Ruby Todd is an Australian writer, creative arts researcher and teacher, with a PhD in Writing & Literature.

She is the recipient of the inaugural 2020 Furphy Literary Award, the 2019 Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest award for Fiction, and the 2016 AAWP Chapter One Prize. She has completed residencies at The Wheeler Centre and La Trobe University, and her work has appeared in Ploughshares, the Guardian, LitHub, Crazyhorse, Overland and elsewhere.

Ruby was Shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.

What's inside this episode?

• Listen to Ruby’s journey through self-doubt, disillusionment, and near-abandonment, and how she ultimately found the resilience to persevere.
• Hear how short stories served as a crucial training ground and source of inspiration for Ruby, helping her hone her craft and gain recognition for her writing.
• Believe Ruby when she says that there's no one "right" way to write and how to identify the creative process that works for you.
• Ruby discusses the challenges of incorporating scientific accuracy into her fiction and working with experts to ensure credibility.
• Hear an important discussion on the collaborative process of working with two editors from different territories (Australia and the US), while retaining the integrity of her story.

Listen now if you need...

... A raw and powerful glimpse into the vulnerable heart of a writer, capturing that often-unspoken experience of facing creative endeavours with a mix of ambition and a longing for a simpler, less emotionally taxing path.

My favourite quote:

“There was a just a feeling that I wish I didn't want this. That I didn't kind of need the story to live beyond me. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I came quite close to giving up. But the problem is, when I stop writing, I just get really, really sad, and I kind of feel very undernourished. So it was never going to happen.”

What is the last book that Ruby read and loved? Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Bright Objects by Ruby Todd is available to purchase wherever you buy your books. Alternatively, check in with your local library. If they don’t have a copy yet, put in a request!

Extra (important) information!

✨ You can find Ruby Todd (she/her) at ruby-todd.com

✨ Download The Ultimate Checklist to PREPARE, WRITE and PITCH your Book for FREE!

✨ Subscribe to The Writer, seeks. (I answer writing and publishing questions - for free!!)

✨ Join the Debut Books private writing community!

✨ Buy my debut book, The Little Black Book of Publishing!

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✨ Check out Big Pitch Energy, a self-paced online course to help you pitch and submit your manuscript to Australian agents and publishers with clarity and confidence.

👋🏼 Until next time friend!