Is hopeful political fiction possible in Australia?
After working inside the Canberra bubble for over 25 years, Simone Abbot writes with heart, humour and hope about the people within the politics:
the stories they believe
the lies they tell themselves
the causes they would die for.
While converting Australian politics into fiction, Simone has been training her eyes to see all the improbable things in Parliament House because ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’
Life isn’t just an economic equation. Not everything valuable can be measured in GDP. Hope can come from the most improbable of places.
Simone’s debut novel, to be released in 2026, features the people within the politics, the communities and the lands they represent, and the improbable threads of hope that bind.
Politics ~ Community ~ Hope
Advocate ~ Philosopher ~ Alchemist
Coming 9 September
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Coming 9 September 〰️
EUDAIMANIA:
HAPPINESS DISEASE
~ ‘Happiness depends on ourselves.’ ~ Aristotle ~
Speechwriter Kat Warlow knows it’s no mean trick keeping the entire population of Australia ‘relaxed and comfortable’. Choosing the right words for her boss, the so-called ‘Sexiest Minister Alive’, Lachlan Stuart MP, takes a deft touch – a woman’s touch, really. But handing in her banal resignation notice to Lach hardly seems the act of a wordsmith at the peak of her powers. Especially in June, 2001, with everyone in Parliament House tensed, anticipating an election announcement at any moment. Instead of flaunting her overpriced Isogawa gown at the upcoming Parliamentary Midwinter Ball in Canberra, Kat must flee back home to where she came from: a rundown caravan park in Adelaide’s beachside Semaphore.
But needs must. She’s ready to sacrifice herself for his career.
The only problem is back ‘home’ – where little nuisances, like secrets, lies and betrayals await – doesn’t seem to want her, either.
A story about finding our own voice amongst all we inherit from those we love.
LAUNCH OF SIMONE’S DEBUT NOVEL
EUDAIMANIA: HAPPINESS DISEASE
SAVE THE DATE!
9 SEPTEMBER 2026
DETAILS COMING SOON
The life more ordinary…
or more hopeful
Simone Abbot’s journey has been wonderful in its ordinariness.
Simone was born in the volcanic region of Rabaul, on the archipelago of New Britain in pre-independent Papua New Guinea. Arriving in Australia in 1970, she grew up a 1980’s ‘Westie’ in beachside Adelaide.
After completing degrees in Arts and Law at the University of Adelaide, she joined the Commonwealth public service in 1995, moving to Canberra. Simone ran the gamut of public service: working in departments, for regulators and a not-for-profit supporting the public sector, evolving from lawyer to policy-maker (with a stint in Parliament House) to design thinker to program director to author.
In 2023, Simone finished working full-time after experiencing symptoms she dismissed as ‘life’. With hindsight, she now recognises these as the gifts of peri-menopause, but at the time she requested an MRI to test for dementia.
This timeout turned out to be its own gift, presenting space to experiment with what improves wellbeing – a concept of interest to her former employer, the Treasury. Her short story, Loneliness By Degrees, records her transition through this period and was selected as the ACT winner for the Neighbours Every Day ‘Tell Us Your Story’ 2025 competition.
Simone writes while volunteering with organisations supporting writers, migrants and refugees. She’s a member of the ACT’s MARION and the Australian Society of Authors, and volunteers with Navitas Skilled Futures, Cafe Stepping Stone, the National Library and the Canberra Writers Festival (a time of the year she calls ‘Disneyland for authors’).
Simone’s debut novel Eudaimania: Happiness Disease will be released on 9 September 2026, 25 years after the year of its 2001 setting, featuring locations in the ACT and SA. Yes, it’s taken 20 years, but it has re-written Simone as she’s re-written it. Turns out, it’s never too late to choose your own wellbeing.
Proving, rather improbably, that the ordinary life can be the hope-filled life.
“Live life as though everything is rigged in your favour.”
Politics ~ Community ~ Hope
Advocate ~ Philosopher ~ Alchemist
Is Simone’s writing for you?
In the 1990s, Simone’s English lecturer told his students that the most intriguing essay he’d received analysed Jane Eyre according to the four elements:
air - Jane Eyre Mr Rochester - earth
fire - Helen Byrnes St John Rivers - water
Simone never forgot this observation, and her stories about politics and community have absorbed an elemental quality.
Subscribe to Simone’s occasional newsletter on the next page to be among the first to know when Simone’s debut novel will be released.
“‘Eudaimania: Happiness Disease’ asks how we might build a more loving politics in an angry age.”
“I enjoyed it so much I immediately turned back and started to re-read the first few chapters!”
You can read Simone’s 2025 award-winning short story Loneliness By Degrees here.
“Your story beautifully reflects our theme of Create, Share & Grow Belonging, capturing the spirit of connection and community that makes neighbourhoods stronger.”
“Your essay for Neighbours Every Day (for which I am an ambassador) was emotionally powerful and beautifully crafted. No wonder it was the winner!”
Politics ~ Community ~ Hope
Advocate ~ Philosopher ~ Alchemist
Contact Simone
“I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.”
Say hi, ask a question, give feedback!
Politics ~ Community ~ Hope
Advocate ~ Philosopher ~ Alchemist
