Genre Fiction Podcast

Introducing award winning historical fiction author Camille Booker

In this episode we chat with award winning author Camille Booker about writing historical fiction. Camille is a manuscript assessor and creative writing teacher at the University of Wollongong.

This episode will be of particular interest to authors embarking on recreating historical events into fictional narratives.

You can find out more about Camille here.

Dive inside the minds of emus at war - author and podcaster Jamie Bryden

Jamie Bryden is an author and podcaster hailing from Hawkesbury, NSW.

He is a sucker for a good story and loves chatting with all sorts of storytellers on his podcast ‘ Stories: the true and the fictional.’

Based on true events, his new book Letters from the emu war tells the story of the Great Emu War of 1932 from the unique perspective of those who won.

Follow Edward R Long-toe, William J Whistlebeak, John Feathers and others through their adventures before, during and after the war. Read journal entries, newspaper articles and letters to and from their loved ones. With every turn of the page, you will gain a deeper understanding of the life and times of emus at war.

In this episode we chat about different subgenres of historical fiction and how Jamie came to write a reimagining of a factual historical event through the eyes of the emus. You can find out more about Letters from the emu war' at this link.

Former federal politician and now full time political thriller author Richard Evans

In this episode, we thought we’d share with you a one-on-one interview Jack Roney had with Former federal politician, and now full time author, Richard Evans.

Richard was elected into the marginal seat of Cowan in Western Australia in 1993 where he served 3 years in opposition and then 3 years under the Howard Government. Since leaving politics Richard has gone on to publish a number of contemporary political thriller novels where he shares his knowledge and real life experiences of the turbulent world of politics through compelling and authentic fictional storytelling. He describes politics as SHOW BUSINESS FOR UGLY PEOPLE.

Richard and Jack had a really interesting and candid chat about his views of the world and how this informed his creative writing. It’s a rare insight and we reckon you’ll really enjoy listening to what this insightful man has to say. Enjoy!

Find out more about Richards Evans here

Lauren Daniels episode 3

Lauren, Harry and Jack discuss genre specific editing issues. Specific topics include:

• For spec fic, not enough spec/world, weak magical or supernatural systems
• For historical, too much historical research, weak drama/char arcs
• For romance, not enough tension
• For sci fi, not enough dramatic action too much info dumping
• For literary, too vague. Afraid of turmoil, no real satisfaction at the end
• Crime / thrillers / mystery - cliches

Lauren Daniels episode 2

Editor Lauren Daniels returns to discuss story structure. Specific topics include:

• How can we make a prologue WORK?
• Structure; centre of gravity opens with a question, closes with some form of answer
• Info dumps
• Telling emotional states
• The saggy middle; pacing
• Everything that rises must converge. Foreshadowing
• Does your story deliver?

Introducing editor Lauren Daniels

Editor Lauren Daniels chats with Jack Roney and Harry Colfer about common editing issues relating to character development. Specific topics include:

• Cast size
• Introduction of new characters
• Character arc; what really makes for a satisfying character arc?
• Variety in character voices; do they all sound like us?
• Contemporary shift in dialogue attribution to replace tags (said) with stage directions/body language
• Multiple POV without a clear purpose; why have multiple POV?

What’s your writing rhythm? Your writing environment. Author marketing. The writing passion.

In this final episode with author Troy Henderson, Harry, Jack and Troy discuss a broad range of topics for authors who may be feeling self-doubt. We cover establishing your writing rhythm, creating an environment for writing, marketing and self promotion, persistence and resilience and tips to maintain your writing mojo. A great episode for new or emerging writers.

Should you stick to one genre? Book finished - what now?

In this episode, Harry, Jack and Troy discuss the pros and cons of authors diversifying into various genres as well as the age old question - my book is finished, what now?