Author, friend and Tsuno user Anna Snoekstra not only writes her own fantastic stories, but is also my personal book recommender. Over the last few years she has curated my reading experience, hand-picking a book for me from her library depending on my interest and mood, I've gone from being not much of a reader, to a keen one. Kindly, she is extending this service to you all with a monthly book recommendation in our Tsuno Monthly email, focusing on Aussie fiction, old and new, for those times a heat pack and curling up with a good book is the best thing you could do for yourself.

I sat down with Anna and asked some questions so you could all meet the talented woman behind the recommendations!

Please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

Hello! I’m an Author of creepy books about morally-complicated women. You can find them here. I love writing novels because it allows me to live more than one life at a time. Sometimes I’ll be in another world for years while I’m doing my own regular things like walking to the train station, having showers and cooking dinner. Most recently, I was freediving off the coast of the Kimberley with a group of international travelers living off the grid. Now, half of my mind is with an Aussie family in Los Angeles, trying to cover up a nasty little secret.

 How do you navigate your creative practice and your menstrual cycle?

I’m currently pregnant, so I don’t have my period. It’s been nice to have a break to be honest! I have bad associations with my period so I often try to ignore it as much as I can, but I want to try and change this relationship. When my period returns I want to be more active in tracking its phases. I also suffer from migraines that are linked to certain points in my cycle so I know that my period affects my brain and body drastically and I want to embrace that and harness it for good!

I know it might be taboo to ask someone to pick their favourite child, but I’m going to anyway, which story that you’ve written is your favourite and why?

My favorite is always the next one, because it’s all potential! So at the moment, my favorite is This Isn’t Happening. It’s actually an audio drama, rather than a novel. It comes out on May 10th, so not far away at all! It’s about Margot, a scholarship law student who has a fling with her classmate Sam that goes badly. The story takes place over a dinner they have together at a luxurious French restaurant, where Margot plans to exact a plan of revenge. But Sam arrives late and is acting increasingly strangely. His hands are shaking, he’s nervous and jumpy; he’s behaving nothing like the privileged charmer she knows. I had the best time writing this cat-and-mouse style thriller and I can’t wait for everyone to be able to hear it! 

What has been inspiring you this week?

This week I’m…

Reading: Elizabeth Strout recently released her new book in the Lucy Barton series, Lucy on the Shore. I decided to restart the series, starting with My Name is Lucy Barton, then the exquisite Anything is Possible collection of short stories from Lucy’s hometown, then Oh William! which is about Lucy’s first husband. These books are so tender and giving, I love them. 

Watching: Like a LOT of people I’m currently watching Beef, the Netflix show about a road-rage incident which connects two strangers who both have a lot of repressed aggression! It’s funny but also smart and I love the short episodes because my brain feels fried at the end of the day at the moment.

Eating: I recently bought Hetty McKinnon’s cookbook Family. This was a real treat for me because I rarely buy cookbooks. I’ve been making recipes from Hetty’s instagram for over a year now though so I knew it would be a good investment. I love sitting down with a cookbook and actually reading the full introduction and notes the whole way through and getting a sense of the chef’s philosophy. My favorite recipe from her so far is her sheet pan kimchi fried rice.

If you'd like to hear more from Anna, sign up to our email (find the link in our footer) and keep an eye out for her segment- Novel Distractions, or follow her on Instagram @snoekstra.