In this guest interview between publicist David Carriere and author Zach Taylor, Zach reads from and talks about his new book ROCKSTAR: Echoes. They talk about the genesis of the book and the broader series, the ways that Zach, a NASA Engineer, manages to squeeze in writing time (even amidst the Artemis II launch), his inspiration for ROCKSTAR : Echoes, it’s ‘book-within-a-book’ format, his character voices, the book's themes, the struggles of women in the rock world, the influence of grunge music, the process of publishing a book and what it has been like for him, the impact of new media, asymmetrical warfare in music and how he's used that in the book, what’s coming in the series in general and a preview of the next book Mirrors, and lots more. 

Find out more about ROCKSTAR here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Rockstar-Echoes-Zach-Taylor/dp/B0G2PM5WQP/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

David Carriere has been a book publicist for almost four decades and is the author of PUBLICITY: 7 STEPS TO PUBLICIZE JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. Find out more about David Carriere here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-carriere-10b1445/

Find out more about Zach at his Instagram site: https://www.instagram.com/zachtaylorbooks/

The author of A Blink of Time's Eye reads from and talks about his most recent poetry book. We discuss how the book came together as a collection, the book's key themes like time, death, trauma, healing and the human condition, conversations between poems, readers, and selves, parenting, entropy, love, personal growth and gratitude.

Find a copy of the book here: https://www.5islandspress.com/product-page/a-blink-of-times-eye

The author of The Victoria Principle joins us to read from and talk about his latest book. We talk about such things what drew him to fiction and why it gives him the "ick", the nature of genre and storytelling, collage, memoir, the real and the counterfeit, trickery, humour and lots more.

You can get a copy of the book here: https://giramondopublishing.com/books/michael-farrell-the-victoria-principle/

Judith Nangala Crispín reads from and talks about her stunning new book The Dingo's Noctuary.

Purchase a copy of the book here: https://puncherandwattmann.com/product/the-dingos-noctuary/

Find out more about Judith here: https://judithcrispin.com/

Find out more about the book’s publisher, David Musgrave, who Judith mentions in the conversation: https://davidmusgrave.com/

Read my review of The Dingo's Noctuary here: https://compulsivereader.com/2025/11/18/a-review-of-the-dingos-noctuary-by-judith-nangala-crispin/

The author of Through the Trapdoor reads from and talks about her new short story collection. We cover such things as how the collection came together, the interconnectivity of the stories, the title and the many trapdoors in the book, some of the key themes especially migration, memory, transformation, and the epiphany. We also discuss the publication process, the book's illustrations, the short story form, and lots more.

Through the Trapdoor is now available at Paperchain Bookstore: https://paperchainbookstore.com.au/book/through-the-trapdoor.do and will soon be available at Harry Hartog ANU (Canberra) and Harry Hartog Miranda (Sydney), and the National Library of Australia Bookshop.

Angela Costi joins us to read from and talk about her latest poetry book The Heart of the Advocate.

We talk about many things including how the book came together, the hybrid nature of the book, the nexus between poetry and law, her use of language, point and counterpoint or strophe and antistrophe, layers of ekphrasis - including the book The Art of the Advocate by Richard Du Cann, her use of Greek Mythology, Philoxena or the love of strangers, and much more.

Purchase the book here: https://liquidamberpress.com.au/product/the-heart-of-the-advocate/

Find out more about Angela here: https://www.instagram.com/angelacostipoetics/

A few of Angela's references:

Jordie Albiston: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordie_Albiston

Alison Whittaker's Blak Work: https://www.magabala.com/products/blakwork

Martin Espada: http://www.martinespada.net/

Yiannis Ritsos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiannis_Ritsos

Bob Rich joins us to read from and talk about his new book, The Hole in Your Life: Grief and Bereavement. He talks about the narrative of the book which is a combination of personal and clinical experience, about the 7 magic bullets which underpin the book, about why he defines himself as everyone's grandfather and the nature of empathy, about the mess we're in and why, about universal love, his newsletter Bobbing Around, now in its 14th year, and lots more.

Get a copy of The Hole in Your Life on the relevant Amazon site.

Katia Ariel reads from and talks about her new book Ferryman: The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch. We talk about her unique way of engaging with her subject, about creating biographies that are respectful, open, and true, about Ephraim's role in the community and the way in which Ariel universalises it, about ancestry and inheritance, grief, death and love, and lots more.

Find out more about Katia Ariel and her books at: http://arielediting.com.au/

Ferryman book page at the publisher's site: https://www.wilddingopress.com.au/shop/p/9781925893861

Ashley Kalagian Blunt joins us again to read from and talk about her book Cold Truth. We talk about such things as the Winnipeg climate which is such a feature in the book, along with other aspects of the city and fun facts, the relationships between characters, about becoming the cyber crime/tech noir queen, the optioning of her previous book Dark Web , the new book out very soon, Like, Follow, Die!, narrated by Claudia Karvan, and lots more including some of her upcoming events.

Find out more about Ashley at her website: https://www.ashleykalagianblunt.com/

Grab hold of Cold Truth: https://www.ashleykalagianblunt.com/cold-truth

Find Like, Follow, Die!: https://www.ashleykalagianblunt.com/like-follow-die

Paris Rosemont reads from and talks about her new poetry book Barefoot Poetess . We cover such topics as how and why she began writing, the notion of poetic 'play', the balance between confession and performance, the joy of theatre and its relationship to poetry, her work-in-progress, and lots more.

Find out more about Paris her website: https://www.parisrosemont.com/

Buy a copy of Barefoot Poetess: https://www.westwords.com.au/product/barefoot-poetess/