Amy & Book Club

It’s November! The month I (Payton) have eagerly awaited all year! It’s the month we read WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in partnership with our friends at Fiction Distilling, who recently released their first vodka inspired by the classic novella. In this first episode of the month, Amy schools us all on the long 19th century and the literature it birthed. We discuss this pivotal...

This week we thwarted all of Amy's attempts to pick a different movie (of which there were several) and sat her down to experience Twilight for the very first time. Join us for a post-movie discussion as we explain the plot of the remaining films in the Twilight saga to Amy (from vampire veganism to resume/rigatoni/nessie) and reflect on the popularity of Twilight in the early 2000's.  🎤🎸 B...

Welcome to BOTM: Interview with the Vampire. This book might be a classic but it can still give you an existential crisis! This week we dig into the Catholicism of Anne Rice's vampires, Louis' hypocrisy, the horror of a child vampire, and just why Louis is everyone's emotional support vampire. 📚 Book Club just got spooky! Join Flinders writer and academic Amy Matthews and the AMY & BOOK CLUB...

This week Amy, Abby & Payton get truly academic and discuss a scholarly article that they have not read; deep dive into the history of the undead and the "oops we promise we really thought they were dead"; examine themes of animalism, predation, patriarchy and violence in  Twilight , Buffy , and The Vampire Diaries ; debate the ethics and practicalities of vegan vampires and human canniba...

We're continuing Vampire month by diving deep into the world of teen vampires. Or vampires who fall in love with teens? Join us as we try to pick apart the "pick me" of it all, question why these old ass vampires are interested in teen girls, and the team once again explain how Edward got Bella pregnant in Twilight. Seriously guys, we can't seem to escape Twilight. This month, we’re reading...

Welcome to vampire month! It’s now October which means Halloween which means we get spooky which means we contemplate marriage and sex with crusty dusty vampires. Well, for a little bit. But mostly, in this first episode of the month, Amy, Justina, Harry and Millie are talking about their favourite vampires (Nosferatu, but specifically in SpongeBob) and the ways in which vampire lore changes...

Are you in need of a cathartic cry from a novel that leaves you feeling warm, optimistic, and craving lobster rolls? This week, the '&' of Amy & kick our host, Amy, off the pod so that we can talk candidly about her latest novel, THE TREASURE HOUSE (spoiler: we're obsessed). Join us as we discuss which moments left us in tears, the pros and cons of owning a treasure home, how sentimental w...

This week Justina, Abby & Millie are joined by the illustrious Amy Matthews for a conversation all about writing, publishing and The Treasure House . Join us as we delve into Amy’s writing process, hear about her journey into publishing, cry over her latest book and speculate on when all her various pen names will finally merge into one super author.   🏡 Our BOTM is The Treasure Ho...

Munch on this publishing month with us as we take a peek behind the scenes of The Treasure House and trace its journey from ideation to publication. This week Payton & Amy are joined by three publishing experts: Sarah Younger, agent at Nancy Yost Literary Agency and Amy’s own agent; Anthea Bariamis, publisher at Atria Books (Simon & Schuster) and Amy’s Australian editor; and Al...

What does publishing a novel look like behind the scenes? This month we're following the trajectory of THE TREASURE HOUSE by Amy Matthews, from idea to publication, and asking the agent, editors and publishers our burning questions about the publishing industry.  This week, we interview the lovely Melanie Hayes, Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster UK, to ask what does a commissioning...

We're so sad to say goodbye to Smut month, but we're sending it off with a truly fantastic book and a thinker of a book club. In C.M. Nascosta's MORNING GLORY MILKING FARM, our heroine Violet finds herself working an unconventional job 'milking' minotaurs in Cambric Creek. Violet is making the best out of her new career when a stern, deep-voiced client beings to request her specifically for his mi...

This week, Amy& tackle a complicated discussion about sex in romance with the one and only Amy Andrews! Brace yourselves for an incredible chat about how sex can be written, what makes a good sex scene, and how maybe calling a penis a member might REALLY be a reference to parliament. As far as NSFW goes, this week we might have made Amy& history, with a romping number of descriptions that...

This week Amy, Payton, Abby & Justina discuss Katherine Angel’s book, Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again , and deep dive into the nuances of sex, consent and desire. What kinds of social scripts have we been taught about sex and consent and why are they so dang gendered? Why is the patriarchy always at the scene of the crime? And how does this all shake out when romance and smut books enter...

Welcome to another Amy & Smut Month, the month where we talk about books with smut! This time we're getting to know the monstrous, the beastly, and the surprisingly sweet. We tackle what kind of monsters belong in 'monster smut', our Wills and Won'ts of monsterkind, Romantasy vs Monster Romances, and just why these beastly men appeal to readers. Fun moments include a monster dating show (Marri...

We're trying something a little different for this After Dark: a get-to-know-us episode. We've been talking zines all month, so it felt right that we get together and talk about our lives as writers. We answer the age old questions like Pantser or Plotter, do you worldbuild extensively or wing it, and why is writing so hard? We get into some less traditional topics as well, like whether we'd prefe...

"It's nice to be known, I guess?" This book club episode is a liiittle bit different because it is zine month, and in lieu of a book club pick, we tasked ourselves with making our own zines. Today is the day we share them with each other and, of course, with you! From Amy & warfare to imaginary band discographies, this episode is a wild ride and the perfect culmination of everything we've...

This week Amy, Millie and Justina are joined by local Adelaide artist, zine-maker, community organiser and author of the graphic memoir Oh Brother , Georgina Chadderton – aka George Rex Comics. Join us as we chat all about making comics, shifting between zine-making and traditional publishing, interdisciplinary creativity, building grassroots arts community, revelling in niche Australian com...

Welcome to week two of Zine Month! Today Amy, Justina, and Payton are joined by friends of the pod Gemma Neall and Shona Edwards. These wonderful guests are zine experts AND classicists — just about the coolest cross-section of interests a person could possibly have. So in this episode we make a journey from ancient poetry to Shakespeare and then all the way to Ronald Reagan, Spockanalia, an...

New month, new us! This July we’ll be drawing, writing, cutting, pasting, photocopying, folding and talking all things zines and zine-making. To kick off the month, we dove into Justina’s personal zine collection to find the answers to all our burning zine questions. What is a zine? Where do you find them and how do you make them? How do you archive something so varied and ephemeral? A...

As we wrap up queer sci-fi month (😔🫶🏼) we get together to chat about our incredible book club pick, IDA by Alison Evans. This book follows Ida, who believes that she can time travel and uses her ability to amend errors in her life. From avoiding car crashes to rewinding conversational hiccups, who wouldn't want to travel through time? But when Ida's doppelganger sits down beside her at the trai...

This episode Amy, Justina & Abby are joined by Alison Evans, author of our June BOTM Ida , as well as a whole host of other queer YA and middle grade speculative fiction, sci-fi and fantasy. Join us as we discuss all things reading and writing queer spec fic, imagining hopeful futures in YA, zine making for horse girls (gender neutral) – plus some (mostly) spoiler-free Ida chats ahead of...

For the second week of Pride Month we're tackling fanfiction, all the way back to the Kirk/Spock community that started it all. There's something for everyone this episode: the history and fundamentals of fanfic, the community and passion of the craft, the social implactions of ladies reading slash, and even how AI could effect the way we approach fanfic (clue: we don't like it!). Harry tells us a...

Hi Gay, Happy Pride Month! Today we're kicking off the month of June with a festive introduction to Queer Sci-Fi. There are some big Sci-Fi heads in Amy &, so get ready for a journey through all of our favourite books, authors, and films in the beloved genre. We consider if and why Sci-Fi is on the rise lately (it's existential doom again, isn't it?) and discuss the inclusion and exclusion of...

We’re sad to say goodbye to dragon month, but happy to send it off with a book club chat about Moniquill Blackgoose’s incredible first installment of the Nampeshiweisit series, To Shape a Dragon's Breath . This book follows the journey of Anequs, who bonds with a dragon hatchling and becomes the first Nampeshiweisit of her people in generations. However, the laws of the Anglish colonis...

Join us for our hilarious interview with USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times bestselling author Rebecca Thorne. Rebecca talks us through her life-long love of dragons, retrospective worldbuilding, the phenomenon of cozy fantasy, and the joy of writing established lesbian couples. We had an absolute blast talking to Rebecca, so we know you'll enjoy this interview: described by participants as "cozy,...