R.W.R McDonald is a New Zealand author, living in Melbourne, Australia best known for his crime novels The Nancys. and Nancy Business[1][2][3][4]

Personal life

McDonald was born in Balclutha, New Zealand and grew up on a sheep and venison farm in South Otago.[2][5]

Although he now lives in Melbourne, he maintains strong ties to the region, and set his first novel in Otago. The fictional town of Riverstone in both The Nancys and Nancy Businesswas modelled "somewhat on Balclutha", he said.

McDonald identifies as queer and co-parents two daughters.[2][5]

Writing career

R.W.R McDonald wrote the first draft of The Nancys while at Faber Academy, Melbourne under the tutelage of award winning authors Toni Jordan and Paddy O'Reilly.[5][6][7]

McDonald credits his tutors and mentors for "talking him off the ledge" halfway through writing The Nancys and "sticking with it" when he was going to pull out of the course and writing due to outside pressures.[6][7]

In 2017, The Nancys was highly commended in Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award, this lead him to signing with literary agent, Grace Heifetz.[8][9][10]

In 2019, his debut novel, The Nancys, was published in Australia and New Zealand by Allen and Unwin.[11][12][13][14]

McDonald's second novel in The Nancys series, Nancy Business, was published in June 2021.[15]

McDonald was a contributor to the 2022 crime fiction anthology, Dark Deeds Down Under: A Crime & Thriller Anthology with Nancys Undercover, a short story set one year after The Nancys [16]

R.W.R McDonald was a judge in the 2022 VPLA Unpublished Awards.[17]

In September 2023, McDonald’s first picture book, Happy Millionth Birthday, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo, published by Larrikin House [18]

The Nancys

The novel centres around an eleven year old school girl, Tippy Chan and her babysitting Uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon, who together form a secret amateur detective club "The Nancys" to try and solve Tippy's teacher's murder in her small town over one summer.[3][19][20][1][21]

Nancy Business

The sequel to The Nancys. McDonald's second book takes place four months after The Nancys finished. The story begins on the one-year anniversary of Weifang (Joe) Chan's death. The amateur detective trio, made up of Tippy Chan, her Uncle Pike and his boyfriend, Devon, reform after a large explosion rocks Tippy's small hometown of Riverstone, South Otago. The Nancys believe the police have charged the wrong person with the bombing.[22][23][24]

Awards and recognition

• Ngaio Marsh Award, 2020, Best First Novel, Winner for The Nancys

• Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award, 2017 Highly commended for The Nancys[8][9]

• Ngaio Marsh Award, 2020, Best Crime Novel, Finalist for The Nancys

• Ned Kelly Awards, 2020, Best First Novel, Shortlisted for The Nancys

• In June 2021, the Screen options for The Nancys were bought by Hoodlum Entertainment, via Grace Heifetz of Left Bank Literacy Agency.[25]

• Ngaio Marsh Award, 2022, Best Crime Novel, Finalist for Nancy Business [26]

Bibliography

• The Nancys (2019) ISBN 9781760527334[3][20]

• Nancy Business (2021) ISBN 9781760878870[22][23]

• Dark Deeds Down Under: A Crime & Thriller Anthology (2022), Contributor “Nancys Undercover” ISBN 9780645316780[16]

• Happy Millionth Birthday (2023) ISBN 9781922804631[27]

References

  1. 1 2 "R.W.R. McDonald". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sense of Place: RWR McDonald, South Otago". ABC Radio National. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 McDonald, R. W. R. (2019). The Nancys. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-76052-733-4. OCLC 1089415674.
  4. ↑ "Books That Changed Me: RWR McDonald". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "R.W.R. McDonald answers our Ten Terrifying Questions!". The Booktopian. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Melbourne Writers Festival - Rob McDonald and Toni Jordan: Writing Your Way Up". Melbourne Writers Festival. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  7. 1 2 Onions, The (23 January 2019). "How Faber Writing Academy helped Rob McDonald write The Nancys". Things Made From Letters: the Allen & Unwin blog. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. 1 2 "The Award for an Unpublished Manuscript". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  9. 1 2 Mem: 9024872. "Shortlist announced for 2017 Vic Prem's Unpublished Manuscript award | Books+Publishing". Retrieved 11 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Byron, Jacquie (18 October 2019). "Antipodean noir: Is crime Melbourne's biggest export?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  11. ↑ "Unlikely heroes: R W R McDonald on 'The Nancys' | Books+Publishing".
  12. ↑ "Allen & Unwin - Australia".
  13. ↑ "The Nancys (R W R McDonald, A&U) | Books+Publishing".
  14. ↑ "Books That Changed Me: RWR McDonald". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 June 2019.
  15. ↑ Goldsworthy, Kerryn (16 July 2021). "Fiction reviews: The Tulip Tree and three other titles". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. 1 2 "Dark Deeds Down Under".
  17. ↑ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2022". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  18. ↑ McDonald, R. W. R. (September 2023). Happy Millionth Birthday. Larrikin House. ISBN 9781922804631.
  19. ↑ Allen, Supplied; Unwin (5 July 2019). "Debut writers series: The Nancys by R. W. R. McDonald". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  20. 1 2 "The Nancys - R.W.R. McDonald - 9781760527334 - Allen & Unwin - Australia". www.allenandunwin.com. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  21. ↑ Mem: 9254632. "Unlikely heroes: R W R McDonald on 'The Nancys' | Books+Publishing". Retrieved 11 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. 1 2 Fiona, Hardy (June 2019). "The Nancys (R W R McDonald, A&U)". Books+Publishing. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  23. 1 2 Nancy business. Allen & Unwin. 2021. ISBN 9781760878870. OCLC 1240210429.
  24. ↑ "Rob McDonald's second novel, the Nancy Business". Radio New Zealand. 27 June 2021.
  25. ↑ "'The Nancys' optioned for screen | Books+Publishing".
  26. ↑ "Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel".
  27. ↑ McDonald, R. W. R. (2023). Happy Millionth Birthday. Larrikin House. ISBN 9781922804631.
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