Lost in a Good Book

The news broke a few days ago that Australian author Kaz Delaney had passed away. It’s taken a while for me to gather my thoughts because while I knew it was coming, it was still a shock. Kaz was a powerhouse in the Australian writing scene, she was an enthusiastic supporter of writers and readers, and a friend.

I first met Kaz in the early years of the Newcastle Writer’s Festival. She quickly became a friend and has been a great supporter of mine for the past decade. She was a beautiful soul and an incredibly talented author and supporter of those in the book world. She was generous with her time to a young budding writer who loved reading and had just started out blogging about her love of books. She took me under her wing when I saw her at book events and introduced me to people, promoted my very new and shaky blog, and bragged about the professionalism of my reviews.

Over the years I saw Kaz at her own book events as she launched new releases or I sat in the audience as she shared her knowledge and experience on numerous panels at book festivals. Through Kaz I found new authors, met other writers, and got to participate in some incredible events I never would have dreamt of attending. I soon got invited to join her writing group and was able to share many more years of support and unofficial mentoring from a writer who had been cemented in the Newcastle and Australian writing world for decades.

Across her career Kaz wrote for children, adults, and teens. I remember her telling an audience once that while she felt she was born to write, she was also passionate about children and it showed in the books she penned for them.

I believe at last count she had about 80 books published under all her pen names which is an amazing legacy to leave behind. A vast majority were for children but that didn’t stop her from branching out into books for older audiences. She also wrote cosy mysteries, romance, and young adult stories, all filled with humour, fabulous characters, and compelling plots.

Always willing to share her knowledge and skills Kaz ran workshops for people, as well as going into schools to help kids with their writing. She was always generous with her time and her willingness to help other develop their own writing voice and style was part of the beautiful person she was. I am eternally grateful I was able to attend some of these sessions and got to learn from someone with such a varied and extensive career.

I am honoured to have met Kaz and got to know her over the years. The writing community has lost a great and talented writer and a wonderful woman. She will be missed immensely.