Writes4Women

Ever wondered what it would be like to have the same name as a famous literary character? Pam chats to best-selling Australian author Rachael Johns about her new release The Other Bridget , a fabulous contemporary romance which draws inspiration from one of the all time great rom coms, The Diary of Bridget Jones by Helen Fielding. Rachael shares where the original idea for the story came from, how...

Welcome to Season 5 of Writes4Women! In this captivating episode of Writes4Women, we sit down with acclaimed author Hannah Richell to dive into her writing journey, the challenges she's faced, and her change of direction as she takes on the psychological thriller genre in her new release The Search Party. Hannah opens up about overcoming writer's block, the profound influence of setting in her sto...

Join us for a fascinating year-end discussion as we sit down with some of our favourite guest authors from 2023 who share their writing highlights, challenges and some delightful book recommendations to snuggle up with this holiday season. We celebrate 25,000 downloads of the podcast and look back on the year that was. We believe that the best gift we can give our readers this Christmas is the lov...

In this episode of Writes4Women, guest host Laura Boon  facilitates a detailed conversation with debut crime author Lynne Johnson about her experience writing The Bait Trap . Lynne writes crime with feeling, that deals with gritty social issues, like addiction. The Bait Trap draws on her own struggles with alcoholism. Lynne's characters are richly layered and her narrative delves deeply into issue...

Nancy Cunningham is a writer from Adelaide, South Australia, who has always loved storytelling in all its forms. Novels, short stories, TV, movies, video games, songs and poetry have all inspired her to write stories in genres from historical to romance to crime and science fiction to short literary fiction.  But 20th  century historical fiction is where her writing heart really lies, especially s...

Camille Booker is an award-winning author and creative writing teacher at the university of Wollongong. Her debut novel, What if You Fly? , a World War II historical fiction, was published by Hawkeye Publishing in 2021. It was long listed for the 2019 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and was runner up in the 2020 Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize. In 2022, Camille  completed the Curtis...

Pam chats to best selling author Joanna Nell about the evolution of the plot and characters in her new release Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year, A witty and touching tale about mismatched expectations and living life in the moment, Joanna provides a fascinating insight into her creative process, talks about the disappointment of an initial draft being rejected by her publisher and how she picked...

This week's episode is a solo episode featuring podcast host Pamela Cook answering listener questions on the craft of writing. What do you do when the ideas aren't flowing? What comes first, plot or character? How do I stop adding new words at the revision stage? How do you get through your darkest times as a writer? What if a book with a similar plot or idea comes out while you're still working o...

Join us as we unravel the creative process behind author Freya Marske’s queer historical fantasy series, The Last Binding in this wide-ranging chat with guest host, Jo Riccioni . Freya guides us through her unique magic system, based on the concept of 'cradling', inspired by an activity she loved as a child. She further explores the underlying inequalities and social assumptions embedded in her ma...

What happens when you blend the potent cocktail of creativity, storytelling, and raw human emotions? You get an engrossing conversation with Holly Ringland, a writer, storyteller, and television presenter whose work has traversed the globe and screens alike. Holly joins us to shed light on her creative journey, from the conception of her internationally best-selling debut novel, The Lost Flowers o...

In this episode of Writes4Women , host Pamela Cook introduces an exciting collaboration with four renowned anthologists for the upcoming book A COUNTRY VET CHRISTMAS . Featuring contributions from Pamela herself, Alissa Callan , Penelope Janu , Lily Malone , and Stella Quinn , this anthology celebrates a collection of novellas with a festive touch, all beautifully packaged with a gorgeous cover by...

Are you curious to uncover the secrets behind crafting a captivating debut novel? What about the art of weaving fantasy, history, and fairy tales into a spellbinding narrative? Today, we're thrilled to have debut novelist Kell Woods on the Convo Couch, painting a vivid picture of her journey from a childhood filled with magic to becoming the author of AFTER THE FOREST. The book is a fascinating am...

Ever wondered about the journey from journalism to fiction writing? Allow us to introduce you to the awe-inspiring author, Carrie Cox, who has skilfully navigated this transition. Carrie opens up about the evolution of her writing career, sharing the source of inspiration for her novels Afternoons with Harvey Beam and Storylines . She delves deep into the themes of the human condition that she bol...

Vanessa McCausland is a Sydney based author, and she was last on the podcast not long after her second novel, The Valley of Lost Stories , came out, when she spoke to Pam about writing dual timelines. Since then, Vanessa has published two subsequent books, The Beautiful Words and Dreaming in French.  Like many writers, books were her magical escape portals, and she spent her early years soaking up...

In this double-up episode guest host Australian rural fiction author Maya Linnell chats to international best selling author Paige Toon , before Maya hops into the hot seat to talk to Pam about her latest release. Paige grew up between England, Australia and America and has been writing books set in sun-drenched locations around the world since 2007. She has written sixteen women's fiction novels,...

Guest host Meredith Jaffé chats to Tulmur author and publishing all-rounder Melanie Saward about her debut novel, Burn , her bumpy path to publication, writing intergenerational trauma, sensitivity reading and more.  Melanie was born in a little town called Burnie in lutruwita (Tasmania), grew up in an even smaller town called Perth (also in lutruwita) and was dragged kicking and screaming (sorry...

Writes4Women is back! And not with one rom com author, but four fabulous romantic comedy authors. Award winning Romance author Penelope Janu (In at the Deep End) chats to three debut rom-commers about their new releases: Lucy Lever (Mystic Ridge), Amy Hutton (Sit Stay Love) and Karina May (Duck L'Orange for Breakfast). A great chat about writing inspiration, path to publication, process and more....

Guest host Meredith Jaffé interviews Suzanne Leal, author of the novels Running with Ivan , The Teacher's Secret, Border Street , and The Deceptions. A regular presenter at literary, corporate, community and school  events, she is the former chair of the fiction and poetry panel for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards and is a board member of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival.  From 2017 to 2019,...

A special Convo Couch episode featuring guest host Rachael Johns talking to best selling UK thriller author Lisa Jewell . Lisa's first novel, Ralph’s Party , was the bestselling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has published another sixteen novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including  The Girls  and  Then She Was Gone  (both of which were Richard & Judy Book Cl...

Ashley Kalagian Blunt is a writer, speaker and podcaster. Her bestselling psychological thriller, Dark Mode , is out now in Australia and the UK, and forthcoming in Germany. She is the author of two previous books, How to Be Australian , a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge , a thriller novella and collected essays. Her writing appears widely across Australian and international publications. Ashley is...

Guest host Meredith Jaffé chats to novelist Gina Perry about the publication of her debut novel My Father the Whale. Factual writer by day, novelist by night, Gina is an award-winning author, science historian, and former psychologist whose feature articles, columns, essays and short stories have been published in newspapers and magazines, including The Age, The Australian Cosmos, and New Scientis...

Kelly Rimmer is an Australian author who almost needs no introduction. She has sold over 2 million books worldwide and many of her 13 novels have been translated into dozens of languages and have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and U S A Today. Kelly has appeared multiple times on Writes4Women because she's such a wonderful writer an...

Guest host Meredith Jaffé chats to journalist and novelist Naima Brown about her debit fiction title The Shot. Naima holds degrees in Middle Eastern studies, anthropology and religious studies. Her non-fiction has appeared in Vogue Australia, The Guardian Australia, and more. She has spent over a decade working in news, current affairs and documentary,  save for her brief stint in reality televisi...

This week's guest is internationally published author of contemporary women's fiction and romantic comedy novels, Jannette Paul. Janette is the altar ego of award-winning suspense author Jaye Ford. Her first novel won two Davitt Awards for Australian women crime writers and her books have been translated into nine languages. Janette's latest novel is The Summer Place , a women's fiction novel abou...

This week's episode is a solo ep featuring Writes4Women Host Pamela Cook answering listener questions on writing and publishing. After putting a call out on social media Pam had a long list of questions to kick off the Q&A. With 23 years as a writer and 10 years as a published author, Pam has a wealth of  experience to share with other writers  In this week's episode she answers questions on a...