Our tiny, useless hearts by Toni Jordan: 9 March, 2017

"Toni Jordan’s latest novel, Our Tiny, Useless Hearts, is a romp through the contemporary complexities of living well. Very quickly, Jordan introduces us to a cast of wonderfully flawed characters all trying desperately to live honestly and without regret. Narratively driven, reading this crafty, clever and comical novel is not unlike eavesdropping on your crazy neighbours." – Chris Gordon

Toni Jordan is the author of four novels. The international bestseller Addition was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Fall girl was published internationally and has been optioned for film, and Nine days was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards, shortlisted for the ABIA Best General Fiction award and named in Kirkus Reviews' top 10 historical novels of 2013.

Toni will join us for a Q&A on Thursday, 9 March between 8 and 9pm. Please leave any questions you have below. (And discuss her writing at your leisure!)

Want to buy Our tiny, useless hearts? Receive 10% off when purchasing it from Readings at State Library Victoria. To receive the discount online, enter the promo code BOOKCLUB in the promo code box during online checkout. To receive the discount at our State Library bookshop, simply mention the Thursday night book club at the counter.

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Hi Toni,

I've always found the characters in your writing to be well realised—they read like real people. What's your approach to "building" characters or fleshing them out (assuming you have a process at all).

Thanks!

Hi Cory! Thanks so much for asking this. For me, characters begin to take shape once I hear them speak. Dialogue is the most important thing. I often walk the streets with my dog, practising sentences out loud. (People in passing cars think I'm talking to the dog.) Once I hit upon a sentence that a character would say, I'm getting closer to who they really are. xx toni