Category Archives: Writing

Scammers I have known: the fake Jane Harper

Posted on 18 October 2026 by andyq

Since my book Six Positions has just been released in a new edition by Rebel Satori Press, the timing of this email is pretty good. And they’ve used a real identity again. Poor Jane. As if a best-selling novelist would … Continue reading →

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Scammers I have known: the fake Freida McFadden

Posted on 18 October 2026 by andyq

A little over a year ago was when I received my first AI-supported scam email. This one was strange but I just ignored it to start with. It was so general. ‘I’d love to hear more about your writing journey’. … Continue reading →

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Scammers I’ve known: the fake Leigh Drew from Casey Radio

Posted on 18 October 2026 by andyq

I was going to just delete these, but I thought it might be amusing to keep a record of it, and perhaps it will help other people. This one came through on 9 October 2026. Dear Andy Quan, I hope … Continue reading →

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Carol Shields’s Various Miracles

Posted on 19 June 2026 by andyq

Various Miracles by Carol Shields My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve long had Shields’s ‘The Collected Stories‘ on my shelf and truth to tell, I was a bit intimidated by its length. Silly me. On finally starting the tome, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Trent Dalton’s Love Stories

Posted on 6 December 2025 by andyq

Love Stories by Trent Dalton My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’m going to go right down the middle with a middling rating of this book, with the stars mostly for the intention. It is clear that Dalton is a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Lorrie Moore’s The Collected Stories

Posted on 6 December 2025 by andyq

The Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore My rating: 3 of 5 stars I think I was in university when I first discovered Lorrie Moore, reading Like Life (1990) and then liking it so much that I read Birds of America … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Eduardo Galeano’s The Book of Embraces

Posted on 6 December 2025 by andyq

The Book of Embraces by Eduardo Galeano My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I was first exposed to the Memory of Fire trilogy, it was a revelation. Here, in anecdotes both poetic and mythic, Galeano turned the history of … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Andrew O’Hagan’s Be Near Me

Posted on 6 December 2025 by andyq

Be Near Me by Andrew O’Hagan My rating: 3 of 5 stars Because I’d raved about O’Hagan’s Marilyn Monroe book (as narrated by her dog, Maf), a new literary friend loaned me one of his favourite books, ‘Be Near Me’. … Continue reading →

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Book Review. Alice Munro’s Friend of My Youth

Posted on 6 December 2025 by andyq

Friend of My Youth by Alice Munro My rating: 4 of 5 stars I return to this page, and see, a surprise to me, that I rated it three stars in 2011. I actually don’t remember reading it before. It … Continue reading →

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Book review: Alice Munro’s The Progress of Love

Posted on 10 January 2025 by andyq

The Progress of Love by Alice Munro My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’ve decided to get all of Alice Munro’s work and go back and read them all … eventually. Previous to this one, I finished ‘Something I’ve Been … Continue reading →

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