New 6-Part Podcast Series: Better Reading On Writing (You Asked For It!)

New 6-Part Podcast Series: Better Reading On Writing (You Asked For It!)

The Better Reading podcast, Stories Behind the Story has given readers ‘behind the scenes’ access to many of their favourite authors. From national treasures such as Tom Keneally, to debut authors like Holly Ringland, there is a strong desire to know where their story came from and ultimately about their lives. Something that has also intrigued many podcast listeners is not so much the step-by-step process of writing but how an author writes and thinks and creates.

In response to this, Better Reading has created a six-part series Better Reading On Writing. The series is not a ‘how to’, rather an inspirational and highly entertaining listen for those who are intrigued about the minds of authors, their processes and their worlds.

This companion podcast is for everyone: writers, teachers and students, would-be authors, and readers who love hearing how their favourite authors work. We are so happy to share it with you.

Click here for the podcast notes

For episode transcriptions, click the guest: Trent Dalton // Dervla McTiernan // Belinda Alexandra // Candice Fox // Melina Marchetta // Nikki Christer

Episode 1: The writer with Trent Dalton – Listen here now

Trent Dalton, the author of the phenomenally successful novel Boy Swallows Universe discusses the heart and soul of the writer and what being a writer means to him. He talks through the process of writing Boy Swallows Universe, as well as his work as a Walkley Award winning journalist.

Episode 2: Story and plot development with Dervla McTiernan – Listen here now

Dervla McTiernan discusses plot, how important structure is in your novel, and how she approaches writing a novel. And she shares what the sign on her wall says, that reminds her what is important, every time she writes.

Episode 3: Character building with Belinda Alexandra – Listen here now

Belinda Alexandra talks about how she immerses herself in the world she’s writing about so her characters come to life. She talks about how some characters have a mind of their own… and how she even develops a full-blown crush on the occasional hero.

Episode 4: Research and setting with Candice Fox – Listen here now


Candice Fox has immersed herself in both setting and research. She’s lived in LA, she’s visited a serial killer on death row, and even had dinner with an American President, all in the name of research. Hear all this and much more in this highly entertaining episode.

Episode 5: Dialogue with Melina Marchetta – Listen here now

Dialogue expert extraordinaire, Melina Marchetta discusses the importance of dialogue, and how that voice defines her characters, the setting and the story she tells.

Episode 6: The road to publication with Nikki Christer – Listen here now

Nikki Christer, the Group Publishing Director at Penguin Random House Australia talks about the publishing process, the difference between agents and publishers, why editing is so important… and what she needs in a story to encourage her to offer an author a publishing deal.

Download the podcast notes here.

If you enjoy the series, please leave us an iTunes review. 

 

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                      Trent Dalton
                      About the author

                      Trent Dalton

                      Trent Dalton is the author of Boy Swallows Universe (HarperCollins, 2018), a critically acclaimed national bestseller and winner of the 2019 Indie Book of the Year Award, the MUD Literary Prize, and the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing and the People's Choice Award at the 2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. At the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards, the book won a record four awards, including the prestigious Book of the Year Award. Boy Swallows Universe has been published across thirty-four English language and translation territories. His second novel, All Our Shimmering Skies, was published by HarperCollins in October 2020 and has also become a national bestseller. He's also a two-time winner of a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism, a four-time winner of a Kennedy Award for Excellence in NSW Journalism and a four-time winner of the national News Awards Features Journalist of the Year.

                      Photo credit: David Kelly

                      Books by Trent Dalton

                      Dervla McTiernan
                      About the author

                      Dervla McTiernan

                      Dervla McTiernan's debut novel, The Ruin, was a critically acclaimed international bestseller published around the world. The Ruin won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, the Davitt Award for Best Adult Fiction and the Barry Award for Best Original Paperback, and was shortlisted for numerous other awards. It was on the Amazon US Best Book of the Year list in 2018 and screen rights were snapped up by Hopscotch Features. Dervla's second book, The Scholar, debuted into the Nielsen Bookscan Top 5 on release in 2019, and her third, The Good Turn, went straight to no.1, confirming her place as one of Australia's best crime writers. Born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family of seven, Dervla practised as a corporate lawyer for twelve years. Following the global financial crisis, she moved with her family to Western Australia, where she now lives with her husband and two children. An avid fan of crime and detective novels from childhood, Dervla now writes full time.

                      Books by Dervla McTiernan

                      Candice Fox
                      About the author

                      Candice Fox

                      Hades, Candice Fox's first novel, won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut in 2014 from the Australian Crime Writers Association. The sequel, Eden, won the Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel in 2015, making Candice only the second author to win these accolades back to back. All her subsequent novels – FallCrimson Lake, Redemption Point and Gone by Midnight – have been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award.In 2015 Candice began collaborating with James Patterson. Their first novel together, Never Never, set in the vast Australian outback, was a huge bestseller in Australia and went straight to number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list in the US and also to the top of the charts in the UK. Their subsequent novels Fifty FiftyLiar Liar and Hush Hush have all been massive bestsellers across the world. Their most recent collaboration, The Inn, was released in August 2019.Bankstown born and bred, Candice lives in Sydney.

                      Books by Candice Fox

                      Belinda Alexandra
                      About the author

                      Belinda Alexandra

                      Belinda Alexandra has been published to wide acclaim in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Norway, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Hungary and the United States. She is the daughter of a Russian mother and an Australian father and has been an intrepid traveller since her youth. Her love of other cultures is matched by her passion for her home country, Australia, where she is a volunteer rescuer and carer for the NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES). An animal lover, Belinda is also the patron of the World League for the Protection of Animals (Australia).

                      Books by Belinda Alexandra

                      Melina Marchetta
                      About the author

                      Melina Marchetta

                      Melina Marchetta is a bestselling author in more than twenty countries and eighteen languages. She has published award-winning young adult, fantasy and crime fiction, including her acclaimed crime novel, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil. Her much-loved Australian classic, Looking for Alibrandi, swept the pool of literary awards when it was published, and was also released as a film, adapted by Marchetta, winning an AFI Award and an Independent Film Award for best screenplay, as well as the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award. The companion novel to Marchetta’s award-winning book Saving FrancescaThe Piper's Son, also received much acclaim in Australia and internationally, and in 2009 Marchetta won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association for Jellicoe Road. She lives in Sydney.

                      Books by Melina Marchetta

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                      1. Barb McGuire says:

                        Loved listening to Trent Dalton, I took many notes and what amazes me is the little things that Trent referred to that really inspired me. I am partway through my book and am stuck, not with writer’s block, but with confidence to move on.
                        He said, Get the words down, get it out of you onto the page and have something to work with, let the head edit your writing later, let the blooming flowering thing called your heart let that take over as that’s the fun bit.”

                        He added, “Your little blip on the radar of life, speak your truth even if it is in literary fiction, it’s your truth.”
                        Thank you, Trent.

                      2. steve says:

                        Can’t find a way to download these episodes, the subscribe link only points to past programs

                      3. Poces says:

                        The publishing process, the difference between agents and publishers, the editing is so important!
                        best word finder: find a word