Guess who's coming to Orange? Bestselling author Rachael Treasure knows Orange well because she studied at CSU (then Orange Agricultural College). Rachael is about to release her seventh book The Farmer's Wife – a sequel to her first bestseller Jillaroo, which has become an iconic work of rural romance fiction. Rachael currently lives in southern rural Tasmania with her two young children, Rosie and Charlie. Rachael is passionate about encouraging non-readers to read, inspiring farmers to consider regenerative agricultural practices and animal handlers to better understand their dogs and livestock. Meet Rachael at Orange City Library, 147 Byng Street, Orange on Friday 19th April at 5.30pm. Please let us know you are coming along by calling the Library on 6393 8132. ?Treasure writes with true grit, wit and warmth? Australian Women?s Weekly. The event is supported by Collins Booksellers, Orange. See you there!

Discover the extraordinary true story of Ned Kelly's mother, a woman whose life journey is told with sympathy, compassion and above all honesty. Author Noelene Allen will be at Orange City Library on Wednesday 27th March at 5.30pm to talk about the Kelly family. The book includes more than 40 photographs, some never seen outside the Kelly family before. The story of Ellen Kelly's life is a remarkable one. The love of Ellen's life is taken from her at an early age, she is faced with bringing up her children on her own. She will do anything for her children including spending time in gaol for protecting her teenage daughter Kate from the unwanted advances of a police officer. The strength of the women in the Kelly family becomes clear as the author shares many previously untold anecdotes about the mother of Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly.

Author talk with Noelene Allen Ellen: A Woman of Spirit, Wednesday 27th March, 5.30pm, Orange City Library, 147 Byng Street, Orange. Please RSVP to the Library on 6393 8132

For anyone who has even lost their job, been downsized or simply wants to change their life, meet the author of an inspiring true-life story, The Diaries of a Corporate Princess, Hacy Tobias when she speaks at Orange City Library on Monday 25 March at 5.30pm. After 33 years in the corporate world and as a global general manager, author Hacy Tobias suddenly finds herself without a job at age 52. Written with a raw honesty and Bridget Jones wit, Hacy details the transition from a high-flying executive and corporate princess to becoming her own boss and eventual small business princess.

Making the difficult switch from a corporation of thousands to an organisation of one, Hacy comes to terms with the loss of her corporate identity and begins a new journey, learning the skills required to start her own business. True to life, Hacy experiences two steps forward and one step back while recounting her story with wit and humour. The Diaries of a Corporate Princess has the reader laughing one moment and reaching for a tissue the next, as Hacy plans a new future. The event is supported by the Hardback Cafe, Orange.

Hacy's book has been described as "brillant, timely and universal".

Author talk with Hacy Tobias Diaries of a Corporate Princess Monday 25 March 5.30pm - 7pm Orange City Library, 147 Byng Street, Orange Please RSVP to the Library on 6393 8132 Supported by the Hardback Cafe, Orange

The stars and planets are at the heart of a novel that writer Melanie Joosten will work on during a month-long residency in Orange. Melanie has arrived in Orange and will be guest speaker at Orange City Library on Wednesday 5th December at 5.30pm. Come along to hear about her latest writing project.

Melanie will also present a Writing Good Fiction Workshop on Saturday 8th December from 10.30am – 12.30pm. This workshop will cover the basics of creative writing by asking participants to interrogate the elements of good fiction. How do you create memorable characters? How do you find your writing voice? How do you create narrative tension? How can setting convey emotion? What do you do with a piece of writing that's just not working? What use is an unreliable narrator? How do you find something to write about? How can reading help you write? Please call the Library on 6393 8132 to book your place at these events. Writing Australia, a consortium of the state and territory writers' centres, has developed this new regional residency scheme, titled 'Places', to support the writing of new Australian works.

Meet Peter Fitzsimons at Orange City Library, 147 Byng, Street, Orange on Wednesday 21 November at 12.30pm. You are most welcome to bring your lunch to enjoy in the Library. He will talk about his latest book Eureka the Unfinished Revolution. Please call Collins Booksellers on 6393 1333 or the Library on 6393 8125 to book your place.

In 1854, Victorian miners fought a deadly battle under the flag of the Southern Cross at the Eureka Stockade. Though brief and doomed to fail, the battle is legend in both our history and in the Australian mind. Henry Lawson wrote poems about it, its symbolic flag is still raised, and even the nineteenth-century visitor Mark Twain called it: "a strike for liberty".

Was this rebellion a fledgling nation's first attempt to assert its independence under colonial rule? Or was it merely rabble-rousing by unruly miners determined not to pay their taxes. In his inimitable style, Peter FitzSimons gets into the hearts and minds of those on the battlefield, and those behind the scenes, bringing to life Australian legends on both sides of the rebellion. His book would make a great Christmas gift.

Come along to hear author Anita Heiss speak about books, reading and writing at Cowra Multipurpose Room, next door to Cowra Library, Darling Street, Cowra on Tuesday 13 November at 5.30pm. This is a free event but please book your place by calling the Library on 6340 2180.

Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate campaigner for Aboriginal literacy, was born a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school.

Dr. Anita Heiss is the author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women's fiction, children's fiction, social commentary and travel articles. She is a regular guest at writers' festivals and travels internationally performing her work and lecturing on Aboriginal literature. She is an Indigenous Literacy Day Ambassador and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales. Anita divides her time between writing, public speaking, MCing, and as a workshop facilitator.

The Outback Writers' Centre has invited Melaina Faranda to conduct two, day long workshops for fiction writers of all genres to help improve their skills and chances of getting published. Melaina is an international author of twenty seven YA and Children's books and infuses her teaching with vitality, generosity, acuity and unfailing sense of fun that consistently garners rave feedback from participants throughout Australia.

Saturday November 3rd's workshop, UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVITY AND DISCOVER THE GENIUS WRITER WITHIN will provide participants with the tools and writing experiences that equip them to access a deeper, more sophisticated style of writing and unique ideas and expression, and for bypassing the critical brain that stymies original creative expression.

Sunday November 4th's workshop, MAKING IT GOOD ENOUGH TO PUBLISH participants will learn how to keep up pace, hurdle common literary pitfalls, create three dimensional characters and enrich stories with sensory writing.

Workshops will be held from 10am to 4pm. Coolabah Room. Western Plains Cultural Centre. Members $70/day or $120 for the weekend. Non members $80/day or $160 for the weekend. Membership is $25/year. To find out more or secure a place email outbackwriters@gmail.com

The 2012 Free 50 Books You Can't Put Down Guide is officially available! You can pick up your copy of the Guide from your local bookstore or library. The guide is also available electronically, as a flick through or a download! Go to the Get Reading website http://www.getreading.com.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/GR-Guide-2012-WEB.pdf

And we will be hosting one of the Get Reading! selected authors Fiona McCallum. Writer of bestsellers Paycheque, Nowhere Else and now Wattle Creek. Meet her at Orange City Library on Tuesday 11th September at 12.30pm. Please let us know you can join us by calling 6393 8132. Happy reading!

Due to an overwhelming response the Short Story Workshop is now booked out. There are still tickets available to the National Year of Reading Book Club Dinner to hear Chris speak about writing and his Miles Franklin Literary Award nominated novel Bereft. This book was also nominated for the National Year of Reading vote for Our Story.

Bereft is a searing gothic novel of love, longing and justice set just when the Great War has ended. Chris Womersley's fiction and reviews have appeared in Granta, Best Australian Stories 2006, 2010 and 2011, The Griffith Review, Meanjin and The Age. His first novel The Low Road won the Ned Kelly Award for crime fiction. His second novel Bereft was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, the Australian Society of Literature Gold Medal and won the Indie Award for Best Fiction. Tickets are available for $80 per person by contacting Orange City Library on 6393 8132. Tickets include a three course meal, musical entertainment by Barry Patterson and of course Chris' talk. Please book your place and make payments before Tuesday 1 May.

And the winners of the Our Story voting for the books that collectively best describe the Australian experience are:

ACT – Smoke and Mirrors, Kel Robertson

NSW – The Idea of Home, John Hughes

NT – Listening to Country, Ros Moriarty

QLD – The White Earth, Andrew McGahan

SA – Time's Long Ruin, Stephen Orr

TAS – Wanting, Richard Flanagan

VIC – Well Done, Those Men, Barry Heard

WA – Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey

The book for NSW is The Idea of Home by John Hughes and it's a collection of five interlinked essays where Hughes' describes his relationship with the Ukraine heritage of his mother and grandfather and his childhood experience of growing up as a second generation Australian. The book was published in 2004 to wide acclaim and won the NSW Premiers' Literary Awards for Non-Fiction (2005) and the National Biography Award (2006). Thank you to everyone who voted whether online or through Central West Libraries. We are also pleased to announce today a Book Club Dinner will be held in Orange City Library on Saturday 5th May with special guest, author of Bereft, Chris Womersely. His book was nominated as one of the NSW books to vote for in Our Story. He will also be hosting a short story workshop that afternoon. Stay tuned for more details.....