Join us on Tuesday 29 July for author Holly Cardamone in-conversation with Jo Skinner for a special pre-launch of Holly's debut young adult novel, Summer, in Between (winner of the 2024 Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Award).

A firecracker bookworm. A Neanderthal surfer. One unforgettable summer.

Seventeen-year-old Cat Kelty should be spending her last summer before year 12 buried in books, prepping for the future she’s determined to claim.

Instead, she’s trapped in a house with rowdy brothers, mortifyingly affectionate parents, and a cantankerous Nonna.

Then, to make things worse, Paul GD Lightwood—a walking surfer god, King of the Neanderthals, all abs and an infuriatingly disarming smile—shows up to work for her father.

Cat’s plan is simple: escape this testosterone-fuelled town and never look back. But life—and Paul—have other ideas.

Salty hot chips, beach parties, swimming beyond the breakers—Summer, in Between is a funny, heart-warming story about first love, family, and finding where you belong.

Holly Cardamone is a Melbourne-based author and communications specialist. Her writing has appeared in publications as diverse as bridal tomes and in fashion magazines, in trade publications and in the large dailies. Her debut novel, Summer, in Between was the 2024 winner of the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize. She’s a mother of two, wife to a devilishly handsome Carlton Football Club tragic and slave to the most beautiful boy in the world, Buddy the Australian Shepherd. She’s also a voracious reader who has been known to mumble ‘just one more page’ on more than a handful of occasions.

Jo Skinner is a Brisbane based GP who writes contemporary women’s fiction as well as freelance non-fiction articles about women’s issues and mental health. She also has a distance running habit. When she is not working or writing you will find her accruing kilometres while plotting her next story.