How did Jay Martin go from an award-winning memoir to a fiction manuscript she ultimately abandoned? And what did she learn that helped her craft her debut novel, Boom Town Snap? 

Jay talks with Ashley and James about what toxic workplaces have in common with abusive relationships, and how we get trapped in toxic relationships at the community level as well. 

Ashley is in conversation with Jay Martin to launch Boom Town Snap at Better Read Than Dead on Sunday 18 May, 3pm

Jay Martin’s first book, Vodka and Apple Juice: Travels of an Undiplomatic Wife in Poland, won the Hungerford Award and was published in 2018. She has worked in a range of roles including in community development, government policy and consulting. This included positions in federal government in Canberra, as well as in consulting firms in Australia and Canada. Jay designs and runs writing workshops and programs around Western Australia. Her debut novel is Boom Town Snap. 

Books & authors discussed in this episode:

• Arna Radovich (from ep 105)
• Anatomy of a Secret by Gerard McCann
• The Hollow Girl by Lyn Yeowart
• The Silent Listener by Lyn Yeowart (from ep 39)
• Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Tender Is the Flesh by Augustina Batzerrica

Upcoming events:

• Ashley is in conversation with Jay Martin to launch Boom Town Snap at Better Read Than Dead on Sunday 18 May, 3pm
• Ashley is in conversation with Dinuka McKenzie at Sutherland Library, Thursday 5 June, 6.30pm
• Ashley is part of the Sisters in Crime – Death in a Cold Climate panel, Friday 27 June, 7-10pm, South Melbourne
• Ashley will be doing an in-conversation in Meeniyan with Jacinta Dietrich, Saturday 28 June, 6.30-7.30pm
• Ashley is speaking at Bendigo Library, Monday 30 June, 1-2pm
• Ashley is teaching a multi-day memoir masterclass as part of the Writers at the Woolshed Winter Writing Retreat in the Southern Highlands, 13-18 July 
• Join Ashley and podcast fav Hayley Scrivenor for the Mystery and Mayhem Readers Retreat at the 5-star Tamborine Mountain Glades, 3-5 October

Learn more about Ashley's thrillers, Dark Mode and Cold Truth, and get your copies from your local bookshop or your library. 

Learn more about James's award-winning novel Denizen and get your copy from your local bookshop or your library.

Get in touch!

• ashleykalagianblunt.com
• jamesmckenziewatson.com
• Instagram: @akalagianblunt + @jamesmcwatson