The Empty Page

Returning champion Jeff Apter chats about his new book Behind Dark Eyes, The True Story Of Jon English.  As you would already know if you heard Jeff's episode in Season 1, he is a massive planner, and you'll hear more about that on this episode as well as how Jeff feels about reading reviews of his books.

Based on the true story of the Queen's 1954 Australian visit, The Tour is Andrew Mackie's first novel, but he is by no means a beginner.  Andrew has achieved massive success as a film distributor and producer and in addition to sharing the story of his writing life Andrew  also has some great advice to offer screenwriters in this episode.

Christian Hull's memoir Leave Me Alone is - like Christian himself - laugh out loud funny. On this episode Christian chats (as only Christian can) about his adventures in the world of commercial radio, the career he has invented for himself as a social media superstar, and the process of writing his first book. 

On this episode Susan Johnson talks about the long and winding road that took her towards her latest book, the incredibly heartfelt and compelling From Where I Fell.  Susan has been writing professionally since the mid-80's, so she knows more than most about what it takes to make it as a writer. 

 On this episode Gretel Killeen talks about her new book My Daughter’s Wedding, the tricky art of writing words that make readers laugh out loud, and Gretel shares a technique she uses to get herself in the zone to come up with her best stuff. Gretel also has some wise advice for aspiring writers, and above all of that she’s just really fun to chat to. 

Eamon Evans dives into some great Aussie mysteries in his new book "Whatever Happened To Ned Kelly’s Head?" On this episode Eamon talks about the process of researching and writing his books, the art of writing to make readers laugh, and the ups and downs of his writing career. 

The Silent Listener is the kind of book that lives inside you long after you reach the last page, and on this episode Lyn Yeowart talks about the process of writing it, why it needed to be gritty in parts, and how she went about crafting one of the greatest story reveals I have ever read. Warning: The start of this episode is 100% spoiler free, but towards the end Lyn and I will tell anyone who hasn’t yet read her book exactly when to pause this podcast so that you don’t accidentally find out more than you need to know. But if you have already read The Silent Listener, you can go ahead and listen to this whole episode!

Poppy Gee has been a valued supporter of the Empty Page Podcast since the beginning of season 1 last year, and now she’s the star of the latest episode, talking about her gripping new suspense novel Vanishing Falls, her techniques for gently misdirecting her readers to make it harder for them to solve the crime before they reach the end of the book, and her writing routine. Poppy has a lot of great advice for aspiring writers in this episode. 

If you love a good rock 'n' roll story, this is the podcast episode for you. Tana Douglas has not only been there and done that, she probably lit it and did the logistics as well. In this episode we chat about some of the incredible stories in Tana's new book Loud, her experiences on and off the road as the world's first female roadie, and how she gets her writing done. 

Dan Kaufman has written a very funny book that will ring true for anyone who has ever been part of a shallow social scene. In the case of Drowning In The Shallows, the scene is Sydney, where his protagonist David reviews bars for a shrinking newspaper as he desperately searches for meaning. In this episode Dan talks about the process of writing this book, where he found the inspiration for his story and how he gets his writing done before real life takes over.