of the book where the protagonist Erin is contemplating the politics and rules around hugging, and how they are different for every person.
I had a really hard time committing to a title and Please Don’t Hug Me was called Book 1 for a long time.
Your title, Please Don’t Hug Me (Text Publishing) is eye-catching and memorable.
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