Books@Stones event: The Time After Now by Anne Freeman

Join us on Thursday 1 October for a special in-conversation event with Anne Freeman and Sarah Todman discussing The Time After Now.

Every Picture Tells... If Olivia hadn’t done what she did, would Drew still be alive?

Twenty years after the love affair Olivia never got over, Drew dies suddenly on a shoot in Iceland, taking with him the promise to guard their intimate photos.

When the images resurface with an anonymous threat of exposure, Olivia’s picture-perfect suburban life is thrown into jeopardy. How can she keep playing the flawless barrister’s wife if her past of avant-garde art, warehouse raves, drugs, and debauchery comes to light?

Desperate for counsel, she prepares to confide in her best friend but Miriam needs support with her own challenges, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Can Olivia outrun her past to protect her future, or will she be forced to reconcile the vibrant oil painting she once was with the fading watercolour she’s become?

An Own Voices portrayal of disability examining the ripple effects of decisions made in our youth.

Anne Freeman writes contemporary fiction about women who are stuck in life and the extraordinary ways they shake themselves loose. Her stories are always engaging and sometimes funny with reluctant adventures, sexy escapades and friendships that uplift. Anne’s novels and short stories have been recognised in many literary competitions including the Romance Writers of Australia Valerie Parv Award, the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize, the Grindstone Literary International Novel Prize, the Boroondara Open Short Story Competition (first place), the Queensland Writers' Centre Adaptable Program, the CYA Writers & Illustrators Competition, and the Somerset Book Awards for Literary & Contemporary Fiction. Her latest novel, The Time After Now will be released 26 August 2026.

Sarah Todman grew up in an outback Queensland pub surrounded by seven siblings and an ever-changing cast of colourful pub characters. It was an extraordinary childhood that gave her a love of people and their stories, as well as the ability to pour a perfect beer. She studied journalism at university, and in a writing career that now spans more than two decades she has been a tabloid journalist, magazine editor, communications consultant, content writer, and creative entrepreneur. Sarah loves Earl Grey tea, books that make her cry, and music that makes her sing (even though she can’t). She lives in Brisbane with her husband and four children (because eight seemed like too much hard work). New Year’s Eve is her first novel.

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All our events are free to attend, but bookings are required as seats are limited.