Talking Aussie Books

I was thrilled to welcome the uber talented Karen Brooks back to the podcast recently to discuss her brand new novel. Called ‘The Extraordinary Florence Stoker’ this book is both fascinating and enthralling in equal measures. A book that follows the life of Dubliner Florence Balcombe, a witty and beautiful woman, who marries Bram Stoker - the man who would become best-known for his gothic horror novel ‘Dracula’. With impressive attention to detail and underpinned by extensive research, what Karen has done with this novel is to give us an intimate glimpse into the life of this woman who it becomes clear was indeed extraordinary for so many reasons. Not the least of which was her marriage to a man who was to all intents and purposes an enigma as well as her fight to ensure copyright in her husband’s work was protected against unauthorised adaptations. From the moment I began reading this book, I knew I was in skilled hands. I simply couldn’t put it down. Out in Australia from the 1st of September, if you are a fan of historical fiction, you will not be able to resist this book. Happy listening!

'All Her Beautiful Deaths' is the new historical gothic mystery by author extraordinaire Allison Rushby. Allison is the author of more than 30 books across junior, middle age and YA fiction as well as adult fiction. 'All Her Beautiful Deaths' published by HQ Fiction in Australia this year is a dual timeline novel centred around Victorian death photography - a macabre, yet popular practice of memorialising dead people in photos. It comes hot on the heels of another of Allison's novel, 'Slashed Beauties' which was released in 2025 and inspired by another unsettling phenomena - 18th century wax anatomical models known as 'Anatomical Venus'. In this wide-ranging chat, guest host Cassie Hamer talks to Allison about both these books and their inspiration, her incredible 25 year career, the creative pillars that underpin her writing process and what it takes to bring up a new generation of readers. A wonderful interview!

Nicola Marsh could be one of Australia’s most prolific and successful authors. With 90 books to her name, Nicola is a USA Today bestselling, multi-award winning author whose books traverse a range of genres that include romance, domestic suspense, women’s fiction and fantasy - netting Nicola millions of sales across the globe. Her books have been translated into 25 languages and this year alone listeners, Nicola has or will have 5 new releases. One of which I had the pleasure of talking to Nicola about for the podcast recently. 'The Orchard at Rosevale' was published by HQ Fiction here in Australia at the end of July and while it was the first of Nicola’s books I’ve read - it definitely won’t be the last. Hope you enjoy this fabulous chat as much as I did.

Much loved Aussie author crime author Dinuka McKenzie has a brand new novel out. 'She Lied First' (HarperCollins) is Dinuka’s first stand alone novel after the highly successful Detective Kate Miles trilogy which included her award-winning debut novel ‘The Torrent’. This twisty psychological thriller takes Dinuka’s writing in a new, but exciting direction. Exploring sibling relationships, secrets, betrayal and trauma this book provided plenty of fascinating material for Dinuka's in-depth discussion with Cassie Hamer in this new episode of Talking Aussie Books.

Emma Babbington's second novel 'The Gardens' (HQ Fiction) was released in Australia at the end of July. A stunning follow-up to her gripping 2025 debut 'The Neighbours'. Talking Aussie Books co-host Cassie Hamer recently chatted to Emma about her childhood home in Hampstead in London and how this place became the inspiration for 'The Gardens', about cults and intentional communities and why this intrigued her enough to include in the novel as well as the prevalence of teenagers/issues affecting teenagers in her work. Such a wide-ranging terrific chat between great friends and talented writers. I thoroughly enjoyed listening in and hope you will too.

Back in 2021 I was privileged to interview the 2018 winner of the prestigious Richell Prize - Ruth McIver - about her thrilling novel ‘I Shot the Devil’ and today I have the honour of talking to the 2023 winner , Alex Sawyer. Alex is a psychologist, a volunteer firefighter, father, short story writer and now published novelist. Alex’s award-winning novel ‘Rat Daniels’ was published at the end of June and I have to tell you listeners, the book is unforgettable. A beautifully written, thoughtful and heartfelt coming of age story about friendship and loyalty that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.

Shannon Kelly-White is a former nurse who made her claim to fame as an irreverent, hilarious, often potty-mouthed blogger, then cookbook, parenting and lifestyle writer. She wrote four non-fiction books -books that included the bestselling, award-winning breakout ‘Shannon’s Kitchen’, as well as Shannon Does Dinner, Parenting for Legends and the hilariously titled account of outrageous medical stories - 'The Bum Hole Diaries'!! But somewhere along the way, Shannon’s attention turned to fiction writing and the result has been nothing less than spectacular. Shannon's debut novel 'Billie King ' (HarperCollins Australia) is a story of three courageous women: a bushranger, a woman on the edge and a young girl desperate to find her missing mother. An incredibly entertaining heartfelt tale that had me absolutely gripped from its opening pages and didn’t let go until its thrilling end. And I was delighted to welcome this legend author to the podcast recently.

Lillian Telford's debut novel 'Lovesick' was published by HQ Fiction recently and is, in every sense of the word, a labour of love. More than ten years in the making, 'Lovesick' is the culmination of not only Lillian's hard work and determination, but an array of experiences that she has been able to funnel into this intense story about a couple falling in and out of love and the impact of this on their other significant relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed this in-depth discussion of the book between guest host Cassie Hamer and Lillian Telford about its characters and themes along with the issues Lillian is concerned to explore in her writing. Hope you enjoy it too!

Kayte Nunn is the internationally bestselling author of 8 novels - novels that include 'The Botanist's Daughter', 'The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant' , 'The Silk House' and 'The Palazzo' just to name a few. This year Kayte is back with a twisty, locked room style thriller that had me totally hooked from start to finish. A book which lovers of the reality show ‘Below Deck’ will absolutely eat up. It’s called ‘The Yacht’ (published by HarperCollins a short time ago) it highlights Kayte’s skill as a writer - her deft handling of multiple characters in a fluid setting along with a killer plot line. I absolutely devoured this novel and I know many crime fiction fan listeners will too. Hope you enjoy this chat as much I did.

Ayesha Inoon was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and worked as a journalist in Sri Lanka before migrating to Australia in 2013. Her debut novel, Untethered, which draws partly on her own journey as a migrant muslim woman won the 2022 ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize and was awarded a Highly Commended in both the 2024 ACT Book of the Year and the ACT Literary Awards for Fiction. This year listeners, Ayesha has a new book out and I’m in love with this story. Called ‘The Sisters of Serendib’ it is the story of three sisters separated by tragic circumstances and the fractured lives they lead in search of the missing pieces of their identity. Beautifully written, this book is both tender and shocking in its portrayal of the kind of suffering these young women endured. A quiet novel that will have you reaching for the tissue box more than once. I loved chatting with Ayesha for the podcast recently.

Many avid readers and authors both here and abroad are familiar with Australia’s largest online reading community - Better Reading. Launched by Cheryl Akle back in 2014, Better Reading has become a staple feature of the Australian literary landscape - reaching over 1 million readers each month. A testament to Cheryl’s passion and dedication to reading and her standing in the Australian book industry. This year, Cheryl has capitalised on that passion and dedication by launching an Australian reading app. Described as ‘if Goodreads and Storygraph had a baby, but the baby was raised in Australia’ . An app that is focussed on Australian titles for Australian readers with a whole lot of brilliant features to help readers find their next book, connect with other readers and learn more about the authors they’re interested in. And it’s called ‘What Are You Reading’ the App. I was amongst some of the first in Australia to get a look at the app at an exclusive launch party earlier this year and in this episode I welcome Cheryl to the podcast to talk about the app and how this fantastic development all came about. Happy listening!

In part 2 of this special collaboration episode, Nick Wasiliev and I chat about challenges for the Australian publishing industry and what challenges in particular writers themselves are facing and what the future holds. We also discuss some of the trends we're seeing (and loving) especially relation to debut novels We wrap up the conversation with a quick fire round of questions for each of us - the answers to which you may find surprising! Such a joy to work with Nick on these episodes . If you want to learn more about Nick and the podcast, check out the Date with a Debut website at: https://datewithadebutpodcast.podbean.com Or find Nick on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/nickwasiliev/ Happy listening!

Tune into this special episode with Talking Aussie Books friend Nick Wasiliev and host of the wonderful podcast Date with a Debut. Like me, Nick is a seasoned podcaster as well as an author and facilitator. Date with a Debut is currently in it’s fourth season of production and in it, you may know, Nick interviews debut authors, shining a light on their books and journey to publication. And in Part 1 of this special episode, I get the lowdown on Nick's decision to start up a new book podcast and his own writing before we discuss some of the brilliant debuts we've been reading recently. So whether you’re an avid reader or just want to get the lowdown on what’s new and hot in publishing, then this is the episode for you.

Lawyer-turned author Sarah Clutton was last on the podcast back in 2020 when we were discussing her second novel ‘The Daughter’s Promise’ - a thrilling drama dealing with a deep family secret set in the rugged wilds of Tasmania. Since that episode was recorded, Sarah’s star has blazed even brighter with the publication of two further novels with Allen & Unwin. The first, published in early 2025 was called ‘The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains’ and the second published a mere year later and currently gracing bookshelves around the country is called ‘The Bookshop of Buried Pasts’. A beautiful, quiet novel about a woman and her antiquarian bookshop in the southern highlands of NSW and the secret past she has kept hidden for over 50 years.

**Discussion of mature/explicit themes.** The idea that we should grow old gracefully - particularly that women should grow old gracefully - is a theme that often appears in contemporary fiction. A theme which - now that I’m in my mid-fifties - I’m more and more intrigued by. It's also something Rachel Fox McLeod has explored to great effect with her brilliant, insightful and highly entertaining debut novel ‘Disgraceful’. Published by Simon & Schuster, ‘Disgraceful’ is the story of devoted wife and mother 49 year-old Grace Miller whose marriage unexpectedly implodes and the unorthodox manner in which she chooses to reclaim herself in the days, weeks and months that follow. It’s messy, funny, complicated, raw, unflinching and a bloody good read. And I was thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Rachel about it on the podcast recently.

The last time Dianne Yarwood was on the podcast, we chatted about her then debut - the tender-hearted, funny, life-affirming novel 'The Wakes' - published in 2023. This year Dianne has released a second novel, 'Margaret, Are You Leaving' (Hachette). Another warm and witty read that celebrates the messiness and beauty of life. Dianne chatted with Cassie Hamer recently - giving us some remarkable insight into the real-life story that inspired her new novel and the important personal lessons she has learned from her own near-death experience and how these lessons found their way into her writing. A wonderful interview well worth listening to.

Camille Booker is a Sydney-based award-winning author, an editor, teacher, literary judge and current PhD candidate. Her debut novel ‘What If you Fly’ was longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2019 and published by Hawkeye Publishing in 2021. In an interesting twist, this novel underwent a revamp and was re-released this year by Haweye Publishing as ‘Code Name Funnel Web’. A dark, twisty tale of a young Australian woman’s brave search for her missing brother during WW2 and the lengths she went to in aid of this mission. Much like Camille’s second novel ‘The Woman in the Waves’, I absolutely devoured 'Code Name Funnel Web' and was more than a little delighted to have the chance to chat with Camille about it on the podcast recently.

Kirsty Manning is a Melbourne based author who grew up in Northern NSW and who now has seven novels to her name. Her first novel 'The Midsummer Garden' was published back in 2017, followed by the 'The Jade Lily', then 'The Lost Jewels', 'The French Gift' and 'The Hidden Book'. In 2022, Kirsty’s writing took a slightly different direction when she launched a new crime series. 'The Paris Mystery' - set in pre-WW2 Paris was the first book in this new series and features Australian journalist Charlotte (or Charlie) James whose work for The Times newspaper in Paris gets her caught up in crime reporting and trying to solve those same crimes. The second book, ‘Murder in Paris’ has just been released by Allen & Unwin. A glamorous novel whose events are set off by a glitzy gala and the Texan heiress who goes missing shortly thereafter. The perfect case for the infallible Charlie James. I was delighted to welcome Kirsty to the podcast recently to chat all about it.

The last time I interviewed award-winning, international bestselling author Dervla McTiernan was in February 2024. Back then we were chatting about Dervla’s new release ‘What Happened to Nina’ which of course went on to win the General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards. And that same book is now currently in development for a screen adaptation - which is super exciting news for all of us who devoured that book. But this year, Dervla has a brand new stand alone book: 'Three Reasons for Revenge'. It’s not only Dervla’s 7th full-length novel - but the first to be set in Australia and introduces us to a cast of new characters - including a gritty, determined new female detective. Published by HarperCollins Australia in late April , 'Three Reasons for Revenge' is an intense, fast-paced, high-stakes novel about three people who each receive a mystery package designed to tear their life apart. https://geni.us/ThreeReasons4R To sign up to Dervla's newsletter, see: https://dervlamctiernan.com/newsletter/

Belinda Alexandra is a much-loved international bestselling Australian author whose novels are steeped in history, intrigue and adventure. History with mystery at its finest. Belinda is the daughter of a Russian mother and Australian father and describes herself as someone with passion for travel, culture, dancing as well as a lover of all creatures. She is the author of novels that include 'White Gardenia', 'Wild Lavender' and 'Tuscan Rose' as well as 'The Invitation', 'The Mystery Woman,' 'The Divine Feline' and 'Emboldened' amongst many others. Belinda’s latest fiction offering ‘The Italian Correspondent’ was released by HarperCollins at the end of March and listeners its an absolute delight. Set in 1951 Italy - in the years when that country was trying to shake off its fascist past. It’s a story that follows the life and loves of a female correspondent for Vogue magazine who is quickly drawn into a complicated web of deceit. Her feelings for the three men in her life are complex, but with the world on the edge of a nuclear war, their lives become inextricably entwined and they must work together to prevent catastrophe. I adored this book and was excited to have the chance to speak with Belinda recently about it.