RWA Talking Romance: Terri Green, Monique McDonell & Anna Hackett

Writes4Women joins forces with Talking Aussie Books to talk all things Romance at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Fremantle 2022.

Pamela Cook and Claudine Tinellis chat with authors whose work ranges from historical and contemporary fiction to crime and rural romance, romcoms and domestic thrillers. We wanted to know what being part of an organisation like the RWA meant to each of them and the impact it had on their respective journeys to publication.

In this episode Pam chats to indie authors Terri Green, Monique McDonell and Anna Hackett about their writing processes, favourite author crushes and most embarrassing moments as authors as well as their favourite podcasts and top tips for authors

Happy listening.  

This is the final episode in the Writes4Women/Talking Aussie Books RWA Collaboration. Catch the rest of the episodes in the backlists for both podcasts.

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12 Days of Christmas: Book Recommendations from Meredith Jaffé

Guest host Meredith Jaffé shares her top four book recommendations for gift giving this Christmas.

Meredith is the author of four novels for adults— The Tricky Art of Forgiveness (2022), The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison (2021), The Making of Christina (2017) and The Fence (2016.) Her bestselling novel, The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison, was voted in the 2021 Booktopia Favourite Australian Book Award Top 50 and the 2022 Better Reading Top 100. She also writes for children.

Catch Meredith’s recent chat with novelist Inga Simpson in a recent episode and her episode earlier this year with debut author Genevieve Novak.

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Craft of Writing: Inga Simpson, Willowman with Guest Host Meredith Jaffé

Guest host Meredith Jaffé chats to novelist and naturalist Inga Simpson about the writing of her new novel Willowman.

Inga’s debut novel, Mr. Wigg was published in 2013 and shortlisted for the 2014 debut fiction award at the Indies. Her second novel Nest was long listed for the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prize and her 2016 novel Where the Trees Were was also long listed for the Miles Franklin, amongst many others.

Her first full length book on nature writing Under Story: A Life With Trees was published in 2017, followed by her dystopian thriller during set during a pandemic, The Last Woman in the World, in 2021. This has been followed by Willow Man, a book that could be described as a love song to the game of cricket and to the willow that makes the bats.

In this episode Meredith chats to Inga about her life long love of cricket and how that became inspiration for the book, her hands-on research process the novel, her drafting and editing processes and a whole lot more.

Grab a cuppa and join Inga and Meredith on The Convo Couch for this fascinating discussion on writing.

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12 Days of Christmas: Writing Craft Book Recommendations from Cassie Hamer

Contemporary women's fiction author Cassie Hamer, author of three fabulous novels, including The Truth About Faking It, shares her four top recommendations for books to gift this Christmas.

And they're all writing craft books!

Cassie also shares how she used the Save The Cat beat-sheet in writing her most recent novel.

Grab a pen and paper and get set to note down these four fantastic titles for the writer in your life - or perhaps yourself!

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12 Days of Christmas Book Recommendations: Laura Boon

Romance author and editor extraordinaire Laura Boon shares her ideas for xmas gift giving and holiday reading with a fabulous selection covering romance, thriller, historical and non-fiction books.

Laura also writes the Hearts Talk column for the Romance Writers of Australia monthly magazine and the book is an updated compilation of these columns with additional new chapters. Laura's vast experience across the whole spectrum of the publishing industry informs this wonderful resource for aspiring and emerging authors, with topics ranging from royalties & advances, to contracts to the pros and cons on indie and trad publishing.

Find out more about Laura in a previous podcast Tips From an Industry Insider

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A Heart of Writing Episode with Dr Anita Heiss

Today's chat is with Dr Anita Heiss about her body of work and writing life which are of course inseparable from her heritage as a first nations woman.

Anita is a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but was born in Gadigal country and has spent much of her life on Dharawal land near La Perouse, in Sydney. She's one of Australia's most prolific and well-known authors publishing across genres, including nonfiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction, and children's novels.

Her memoir Am I Black Enough for You? first published in 2012 was recently republished and Anita's most recent adult fiction, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray is the first Australian book to have an indigenous title as the main title of the book with the English title, (River of Dreams) on the back cover.

Anita's latest children's book is Koori Princess. This year, she edited the anthology Growing Up Wiradjuri, which was released in September. Anita has also recently scripted the of the stage play Tiddas based on her novel of the same name (released in 2014). The list of Anita's achievements and creations, and the roles she has taken on over the course of her career, are absolutely mind-boggling and you can find them all on her website.

But for now, grab a cuppa and join and join Pam and Anita on the Writes4Women Convo Couch

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12 Days of Christmas Book Recommendations: Joanna Nell

Best-selling up-lit author Joanna Nell recommends four of her favourite reads for Christmas gifting and holiday reading. From seventeenth century swordfighting to greek mythology Jo has you covered including top children's fiction and large print options.

Tune in tomorrow for more fabulous book recommendations.

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12 Days of Christmas: Book Recs from Maya Linnell

Best selling rural fiction author Maya Linnell shares her top 4 book recommendations for Christmas gift giving and holiday reading.

Maya is a bestselling author, proud mother, lifelong bookworm, sewer, recovering owner builder, DIY junkie and animal hoarder to the list, but when she has free time, and isn’t off adventuring with her family, these are the top three things that make her smile.

Find out more in her quarterly newsletter (sign up link below), where she chats with authors, has favourite recipes, and fab giveaways and contests and find yourself the perfect escape to the country.

This month’s giveaway is a copy of sincerely, me by Julietta Henderson

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12 Days of Christmas Book Recs: Pam's Top Picks

It's the 1st of December and on Writes4Women that means 12 days of fantastic book recommendations from Pam, some guest hosts and members of The Inkwell.

Keeping up the 4 theme, 12 lovely writers will recommend books as gifts for giving and holiday reading. So being the host and all, Pam kicks off in this episode, and immediately breaks her own rule by sharing six books instead of four.

Grab a pen and notebook, and get ready to write down the titles and tune in tomorrow when Maya Linnell shares her top tips for book giving.

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On The Convo Couch with Rachael Johns and Sally Hepworth

Guest host Rachael Johns, bestselling author of rural romance and women's fiction, chats to NYT best-selling author Sally Hepworth about writing process, inspirations, dealing with rejections and reviews, and a whole lot more.

Rachael Johns is the award-winning author of more than 18 novels and Australia’s leading writer of contemporary relationship stories around women’s issues, a genre she has coined ‘life-lit’.

Sally Hepworth is the author of eight books including The Mother-In-Law, The Good Sister, The Secrets of Midwives and her very current book, The Soulmate.

Sally's novels are available around the globe in English and have been translated into 20 languages. And she's sold more than 1 million books worldwide.

This is a great writing chat between two very experienced authors, so grab a cuppa, sit back and join Rachael and Sally on the Writes4Women Convo Couch.

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New Release Feature Author: Stacey McEwan, Ledge with Jo Riccioni

Guest host Jo Riccioni chats to fellow debut fantasy author Stacey McEwan about her new release Ledge.

Stacey is a well known book tokker who scored her publishing contract as a result of her huge following on Tik Tok. The result is Ledge, the first in a trilogy of fantasy books set in a place known as the Ledge, where a civilization is trapped by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face. ​Ledge is story of survival, sacrifice, and revenge.

Jo Riccioni is the author of The Branded, Book One of THE BRANDED SEASON duology. A century after a virus has decimated the population, the Continent’s survivors are divided into two classes: the Branded who are vulnerable to disease, and the Pure who are bigger, stronger and immune. Orphan Nara and her sister, Osha, are sequestered in the citadel of Isfalk, where their pure skin entitles them to a life of privilege as precious immune breeding stock.

Grab a cuppa and join Jo and Stacey on The Convo Couch as they talk about Ledge, Stacey's path to publication, fantasy tropes and more.

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Writing the Second Novel with Holly Ringland

Holly Ringland returns to The Convo Couch to talk to about crafting her second novel, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding.

Holly is a writer, storyteller, and television presenter, her award-winning bestselling debut, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, has been published in 31 countries and territories and will stream globally in 2023 as a seven part series on Amazon Prime starring Sigourney Weaver. In May, 2019, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart won the Australian Book Industry Award, General Fiction Book of the Year and in February, 2020, Holly signed a two book deal with Harper Collins Publishers Australia.

In the wake of the enormous success of Holly's debut The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, the pressure to write another international best seller must have been enormous. Pam chats to Holly about how she managed that success, integrating the many themes and ideas that form the backbone of Esther Wilding, scene writing, using music as inspiration and a whole lot more.

Grab a cuppa and join host Pamela Cook and Holly Ringland on the Writes4Women Convo Couch

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The Writing Life Part 2: Pamela Cook & Rachael Johns

Welcome to Part 2 of Pam's chat with best selling women's fiction & rural romance author Rachael Johns. Part 1 went to air a couple of months ago and because Pam and Rach both love to chat, they barely scratched the surface.

In this episode we chat more about the writing life, discuss Rachael's writing process for her brand new release The Work Wives, chat fiction and craft books, finding the joy in writing and more.

And as we're right on the brink of the release Rachel's new book, The Work Wives there's a copy up for grabs. Head to @w4wpodcast on Instagram and Writres4Women on facebook for a chance to win a hot off the press copy.

Grab a cuppa and join Pam and Rachael on the Writes4Women Convo Couch

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RWA Talking Aussie Books Collaboration: Talking Romance with Lily Malone & Victoria Purman

Writes4Women joins forces with Talking Aussie Books to talk all things Romance at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Fremantle 2022.

Pamela Cook and Claudine Tinellis chat with authors whose work ranges from historical and contemporary fiction to crime and rural romance, romcoms and domestic thrillers. We wanted to know what being part of an organisation like the RWA meant to each of them and the impact it had on their respective journeys to publication.

In this episode Pam chats to Lily Malone and Victoria Purman about their writing processes, favourite author crushes and most embarrassing moments as authors as well as their favourite podcasts and top tips for authors.

Find more RWA episodes in the Writes4Women backlist and at Talking Aussie Books.

Happy listening.

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On The Convo Couch: Holly Wainwright chats to Cassie Hamer

Contemporary women's fiction author Cassie Hamer chats to Holly Wainwright.

Cassie is the author of three fabulous novels, including The Truth About Faking It, which is in stores now.

Holly is Head of Content for Women's Media Company. Mama Mia, and the author of four novels, the latest of which is The Couple Upstairs. It's a a page turning story of infatuation, obsession, coercive control, and the blurred lines that allows all of these elements to coexist in one relationship.

Holly joins Cassie on The Convo Couch to chat about the label 'women's fiction', the book itself, her writing process and more.

Grab a cuppa and join Cassie and Maya as they chat all things writing.

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New Release Feature Author: Jo Riccioni, The Branded

Today's New release episode welcomes Jo Riccioni to The Convo Couch.

Jo has written award-winning short stories and her first novel, The Italians at Cleats Corner Store, was signed by Scribe in Australia and published here and the UK, where it won a fiction category of the International Rubery Award with the title of The Italians and was long listed for the New Angle Prize in Literature.

Jo's worked at Bookocinno in Avalon for a number of years and lives on the northern beaches with her family and her gorgeous border collie, and has the most amazing writing studio. The Branded is a page turning dystopian fantasy, a YA-Adult crossover which Pam found hard to put it down.

Jo chats to Pam about the writing of the book, her writing process, how writing short stories has enhanced her novel writing and a whole lot more.

Grab a cuppa and join Jo Riccioni and Pam on the Writes4Women Convo Couch.

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Talking Romance: Fiona Lowe, Anthea Hodgson & Sasha Wasley

Welcome to the first Writes4Women/Talking Aussie Books podcast collaboration

In this special series recorded at the recent Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia, Talking Aussie Books host Claudine Tinellis and Writes4Women host Pamela Cook join forces to chat all things Romance with some of Australia’s best loved authors.

In this series of exciting interviews we chat with authors whose work ranges from historical and contemporary fiction crime and rural romance, romcoms and domestic thrillers. We wanted to know what being part of an organisation like the RWA meant to each of them and the impact it had on their respective journeys to publication. We had a blast chatting to these brilliant women and can't wait to share the results.

So tune in to both podcasts over the next eight weeks to get the goss on writing Romance.

Happy listening.

This week’s episode features Fiona Lowe, Anthea Hodgson and Sasha Wasley.

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RWA Collaboration with Talking Aussie Books: Talking Romance with Penelope Janu and Samara Parish

Welcome to the first Writes4Women/Talking Aussie Books podcast collaboration

In this special series recorded at the recent Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia, Talking Aussie Books host Claudine Tinellis and Writes4Women host Pamela Cook join forces to chat all things Romance with some of Australia’s best loved authors.

In this series of exciting interviews we chat with authors whose work ranges from historical and contemporary fiction crime and rural romance, romcoms and domestic thrillers. We wanted to know what being part of an organisation like the RWA meant to each of them and the impact it had on their respective journeys to publication. We had a blast chatting to these brilliant women and can't wait to share the results.

So tune in to both podcasts over the next eight weeks to get the goss on writing Romance.

Happy listening.

This week’s episode features two award winning writers: rural romance author Penelope Janu and historical romance author Samara Parish.

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