It may seem counter-intuitive, but when you're on to novel #7, you have to hustle to snatch people's interest. With the release of Spellbound, the third of Catherine Robertson's engaging series set in the fictional small town of Gabriel's Bay, the author is realistic about what to expect. "Familiarity is dull," she says cheerily.
While all of Robertson's books have reached No 1 on the New Zealand bestsellers' list, she says she does not garner the same level of attention or festival invites as an established literary writer. She got a slot at this year's Auckland Writers Festival, chairing a session with Amanda Palmer, only because the American performance artist specifically asked for her. Not that Robertson's complaining – she is deeply appreciative of her readers, and the love they lavish on her.
With their support, Robertson has travelled fluidly from "chick lit" to more deeply emotional fare exploring themes such as family violence and grief, to contemporary romance – and soon – historical fiction. Always, she weaves in her trademark humour and grounds her stories in authenticity, making sure to consult experts when needed. For Spellbound, those people included Jackie Clark, of the Aunties, and writer/curator Matariki Williams.
In a move reminiscent of Taylor Swift's re-release of her back catalogue, Robertson is reworking her first three novels and self-publishing them in the hope of gaining new audiences, particularly in the United States. She is keen to take control of marketing and promotion, to treat her writing more like a business.
The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid, The Not So Perfect Life of Mo Lawrence and The Misplaced Affections of Charlotte Fforbes are all getting new covers and being updated, to improve the bits she never liked and to root out 2010s references that have aged poorly. "Something as simple as a teenager talking about memes on the internet from 10 years ago," for example. "I had 'gypsy' characters and that has changed to Romani, and I had more references to bodies than I would want to have now."