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
〰️
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
9 SEPTEMBER 2026, 6:45-8:30pm
Hosted by Hannah Walmsley,
ABC Radio Canberra producer and presenter
Community hall in Common Ground Canberra
Adjacent to Cafe Stepping Stone in Hawdon Place, Dickson
Free entry, but numbers are limited and bookings are essential
Book here
Queries? Email: simone@simoneabbot.com
Part-proceeds of sales of Eudaimania: Happiness Disease will be donated to Cafe Stepping Stone to support their efforts to create a welcoming third space for refugee and migrant women to develop their hospitality skills.
Politics ~ Community ~ Hope
Advocate ~ Philosopher ~ Alchemist
Here’s a few words from my debut novel Eudaimania: Happiness Disease
Chapter One: Analogy
Wednesday 20 June 2001, 7:13am, Parliament House, Canberra
KAT’S HAND TREMBLED with the weight of the envelope, appalled by her next move. She’d thrashed out every option, all the possible permutations fate offered, over the weeks since Lach’s unwarranted ejection from the House. But this ruse – ironically her first overt act of power, even if it was the pound of flesh the Party demanded – was the only way. Even more ironic, after all her experience as a speechwriter known for meticulously selecting her words, here she was placing all her chips on the tricksy twenty-four-hour news cycle. If one of her colleagues spotted her handing in her letter of resignation, it’d be mere seconds before the least loyal rushed off to crank up the Parliamentary rumour mill: Wardlow – her alter ego – had exited the building. At least Warlow – her true self – could breathe again. And the Party could rest easy believing Lach had done what was required.
Kat strode into Lach’s office, dumped her bag on the chair, the envelope in her hand. She edged around Lach’s desk to stand in the position reserved for those most trusted, colloquially designated as ‘Rodham’s’. Tucked in beside the Commonwealth blue ensign, the position was sufficiently deferential yet close enough to exert covert power with a delicate clearing of the throat. The position of true power, of course, was on the floor beneath his desk, unkindly tagged ‘Lewinsky’s’. Regrettably, the rumour mills were already gossiping that Wardlow could’ve assumed either position. To end those rumours, she needed to start another, get everyone talking that Wardlow was gone. And she must time her mission precisely because, a true wordsmith, she knew words and symbols mattered, but together they made magic.
‘Kat? We’re not on until 7:30, you know that.’
She pushed the envelope into his chest. No point beating around the bush. ‘My resignation letter, Lach. Tomorrow I’m gone.’
His expression, usually conveying the self-belief of a Kennedy, took on a glimmer of incredulity. How could Kat exit stage left before the campaign fight of his life had even begun? Even she didn’t have that answer.
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
