which regularly runs book clubs devoted to talking about young adult fiction.

This year, her debut novel, Made of Steam and Stardust has been published by Stag Beetle Books. The story is about sixteen-year-old Gerdie, who is an inventor who wants to use the things she builds to make her world a better one. When a comet collides with her planet, a series of events is set in motion which will put Gerdie and her new friend Fell on a course for adventure, whether they like it or not!

The book is available to order via your favourite online book retailer, directly from Bianca at an upcoming event, or speak to your local bookshop about ordering in a copy.

We caught up with Bianca to talk about the experience of writing and publishing this exciting story.

Thank you for having me!

Made of Steam and Stardust follows sixteen-year-old inventor Gerdie, who lives in the future on a distant planet that has eradicated nearly all nature to serve its machines. She dreams of becoming a world-famous inventor and sees her chance when a comet sets its course for her planet.

But as she searches for parts to build her comet-stopping machine, she comes across a mysterious boy called Fell with some kind of connection to the comet. He’s being hunted by the ruthless Conqueror Seki, and soon Gerdie is, too. On the run, the duo uncovers chilling blueprints for a deadly army of automatons.

The army is nearly complete, but a final piece is still missing. If Gerdie doesn’t find it before Conqueror Seki does, the comet will be the least of her worries.

So, what readers won’t get from the blurb is that the novel is actually dual point of view. Along with Gerdie’s story, we also follow Leo, who is a friend of Gerdie’s and who harbours a big secret. His and Gerdie’s stories diverge a little way into the story, and Leo embarks on his own quest and story arc, which I really loved writing.

Absolutely by design, it’s also in her blood. Her dad was an established inventor and her mum is a scientist, so Gerdie has grown up around inventions and hypotheses and experiments. She’s very left-brained, and her inventions are usually skewed to make things easier or better.

One of her inventions is called the Mechanical Obstruction Remover Tool (the M.O.R.T.), designed to clean the inside of the factory machines while they’re still running (usually it’s children, as it was during the Industrial Revolution!) It works for the most part but she’s still practicing her craft!

This is such a great question. If there was anything from earlier drafts, I don’t remember. But I do have an unfinished short story sitting in my laptop where she invented a homework machine and became very popular at school – but lost the time with her father at home where they would work on her homework together. It’s cute, I should finish it one day.

It was a bit of a weird process. I had been squirrelling away random ideas that I liked or wanted to explore – an inventor, a celestial being in the body of a boy, a character that barely says a word – and once I had a couple of things, I thought putting them together would make for a really interesting story. I had a few false starts trying to get words down, but then it was a pretty intensive process.

I made a proper start during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2019 while I was overseas on a semester exchange, and worked on it nearly every day until I finished it in February 2020. After receiving some feedback that the voice was better suited to middle grade than YA, I underwent several rounds of edits – including two mentorships, one with the ASA (Australian Society of Authors) – only to struggle with rewrites and decide the novel was fine the way it was. I started sending it out to publishers again in 2024, and Stag Beetle Books said yes!

Genre is very important to me. I’ve read and written fantasy since I was old enough to do either so the conventions and beats are very familiar to me. Being in that space means I know other writers who write like me, and I’m pretty sure I know my readers, too. I’ve just lived and breathed the fantasy genre for so many years it’s almost second nature.

As for reading, I’m willing to take chances on books, but they generally have a genre or two assigned to them. It feels odd to me to not know your genre as you write, but everyone is different!

Always fantasy! The only thing that changes is the type of fantasy: steampunk, speculative, portal, etc.

I have my love and I’m going to stick to it. And even with the ideas that may not have magic, they’ll definitely be quirky (murder mystery among a travelling puppet show, anyone?)

YA fantasy, even in Australia with our smaller market, always seems to do well. YA fantasy has even recently won some pretty major prizes, like the Victorian Premier’s Literary Prize (A Hunger of Thorns by in 2024 and Anomaly by in 2025).

That being said though, I would love to see Australian publishers take more chances on YA fantasies by early career authors, and especially a diverse range of fantasies.

I do think we’re doing well with contemporary YA though, too, with so many big, beautiful topics being covered that I never had access to as a teenager, like grief, First Nations storytelling, mental health, etc.

My love has always been in YA books, so when I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I was writing for myself. As I’ve gotten a little older, my reading tastes haven’t really changed, but now I write for younger me.

I was not a happy teenager at all, and books were my solace. While most were a wonderful escape, I wish I could have seen myself reflected in them a bit more, so I’m trying to reach any other sad, lonely teenagers out there to let them know it will all be okay.

Stag Beetle Books had been on my radar for some time – early 2023, I think. I entered a first chapter competition of theirs so I think I must have been looking for opportunities to submit work. Early 2024 I was scrolling Instagram and they had a last chance call out to submit for the month, so I threw my story in – I had nothing to lose!

It’s been great working with them. They’re a very small team but the process has been smooth and easy, and my thoughts are always taken into consideration, which is nice.

What advice would you have for anyone out there wanting to write a young adult novel themselves?

Just write! That’s the most important part. Practice, practice, practice. It’s probably going to take you a few goes before you get it right, so just keep getting those words down and learn how novel writing works. Go to workshops and courses, events and author talks. Meet people who write in your categories and genres, and learn as much as you can. I can’t wait to see your books on the shelf!

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, and all the best with your upcoming events around Perth—it’s time to celebrate all your hard work!

Bianca Breen’s debut novel Made of Steam and Stardust is available now from Stag Beetle Books. Grab yourself a copy direct from Bianca HERE.