Charlotte Wood on writing craft and Australian fiction

Ilona Bannister, long time friend of Not Too Busy To Write is on the podcast talking about her new novel and her move from literary fiction to thriller. FIVE is set on a train platform, 5 minutes before a train will arrive and one of the five characters will die. The reader is asked who they think deserves to die. Ilona talks with me about breaking the forth wall, unlikeabe characters and how readers are reacting to confronting their own prejudices, why law school is great training for a writer and the pleasures and humanity of the thriller genre. FIVE is out May 5th Links FIVE - Ilona Bannister Little Prisons - Ilona Bannister When I Ran Away - Ilona Bannister THE FOLD membership for writers - join the 21 Day Writing Challenge! Penny on Instagram @pennywincer

Jane Harper is the Gold Dagger award winning, bestselling author who defined a new sub genre - Australian Noir - with her breakout debut The Dry in 2016. Today we're talking about her 6th novel Last One Out, a brilliantly dark and twisty novel about a missing son and a dying rural town. Jane talks with me about her extensive outlining process (which begins at the end), what motivated her through the writing of her first novel when she was a full time journalist and why isolated communities make such fantastic settings. Links Last One Out - Jane Harper Aaron Falk Series The Dry - Jane Harper Forces of Nature - Jane Harper Exiles - Jane Harper Jane Harper's Ted Talk

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Newman is back on the podcast talking about her hilarious new novel about midlife anxiety Wreck. Catherine talks with me about writing superstitions, hilariously terrible reviews, what success as a novelist has really meant to her and the joy she has found in owning her own publication on Substack after a lifetime writing for other people. Links Wreck by Catherine Newman Sandwich by Catherine Newman We All Want Impossibly Things by Catherine Newman Crone Sandwich - Catherine's Substack THE FOLD membership for writers

6 years ago comedian Helen Thorn's life was turned upside down when she discovered her then husband was having a years long affair. Within two years she had written a Sunday Times Best Seller about the experience and it's immediate aftermath - fags, dating and all - but especially about the women who hold us up when life gets us down. Now, she's written a new book reflecting on the strength gained from facing unexpected loss. Helen and I talk about just what there is to be gained from total honesty on the page, some of the women that inspired her to write this book and the calm that has descended after the chaos. Links How To Face Change and Come Back Stronger by Helen Thorn Get Divorced, Be Happy by Helen Thorn Helen Thorn on Instagram Scummy Mummies THE FOLD membership for writers

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is an author and journalist, and today we talking about her new novel Female, Nude, a sexy sultry book about seeing and being seen, which weaves visual art into a story of womanhood, motherhood and disability. We also talk about The Republic of Parenthood, a book made up of the collected columns Rhiannon wrote for the Guardian, weaving in the personal, the political and cultural as she became a mother herself. Links Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett The Republic of Parenthood by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett Year of the Cat by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett