Books, plays and essays by Georgia Clark
Reading recommendations! My fave:
Unreliable narrators for Off The Shelf.
Books by women for She Reads.
Magic realist novels for Hypable.
Adventure novels for Steph Bowe.
Selected essays
You Don't Need Straight Privilege to be Happy for Medium
The Legacy of Clara Bow for Bust
Falling For Gay Men for Elite Daily
How Far Would You Go for Beauty? for Cosmo.
Parched by Georgia Clark (2014)
This ambitious YA was the first book I sold in the U.S. for a teeny advance to an old-school publisher (the copy edits were done by hand). A ton of fun if you like robots/teen adventure/cli-fi, with a weird sexual twist!
Robots, renewable resources, and romance get tangled together in this thrilling futuristic adventure novel about a utopian city struggling to keep its peace.
A gutsy teen living on an arid, depleted Earth two centuries in the future faces danger and shocking revelations when she covertly joins a subversive group.
Sixteen-year-old Tess lived in Eden, a seemingly idyllic, domed city where access to information and water is regulated by the governing Trust. After a rogue robot killed her scientist mother, Tess fled with a terrible secret to the desperate, arid Badlands, where she’s recruited by Kudzu, explained to her as a “nonviolent collective working to undermine the Trust and free the Badlands.” Learning Kudzu plans to destroy Aevum, the Trust’s latest advanced robot, Tess reluctantly returns to Eden, where she finds the luxurious life morally unconscionable and secretly trains with Kudzu.
Living with her uncle, who’s involved with Aevum, Tess is strangely attracted to his sympathetic assistant, Hunter. During a Kudzu raid on the Trust’s lab, Tess discovers that Aevum will be used to eradicate all inhabitants of the Badlands—and that Hunter’s not what he seems to be.
“Tess’ first-person, present-tense voice lends chilling immediacy to her no-nonsense story of mixed loyalty, disturbing secrets, and ethical dilemmas associated with diminishing natural resources and scientific experimentation. Bold futurist adventure with unusual romance, riveting action and ominous ecological red flags.”
“Comparisons to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008) and Veronica Roth’s Divergent (2011) are inevitable, but Clark successfully shakes them off thanks to Tessendra’s tenacious likability and the detailed world, a chilling future of cruel economic disparity in an atmosphere of total environmental ruin.”
“Clark builds a world with a good balance of the familiar and the fantastic...readers who eagerly followed the rebellions against Panem’s Capitol and Divergent’s Erudites will root for Tess and her Kudzu Allies.”
Parched reader reviews
Erogan, 13, said he finished Parched “under the covers with a flashlight” over at Teens Know Best. (Best review ever)
LOVE this review from Incredibly Bodhi Book Reviews! Five stars: “This is one of the best dystopians I have ever read.”
Parched was a Staff Pick at Greenlight Bookstore in BK: “it’s a book whose extreme readability belies some serious ideas just beneath the surface.”
Crystal at Toronto Public Library said the plot twists blindsided her. Blammo!
I Read To Relax said “I was hooked on this book from page one!”
Julianne from The Concord Carlisle Young Adult Galley thinks “if you like futuristic adventure romances, I absolutely recommend this one.”
Love this review from Caught In A Snyder Webb: “Parched was dynamic, mind boggling, and just outright good.”
Nice review over at Charlotte’s Library: “an excellent newcomer to the field of YA dystopias”
Semicolon called Parched ‘eerily prescient’.
Bibliophile Support Group compared plucky Tess to Jack Bauer. Nice.
Four stars for Parched at Katy’s Krazy Books: “I just kept wanting to read and read and read!”
Typical Distractions thinks I did a “great job of developing a new world.” Aw, thanks!
Lots of five-star reviews over at Amazon!
Here’s what Goodreads had to say about Parched!
For librarians, teachers & press
Parched launch at Word, 4/3/14
Parched interviews, articles & guest posts
I penned a letter to Gotham Writers Workshop students, about my positive experience workshopping Parched there.
Some of my thoughts how how to tackle your first novel, published at The Muse.
I dish on my five favorite adventure novels to Steph Bowe.
Lady memoirs I’m loving from Caitlin Moran, Lena Dunham and Cheryl Strayed at Colorimetry.
Guest post at Colorimetry about my love for improv, and how it helps my writing.
I answered Ten Terrifying Questions for Australia’s Booktopia, and found out they weren’t terrifying at all!
Five things I love about dystopian fiction over at The Book Fairy’s Haven.
And my dream cast for spunky Hunter, only at Wishful Endings!! (He’s an Aussie!)
In-depth interview at Reap Mediazine.
Talking research at Mythical Books as part of the Prism Sci-Fi tour.
Cute interview with the Cozy Reading Corner.
Some writing tips and insight into my process at Beck Valley Books.
Find out what’s on my bucket list over at I Read To Relax
I confess my love for Pippi Longstocking over Fire & Ice.
Here’s an interview with YA Book Nerd, as part of Parched‘s first blog tour.
My recommended YA reads, as told to 100 Pages a Day.
Introduction to the world of Parched, at I Am A Reader.
Interview with Kelly P’s Blog about what makes me write.
Nice lil’ chat with Sarity Halomi about what drives me crazy about the publishing industry.
Inspiration chat with The Written Adventure: on Tess, on future worlds, on other writers.
She's With The Band by Georgia Clark (2008)
“Life never starts when you think it will. When I turned 15, I figured I’d be tossed the keys to the city, make out with a hottie, and have a modest parade thrown in my honour. But all that happened was that I got out of doing the washing up. The day we moved to Sydney was supposed to be the start of the new Mia Mannix – confident, charming, taller. But so far, it sucked.”
Mia Mannix has made a deal: in return for moving from the social backwater of the Snowy Mountains to life in the fast lane in Sydney, she’s promised her dad she’d give up music and concentrate on “real” art. But that was before she discovered new friends, a cool record store and a ridiculously hot rockstar. She’s With the Band is for every girl who’s ever wanted to start a band, had a crush on the wrong boy, or made a promise she couldn’t keep.
My first book! This sweet YA was inspired by the band I was in at the time, and my experience as a music magazine editor.
Pickles & Hargraves,
and the Curse of the Tanzanian Glimmerfish (2014)
A comic murder-mystery play that premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival.
Master Thomas Hargraves, the internationally famous mouse detective, visits Hotel-By-The-Sea for their annual Fish Fanciers Convention when a murderer strikes – or is it the work of an ancient pescetarian curse? Can our hero solve the mystery before the killer, or the curse, strikes again?
I wrote this insane and hilarious play with dear friend/roommate-at-the-time, Ryan Williams, when we were both deeply immersed in the New York improv scene. Of the many creative adventures I’ve had, this was a hands-down highlight.
“Written as a collaboration by UCB vets, Georgia Clark and Ryan Williams, Pickles & Hargraves is filled to the brim with fantastic comedic actors. This is one that won’t disappoint, but be warned: the humour is not for the faint-hearted, and will be best appreciated by those unafraid to jump into a shitbowl and eat a wolf penis. Melodrama all the way, this very original show will leave you in stitches.”
Aaron Jackson (Mrs. Tottenham), Zack Willis (Lt. Green/Helga the Maid), Ryan Williams (Co-Author/Sam Pickles), Georgia Clark (Co-Author/Clara Owens), Dan Fox (Professor Peter Owens), Erin E. McGuff (Katie Kincaid), Evan Hoyt Thompson (James St. James), Bruce Bluett (Lord Monty). Pix: Lindsay Ratowsky.
Pickles & Hargraves is ideal for ensemble casts of strong comic actors and was written to be easily to staged. If you'd like a copy for potential performance, send an expression of interest!