Dear Writer

This week is the final episode of Dear Writer. We talk about the journey we've had as podcasters and writers, and give you our plans for the future. Thanks for being an amazing podcast audience and happy writing!

This week, in our penultimate episode, we look back at some of the best tips, interviews, and exercises we've had on Dear Writer. We share some of our biggest takeaway and offer advice to those just starting on their writing journey and those who are interested in co-writing.

This week, we chat about different promotional strategies authors can use and our experiences using them - what worked for us and what didn't. We discuss the use of author websites, blog posts, newsletters, mailing lists, and a variety of different paid promotions.

Cathryn DeVries is an author based in the Gold Coast, Australia. Collaboratively with her daughter, Cathryn writes epic romantic fantasy. While she and her daughter have yet to embark on their publishing journey, Cathryn is looking forward to this challenge in the near future, and has recently had success with winning the Stuart and Shadow Short Story Prize. Outside of her writing life, Cathryn studied aeronautical engineering and worked in the air force for several years. Now, she is a homeschooling mum to her four children and works a side business of alpha reading, to provide other writers with concrete and actionable feedback on their manuscripts. Her many hobbies also include sewing, cooking, and playing the cello and piano. If you would like to get in touch with Cathryn about her books or alpha reading service, she is available on her website, https://eclectaperennial.com, or @_eclecta_perennial on Instagram, and Eclecta Perennial on Facebook.

This week, we discuss our experiences using social media to market our books. We talk about the platforms we use, why we chose those specific platforms, and give you our overall takeaways from the strategies we have used so far.

Shan Iyer is an author based in Auckland, New Zealand. He writes in several different genres. In non fiction, Shan explores the subject of sociology, while his fiction works include Arabian Science Fantasy and Dystopian Science Fiction. Shan is interested in the ‘what-if’s’— whether that be opening people’s minds to their current world, or examining future possibilities. Outside of his writing life, Shan channels his creativity through music, playing for a Synth Metal band as a guitarist, lyricist, and a keyboardist-in-training.

To find more about Shan or purchase his books, go to https://shaniyer.com

This week we continue our discussion about writing romance. We chat about how to make romantic scenes believable and how to tackle romance in YA novels. We also share some of our experiences writing romance clichés and some of the challenges we have when writing romance/romantic scenes.

Sue Carpenter is a writer based in Auckland, New Zealand. Sue writes within a number of different genres, including YA, junior fiction, children’s fiction and she also dabbles in poetry. Sue has received a number of awards. These include: first place in the IWW Short Story competition in Sci-fi/fantasy with her story ‘Blood Protectors’; highly commended in kidslit with her story 'Lavendar Hill'; and 2nd in long fiction under her thriller penname Lee Simpson's 'Switches'. In 2023 she was a runner up in XYZ children's poetry, and in 2022 she was runner up in the National Poetry Day, Poetry at the beach and New Leaf Christmas competition. Outside of her writing life, Sue enjoys spending time at the beach, with her toes in the sand and her thoughts in the clouds.

This week we talk all things romance. We chat about how to decide whether to include romance in your novels, how romance can enhance your characters and plot, and what we think makes a good romance.

On our author spotlight section this month we welcomed Jade du Preez. Jade is a lawyer and author based in Auckland, New Zealand. She won the New Zealand Writers College Short Story Competition in 2013 and the Same Same But Different Short Fiction Contest in 2016. She recently launched her debut novel, 'Outsider' - a story of art, identity, secret diaries and legal anomalies set in Japan and New Zealand.