Secrets from the Green Room

Karen and Irma chat about AI dangers for writers, including scam emails and why publishers hate writers  using AI proofreading software to 'polish' their work.

Then Irma chats to Melanie Cheng about how a nosey friend resulted in an early pivotal moment, why she wrote in a secret for many years, and how winning a manuscript prize changed everything overnight, why her second book was so hard to write, the balance of having a public profile as an author and working as a GP, why she still has imposter syndrome as a writer, why she thought she would never write anything ever again after her second book, and why saying yes to every publicity opp led to a nightmare experience.

Show notes

Melanie Cheng: https://melaniechengwriter.com/

About Melanie

Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016 and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction in 2018. She has published two novels, Room for a Stranger and The Burrow, both of which were longlisted for the Miles Franklin award. The Burrow was also shortlisted for the Stella prize and nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. 

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Irma and Karen talk about the importance of the major dramatic question in writing fiction, and what they’ve been reading lately in Book Chat.

Then Karen talks to Alice Pung about Alice’s unusual process of writing her first book in close contact with a publisher, how writing as a young person with no filters contributed to her early success, how she writes non-fiction with fiction techniques and vice versa, why she finds writing non-fiction harder than fiction, how giving talks to bored 14-year old boys enhanced her public speaking skills, why she has never wanted to be a fulltime writer, how she became penfriends with John Marsden, and how she thought she’d received spam when an email came through saying she’d been awarded an OAM.

About Alice

Alice Pung is the bestselling author of two memoirs, two novels, an essay collection, several children’s books, and the editor of two anthologies. Her books have been published both in Australia and overseas and have won or been short listed for many awards. In 2022 she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to literature. She is a qualified practicing lawyer and lives in Naarm Melbourne.

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Irma and Karen make an exciting announcement about the future of the podcast, then discuss a cautionary tale involving a freelance editor and AI.

 Then Karen talks to journalist and feminist author Virginia Haussegger about how she became a TV journalist and was sent to Darwin to make all her mistakes, how working on TV has both changed and not changed for women since the 1980s, the ways that deadlines help her to write, how book ideas strike her like meteorites, why counting her writing hours on an app helps, and the outrage of discovering her latest book, Feminist Fightback, shelved under military history!

About Virginia

Virginia Haussegger AM is an award-winning television journalist, writer and commentator. She has worked in the TV and newsprint media for over 30 years both in Australia and overseas. She’s reported for current affairs programs and anchored the primetime national news in five capital cities, including 15 years in Canberra. She’s a public speaker, a podcaster, an ACT Australian of the Year, and a strong advocate for women.

Show notes

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 

Freelance Editors’ Network

IPEd

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Irma and Karen talk about starting your novel with a bang to get readers’ attention.

Then in our new occasional series, Karen talks to debut novelists Sarah Walker and Sam Elliott about the process of getting their first books published, how Sam bounced back from workplace bullying to write fiction, how Sarah got an overseas agent, the ways having an agent or winning an award helps with getting published, what Sam learned through podcasting that helped with publishing, and the news that made Sarah scream at her workplace.

About Sarah and Sam

Sarah Walker is a Naarm (Melbourne-based) writer, artist and photographer. Her first book, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying, a collection of non-fiction essays, won the Quentin Bryce Award. Her debut novel is The Water Takes.

Sam Elliott is an author and interviewer. He is the founder and host of The Write Way podcast on which he has interviewed many authors, including both Irma and me. Haze is his debut novel. He lives in Sydney.

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Karen and Irma chat about how to decide on the POV(s) for a novel, and how to listen to what the book itself wants to be.

Then Irma talks to Melbourne Writers Festival Director Veronica Sullivan and Sorrento Writers Festival Director Corrie Perkin about their pathways to becoming directors of two of Australia’s biggest festivals, the way they plan their programs, practical advice on what writers and their publishers can do to break into the festival circuit, what writers do wrong when pitching to festivals and how to get it right, the controversy around the Sydney Writers Festival exclusivity clause and the Bendigo and Adelaide festival boycotts, what makes both a good panellist and a good panel, how Corrie’s devastating experience of closing her bookshop led to creating a new festival, and why an event with Behrouz Boochani had a profound impact on Veronica.

About Corrie and Veronica

Corrie Perkin began her career as a cadet reporter at the Age and over the next three decades, worked in a variety of editing and writing roles. In 2009, she opened an independent bookstore in Hawksburn that ran that for 12 years. Then in 2023, she founded the Sorrento Writers Festival, which has quickly grown to become Australia’s second-biggest literary festival.

Veronica Sullivan began as a volunteer at Melbourne Writers Festival, then went on to intern at the Emerging Writers’ Festival. She was a founding board member and then program manager of the Feminist Writers Festival, and then became head of programming at The Wheeler Centre, before assuming her current role as Director of Melbourne Writers Festival.

Show Notes

Melbourne Writers Festival

Sorrento Writers Festival

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Karen and Irma chat about structuring a novel, in particular the use of prologues and epilogues.

Then in the first of an occasional series with debut authors, Irma talks to Dominic Amerena and Lisa Moule about the challenging process of writing their first novels, how to trust your writing instincts, their very different paths to finding agents and publishers, the brutal reality of rejection (how it stopped Dominic writing novels for a decade and why one rejection made Lisa cry like a teenage girl), how to best approach agents, how writing short form pieces helped lay the ground for their novels, why Lisa Moule decided not to voice her own audiobook (even though she is a voice actor), and Lisa’s Teams mishap with a psychedelic filter during her first important publishing meeting.

About Lisa and Dominic

Lisa Moule is the author of The Mother of All Calamaties, released in March this year by Allen & Unwin. She is also an actor, voice artist, and presenter of 3CR’s ‘Published or Not’ program. She is based in Naarm/Melbourne.

Dominic Amerena is the author of I Want Everything, which was the first novel published by Summit Books, the new literary imprint of Simon & Schuster, just over a year ago. It has since won or been shortlisted for a number of awards. He lives in Greece, and is coming to us from Athens today.

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Irma and Karen answer a listener question about the transition from emerging writer to established, then chat about their latest reading recommendations.

Then Karen talks to poet Robbie Coburn about how discovering Edgar Allan Poe when he was 14 was like being let out of jail, how mimicking great writers can help develop your writing early on, how he connects poems to memories like songs, the best way for poets to get their work out into the world, the value of mentorship for poets, why allowing horses to gallop into his work helped him find himself as a writer, how to persist despite devastating rejection, and how his granny would have been proud of him receiving an award sticker for his verse novel.

About Robbie 

Robbie Coburn is the author of several poetry collections and a young adult verse novel The Foal in the Wire. He has published several chapbooks and zines, and his poems have been published in numerous Australian and international journals. He has run poetry workshops for Headspace – a youth mental health organisation. He grew up on a farm in regional Victoria and now lives in Melbourne.

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Karen and Irma chat about the environmental cost of publishing books, and uncover some positive take-aways. 

Then Irma talks to children’s author Ingrid Laguna about how running away from home impacted her as a creative, how the traumatic experience of losing her own twin boys led to her memoir and then a novel for kids, why her agent didn’t want to pitch her book but then her publisher ended up loving it, why kids books need to tackle tough subjects, how to keep going when you’re writing about traumatic personal events, writing book recommendations, and top tips for engaging school visits. 

About Ingrid

Ingrid Laguna is a multi-award-winning novelist and educator. She has published a memoir and numerous books for children. Her work has been published internationally, featured by Reading Australia and given Notable recognition by the CBCA. Ingrid’s writing has featured in various publications, including The Monthly, The Age, Teacher Magazine and the AEU Magazine. She runs a range of writing courses and regularly presents to teachers and students at schools, libraries, festivals and conferences.

 Show notes

Why plantation stock is better for making paper

Arts Law for any legal issues 

The Writer’s Room by Charlotte Wood

The 90-Day Novel by Alan Watts

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Irma and Karen talk about how different platforms – Instagram, Facebook, X, Substack and author websites – help sell books (or don’t!)

Then Karen chats to Toni Jordan about how to successfully inject serious subjects with humour, the book to film process of Addition, why she structures her life to the nth degree but with writing is completely unstructured, how to approach writing as a business and why networking should be reframed, why being a skilled public speaker is important as a writer, how she has managed to make a living as a writer, the painful experience of having a book that didn’t sell well, and how that then led to her greatest career high.

About Toni

Toni Jordan is an award-winning, internationally best-selling author of 8 novels. Her debut novel Addition was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and has recently been made into a film. Her novel Nine Days was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards, and Our Tiny, Useless Hearts was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. Toni is a physiologist who has also completed a PhD in creative writing and she lives in Melbourne.

Show Notes

'Social Media is Dead – Old School Marketing Tactics for Creatives' by Creative Plus Business

‘Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, it’s Unreliable’ on the New York Times

‘If you get a million views on a social media post, how many books will you sell?’ on Nicola Washington’s substack post about a viral Tweet about a book event that no one showed up to.

Find out more about Irma and Karen

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Karen and Irma talk about the importance of writers centres, and urge listeners to sign the Writers Victoria petition.

Then Irma chats to Tasma Walton about novelising the story of her ancestor Nannertgarrook, how she protected herself in the process of writing about trauma, the reclamation of her Boonwurrung language and the importance of language in her novel, how writing and acting feed into each other, the challenges of writing versus acting, how writers rooms for TV and film work, and an embarrassing green room encounter with an Australian music legend.

About Tasma

Tasma Walton is a proud Boonwurrung woman from the saltwater country of Melbourne and surrounding coastlines. She has had a hugely successful career as an actor in film and television, with acclaimed roles in everything from Blue Heelers and The Secret Life of Us to Mystery Road and How to Please a Woman. In 2009, her first novel, Heartless, was nominated for an ABIA Award, and the first book in her children’s series Nerra: Deep Time Traveller was longlisted for the DANZ Children’s Book Award. Her most recent novel, I am Nannertgarrook, won the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize.

Show notes

Writers Victoria petition

I am Nannertgarrook

Find out more about Irma and Karen

Visit Irma Gold’s website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook

Visit Karen Viggers’ website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook

Follow Secrets From the Green Room on Instagram and Facebook