The First Time

This season we are returning to our first-time roots! We hear all the time from listeners who’ve gone from thinking about writing a book to starting to write a book to having their own debut author experience. One of the things that these new authors say is that they’ve gone back and listened to the episodes that cover off the various milestones. So this year we’re going back too. We want to captu...

This is a conversation Kate has been waiting years to have. She spoke to Richard Flanagan at the end of his most recent tour, in person at State Library Victoria. Richard Flanagan's novels have received numerous honours and are published in forty-two countries. He won the Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North and the Commonwealth Prize for Gould’s Book of Fish . A rapid on the Frankli...

Kate and Katherine are hidden away on a writing retreat in the mountains with Sydney writer Anna Downes.  Anna Downes is an actor-turned-writer, born in the UK and now based in Australia. She is the author of two bestselling novels, The Safe Place and The Shadow House , with a third Red River Road to be published in 2024. Anna lives on the NSW Central Coast just north of Sydney with her husband an...

Kate speaks to Melbourne author Lucy Treloar about her writing life. Lucy Treloar was born in Malaysia and educated in England, Sweden and Melbourne. Her novel Salt Creek (2015) won the Dobbie Literary Award among others, and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the UK's Walter Scott Prize. Wolfe Island (2019), her second novel, won the Barbara Jefferis Award and was shortlist...

It's been a big week for the pod! Welcome to new listeners :) In this episode's Featured Book segment, Kate speaks with Joanna Morrison about her debut novel The Ghost of Gracie Flynn . This segment is brought to you by  Fremantle Press . Joanna Morrison has a background in journalism and a PhD in Creative Writing. Her short fiction has appeared in Australian literary journals and anthologies. In...

This episode is a Live recording of the First Time Publishing panel at the Write Around the Murray Festival on September 17, 2023. Kate speaks with writers Kathryn Heyman, Irma Gold and Tim Napper about their first and subsequent publication experiences and what they have learned along the way. Kathryn Heyman is the author of six novels including Storm and Grace and Captain Starlight's Apprentice...

This episode Katherine speakers to Sydney based author and podcaster Jessie Stephens . Jessie Stephens is an Executive Editor at Mamamia, Australia's largest independent women's media company. She co-hosts Mamamia's flagship podcast and winner of Australia's Best Podcast Series, Mamamia Out Loud. Jessie's debut book Heartsick based on three true stories was an international bestseller and her firs...

Katherine shares the lowdown on torture museums and Kryal Castle fun and we respond to some great listener questions (as best we can!) Recommended reading and listening including: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan Sidelines by Karen Viggers (released January 2024) That Rom Com Pod from writers Clare Fletcher and Karina May The Word Count from writers Fiona Taylor ,...

Kate & Katherine get excited about Katherine's upcoming trip to Kryall Castle, debrief on recent reads and Kate swoons over the amazing Stero Stories at Write around the Murray.    This episode the Featured Book is brought to you by Fremantle Press and we’re talking to writer and journalist Molly Schmidt. Molly is from the coastal town of Albany, Western Australia. She is passionate about prod...

This is the episode to listen to if you're already read  Kate Mildenhall's latest book, THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT  OR if you don't mind knowing what happens before it happens. We discuss writing and plot choices, like was *a** **** always going to die and die in THAT way? Were the links between stories there from the beginning? WHy bogong moths? (and other great questions).   Check out show notes for...

This season we are returning to our first-time roots! We hear all the time from listeners who’ve gone from thinking about writing a book to starting to write a book to having their own debut author experience. One of the things that these new authors say is that they’ve gone back and listened to the episodes that cover off the various milestones. So this year we’re going back too. We want to captu...

Kate and Katherine discuss how The Hummingbird Book tour came together and give tips for what to do/think about if you're an author wanting to do the same. They talk about the books they've reading and the podcast Kate's obsessed with (hint: it involves someone shitting* on the floor of a wedding) *Their word, not ours This episode the Featured Book is brought to you be Fremantle Press and we’re v...

Kate and Katherine catch up on why they are in their sweats, ice baths, tour shenanigans, morning pages and their general chatter.  Our Featured Book in this episode is One Day We're All Going to Die by playwright and debut novelist Elise Esther Hearst. This segment is brought to you by HQ/Harper Collins.  Elise Esther Hearst is a Melbourne-based author and playwright. Elise trained in London at t...

This is a conversation Kate has been dying to have for awhile now - keen for the lowdown on The Letdown and generally a massive fan of Alison Bell's work. Alison is the co-creator/co-writer/producer/director and star of the award winning ABC and Netflix co-production The Letdown . Together with her co-writer, Sarah Scheller, Alison won the 2016 AACTA Award for Best Television Screenplay. The Letdo...

This season we are returning to our first-time roots! We hear all the time from listeners who’ve gone from thinking about writing a book to starting to write a book to having their own debut author experience. One of the things that these new authors say is that they’ve gone back and listened to the episodes that cover off the various milestones. So this year we’re going back too. We want to captu...

Cecilia Rabess previously worked as a data scientist at Google and as an associate at Goldman Sachs. Her nonfiction has been featured in McSweeneys , FiveThirtyEight, Fast Company and FlowingData, among other places. Everything’s Fine is her debut novel . Katherine and Cecilia discuss:  Early writing life  Donald Trump is Destroying My Marriage - article in NY Magazine that inspired Everything's F...

This episode the Featured Book is brought to you by Text Publishing, and we are delighted to be talking to Loraine Peck about her novel, THE DOUBLE BIND. From magician’s assistant to crime novelist, it’s all about mastering the art of subterfuge for Loraine Peck, whose love of crime fiction propelled her to write the kind of book she loves to read. The Second Son , Loraine’s debut, won the 2021 Ne...

This episode was recorded as part of Willy Lit Fest 2023 and features Katherine talking with Pip Finkemeyer about her INCREDIBLE debut Sad Girl Novel . Pip Finkemeyer’s fiction has been listed for the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize, the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, the Disquiet Literary Prize, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She co-founded the Berlin-based zine Nothing To See...

Finally! We get to go behind the scenes and hear all about Kate Mildenhall's latest book, THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT . This episode focuses on writing process, voice and how Kate magically weaved the stories in this book together. Stay tuned and read the book in preparation for a future, spoiler-riddled deep dive, to be released in a few weeks' time. Check out show notes for this episode on our websit...

This week, writer and one-time Agony Aunt for the podcast, Charlotte Wood, returns to talk about the creative collaboration involved in the new stage adaptation of her novel The Weekend. Also discussed, Charlotte's forthcoming novel Stone Yard Devotional and her advice to Kate on keeping calm during the book tour rollercoaster. Sydneysiders can see The Weekend at Belvoir St Theatre from August 5 t...

The ink is dry and Katherine shares her news about her brand new two book deal! Kate's back from Bali and feeling all the nerves and excitement with only a couple of weeks until her third novel THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT hits shelves. Waterslides, ru-ro book recommendations and creative writing emergencies - we go everywhere! This episode the featured book is brought to you by Text Publishing and we’r...

In this special Feature Episode brought to you by Penguin Books Australia, we speak to four debut authors about their new books. Erin Riley is a writer and social worker who has spent most of the last decade working alongside marginalised populations in community aged care in and around Sydney. Erin brings a queer lived experience to their professional work and to their writing. They were a Pengui...

This episode we talk to pop culture, TV writer and Real Housewives guru, Brian Moylan. Brian Moylan is the New York Times best-selling author of The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives and has written about television and pop culture for the New York Times, The Guardian, Vice, NBC News, and a few outlets that are NSFW. Katherine and Brian discuss:  Early writing life, including w...

Ling Ma is a writer hailing from Fujian, Utah and Kansas. She is the author of the novel Severance , which received the 2018 Kirkus Prize, the Whiting Award and the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award and the 2022 short story collection Bliss Montage which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and The Story Prize. Ma’s Stories and excerpts have appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic,...

This episode our featured book is brought to you by Hachette and we’re very excited to talk to MARGARET MEYER about her debut novel THE WITCHING TIDE . Margaret Meyer was born in Canada, grew up in New Zealand and now lives in Norwich England. She worked in publishing and literature promotion before retraining in a second career as a mental health therapist. In 2020 she completed an MA in Creative...