Talking Aussie Books

Kell Woods in an Australian historical fantasy author whose debut novel has just been released in Australia/New Zealand, the UK and the US. Called ‘After the Forest’ Kell has written a rich, compelling and utterly remarkable fairytale retelling.    Set in the Black Forest of Wurrtemberg during the mid-17th century, the story picks up 15 years after Greta and her brother Hans escape from an old wit...

Shelley Burr is an award-winning Australian author whose debut novel ‘Wake’ was a top five bestseller. Published in the US and the UK as well as here in Australia, 'Wake' won the CWA Debut Dagger Award in 2019 (a UK award for an unpublished writer), it was shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards Debut Novel Award, the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award and the Bath Novel Award. ...

Steph Vizard is a Melbourne-based writer who won the 2022 Banjo Prize with her then unpublished manuscript 'The Love Contract'. Twelve months on and that book has now been published by HarperCollins. I have no doubt that readers will fall in love with this charming story about enemy neighbours - Zoe and Will - who reluctantly come to the realisation that they each had the power to help the...

Jane Harrison is an award-winning playwright and novelist as well as Festival director whose work has been performed across Australia and internationally. Jane is descended from the Muruwari people and believes stories have the power to strengthen cultural connection.  Jane’s YA novel ‘Becoming Kirrali Lewis’ won the 2014 Black & Write Prize and that same novel was shortlisted for the 2014 Pri...

Memorable books are the ones that make me feel something. Books that make me laugh or hold my breath with anticipation; stories that make me feel hopeful and most of all... the books that make me cry. These are the ones that become indelibly printed on my heart. ‘Saving Charli’ (Scholastic Australia) written by Victorian-based author, Di Walker is a book that made me feel SO many of these things a...

Veronica Lando is a crime writer who burst onto the Australian literary scene a couple of years ago when her then unpublished manuscript won the 2021 Banjo Prize. That manuscript 'The Whispering' was published by HarperCollins in 2022 to widespread acclaim. This year, Veronica's second book 'The Drowning Girls' was also published by HarperCollins. And if it's anything like...

Philippa Kaye is a mother, educator, and now published novelist who lives on the Central Coast of NSW and was inspired to write her debut novel, 'Girl Detectives Just Wanna Have Fun' during COVID. Set in 1984, 'Girl Detectives Just Wanna Have Fun' is a pacy mystery novel flavoured with lots of fun eighties nostalgia - big hair, short skirts and shoulder pads - not to mention a spic...

Lucy Lever is a former social worker who lives in the bush on Sydney’s coastal fringe with her husband.  As proof that it is never too late to follow your dreams, Lucy decided to give creative writing a go later in life.  The result is 'Mystic Ridge' published earlier this month by HQ Fiction. It was on her frequent visits to family on the NSW North Coast that Lucy found inspiration for My...

Since first meeting Vanessa McCausland back in 2020,  I have marvelled at her gift for evocative and unforgettable story-telling.  First through the Lost Summers of Driftwood, then The Valley of Lost Stories, again with the The Beautiful Words and now…Dreaming in French.     Not only is Vanessa a warm, lovely person and supportive member of the Australian writing community, but Vanessa has come to...

Kelly Rimmer is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of 13 novels.   Writing both historical and contemporary novels, Kelly’s titles include The German Wife, The Warsaw Orphan, The Things We Cannot Say and Truths I Never Told You. Kelly has sold more than 2 million books to date. And her work has been translated into dozens of languages. If that wasn’t impressive...

Listeners, a couple of weeks ago I was at the annual Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival and had the joy of interviewing an author whose career I have been watching for a few years now.   And recently, I got to do it all over again.  Paul Dalgarno is a Melbourne-based author of two novels and two non-fiction titles.   Born and raised in Scotland, Paul has lived in Australia since 2010 and has w...

I first interviewed Jennifer McKenzie Dunbar back in April 2020, just after she'd self-published her debut novel, 'Vivaldi's Lost Concerto'. And what a debut it was. So much fascinating research and detail coloured the historical thread of the narrative of that book along with the harrowing experiences of a contemporary woman who had been through the prison system. Something Jennif...

Phillipa Nefri Clark is an Australian author based in country Victoria and a USA Today best-selling author of more than 20 novels. Her writing is not only prolific but spans a number of different genres - from romance, to mystery and crime thrillers. Earlier this year I was offered the opportunity to read the first of Phillipa's Detective Liz Moorland novels, 'Lest We Forgive' and thor...

Robyn Cadwallader is an award winning Canberra-based author  - with three historical novels to her name, along with poems, prize-winning short stories and a non-fiction book based on her PhD thesis about virginity and female agency in the Middle Ages. Robyn’s first novel, ‘The Anchoress’ was published in 2015 to critical acclaim and was awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for fiction and the...

Kim Lock is an internationally published, bestselling author of five novels that include 'Peace Love and Khaki Socks', 'Like I Can Love', 'The Three of Us' and 'The Other Side of Beautiful'.  Living in regional South Australia with her family, Kim’s writing as appeared in Kill Your Darlings, The Guardian, Daily Life and The Sydney Morning Herald amongst other public...

Megan Rogers is a debut novelist with impeccable credentials. Starting her working life as an editorial assistant at Allen & Unwin before taking up a position in Marketing at the State Library of Victoria Megan has a PhD in Creative Writing as well as a Bachelor of Arts/Science, a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing, a Graduate Diploma in Professional Communication AND a Masters of Mar...

Rae Cairns is a Sydney-based author who shot to notoriety when her debut, self-published novel, ‘The Good Mother’ was shortlisted in 2021 for the Ned Kelly Award in the Best Debut Crime Fiction category.  Following this auspicious event, Rae was offered a two-book deal with HarperCollins publishers and 'The Good Mother' was revised and reissued allowing even more readers to discover Rae’s...

Jessica Dettmann's new novel 'Without Further Ado" (HarperCollins) is a delightful romantic comedy about one woman's search for love and how the stories we read and films we watch impact that journey. Based loosely on Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', this book had me laughing out loud. A terrifically entertaining read filled with witty dialogue and Jessica's...

Karina May is a Sydney-based author whose debut print novel, 'Duck À L'Orange for Breakfast' was published by Pan Macmillan at the end of March. A fun, romantic, satisfying and oh-so-delicious book which comes with 14 delectable recipes to sink your teeth into, 'Duck À L'Orange for Breakfast' is rom-com, foodie-fiction and armchair travel rolled into one gorgeous story that...

Sandie Docker burst onto the Australian literary scene in 2018 with her debut title ‘The Kookaburra Creek Cafe’ followed by 'The Cottage at Rosella Cove in 2019', 'The Banksia Bay Beach Shack' in 2020 and 'The Wattle Island Book Club' in 2022. Each of these stories have cemented Sandie’s reputation as a masterful storyteller.  Weaving past and present timelines together in...

Author Dianne Yarwood is a Sydney-based writer with a background in accounting and corporate advisory work, who also loves to cook. Her debut novel 'The Wakes' (Hachette Australia) was published in early March 2023. A tender, funny and heartfelt book about two failed marriages, two strangers who fall in love, friends who start a catering business and the four funerals that connect all these people...

Michelle Johnston is the author of two novels and juggles her writing career with her work as an emergency physician the Royal Perth Hospital and as a Professor of Emergency Medicine at St John of God Murdoch.  If that's not impressive enough, Michelle's debut novel 'Dustfall' was awarded the Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre Developing Manuscript Award in 2014 and later published by UWA Pub...

I first interviewed Canadian-born Ashley Kalagian Blunt in 2019 when her debut book 'My Name is Revenge' was published. Since, Ashley has published a memoir ‘How to Be Australian’ along with other writing which has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, the Griffith Review of Books and Kill Your Darlings, just to name a few. Ashely also teaches creative writing and co-hosts the popular p...

Last year I was privileged to interview an award-winning novelist whose debut novel became an overnight sensation.  As the winner of the illustrious Banjo Prize in 2020, Dinuka McKenzie quickly became a household name when her book 'The Torrent' was published by HarperCollins at the beginning of 2022.  Now, in 2023, Dinuka has followed up on the success of 'The Torrent' with another bril...

Jo Dixon is one of Australia's newest debut authors.  Her novel, 'The House of Now and Then' was published in January 2023 by HQ Fiction.  Beautifully written, evocative, intriguing and heart-rending, 'The House of Now and Then' is a tale about a decades long mystery, deadly secrets and the consequences of discovering the truth.   I absolutely loved it and I know many of you out the...