ClanDestine Café

TBAIn this episode of ClanDestine Café our host ⁠⁠Jacq Ellem⁠⁠ gets all arty and clued up with an Aussie writer and an illustrator. Jacq, Jo & Lorena talk writing, illustrating, puzzles, escape rooms and writers’ festivals.

Lorena Carrington is an acclaimed illustrator and writer from regional Victoria, known for her intricate montages of photographic images. Her work spans children’s books, folklore and fairy tales, story collections, non-fiction, and book cover design. Her love of working with others has brought about rewarding collaborations with not only writers – like Sophie Masson and Kate Forsyth – but musicians, designers and other illustrators. 

Jo Dixon writes stories full of imperfect characters in unsettling situations, and making fatal mistakes. There is intrigue and mystery, the moodiness and underlying threat of the wild environment, and provocative twists and turns. Jo lives in rural Tasmania where the natural environment is as complicated as her plots. Her latest mystery thriller is A Disappearing Act.

In this episode of ClanDestine Café our host ⁠Jacq Ellem⁠ gets all criminally minded with Melbourne writers Vikki & Katherine, both of whom have brand new crime novels out.

Katherine Kovacic – a one-time veterinarian, turned art historian, turned crime writer – is fabulously multi-faceted. The author of crime fiction, true crime, and a dog book, Katherine’s six novels include: a three-book series featuring art dealer Alex Clayton; her Ned Kelly Award shortlisted, Seven Sisters, and her latest novel, No Good Deed. No matter the genre, setting or plot, Katherine specialises in strong women looking for justice, quite often with a dog for company. 

Vikki Petraitis is a ridiculously hard-working and prolific writer and podcaster. She wrote 14 true crime books – including the bestselling The Frankston Murders, The Philip Island Murder and The Vanishing of Vivienne Cameron, before turning her hand to fiction. Her latest is The Reckoning, third in the fabulous Antigone Pollard mystery series, following The Unbelieved and The Stolen. Vikki has also written and/or narrated several true crime podcasts for Casefile. 

 ⁠Jacq Ellem⁠⁠ – host of ClanDestine Café – is a Tasmanian writer and award-winning podcaster. Her book Cosy Tales from Three Corners is due out with Affirm Press in December. 

In this episode of ClanDestine Café our host ⁠⁠Jacq Ellem⁠⁠ talks with Louise and Gareth about collaborating on a mystery series, their lifelong love of books, and their day jobs as booksellers. 

Gareth & Louise Ward – co-authors of the three (so far) mysteries in The Bookshop Detectives series – could not be more meta if they tried.

Which they clearly have.

They are both ex-cops from the UK, who met at police training college, married, and later moved to the southern hemisphere where they opened two shops –  Wardini Books  –  ‘in the cultural centre of the universe’ that is Hawke’s Bay, Aotearoa New Zealand.

The ‘detectives’ in Louise and Gareth’s series are Garth and Eloise Sherlock – ex-coppers from the UK who moved to the Hawkes Bay region and opened a bookshop called Sherlock Tomes.

The point of difference between the two couples is not the latter’s fictional scaredy-cat dog Stevie – as he too is real in the lives of Gareth and Louise – but the fact that Garth and Eloise are regularly drawn into murder mysteries that require their special skill sets. 

Dead Girl Gone, Tea and Cake and Death, and Murder and Mojitos (Penguin NZ) are their first collaborations; but Gareth is also the author of the D&D themed Tarquin the Honest series; the steampunk YA Rise of the Remarkablesseries; and the award-winning The Traitor and the Thief and The Clockill and the Thief.

Louise is known among the Wardini staff as Fearless Leader, and Gareth as a bit of a dick; both are obsessed with their rescue dog Stevie, and do their best to avoid housework and gardening.

 Jacq Ellem⁠ – host of ClanDestine Café – is a Tasmanian writer and award-winning podcaster. Her book Cosy Tales from Three Corners is due out with Affirm Press in December. 

In the episode of ClanDestine Café our host ⁠Jacq Ellem⁠ talks Chuck and Alison, two Aussie authors who travelled the traditional publishing route and are now primarily indie publishers. 

Alison Stuart writes historical romance and short fiction set in England and Australia across a range of periods. She is best known for her English Civil War novels, and the Women of Maiden's Creek series, set in the Victorian goldfields of the 1870s. 

Writing as A.M. Stuart, she's the author of the popular Harriet Gordon mystery series, set in 1910s Singapore.

A former lawyer who practised across the military and emergency services, Alison has lived in Africa and Singapore, but home is Melbourne, where she lives with her husband, an opinionated cat, and a research library that has long since taken over the house.

Chuck McKenzie was born in 1970 and still spends most of his time there. His science fiction and horror short stories have been nominated for multiple genre awards, and he also writes silly cat and dog books just to confuse his readers. His books include: The Dark Man, By Referral and Less Pleasant Tales; Daily Grind and Other Astounding Stories of Mundane Matters; and Conversations with My Cat. 

   Chuck is also Chair of the National Australian Horror Convention natozhorrorcon.com – April-May 2027 in Melbourne; and hopes to one day be remembered as the sort of person neighbours later describe as having seemed… like such a nice man. 

You can find Chuck's books at: ⁠https://daftnotions.com⁠

of stalk him at: instagram.com/chuck.mckenzie.author

ClanDestine Café host  Jacq Ellem gets all Shakespearean with authors David and Gordon whose new books feature the Bard himself and/or riff on his plays and characters.

David Greagg is a Melbourne writer, mathematician, medieval warrior, and accredited wizard.  He’s the author of the brand-new  Harry the Fifth  (CDP); and the previously published, Dougal’s Diary and When We Were Kittens (CDP); and It’s True: Burke & Wills Forgot the Frying-Pan, It’s True: The Vikings Got Lost.

Gordon Thompson is a Melbourne writer, publisher, artist, and musician. He is the founding publisher of the independent Clouds of Magellan Press, supporting many emerging writers since 2005. He’s the author of Kill Will  (CDP) and Scheherazade and the Amber Necklace.

Jacq Ellem – host of ClanDestine Café – is a Tasmanian writer and award-winning podcaster. Her book Cosy Tales from Three Corners is due out with Affirm Press in December.

Clan Destine Cafe is open again and this episode our guests are two Aussie writers of historical fiction. 

Our fabulous host ⁠Jacq Ellem⁠ talks with Elizabeth and Greg about their latest books, one set during WW II; and the other in the 1990’s. Yes, we know the 90s are not, technically, regarded as ‘historical’ yet, but they are still ‘so last century’.

Elisabeth Storrs - aka Lisa – has long had a passion for myths, history and legends. She is the award-winning author of A Tale of Ancient Rome trilogy: The Wedding Shroud, The Golden Dice and Call to Juno. In her new book Fables & Lies, Lisa indulges in her new obsession with Trojan treasure and twisted Germanic history. Elizabeth is also the founder of the Historical Novel Society Australasia and the $155,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize.

GS ‘Greg’ Johnston is the author of five historical novels, ranging from the 19th to 20th centuries, the latest being For a Moment More – set during the AIDS crisis in Sydney of the 1990s. Greg is also the treasurer of the Historical Novel Society Australasia and hosts the HNSA’s podcast Imagining the Past, featuring interviews with leading historical novelists.

Clan Destine Café returns to far-north Scotland for the second of our Shetland Noir specials. The annual crime writing festival draws crime readers and writers from all over the world. Our roving Aussie podcaster Fran Bryson sat down with award-winning UK crime writer Vaseem Khan.

Vaseem Khan is the author of two series set in Mumbai, the contemporary-set Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series, and the historical, Malabar House series featuring Inspector Persis Wadia of the Bombay Police, India’s first female police detective. Vaseem was tapped by the Ian Fleming estate to write a spin-off series in the James Bond universe. His latest book, Quantum of Menace, features Q, retired from MI6, and now solving mysteries in his sleepy hometown, Wickstone-on-Water.

Fran Bryson, once one of Australia’s leading literary agents, gave up looking after other writers and took to the dark side. Her first book In Brazil is a travel memoir, but she’s taken a further step into the dark by moving into fiction with a crime series set on Flinders Island. When she’s not travelling the world, which is often, Fran lives on Flinders.

ClanDestine Cafe headed for the very-northern climes of Shetland for this episode, which was recorded at Shetland Noir, the island's annual crime writing festival .

Our roving podcaster Fran Bryson sat down with UK crime writer Ann Cleeves to talk about using islands and coastal areas for their mysteries and the pitfalls of using real settings.

British crime writer Ann Cleeves OBE, is the author of more than 40 books including three beloved and bestselling series, featuring Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez, and Mattew Venn – all of which have been turned into TV series. Ann was Patron and co-curator of Shetland Noir 2026.

Fran Bryson, once one of Australia’s leading literary agents, gave up looking after other writers and took to the dark side. Her first book, In Brazil, is a travel memoir, but she’s taken a further step into the dark of crime fiction, with a series set on Flinders Island. When she’s not travelling the world, which is often, Fran lives on Flinders.

ClanDestine Cafe is open for coffee and lots of conversation.

Led by Jacq Ellem this episode's guests, Kelly and Tim, have been dabbling in the world of "Miss Austen" showing just what can be done with - and to - Pride and Prejudice.

Kelly Gardiner is the author of novels for kids - 1917; young adults - Act of Faith and The Sultan's Eyes: and adults - Goddess, the story of a real C17th French swordswoman and opera star. The ex-uni lecturer now teaches creative writing workshops, runs of writing retreats, and is the current president of Sisters in Crime Australia. Miss Caroline Bingley Private Detective - co-written with Sharmini Kumar - is her latest book.

Timothy Bowden has co-written two graphic novels with his wife, Sandra, before deciding the Bennett sisters really should be fighting crime. His novel Pride and Justice boldly declares: Elizabeth Bennet doesn't need a hero - she already is one.

Welcome back to ClanDestine Café. In this episode ⁠Jacq Ellem⁠ sits down to lunch with Fin and Liz to talk all things short story. Both writers are serial offenders in the Scarlet Stiletto crime and mystery competition run by Sisters in Crime Australia - and now in its 33rd year. They've both won several category prizes and the First Prize of the iconic and highly sought-after red shoe trophy.

Fin J Ross is a novelist and short story writer with a sideline in true crime. Her adventures down-the-rabbit-hole of historical research was transformed into the fabulous Billings Better Bookstore & Brasserie, set in colonial Melbourne. And her various Scarlet Stiletto winning stories are collected into Tuesday Jocks and Other Stories.

Liz Filleul , also a veteran of the Scarlet Stiletto competition, has a new book coming out in July with Clan Destine Press. Sentenced Beyond the Seas is a collection of linked crime stories in the Convict Constable Casebook series.