#OwnVoices Author Interview – Dr Anna Whateley
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Visit our Facebook page before 12pm Monday 15 June for your chance to win one of three copies of Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal, and a handmade bookmark by author Dr Anna Whateley.
Amaze Communications Officer Jae Evergreen interviewed Dr Anna Whateley, to discuss her new Young Adult Book, Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal. Anna is neurodivergent – she is autistic, has ADHD and Ehler Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Anna is proudly an #ownvoices author = Peta Lyre is also neurodivergent!
Grab a coffee/tea, rug up and listen to the interview below.
About Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal is a contemporary YA novel set in suburban Brisbane bayside, and follows sixteen-year-old Peta through a difficult year of change, and questions of self, gender, sexuality, and friendship. Peta has ADHD and is autistic. With sensory issues and a gift for words and puzzles her mind is a busy place.
Following her therapist’s rules for ‘normal’ behaviour, Peta lives in a state of dissonance. Can she decide which rules to follow, and which to break? Can she survive falling in love, and still keep rating normal?
About Anna Whateley
Anna Whateley’s debut #ownvoices novel Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal, Allen & Unwin, is out now. She also has an essay titled ‘Noisy Silence’ in Growing Up Disabled in Australia, Black Inc Books, edited by Carly Findlay, due out on Feb 2021. When coronavirus spread, Anna founded the bookish chat show #AusChat just to keep the community together, and the youtube channel is now funded in part by the Australian Arts Council.
Anna has a PhD in young adult fiction (literary criticism) and has taught sociology and YA/children’s literature to preservice teachers. She loves to attend writer events, conferences, twitter storms, and book launches, and is also a strong advocate for the neurodivergent community.
During her younger years, Anna traveled a lot, and has had more jobs than she can remember. Some include making pizzas, hotel cleaning, waitering, pharmacy assistant, data entry, publishing, advertising, payroll, and youth work. She is always busy with another hobby or project, from sewing to lego, or taking photos of mushrooms in a rainforest. She loves Minecraft and video editing, and coming up with new ideas for her Youtube channel.