I'm back ... and with exciting news ...

And so a television series was born ...

Hello! I’ve missed you! Keen to talk …

But first, some housekeeping …

Regular readers of my email newsletter will know that I signed off in December last year promising that, after a few weeks’ break, I’d be back, in the, um, new year. Well … I am back in the new year! Just a few months after I said I would be. My apologies. The pressures of life and work got in the way of doing what I enjoy most in my working week – writing this newsletter. There have been difficult family issues which consumed much time and a great deal of emotional energy. Plus, I have been immersed in a substantial corporate writing project (a “white paper” on the subject of neurodiversity in the workplace … hopefully I’ll be able to link to it here in the weeks ahead) which turned out to be a beast and took way longer to research and write than expected.

And there has been another reason for my absence: by the end of last year I reached the conclusion that my newsletter would not be a sustainable project unless I could ask you to consider supporting it by paying for a subscription. To be straight: As a freelance journalist/writer working in an industry in crisis where rates generally haven’t changed in two decades or more, most years, despite no shortage of work, I earn a pittance, a source of considerable stress to me. The newsletter takes me a day, often two, to write and curate. As a professional writer, and in the absence of a sugar daddy, I either need to divert that time to paid writing work or get paid for my writing work on the newsletter.

I decided the best available option was to shift from the Mailchimp platform to Substack, which makes it simple for writers to share their work and monetise it. (Substack’s manifesto is that it’s “building a new economic engine for culture”.) Rest assured, I will continue to write free public posts, although paid subscribers will receive a more rounded offering; to see my subscription tiers, head here; my undying gratitude to all of you who have already paid for a subscription.😘

This second coming of my newsletter on Substack will look a little different – simply because of differences between Mailchimp and Substack’s infrastructure and design features. Plus, I’ve given my newsletter a name, Vamp, a name which I hope signals some intent … I love the word … it’s an arch, mischievous, rebellious word encapsulating a certain passionate, authentic, individual spirit … a spirit I’ve tried to embed in the newsletter since its start. And, there’s a back story to it which I’ll share down the track. (If you want to more fully understand the ethos behind Vamp, head to my “About” page where you can, by watching the video, also get a glimpse of my too-cluttered study!)

More than one reader of the first incarnation of my newsletter contacted me to say that they loved the community I was building, a community of strong, interesting mid-life women (and more than a few men). Given that, one of the most important features Substack offers is commenting: paid subscribers to Vamp will be able to chat with other community members via the comments section at the bottom of each post – and I’ll pop in with my thoughts whenever I have a moment too! (Substack also has other community-building assets, including “Threads” and “Chats” but give me time to work them out!)

And, forgive me, there will be a bit of a settling-in period during which I learn how to drive this new machine, stamp it visually with my personality, bring across my archive of newsletters from Mailchimp, and populate my new Substack home page. Apologies in advance for any hiccups … please let me know if you encounter any issues, especially with your subscription, and I’ll do my best to resolve them. (Email me at sw@stephaniewood.com.au)

Now, read on for my VERY BIG NEWS!!!!!

Welcome to Fake, the television series!

And so here it is, and the first review is in …

This story of mine, it has had a very very long tail. A brief recap for those who might be new to it: I first wrote about my relationship with a mendacious fantasist in Good Weekend magazine in 2017. My book about my experience, Fake, came out in 2019. I was an associate producer and subject of an ABC Australian Story documentary about these types of monsters in 2022. The interest in my story has been huge … (don’t we all just love stories about other people’s bad romances, voyeurism, much … don’t people just love stories about con artists!) … Meanwhile, these days, I barely give a thought to my actual experience nor the actual man at the centre of it; pity is the primary emotion I feel for him on the rare occasions he comes to mind.

Now, in 2024, a decade after I first met the man, the grifter, the television series based on my book (also called Fake) is about to launch on Paramount+ in Australia (fingers crossed for international distribution – I’ll keep you posted). Here’s the trailer:

The eight episodes, which I had the privilege of watching a few weeks back for the first time, are beautiful. That might not be the adjective that first comes to mind to describe a story with a narcissistic charlatan in the lead male role and a plotline including a good deal of anxiety and heartbreak, but the writing, the locations, the colours, the perspective, the camera work, the sound, the imagination behind this creation are breathtaking.

I’m simply in awe of what writer and creator Anya Beyersdorf has done to adapt my story, backed by the production house, Kindling Pictures, its genius founder and head Imogen Banks, co-producer Emelyne Palmer, and additional writers Jessica Tuckwell and Hyun Lee. Other stars on this show – the remarkable directors Emma Freeman, Jennifer Leacey and Taylor Ferguson; director of photography Sky Davies; brilliant production designer Josephine Wagstaff; costume designer Erin Roche; hair and makeup designer Chiara Tripodi; and locations honcho, Nicci Dillon. Oh, and then there are the front-of-camera stars … the remarkable Asher Keddie as “Birdie” (I joke that I would have liked Katharine Hepburn to play me, but I’m pretty happy with her understudy!), David Wenham as “Joe”, the most malevolent boyfriend since the real one in 2014, and the brilliant Heather Mitchell as Margeaux, Birdie’s mother (nothing like my mother!)

Of course, I have absolutely no objective perspective on the series whatsoever.

Thankfully then, the first review has landed and it is more glowing than I could ever have hoped for:

Some excerpts from the review:

“One of the best Australian dramas of the decade so far, Fake is an unflinching examination of deception’s cruel grip – whether it’s wielded by an imposter or delivered through our own flawed self-esteem.”

and …

“On the cusp of 50, a failed IVF program behind her, Birdie feels the pressure to find a partner. ‘Be realistic about what’s still out there’ urges her terrifyingly passive-aggressive mother, Margeaux (Heather Mitchell), a widow who has raised her daughter on the idea of meeting ‘the one’.”

and …

“But the performances are exceptional on their own terms. Wenham provides a chalky charm, revealing a fabulist’s harsh narcissism, while Keddie takes Birdie to the edge of a precipice. Much of the fifth episode, a masterful construction, is Birdie melting down alone in the back seat of an Uber.”

I might have made this sound like it has all been straightforward for me emotionally. Of course, that’s not the case. In an article I’ve written for Good Weekend magazine (to be published next weekend, July 6), I describe how I burst into tears on arriving on location last year during filming for the series in the Dandenong ranges outside Melbourne. My feelings on the whole thing are so complex as to be almost inarticulate. You’ll find some of them in an interview I did for the Not Quite Write podcast a few weeks back at the Words on the Waves writers festival and a few more in an interview I did this week with my lovely Good Weekend editor, Katrina Strickland, for the Good Weekend Talks podcast.

I plan to write more about *all the feelings* in a post here in the next 10 days or so – and I’ll also share some currently embargoed photos of me on set.

I’d be interested in your thoughts: an extra benefit I will be offering for paid subscribers to Vamp are twice-yearly, subscriber-only Zoom group chats. Would you be interested in hearing me talk (and ask me questions) about my experience of the behind-the-scenes experience of Fake going from book to TV series in the first of these Zoom chats? (I hope to schedule it in the next month.) Email me your thoughts at sw@stephaniewood.com.au or leave a comment below.

Meanwhile, I’ve had some feedback from people who want to be able to watch Fake on free-to-air television. Why, many ask, do they have to pay to watch it on a streaming service? Another article published in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday interviewed producer Imogen Banks, among other experts, and explored this issue. The short answer, says Banks – economics.

I’d add that it’s simple and affordable to subscribe to any streaming service and, if you don’t have a smart TV or Chromecast device or an up-to-date apple TV box thingo (I don’t!), you can watch on your computer, laptop or tablet. When I subscribed to Paramount+ recently, I paid $3.29 for the first month. And any subscription to any service like this can be cancelled whenever you want.

Now, that’s it from me today … regular readers will know that there’s a big chunk missing from my normal newsletter offering … the links, the recommendations, the food, the viewing, the best reading of the week … do not fear, this week, for logistical reasons, I’m breaking the newsletter into two parts. Part 2 – all that fun stuff – will arrive in your inbox on Sunday. Stay tuned! …