Authorised with Kevin Hillier

Kirsty Manning's latest book Murder in Paris (Allen & Unwin) is the second of her Charlie James mysteries and takes the reader to pre-World War 2 France, a hot spot for the rich and well-to-do, but one with a bubbling undercurrent of drama and mystery.  Kirsty explains how the story developed as well as her cast of characters and how, at the age of 40, she made the leap to beginning life...

Another double banger episode with authors Laura McCluskey and Steve Worland.  Laura brings The Cursed Road (Harper Collins), her second book and the next instalment of with her main characters Lennox and Stewart. Laura takes us through her creative and writing process and the unusual places ideas come from. Swear Wolves (Penguin) is a children's book with a big difference, as the title sugge...

The very talented Sarah Bailey returns to the podcast to chat about the follow-up to her very successful last novel 'The Housemate' which she discussed last time (Series 2 Ep 23  October 2021). As Sarah explains, she wasn't planning a follow-up, it just happened. 'Click' (Allen & Unwin) sees Oli Groves in a slightly new light and a story that will have you captivated from start to finish....

Rugby League's State of Origin series is an annual event unlike any other on the Australian sports calendar. For fans like author Darren Groth and his father Des, it is more than a yearly three-game series between two states, it is part of their DNA. 'Marooned' (Hawkeye Publishing) traces the deeply ingrained commitment and passion the Groths share for the game and each other. Darren shares how he...

In this episode, meet Deborah Lawrie and Steph De Sousa. Deborah is a trailblazer who took on the male dominated airline industry in the seventies and became Australia's first female commercial pilot. Much has been written about the legal battles but in 'Touching the Sky' (Harper Collins), Deborah shares her love of aviation and her determination to make it her life's work.  Steph de Sousa is...

Garry Jack is a name well known to rugby league fans worldwide because he was a genuine superstar of the game. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Balmain in a career that fullfilled almost all his childhood dreams. Garry has teamed with sports journalist Adam Hawse to tell his amazing story of blood, sweat and tears. 'Jumping Jack' (Fair Play Publishing) is more than just a sports tale....

Fleur McDonald returns to Authorised to talk about her new novel 'The Witness' (Harper Collins), the latest in her series set in Kalgoorlie, a celebrated city of many layers in Western Australia. Fleur has a mystery to match those layers, and then some. With almost 30 books to her credit, Fleur is one of Australia's most prolific and popular crime fiction writers. She shares the story behind her l...

How many times has someone suggested the solution to your problem starts with "Take a big, deep breath"? What if your brain could do that? The time and space to do nothing in a world that so often overwhelms us. Health journalist Jodi Wilson offers some wise, sensible and practical methods and practices to create a space in our hectic schedules for that chance to mentally and physically take a bre...

Technology is part of our lives from a very early age and dealing with the choices is hard for adults, let alone kids barely out of nappies, but it is their reality. This terrific new book is just what the doctor ordered and delivered - Dr. Niraj Lal, that is. Behind the Screens is a guide to navigating the internet for 9 to 13 year olds, but it is so much more than that. Like lots of things in li...

Fiona Hardy knows the book business from many angles because as well as being an author, Fiona still works in a bookstore. From hands on to handwritten - well, not quite, but you get the idea. Fiona talks about her second crime novel Old Games (Affirm Press),  another cracking story with a sporting flavour and plenty of twists and turns. All thanks to my podcast partners CSCG, the best people...

Andrew Daddo is a man of many talents: actor, television host, golf tragic, radio presenter, wooden putter maker and prolific author. It is the latter that we will concentrate on in this chat to showcase Bitza - his latest series of books for children. Andrew takes us through his creative process, some interesting observations about being an author, the role of an illustrator and the joy and satis...

For many, it was the absolute must-see television show every Sunday night across Australia. The show that shaped the musical tastes of a generation and made superstars out of many of its discoveries. That show was Countdown, and authors Brett Leslie and Milton Hammon have painstakingly detailed the history of the show in a very large way with their book Countdown - The Complete Episode Guide.&nbsp...

Scott Leckie has written many books but none like Shrewd Little Sleuth and that is not surprising. Scott is a human rights lawyer and has penned dozens of books in the course of that vocation, but this latest book is personal. It is about his grandfather - Arthur Bernard Leckie. Arthur was an FBI Agent back in the days when J Edgar Hoover was running the organisation and history tells us that was...

Kelvin Templeton is a name that needs no introduction to followers of Australian Rules football. The 1980 Brownlow Medallist had a boy's own adventure during his 177 league games, kicking 573 goals for the Footscray and Melbourne Football Clubs. A globetrotting business career followed and now Kelvin enters a new phase of his life as an author. His debut novel Collision (Wilkinson Publishing) show...

Author Grantlee Kieza is prolific and in his return to Authorised, he tells the story behind his latest book Mary Penfold (ABC Books). We all know the Penfold name from the world famous South Australian winery, but Mary's incredible contribution to building that iconic Australian brand has mostly gone unheralded. Grantlee's passion for finding and celebrating unsung Aussie heroes like Mary makes f...

Andrew Sloan and Johan Du Toit are the two featured authors in this episode of Authorised and the two books are Why Things Feel F*cked and When Only Today Matters and other stories. One is a collection of short stories, the other a collection of small solutions to life's many and varying challenges.    Andrew Sloan is a practising psychotherapist and leadership coach and his book Why Thi...

Vikki Petraitis has lived a life of crime but only from the confines of her keyboard. The former teacher has been writing true crime books for more than 30 years and decided to try her hand at crime fiction. Her debut The Unbelieved was a best seller and award winner and her follow up The Stolen will undoubtedly follow suit. Vikki talks about her writing processes and the difference between real c...

In this episode Rhonda McCoy talks about Crow (Ventura Press) and what a great story lies beneath this debut novel for the former nurse turned author. Rhonda chats about character development and her techniques for fleshing them out as she writes. My other guest is Jessica Owers, author of Magic Millions (Penguin), an incredible book detailing the origins, rise, fall and rise again of Australia's...

The Wolf Who Cried Boy (Afffirm Press) not only has an eyecatching title but a most imaginative and original story to go with it. Author Mark Muposta-Russell talks about his much anticipated second novel which sees him write through the eyes of six year old boy whose life is one of fairytale fantasy intertwined with the reality of a broken family and domestic violence. It is a challenging journey...

Tanya Scott talks about the leap from her day job as a GP and Medical Educator to becoming an author. Her novel Stillwater (Allen & Unwin) is a hell of a debut and hopefully heralds the start of many more literary adventures in the future.  The Hollow Girl ((Penguin) is Lyn Yeowart's much anticipated second novel and as Lyn explains in the podcast it did come with some second book blues....

Duncan Ewing Graham is an interesting human being. He is a barrister and a doctor and, in his spare time, an author. Duncan's second book Where the Dust Settles takes us inside a world Duncan knows back to front - the David and Goliath battle between Joe Average and Big Asbestos. Duncan's story brings the human victims face to face with the corporate culprits in a legal battleground of epic propor...

Books allow us to engage in eras and events that our mortal beings cannot and in this episode of Authorised, two very talented authors take us back in time to a very different Australia to the one we currently live in.  Flight by Anne Vines (Glass House Books) brings 1942 Melbourne alive with the threat of a Japanese invasion in the air and platoons of American servicemen on the ground. What...

Give Dad a book this Father's Day, and I have three nominations for you to consider from the two authors who join me in this episode. Geoff Hutchison has finished his long and illustrious career as a broadcaster and turns his talents to writing a most entertaining and enlightening book, beautifully and aptly titled 'How Not To Be a Grumpy Old Bugger' (Affirm Press). You will love Geoff's candour a...

Author Matthew Spencer returns to Authorised with his second novel 'Broke Road' (Allen & Unwin). Sergeant Rose Riley, introduced in Matthew's debut book 'Black River', is back with another homicide to solve but a mystery that takes her to some unexpected places personally and professionally. Matthew talks about the challenges of the second novel, his learnings from his first book, the importan...

The Good Losers is Meg Bignell's fourth novel and it is an absolute delight from start to finish. Meg has tapped into some real life experiences to bring readers a very honest and hilarious tale of life, love, winners and losers in an elite rowing club.  Meg takes us through her processes of writing and creating the characters and plot lines for The Good Losers (Penguin Random House), a book...