The ‘All-round Fun Club’ and female crime

And we’re off! I tried not to mention K-pop and failed miserably. I’m sorry.

Welcome to the first ever issue of Becks and the City. I wrote a blog by the same name many moons ago when I was a baby writer. I was deeply into Sex and the City and wanted to be just like Carrie Bradshaw. Still do – well, except for the smoking and the cheating and being a terrible, whiny friend. (I don’t do those first two, but I may be the latter, you’d have to ask my pals.)

I gave that blog up long ago, but I’ve never written a newsletter. I came across the Substack platform a month ago and the time just felt right, you know? So here it is! It’d be lovely to hear from you in shaping this thing. What do you reckon is working – and not – in these early issues? It’d be fab if you could send me a smoke signal or two.

Actually, I told a half-truth before. In the days before email, I launched another newsletter. In Year 3, I founded the ‘All-round Fun Club’ newsletter, printed out at home. It had find-a-words, mazes, news, jokes, recipes, and musings from me. Circulation was small. Maybe eight friends? I’m not sure it was a hit, but my friends seemed to receive the passed-around print-out with good grace.

My best friend’s stepdad still hangs shit on me about it to this day, and rightly so. Maybe I was destined to start Becks and the City to redeem myself? Haha, we’ll see. Anyway, welcome to the revitalised, slightly more grown-up and less naff All-round Fun Club. Enjoy!

---

News

1. The big news this week is, of course, the Queen’s passing and Charles’s long-awaited promotion to the throne. Given my dim views of nepotism babies and inherited power and privilege, I’ve never harboured strong feelings towards the royal family either way. I do, however, suspect the world has the whole Princess-Di-was-an-angel-and-Charles-did-her-dirty narrative around the wrong way. We’ve collectively glossed over Lady Diana’s troubles and poured giant buckets of hatred on Camilla and Charles. I’ve always wondered behind closed doors whether things were drastically different. My own family still baffle me, so it’s impossible to decipher someone else’s. Suspending our judgement is likely a good way to go, though.

2. Fast walkers of the world rejoice! (That’s me. I should learn patience but can become quite irate when trapped behind a dawdler.) I’ve been making an effort lately to reach 10,000 steps each day. As a writer, the temptation is to be glued to your seat and while that’s usually good for your word count, it’s way bad for your body. I’ve been trialing the QANTAS Wellbeing app, which shows promise but is still too buggy for me to wholeheartedly endorse trying it. Turns out, increasing your steps is good, but paying attention to your speed is also important. Gah, as if we don’t have enough to worry about, but I do actually enjoy walking so I’ll give it a crack.

Reviews

1. I’m a massive K-pop tragic, an interest I acquired during the pandemic. Before that, I was almost wholly ignorant of that entire realm of pop culture. While I’ll try not to bang on about it too much is this newsletter, as I realise it’s not everyone’s kink, we watch quite a few K-dramas these days and this one has shot straight to the top of my favourites list of late. Extraordinary Attorney Woo (an explainer of cast and characters here) is basically the Korean version of The Good Doctor, except the autistic main character is a lawyer instead of a doctor. It’s SO good. Characters you care about from the very first second they appear on screen. A study in accepting and steering around and celebrating individual’s quirks and embracing life. There’s only one season, so there isn’t a huge commitment, but you’ll zoom through it. LOVE.

2. The Inkey List’s Kaolin Clay Mask is such a budget-friendly superhero in my make-up kit ($11. On. Sephora. In. A. Time. When. You. Can. Barely. Buy. A. Lettuce. For. That!). Far out. It makes my skin feel clean, doesn’t leave me worrying about what weird acids or chemicals might be eating away at my skin, and has a simple but effective and far-from-ugly approach to packaging. My skin is normal to combination, for reference. Not sponsored. Just a firm favourite I keep re-buying.

   

Raves and Faves

Each week, this section will feature a themed list of a few (five, to be exact) of my favourite things -- dystopian novels, mood-boosting YouTube videos, easy-peasy dinners, podcasts about writing… Hopefully they’ll either give you a chuckle or provide ideas for what to cook this week, listen to on the bus, or add to your (already teetering, if you’re anything like me) tbr pile.

We’re talking timeless classics rather than brand-spanking new. I’m open to suggestions! Let me know in the comments if you’d like recommendations on a particular topic.

This week, I thought we’d wade into crime novels written by women. Not gonna lie, crime fiction is my preferred genre most of the time, if the violence isn’t too graphic. Whether justified or not, I tend to trust female authors to deliver this more than men. Anyway, here we go!

1. Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

   For a genre that can take itself so seriously at times, Janet Evanovich’s novels are the cure. There’s a bit of Hot Fuzz in them, but with a female protagonist. Stephanie Plum finds herself jobless in Jersey and since her skeezy cousin Vinnie runs a bail bond agency, she stumbles into becoming a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals who’ve skipped bail. Most are harmless and hilarious, but occasionally she is tasked with catching pricklier violent types. There’s a love triangle, an adorable grandmother, and a best friend with attitude in spades. Beginning with One for the Money, we’re now up to tale 29 and I must admit I feel like the author has been phoning it in slightly in the more recent books, but overall it’s a very, very good time.

   

2. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

   When this came out in mid-2019, I felt it should’ve caused way more of a splash than it did. The title caught my eye, as my partner and I are huge nerdburgers for escape rooms and although this story went in a different direction to what I expected, I wasn’t mad at it. Four cut-throat Wall Street high-flyers are invited to a ‘team-building’ escape room exercise inside an elevator, but when the doors close it becomes clear something more sinister is going on than corporate box-ticking. Chapters flicker between the action in the lift and another character’s story until the reader understands how the players got here and where they’ll end up. One for fans of karmic retribution and claustrophobic thrillers.

   

3. The Writing Class by Jincy Willett

   This cosy mystery is pure paper-based joy. A friend recommended it to me and we’ve had some wonky experiences with suggesting books and movies to each other, but it was a nail-on-head situation with this one. If you’ve ever been to a writing workshop, you’ll recognise some of these characters – the pompous know-it-all, the ex-chalkie who’s a stickler for grammar, the guy so shy he almost spontaneously combusts at being in the company of more than two other people, the wisecracker who when they finally shut up and knuckle down are surprisingly good… The snarky observations from the jaded teacher are so, so relatable, but she remains likeable for all her grumpy, hermitlike ways. The class meets up regularly and soon realise there’s a murder among them and doggedly continue with the group until they nut out the mystery. It’s all a bit (a lot) farfetched, but in the most delicious way possible.

   

4. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

   Gillian Flynn is a literary superstar with good reason. It’s not just Gone Girl, trust me. I’ve read everything she’s put out so far (please come out with a new novel soon, lady) and they’re all five stars for sure. This is probably her least-known offering, and it’s only long-short-story-to-short-novella length, but it punches you in the face with personality. In short, a sex worker who develops carpal tunnel from giving one too many wristies decides to reskill as a clairvoyant and then expand her operations to charging people to rid their homes of evil spirits. Let’s just say this scammer meets her match with her first assignment at Susan Burke’s house. This is, in truth, more of a gothic story than strictly speaking in the crime genre, but I just love it and recommend it to anyone who’ll listen. Get on it. Promise it’s worth it.

   

5. The Lost Man by Jane Harper

   All Harper’s novels are crackers, but this one takes the Country Women’s Association cake so far for me. I never really pictured myself as a ‘rural noir’ fan before Harper came on the scene. From the ages of 2-6, I lived in Renmark, a South Australian Riverland town, but the remainder of my life I’ve called Adelaide home. I’m a city girl to the core. But now I’ve sampled this genre, I’m running with it. (Check out Garry Disher’s Paul Hirschhausen novels for a similar vibe.) The Lost Man is a tale of brothers living out on rural properties and the family secrets they keep. The intricacies and complexities of family dysfunction are so, so real, and the description of the landscape just grips you. For a writer who’s never really put much stock in scenery in novels (characterisation and dialogue are my jam) this is a revelation for me. It really is a treat.

   

Playlist of the Week

Tunes for deadline day when you need to fire the hell up:

1. On A Roll - Ashley O

2. Heroes Tonight - Janji, Johnning

3. First Class - Jack Harlow

4. Ain’t Giving Up - Craig David, Sigala

5. MANICURE - Lady Gaga

6. How Do You Do! - Roxette

7. Checklist - MAX, Chromeo

8. Overdrive - Conan Gray

9. Unstoppable - Sia

10. Toast - Koffee

11. Ain’t Got Far To Go - Jess Glynne

12. Sweet Melody - Little Mix

13. If You Love Someone - The Veronicas

14. I’m Ready - Sam Smith, Demi Lovato

15. React - Pussycat Dolls