AustLit

'At Adelaide Writers' Week in March, journalist George Megalogenis asked Leigh Sales who had surprised her most in the research for her book Any Ordinary Day. She replied: 'Steve Sinn, the priest. Because I'm not religious myself and I felt like we were going to have nothing in common and his way of looking at the world wouldn't make sense to me ...''  (Article summary)

'Why do we tell stories, and how are they crafted? In a new series, we unpick the work of the writer on both page and screen.'

'The striking feature of this book is how much of herself Sales reveals as she takes a close look at a number of people blindsided by the ‘poison darts of fate’.' (Introduction)

'Any Ordinary Day, Leigh Sales’s investigative report from the coalface of tragedy and resilience, is based on solid research and lengthy interviews. Sales, who wants to know the secrets of surviving outrageous fortune, has the journalistic chops to take on the quest. ‘I rely on a particular skill set … I know how to craft a line of questioning,’ she writes early in her new book. Readers familiar with Sales’s on-camera persona as the anchor of ABC television’s The 7.30 Report will perhaps brace themselves for some field surgery as she probes the testimonies of people who have met and overcome one or more tragedies. But those readers may be surprised.'  (Introduction)