Perth, in Western Australia, is the second most isolated capital city in the world, as it is 2104km (1307 miles) to the next city. Auckland in New Zealand beats us by a mere 49kms to take the title of the most isolated capital city.

One of my first Dreamspinner novels I ever read was Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy, and I was over the moon when I realised he lived in my city. I tried making contact with him via email and his website but received no response. After I published my first book with DSP, I tried again, and finally he replied. I was excited and just want to talk books and writing with someone in person. So I suggested we meet for coffee.

It took months. Seriously. Sean was initially lukewarm on the idea, as if I were trying to torture him. I promised I wouldn’t fangirl over him, and reluctantly he agreed. Finally we set a date and time, and I set off to our meeting place. In the back of my mind, I didn’t think he’d show. I wondered if he was fudging his location and he really lived somewhere else and didn’t know how to confess. I wondered if I’d get a message during the morning with some “emergency” which meant he had to cancel. I really didn’t think he would show.

But there he was! We met, and we immediately clicked and started yakking like we were old friends. It was great. About an hour into our coffee date, he told me he had to ring his best friend. He had been worried that I was some sort of stalker-slash-serial-killer and had arranged for his best friend to rescue him. He needed to cancel the rescue party now that he saw I was (semi) normal.

We still laugh at our preconceptions.

Now we meet for coffee regularly with other m/m readers and writers we’ve found in Perth. Coffee lasts all day, starting as soon as the kids can be dropped at school, and only ends because school is finishing.

And yes, we yak about books and writing… but a heck of a lot of other stuff too.

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Celebration of Community: Eli Easton and Jamie Fessenden

Celebration of Community: Damon Suede, Tere Michaels, Victoria Sue, and KC Burn

Celebration of Community: Tara Lain, BA Tortuga, and Julia Talbot