MSing About

Historical fiction is a fun genre. Move over Gone with the Wind, Tale of Two Cities and Forrest Gump because Write Now is writing Her Name Was Lola (She Was a Showgirl). It is the true story of Lola Montez, an exotic dancer on the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s, served up with extra spice!

With Katrina out of town, Ian goes solo today and looks at writing a birthday speech for someone else and a birthday wake for himself. 

Having made short films for the Focus on Ability short film festival in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Katrina and Ian decide to make another for the 2024 competition. In this podcast they look at the restrictions and requirements that go into making a film of less that five minutes duration.

In this Write Now podcast, Katrina and Ian look at what you should write about and the answer is simple, write about what you know and/or what you are passionate about. Sure, J.K. Rowling may not know everything about wizardry and magic but she knows about people, human nature and conflict - she is just throwing wild imagination at what she knows. You don't have to be a serial killer to write...

 In this Write Now podcast Katrina and Ian discuss the basics to start becoming a writer and set a small task for the beginner scribbler. 

A sneak peak at what the next series of podcasts will be about - weekly audio writing workshops called Write Now!

After 40-odd podcasts about nothing in particular, discussions are afoot to make the next series about something!

In a previous podcast Katrina talked about her day job as a train driver... in this one she opens up about being a singer.

Australian history is peppered with interesting people not many know about, like  indigenous female bushranger, Mary Ann Bugg... King Billy of Tasmania... exotic dancer, Lola Montez... linguist, composer, author, gold digger and leader of the Eureka Rebellion, Raffaello Carboni... Captain Moonlite's male lover, James Nesbitt... and Snowy Baker, sportsman, silent movie star and our first expor...

A couple of podcasts ago, Katrina turned up with a bunch of trivia questions to test Ian's MS short-term memory loss. It worked out okay but this week Ian turns up with a bunch of questions to ask Katrina in a game he has called Revenge Trivia!

1972, the year Katrina was born and the year Ian turned 18. The 70s could be called the decade of decadence with organised underworld crime, corrupt politicians and police but, hey, what a great time we had! 

Katrina turns up with a whole heap of trivia questions to test Ian’s MS-challenged short-term memory. Will he pass with flying buttresses or have to go and stand in the corner? 

Katrina may be a singer, a pianist and a train driver and Ian may be a writer but, between them, they have had dozens of other jobs, some that don't even exist anymore.

Sometimes you can have failure within success and sometimes it can be downright failure that, with hindsight, is far more entertaining than success.

Katrina quizzes Ian about the awards he has supposedly won. Ian would rather talk about the Darwin Awards, which go to individuals who have contributed to the world's gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Are you superstitious? Black cats. number 13, stepping on cracks, walking under ladders, broken mirrors? Oh!!! Don't open that umbrella inside!

A hoover by any other name would suck. This podcast is about eponyms - things that have been named after people... quick quiz: Adophe Sax, Joseph Lister, Frank Mars, Lazlo Biro, Jules Leotard, Amelia Bloomer, Granny Smith and Mae West.

Phobophobia is a fear of phobias and this podcast with Katrina is all about phobias – there are some weird ones out there. Did you know that some people have a fear of peanut butter, belly-buttons, knees, milk and being without their mobile phone? 

 Where does 'mind your Ps and Qs come from? Which side of a lady should a man walk on? Do you use a napkin or a serviette? Do you send thank-you cards? Manners have certainly changed. Language has also changed. Does an extra thirsty person who gets crunk have manners? Translation: Does an over-the-top person craving to be the centre of attention who gets 'crazy-drunk' (as in intoxic...

Thanks to a fabulous podcast called Something Rhymes with Purple with Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth, Ian has been boning up on new words. He has discovered that Katrina is a tidsoptimist and a scurryfunger who is capable of groaking with a fanny-flutter but who has no time at all for ultracrepidarians. 

Here we are, two weeks into 2024 and Katrina is still pondering her NY resolutions.

Today’s podcast is a bit weird… the ups and downs of theme parks and a stroll down sideshow alley with a bunch of old-time radio commercials. 

 With Australia potentially becoming a cashless society, will all the history and biography currently depicted on banknotes also disappear? 

Well, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas so Katrina and Ian reminisce about their Christmases as kids, the Christmases with their kids and 97-year old-Florence drops in to recall a special present she got... in 1929!

It is our 21st podcast! Woohoo!!! And with 2024 approaching, we started thinking about what shape future podcasts should take… We decided it was time to get obscenely wealthy by making Katrina an influencer… but then, because she often talks crap, we decided to make her an effluencer! This podcast is all about planning that journey…