When chaos is the norm
This photo was taken just before my first novel, The Trivia Night, was released in 2022. I was signing a stack of books for Booktopia, and I remember having a production line going: my son unpacking the books and handing them to me for signing, then my daughter packing them back in the boxes. It was such a thrill and I remember thinking 'Is this really happening to me?' My signature was so neat in all of them - not always the case these days!
I can't believe I've had three more books on shelf since then, but I never take it for granted. I still get that buzz close to release time, but admittedly never quite as overwhelmingly as the first time - the emotions were so much stronger because it was that feeling of having succeeded where I didn't think I necessarily would, a dream come true.
Every one of my books has been largely written at this desk, in this chair, and I just finished book number six in this exact spot. The wall is tidy in this photo, but there are usually about 800 Post-its stuck to it. There's always a cat on my lap, the dog barking out in the corridor and the kids singing/fighting/shouting (not unlike my past life as a newspaper journalist).
Chaos is the norm, and I love it.
Ali Lowe is the author of four bestselling novels: The Trivia Night, The Running Club, The School Run, and The Private Island. Her first three novels explored wealth, privilege and revenge in fictional beachside Australian suburbs. The Private Island, launched in February 2025, saw her venture overseas to take her cast of undesirables to a fictional Fijian Island called Loloma.
Both The Trivia Night and The School Run have been optioned for TV.
Ali is a journalist by profession: she was Features Editor at OK! magazine in London and has written for bridal magazines, parenting titles, websites and newspapers over a 20 year-career.
She has dual Australian and British citizenship and lives on Sydney’s northern beaches with her husband and three children.
Ali’s fifth book, a Succession-style destination thriller, is out on 12 March 2026.
w: https://www.aliloweauthor.com
insta: https://www.instagram.com/ali_lowe_author
F: https://www.facebook.com/people/Ali-Lowe-Author/100069953146289/#