Writer's Book Club Podcast

Anita Heiss talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel Dirrayawadha.  

Anita shares her insights about weaving research, backstory and Wiradyuri language into the narrative, emphasising the importance of authors trusting themselves and their stories. 

We discuss Anita’s meticulous planning when it comes to her novels, which involves chapter breakdowns, character profiles, and using butcher's paper to keep or...

Jock Serong talks about the writing craft and process behind his novel Cherrywood.

Jock tells us how this novel started with several image fragments and a variety of influences, from Peter Carey’s Oscar & Lucinda and Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, to Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree, and the Narnia Chronicles, with a little Dickens and Austen thrown in.

Jock’s explanation of how a handful of ideas became a story is one of the best I've...

Donna M Cameron talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel The Rewilding. 

Donna and I discussed what inspired the novel, the importance of trusting your gut, how choosing the right point of view and tense can bring the writing alive, how she raised the stakes and why she dislikes dialogue tags. We also talked about her beta readers and the editing process for The Rewilding, and Donna does three fabulous reading...

Terri Green talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel An Unsuitable Pursuit. 

Terri and I discussed writing and self-publishing an historical fiction series. Terri gave lots of wonderful advice about how and where to research, how to balance action, interiority, dialogue and description, how to use chapter headings for structure and how to balance humour with serious subject matter.

Terri also has some absolute ...

Petronella McGovern talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel The Last Trace. 

Petronella went deep into the writing of this novel with me - we talked about inciting incidents, setting, research, editing, character development and all the techniques she uses to achieve narrative tension and keep that pace cracking along such as foreshadowing and writing cliffhanger chapter endings. This was also the first time ...

Michael Brissenden talks about the writing craft and process behind his novel Smoke. 

Michael talks about how his gripping new novel was inspired by the 2020 bushfires in Australia, detailing how real-life traumatic events and landscapes served as a backdrop for the novel. Michael discusses setting, in particular why he set the novel in the US, character development, and the craft of narrative structure - from his inspirations ...

NOTE: There are some spoilers in this episode.

BM Carroll talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel One of Us is Missing. Writing topics include pacing, managing multiple points of view, techniques and tips for writing crime fiction, structure, voice and description. 

I’m delighted to bring you another highly experienced novelist, the talented Ber Carroll or BM Carroll as you might know her. Ber has just publish...

Charlotte Wood talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel Stone Yard Devotional. Writing topics include creative process and inspiration, first drafts, novel structure, writing in fragments, point of view, narrative momentum, voice, description and writing at sentence level. 

Charlotte is such a beautiful writer but also a season...

Hannah Richell talks about the writing craft and process behind her novel The Search Party. Writing topics include structure, point of view, character development, dual timelines, backstory, reveals, editing, and writer’s retreats. 

Have you ever read a novel and thought to yourself ‘how on earth did the author pull it off?’ 

Suzanne Leal discusses the craft and process behind her novel The Watchful Wife. 

Suzanne talks about balancing external and internal dialogue and how you can create a really vivid scene in the mind of the reader without too much description, literally just with what the characters are saying, plus dialogue tags and actions. Suzanne reads a sect...

Laurie Steed discusses his craft and process for writing his short story collection Greater City Shadows. He discusses the formation of his characters and how he chooses point of view (or it chooses him!) Laurie emphasises the need for writers to take risks with their characters, and explores how both dialogue and subtext can be used to develop character. 

In this final episode for 2023, I’m bringing you a deliciously long chat about writing craft and process with the author of five novels, Joanna Nell. 

Jo joins me in a deep dive into her novel writing practice, sharing her techniques for creating dynamic characters, sustaining story momentum, managing dialogue, and outlining scenes. She also tak...

A deep dive with Jo Riccioni into the writing process and craft behind her fantasy novels The Branded and The Rising.

We talked about Jo's writing process, how she carves out writing space, her experiences with writing different genres and recent successes in her career such as signing an international deal for her fantasy book series. Jo also spoke ...

Sally Hepworth talks about the writing process for her novel Darling Girls.

We discussed writing craft aspects including inspiration, research, character development, description, typical writing schedule, editing, backstory, pacing, seeding in twists and balancing darker themes with humour.

You’ll find links ...

Kate Mildenhall talks about the writing process for her novel The Hummingbird Effect. 

We discussed writing craft aspects including structure, voice, setting, editing, sentence work, inspiration, multiple timelines, journalling and the power of prompts.

You’ll find links to buy both paperback and ebook ve...

Allison Tait talks about the writing process for her middle-grade novel The First Summer of Callie McGee. 

We discussed writing craft aspects including:

- what you need to include (or exclude!) to make the novel age appropriate

- how to balance character arcs with ...

Brendan Cowell talks about the writing process for his novel Plum. 

We discussed writing craft aspects including:

- how the main theme of the novel ripples through every character

- why structure is where the magic lies

- wh...

Victoria Purman talks about the writing process for her novel A Woman’s Work, an historical novel set in Melbourne in 1956.

We discussed so many writing craft aspects including:

- how a pamphlet in a second hand bookstore gave her the idea for the novel

- how she fills ...

Rae Cairns talks about the writing process for her novel Dying To Know, a crime thriller.  

We discussed so many writing craft aspects including:

- why she starts with theme, rather than plot or character

- the research process

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