Author chat with Kate Scott

Set against the backdrop of the new millennium, a seductive summer read about obsession, sex, friendship and music from an exciting new talent.  It's the turn of the new millennium, and the bright young things are partying like it's the end of the world. Dark glamour and debauched music reign, gigs culminating with everyone on stage - or undressed. Lucy, editor of a music magazine, is at the blazing neon centre, ecstatically seeking oblivion. But as her life (featuring a stalker, a not-quite ex-husband, and an affair with a cold, charismatic musician) veers from complicated to chaotic, she burns it all down, decamping to the remote seaside town of her childhood -- to start again. In Abergele, Lucy recreates her old existence in hothouse miniature. Past friends and compulsions reappear, along with new fascinations. One of them is Robin, photographer and lonely son of a famous producer. Recognising in each other a fellow exile and a rich source of distraction, they fall into step on daily rambles across the cliffs. Their charged conversations about music and philosophy function as both high-stakes flirtation and a stealth mechanism for understanding themselves, resulting in an intense bond that disarms them both. Compulsion is a razor-sharp debut about the transcendence of new highs, the allure of new lows, and the relentless power of our obsessions. Music, sex, food, drugs, fashion and nature coalesce to overwhelm the senses on every page.

About Kate

Kate Scott was born in Newcastle and grew up in Melbourne, California’s Mojave Desert, Nimbin and Brisbane. She began her career as a music journalist at age 18, before becoming the editor of (now defunct) street press magazine Rave at age 22. She interviewed hundreds of national and international artists, and her pieces were syndicated nationally.

She spent ten years with The Australian Ballet as their in-house writer, then head of marketing, and was Managing Editor of Luminous: Celebrating 50 Years of The Australian Ballet, a 360-page coffee table book. She now lives in Thirroul on the NSW south coast, works as a freelance strategist, and has two rabbits, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. Compulsion is her debut novel. Kate Scott acknowledges the Dharawal people, on whose lands she lives and works. Sovereignty was never ceded.

About Irene

Irene Diakanastasis is an upcoming Sydney-local journalist. She currently works at 2SER Radio, producing a range of stories from arts and culture to current affairs.