Toby Roberts and Naomi Hart on Memoir Writing

Toby Roberts has worked as a lawyer, banker, speech writer, and even a session singer, in roles that have taken him around the world. He has written articles for major Australian broadsheets, and written a number of short stories which have been published in magazines, converted into podcasts and broadcast on radio. Two Mums and a Dad is his first book and is a delightful coming of age memoir which explores the angst of puberty, school, sport and bad 80s fashion. 

Toby grew up in Sydney’s northern suburbs with his mother and her female partner. He lives in Sydney again now, with his wife, two children and a whippet called Devo.

Naomi Hart has earned a living as a cow, a prostitute, a nun, a murderess, a diva, a wolf and a dancing plate. That is to say she’s worked in musical theatre and spent most of her twenties in New York city. Upon returning to Sydney with her American chef husband, Gregory Llewellyn, she became a restaurateur and co-owner of award-winning, hatted restaurant called ‘Hartsyard’, a dance, drama and voice teacher, cookbook writer, hostess, bar owner and occasional writer. She has also had three gorgeous children, one of whom is autistic, discovered her husband has ADHD and come perilously close to a breakdown… if only she could find the time to fit one in.

Life at the Bottom of the Blender outlines Naomi’s rollercoaster life that has not only seen her cheered by US audiences, spat on by rude restaurant customers, and lived in buildings where dead bodies were discovered, but encountered a whole cast of incredible people from New York to LA, Fiji to Umina Beach, all dedicated to pursuing their dreams, and making the most out of life.

Laurel Henning has been working as a journalist reporting on regulatory affairs for the past decade, and for five years in Sydney. When she’s not buried in legalese, Laurel professes to have made all her closest friends since moving to Australia at Better Read Than Dead Bookclubs… namely, Better Reader and the Bad Women Bookclub. Making friends in your 30s when living overseas can be tough, which is why Laurel started the Threewheeling podcast with her friend Sascha, to discuss making friends and recent cultural delights. Laurel won’t shut up about Sarah Winman’s Still Life, or Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, which she believes got her through 2021 lockdowns. And for non fiction, a healthy obsession with Deborah Levy’s living autobiography series persists. You can find Laurel on bookstagram @withmybooks