COMING EVENTS​
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Monday, 14 July at 6.00pm
In conversation at Subiaco Library
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Thursday, 7 August at The Open Book, 124 Wellington Street, Mosman Park. Booking details to come.
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Thursday, 14 August at the A.H. Bracks Library, Melville. Booking details to come.
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HELLO!
I am a writer and editor living in Boorloo (Perth). It's my great pleasure to introduce my new novel, Be a Good Girl, Valerie, published by Ventura Press, sales and distribution by Simon & Schuster. Valerie is a story about women speaking up against sexual violence, discovering the upsides of ageing (that's right, there are upsides!), harnessing one's peak powers in middle age, and embracing the joys of female friendship.
Van Zeller’s narrative is both compelling and empathetic, weaving together themes of harassment, justice, and the strength found in intergenerational female friendships. Valerie’s journey is a testament to the idea that it’s never too late to find one’s voice and stand up for what is right.
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Bluefairytales_, 3 July 2025
“A work of fiction that will feel chillingly real to so many women."
Chanel Contos, founder of Teach Us Consent
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At 63, Valerie hasn’t been the target of a catcall or a grope for decades. Thank heaven for that! But even so, she remains hypervigilant for the sake of other women – such as Anna, a co-worker who’s fired for reporting sexual harassment; and Grace, who’s tailed by a stalker on her afternoon commute. Valerie doesn't hesitate to intervene when bad things happen to other women. But, like so many other women of her era, she would excuse abusive behaviour as nothing more than ‘men being men’.
And then along comes #MeToo…
It’s 2017 and high-profile women in the entertainment industry are publicly calling out sexual abuse by a powerful Hollywood producer. While these women’s stories reverberate around the world, Valerie is haunted by a long-ago trauma of her own. It’s time for "Bad Valerie" to bring her abuser to justice.
