Author talk with Alex Sarkis

About the book

Twenty-six-year-old Nicole Najim is struggling to find herself after a painful breakup, just when she thought she was going to settle down.

Working a dead-end job in the family car dealership and at a loose end, she picks up her camera and returns to the melting pot of Sydney’s West to rediscover her roots.

When she catches up with childhood friend, Danny, who makes his living in a shadowy underworld, their relationship intensifies just as the law starts to close in. Nicole must weigh her feelings against her deepest fears, all while chasing her own dreams and capturing the hidden truths around her.

Alex Sarkis writes with warmth, humour, and a spot-on eye for the characters and suburbs of the world she grew up in.

This is a novel about loving home and leaving home, but never escaping your roots. Or your footy colours.

About Alex

Alex Sarkis was born and raised in Sydney’s West to Lebanese immigrant parents. In her early twenties she began writing stories of her own. Her main source of inspiration has always been the wild and wonderful landscape of her hometown, her family’s heritage, and the pride she feels in being an Australian. Something Blue is her debut novel.

About Sarah

Sarah Ayoub is a freelance journalist, academic and bestselling author of books for teens and children. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Marie-Claire, ELLE, Sydney Review of Books and more. Sarah is a regular fixture at schools and writers festivals and lectures in journalism and writing at the University of Sydney and the University of Notre Dame. She obtained her PhD with a thesis examining the narratives of migrant girls in Australian teen lit and has judged numerous awards, most recently the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Sarah was elected to the board of the Australian Society of Authors in 2021 and is currently writing her first novel for adults as the writer-in-residence of Sweatshop.