Show Notes
From Sophie:
At the time of recording this episode I had a cold and Rachael was in the middle of preparing her house to go on the market. When I pressed ‘record’ I forgot to pull my microphone close enough and my usual camera wasn’t connecting so it’s the substandard version, which the internet would likely say is far too low quality to be permissible on a podcast that has video options … but! We persisted. Why? We had a guest booked and we were not going to cancel on her. Indeed, we were determined to show up as best we can, and the act of showing up usually has its own momentum.
Our guest in this episode is Sarah Clutton, an author from the Southern Highlands of New South Wales who won many fans with her last novel, The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains - which is not her first novel, so do ignore me saying that in the episode, and if I’d been feeling better at the time I would have done my research properly. But sometimes, liewers, the most a person can expect out of a day is to get out of bed and be presentable, and so it was on this day.
Sarah is delightful, and I do hope you will read her new novel, The Bookshop of Buried Pasts, which features a quote by me on the back cover (an incentive, non?). Mainly read it, though, if you love engrossing stories about families and secrets - and books.
For more information about Rachael Johns: https://www.rachaeljohns.com
For more informationabout Sophie Green: https://sophiegreenauthor.com
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More from Dear Rach & Soph
Nina Kenwood was one of the featured authors at this year’s Rachael Johns Book Club Readers Retreat in Geelong, Victoria, a few months ago, so we met her there. At the time we had not organised to talk to Nina about her new novel, People Skills, which will be released by Text Publishing on 6 October. And we hadn’t yet read the book, but ahead of recording this episode we did (and have both read the novel before it, The Wedding Forecast). As fans of Nina's writing and her storytelling, of her sense of humour and her compassion for human foibles, we had much to discuss when she joined us on the pod for this episode.
A year ago, on the podcast, we talked to Chloe Berry, who was in the process of launching a digital marketing agency for authors and also planning to become a literary agent. Chloe is in her twenties and has worked in publishing as a marketer for romance and other genre fiction. Starting her own agency was, obviously, risky - starting any business is a risk.
Listeners-slash-viewers a.k.a. liewers, you’re going to have to watch or listen to find out why, quite early on in our latest episode, Rachael says, ‘This is not a poo podcast.’ We're not giving you any hints! What we will say is that we recorded this ahead of her going to the RWA conference in Darwin, at which she taught a day-long workshop, gave the opening keynote speech and was made a lifetime member of the RWA. In short, she was an RWA rock star!
At the time of recording this episode Rachael was preparing her day-long workshop for the RWA Conference, which is happening this weekend. Sophie was meant to attend but, due to personal circumstances, had to cancel, so we aren’t seeing each other in person as planned. Yet we are together on screen and in audio in this episode, which we recorded about three weeks ago.
As has become customary, each time Rachael or Sophie releases a book, we devote an episode of the podcast to discussing it. This time it’s Sophie's turn, with The Frock Shop, which was published on 21 July 2026 (blurb below).