Here’s a little throwback photo from the amazing archives of Bryan Cook, who documented the bands and audiences of Surry Hills’ infamous Hopetoun Hotel in the 1980s and 1990s. That’s me with the dark hair, checking out a secret mashup performance of Died Pretty + Ratcat in mid-1991 in the smoky bowels of the Hoey. Portions of Cook’s copious archive have been turned into a book (as well as a multimedia VR experience) – Spirits of the Hoey, by Liz Giuffre and Greg Ferris. This photo of me turned up as part of a talk about the project given at the State Library of NSW on Monday night. Ah, good times! https://melbournebooks.com.au/products/spirits-of-the-hoey-a-love-letter-to-the-hopetoun-hotel
Megan (middle) enjoying a Died Pretty/ Ratcat mashup band with other punters, Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills in 1991.
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I have some wonderful news- I have a publishing deal. I’m not allowed to say who it is just yet, but it is very exciting and on top of that, is a two-book deal. Woohoo! And Mood Violet (or whatever it is eventually titled) should be out sometime in 2027, possibly as early as April. OMG! After all the hard work and many rejections and slapdowns… it’s uplifting and super gratifying news!! Perhaps I’m not completely insane, after all!
We all love a complex female protagonist, don’t we? Throwback here to my interactive narrative work from 1997 – I Am A Singer – where fictional Australian singer Isobel Jones suffers amnesia on the eve of a big US tour. In I Am a Singer the user navigates through Isobel’s public media presence, diary entries and passport to help her regain her memory and her lost sense of self. I Am A Singer was exhibited extensively internationally, gaining praise for its innovative approach to interactive digital storytelling. It won several new media awards and I travelled to numerous exhibitions in Australia, France, USA, Japan etc to showcase the potential of digital storytelling. Way back before Instagram or FB existed, and the internet was slow slow slow.
Here’s Isobel below, outside the Sebel Townhouse hotel in Sydney’s Kings Cross, fending off fans and pesky reporters. The video content was shot on Super 8, then digitised. Tiny video, as required in 1996.
But after working with interactive and digital media for many years, I’ve returned to the essence of my creative work – storytelling. In my novel Mood Violet, university lecturer Tish Newman loves teaching film until a student targets her with violent hidden messages, threatening the world she’s built for herself and her young daughter Lily. When a small mistake unravels everything, Tish must play a dangerous game, confronting the truth of her student’s obsession under the shadow of an institution that fails to protect her.
Another complex female protagonist, with lots of twists, red herrings and buried trauma. Hopefully coming to a wonderful publisher and then a bookstore near you – soon soon soon I hope!!
New year, new plans, some exciting things are happening in the background, and in the meantime I can’t help myself having a little play in Photoshop. It’s something I do for fun, throwing things together without getting too stressed about it. I’ve just started working on a new novel too, another thriller. Let’s see what the new year brings!
In incredible, wonderful news, I’ve been shortlisted in the Australian Fiction Prize 2025 for Mood Violet. The Australian Fiction Prize is a competition run by The Australian and Harper Collins for the best unpublished manuscript. The prize is $20,000 cash, a $15,000 advance and a publishing deal with Harper Collins Australia. AMAZING!! There are only 5 authors shortlisted out of nearly 300 entries. I’m still in shock! It’s so encouraging after all the hard work. Good luck to us all!
<UPDATE: The Fiction Prize was won by Troy Henderson, but I’ve had some little wins too…>
After all the hard work on MOOD VIOLET, some thrilling news is about to drop… and here are a couple of images I’ve made just for fun. Will update re the news very soon! BTW Mood Violet is the current working title, and this could change. These images are simply me playing around. All images are mine, shot ’em myself, photoshopped myself, absolutely no AI around here. I taught digital media for years, I should be able to create a bit…
In some exciting news, my short story SMALL TREACHERIES has been shortlisted for the national Scarlett Stiletto Awards, 2025. The Scarlett Stiletto’s are one of Australia’s richest short story competitions showcasing women writers. The full shortlist is included below. More info about the awards here:- https://sistersincrime.org.au/scarlet-stiletto-awards-2025/
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Here are some moody little videos I’ve created (original video and audio) in After Effects for my novel Mood Violet… I’m posting these to Insta under the Odibha_ handle. Just for fun and as a test for Instagram promos. So, for any potential publishers or literary agents out there – yes I can make good content for socials!! Even for my character, not just me… The text excerpts are from Chapter 2 and Chapter 10.
Of course the manuscript title is a working title at this stage too … Nothing set in stone.
Moody Instagram videos created for MOOD VIOLET. All text, image and sound by Megan Heyward.
I’ve recently completed a really thorough edit of MOOD VIOLET, my 90,000 word psychological thriller set in a university. It’s a gripping, twisty psychological thriller blended with dark academia with a strong, complex female protagonist.
University is a sanctuary for film lecturer TISH NEWMAN, until a student with a dark obsession submits creative work targeting her with hidden messages, threatening the world she’s built for herself and her young daughter and seeking to betray her own secrets. Now Tish must play a dangerous game to confront the truth of her student’s violent obsession.
I’ve just sent the full manuscript off to the Harper Collins Australian Fiction Prize. Yes, I was super inspired after the Writers NSW Open Day with Harper Collins, where I had to submit the opening 6500 words. I was incredibly fortunate to get feedback from the legendary Head of Fiction at HC, Catherine Milne. She was incredibly positive!! Urged me to send it in to the competition! So I did.
I’ve also entered opening chapters in a couple of other publishing opportunities. Will start looking for an agent very soon. Meanwhile I have had some fun playing around in Photoshop, After Effects etc, to create an Instagram for my protagonist, Tish. You can find it at Odibha_ on Insta. How to remember that? It’s ‘one day I’ll be happy again’.
I mentioned a while back that my early CD-ROM interactive narrative I Am A Singer (1997) had been selected as a part of an ARC research project to bring back early Australian interactive works and make them available to new audiences using an emulation system – EaaSI – developed by Yale university researchers. This project, run out of Swinburne University and headed by Professor Melanie Swalwell, will be officially launched later in 2025. It’s CD-ROM redux time!! I Am A Singer is an interactive narrative about a fictional young Australian musician- Isobel Jones- who is suffering amnesia, and trying to piece together the conflicting threads of information about herself into a meaningful sense of self. The work was widely exhibited and nationally and internationally ‘back in the day’, in a time well before social media and influencers, and includes image, text, audio, video and original music written by well known Australian songwriter Phil Kakulas of The Black Eyed Susans. Will post the link once it is live.
Below is a snippet of the work recorded on mobile phone, running on a vintage Macintosh in the ELL media archaeology lab, Washington State University, 2019. Until now, this is the only way it could be seen – running on beautifully preserved old machines.
Handheld video snippet of ‘I Am A Singer’ (1997) running on vintage Mac in ELL lab, Nov 2019.
Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Megan Heyward is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given with appropriate direction to the original content.
