Pamela Redmond’s funny, perceptive romcom Younger is a current popular TV series - billed as “the next Sex in the City” – and now she’s back with a comical and poignant sequel called – you’ve guessed it - Older. What happens when a woman lies about her age to get a job and then where is she left when the charade has to come to an end?br /

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Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and Pamela talks about the ageism both men and women face in the workplace these days, feeling the fear and doing it anyway,  and her dream of turning Younger into a Broadway musical.br /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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Pamela's years as a Glamour editor - and the controversy that followedPamela's latest challenge - a Broadway musicalThe challenge of 'feeling the fear and doing it anyway'Owning the biggest naming site on the Internet30 things all women should know by age 30How she can't resist learning new thingsbr /

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Where to find Pamela Redmond:br /

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Website: http://pamelaredmondsatran.com/br /

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Facebook: @thepamelaredmondbr /

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Twitter: @prsatranbr /

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepamelaredmond/br /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: But now, here’s Pamela. Hello there Pamela, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.br /

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Pamela Redmond: Thanks, Jenny. Great to be here.br /

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Pamela Redmond - Novelistbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: Beginning at the beginning, we always start with this point, people love to know the answer to it. Was there a Once Upon a TIme moment when you decided, I want to write fiction? I'm aware that you'd written quite a lot of nonfiction, but when did the fiction light bulb switch on and was there a catalyst for it?br /

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Pamela Redmond: I remember wanting to write fiction as early as high school, but it was daunting to figure out how to do that and earn a living. Even though I took fiction writing classes in college and when I first moved to New York, which was in the seventies, I worked as a waitress and wrote short stories at night. I tried that for a couple of years, which seems like an embarrassingly long time now to take figuring out that that was not going to be a way to earn a living.br /

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Then I got married and had kids and had a career as a magazine journalist and started writing nonfiction books and through all that the desire to write fiction grew, but I was bedeviled how to make it a reality. It wasn't until my youngest child started school and I had a little bit of time and a little bit of freedom in terms of my mind, that I took a fiction writing class and started trying in earnest to write a novel.br /

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Finding time as a Mom to writebr /

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It's funny because – she was a girl then, now she's a woman – my babysitter at that time is now the age I was when I started. Her children are 4 and 6 I think, the same age that my children were, and she’s trying to write and it's challenging.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: It is quite a common unfolding for women who have children and families. I didn't have children of my own, I had stepchildren, but you get very consumed with family life in those middle years, the twenties and thirties, don't you?br /

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Pamela Redmond - Younger - the novelbr /

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Pamela Redmond: Yes, you have to. You don't really have the choice, like I'll work on my career now and deal with children when I'm in my forties or fifties or whatever. If that's something you want, you have to get it together and do it,

Mandy Robotham’s first World War II story The German Midwife was an international best seller, and she hasn’t looked back since.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today on The Joys of Binge Reading Mandy talks about where the idea to write a book about Hitler’s baby came from, why WWII stories are hot, and how she transitioned from being a midwife herself to a fulltime author.

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Where the idea of Hitler's baby came fromThe importance of finishing the book'Instant success' takes timeHer passion for midwiferyThe writers she's learned most fromWhy WW II stories are so popular

Where to find Mandy Robotham: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mandy-Robotham-Author-and-Midwife-324181038399367/

Twitter: @mandyrobothamuk

Instagram: robothammandy

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mandy-robotham

What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Mandy Robotham - author

Jenny: But now, here’s Mandy.  Hello there Mandy and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Jenny Wheeler: You appear to have enjoyed instant success because you've written two books so far and they've both had very good sales. You are a Globe and Mail, USA Today and USA and Australia Kindle top seller. That is a pretty remarkable achievement but I doubt very much that it did happen overnight. Tell us about that.

Introducing Mandy Robotham

Mandy Robotham: No. Like many writers, I went through a fair few rejections with the first book, lots of people saying, we don't know where this fits in the market, don't know what this is about. Then I would question, is this a really silly idea, the idea of a midwife helping Hitler's baby. And then I would question it again.

I don't know, something in me told me that I had to have faith in the book. I was on the point of giving up for about six months. I thought, I'll take a break from writing. I couldn't deal with rejections again and again and again.

Then a friend of mine called Lorraine Ferguson who's a writer said Avon are taking open submissions without an agent. I thought I’ll give it a go and I popped it off to them and then I completely forgot about it. About three months later they came back and said, we love this book. It was a jumping around the room moment, I can tell you that, getting that email.

Jenny Wheeler: Yes. As you've mentioned that book was called The German Midwife and it looks like it had a very fascinating plotline. It is the story of a prison camp midwife who was charged with the care of Eva Braun, who's pregnant, and all of the philosophical and moral questions that raises – does she serve the Third Reich which she loathes and keep the baby alive, or what does she do? How on earth did you get to start out on that sort of twisted story?

Write what you know...

Mandy Robotham: There's always a thing in writing to write what you know. I felt that my first book should be about midwifery since I was in the middle of it and embroiled in it at the time. And then midwives always chat a lot about births afterwards – that was a beautiful birth, that was fantastic, what happened here? We chat a lot and we talk about the minor morals. Should you tell someone this? Is it worth mentioning that?

It got me thinking, where would our morals go to if we were really, really tested? Would there be a certain situation where we wouldn't actually want to help, or we would hold back a bit from helping a certain mother or a baby? I got to thinking, well, there's only one family line I can think of at the moment. It mushroomed from there really.

Jenny Wheeler: How long ago was that? When was that book published?

Mandy Robotham: That book came out in 2018, but it had been about three years in the writing, making, marketing, selling, so it had been quite a while.

Mandy Robotham’s first World War II story The German Midwife was an international best seller, and she hasn’t looked back since.br /

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Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today on The Joys of Binge Reading Mandy talks about where the idea to write a book about Hitler’s baby came from, why WWII stories are hot, and how she transitioned from being a midwife herself to a fulltime author.br /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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Where the idea of Hitler's baby came fromThe importance of finishing the book'Instant success' takes timeHer passion for midwiferyThe writers she's learned most fromWhy WW II stories are so popularbr /

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Where to find Mandy Robotham: br /

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mandy-Robotham-Author-and-Midwife-324181038399367/br /

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Twitter: @mandyrobothamukbr /

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Instagram: robothammandybr /

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Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mandy-robothambr /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Mandy Robotham - authorbr /

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Jenny: But now, here’s Mandy.  Hello there Mandy and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: You appear to have enjoyed instant success because you've written two books so far and they've both had very good sales. You are a Globe and Mail, USA Today and USA and Australia Kindle top seller. That is a pretty remarkable achievement but I doubt very much that it did happen overnight. Tell us about that.br /

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Introducing Mandy Robothambr /

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Mandy Robotham: No. Like many writers, I went through a fair few rejections with the first book, lots of people saying, we don't know where this fits in the market, don't know what this is about. Then I would question, is this a really silly idea, the idea of a midwife helping Hitler's baby. And then I would question it again.br /

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I don't know, something in me told me that I had to have faith in the book. I was on the point of giving up for about six months. I thought, I'll take a break from writing. I couldn't deal with rejections again and again and again. br /

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Then a friend of mine called Lorraine Ferguson who's a writer said Avon are taking open submissions without an agent. I thought I’ll give it a go and I popped it off to them and then I completely forgot about it. About three months later they came back and said, we love this book. It was a jumping around the room moment, I can tell you that, getting that email.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: Yes. As you've mentioned that book was called The German Midwife and it looks like it had a very fascinating plotline. It is the story of a prison camp midwife who was charged with the care of Eva Braun, who's pregnant, and all of the philosophical and moral questions that raises – does she serve the Third Reich which she loathes and keep the baby alive, or what does she do? How on earth did you get to start out on that sort of twisted story?br /

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Write what you know...br /

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Mandy Robotham: There's always a thing in writing to write what you know. I felt that my first book should be about midwifery since I was in the middle of it and embroiled in it at the time. And then midwives always chat a lot about births afterwards – that was a beautiful birth, that was fantastic, what happened here? We chat a lot and we talk about the minor morals. Should you tell someone this? Is it worth mentioning that?br /

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It got me thinking, where would our morals go to if we were really, really tested?

Romantic suspense author Lori Matthews likes putting strong women up against tough-guy protectors – but not so they’ll race in and save anybody. Not at all.  The strong women learn to save themselves – with a little help from their friends – and readers enjoy seeing two alpha personalities get together and learn to work it out.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in today’s episode Lori talks about her latest book, Hit and Run, number three in the Callahan Security series, with a cutting edge plotline about the race to prevent state of the art facial recognition software from falling into the wrong hands.

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

A would-be writer from teenage yearsPitting alpha personalities against each otherFiner points in facial recognition softwarePlotting and 'pantsing'Lori's theory of 'romantic equalization'The writers Lori admires most

Where to find Lori Matthews: 

Website: www.lorimatthewsbooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoriMatthewsBooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorimatthewsbooks/

 Twitter: @_lorimatthews_

What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny Wheeler: But now here’s Lori. Hi there Lori, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.

Lori Matthews: Hi Jenny. It's so great to be here. Thanks for having me on your show.

Introducing Lori Matthews

Jenny Wheeler: Beginning at the beginning, as I always like to, was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction and if so, was there any sort of catalyst for it?

Lori Matthews - mystery author

Lori Matthews: My Grade 11 English teacher had this assignment where we had to write a short story fiction and it had to be suspenseful, and that ticked something with me. I remember writing the story and I did well in the story, but it just clicked in my brain.

I sat down and tried to write my first suspense novel, which I'm sure died silently somewhere in a computer recycling facility, I'm hoping, because it was awful, but that was what started the whole thing. From there I always knew I would write.

Jenny Wheeler: For people in New Zealand, how old is Grade 11?

Lori Matthews: About 16, 17.

Jenny Wheeler: Okay. That's a good time to know what you're wanting to do. You have now got three books published in the Callahan Brothers series, but I know that there was probably a bit of a gap between that light bulb moment in your teens and actually getting published. We'll get to that a little while, but you've now got three books published in the Callahan series and I noticed that you've also got a new book in a new series that's going to be out soon. We'll talk about that a little bit later too.

Strong male protectors...

They've got something in common, both of these series that you've tackled, and that's tough guy men, often former military people, who are now in the private protection business. I wondered if there was something about that idea that got your creative juices pumping, whether you liked the idea of strong men protecting us.

Lori Matthews: It’s so interesting. I love the idea because what I like to do is put strong women up against them. You have the idea of that natural hero tough guy, he's in every sort of action movie and those types of things, and I love to put the strong female right up against them so that it becomes a tug of war in a sense. I enjoy that whole concept.

In my books, without giving too much away, the women always save themselves to a certain degree. I don't like this whole thing of 'he sweeps in and saves them. 'No, that's not how it happens. They tend to save themselves with a little bit of help, but I love that whole concept of having two very strong alpha personalities, regardless of sex, come up against one another and have to figure it out.

Romantic suspense author Lori Matthews likes putting strong women up against tough-guy protectors – but not so they’ll race in and save anybody. Not at all.  The strong women learn to save themselves – with a little help from their friends – and readers enjoy seeing two alpha personalities get together and learn to work it out.br /

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Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in today’s episode Lori talks about her latest book, Hit and Run, number three in the Callahan Security series, with a cutting edge plotline about the race to prevent state of the art facial recognition software from falling into the wrong hands.br /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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A would-be writer from teenage yearsPitting alpha personalities against each otherFiner points in facial recognition softwarePlotting and 'pantsing'Lori's theory of 'romantic equalization'The writers Lori admires mostbr /

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Where to find Lori Matthews: br /

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Website: www.lorimatthewsbooks.combr /

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoriMatthewsBooksbr /

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorimatthewsbooks/br /

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 Twitter: @_lorimatthews_br /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: But now here’s Lori. Hi there Lori, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.br /

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Lori Matthews: Hi Jenny. It's so great to be here. Thanks for having me on your show.br /

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Introducing Lori Matthewsbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: Beginning at the beginning, as I always like to, was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction and if so, was there any sort of catalyst for it?br /

br /

br /

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Lori Matthews - mystery authorbr /

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Lori Matthews: My Grade 11 English teacher had this assignment where we had to write a short story fiction and it had to be suspenseful, and that ticked something with me. I remember writing the story and I did well in the story, but it just clicked in my brain.br /

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I sat down and tried to write my first suspense novel, which I'm sure died silently somewhere in a computer recycling facility, I'm hoping, because it was awful, but that was what started the whole thing. From there I always knew I would write.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: For people in New Zealand, how old is Grade 11?br /

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Lori Matthews: About 16, 17.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: Okay. That's a good time to know what you're wanting to do. You have now got three books published in the Callahan Brothers series, but I know that there was probably a bit of a gap between that light bulb moment in your teens and actually getting published. We'll get to that a little while, but you've now got three books published in the Callahan series and I noticed that you've also got a new book in a new series that's going to be out soon. We'll talk about that a little bit later too.br /

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Strong male protectors...br /

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They've got something in common, both of these series that you've tackled, and that's tough guy men, often former military people, who are now in the private protection business. I wondered if there was something about that idea that got your creative juices pumping, whether you liked the idea of strong men protecting us.br /

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Lori Matthews: It’s so interesting. I love the idea because what I like to do is put strong women up against them. You have the idea of that natural hero tough guy, he's in every sort of action movie and those types of things,

Gill Paul’s latest book, Jackie and Maria, takes two of the world’s most glamorous and privileged women of their time – Jackie Kennedy Onassis and opera star Maria Callas – and offers us a novel about their love of the same man. A man who also happened to be the world’s richest man at that time, Aristotle Onassis.  It’s tagged ‘First comes love, then comes betrayal’ and it’s an addictive read that offers a front-row seat to an infamous rivalry as well as the opportunity to hobnob vicariously with the rich and famous. What’s not to like?

We’re delighted to be giving away three e-book copies of Jackie and Maria to three lucky readers. Enter the draw on The Joys of Binge Reading website or our Facebook page to win a copy of this fascinating read.

Enter the draw for the Jackie and Maria Giveaway here

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How a social media post inspired a bookTwo divas in love with the same manThe secrets Ari kept from JackieFractured family relationships on both sidesThe next challenge for GillHow the pandemic is affecting work

Where to find Gill Paul: 

Website: gillpaul.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gill.paul.16

 Twitter: @GillPaulAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gill.paul1/

What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny Wheeler: But now, here’s Gill.

Hello there, Gill and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.

Introducing Gill Paul

Gill Paul: Jenny, thank you so much for inviting me back again. It's lovely to speak to you.

Jenny Wheeler: Yes, it is the second time we talked and it's a real pleasure. We got you back because this book you've just published, your latest book, is a fascinating one. It's on a topic that will appeal to many people. But first of all, let's just clarify. It's got two different titles, depending on which part of the world you're reading it in. Tell us about that. Why has it got two titles and where does each one apply?

Gill Paul historical fiction author

Gill Paul: It's so complicated. It's called Jackie and Maria in the United States and Canada, but my UK publishers decided that the two names weren't recognizable enough for the British market, so they came up with this other title, The Second Marriage, and that's the title it will have In Australia and New Zealand as well.

But I do get readers contacting me saying, I've read Jackie and Maria, where can I buy The Second Marriage and I have to explain. I hope nobody buys the same book twice.

Jenny Wheeler: It is a bit confusing, but a lot of the publishers do that. I find it a bit unbelievable that the names Jackie and Maria wouldn't have much resonance in the UK, but there we are. I think we know who you are talking about – Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Maria Callas.

Gill Paul: That's right.

First comes love, then betrayal

Jenny Wheeler: The tagline for the book is a great one – ‘First comes love, then comes betrayal’. At their time these were the most famous and wealthy women in the world, perhaps. What inspired you to tackle them as a subject?

The Second Marriage by Gill Paul

Gill Paul: It was a reader in Athens who got in touch with me. Her name's Barbara Douka and she wrote to me on Twitter and said why don't you write about Maria Callas and Onassis and Jackie Kennedy? Immediately I thought, wow, why didn't I think of that? It's such a great story, I don't know of it having been done in fiction. They are two women I admired from the start and the way their stories come together in this strange, difficult love affair in which they became rivals for the same man is just perfect for a novel. I could see the whole novel in my head right away.

I was so grateful to Barbara by the way. If any of your listeners want to write to me with an idea for a novel I might write,

Gill Paul’s latest book, Jackie and Maria, takes two of the world’s most glamorous and privileged women of their time – Jackie Kennedy Onassis and opera star Maria Callas – and offers us a novel about their love of the same man. A man who also happened to be the world’s richest man at that time, Aristotle Onassis.  It’s tagged ‘First comes love, then comes betrayal’ and it’s an addictive read that offers a front-row seat to an infamous rivalry as well as the opportunity to hobnob vicariously with the rich and famous. What’s not to like?br /

br /

br /

br /

We’re delighted to be giving away three e-book copies of Jackie and Maria to three lucky readers. Enter the draw on The Joys of Binge Reading website or our Facebook page to win a copy of this fascinating read.br /

br /

br /

br /

Enter the draw for the Jackie and Maria Giveaway herebr /

br /

br /

br /

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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br /

How a social media post inspired a bookTwo divas in love with the same manThe secrets Ari kept from JackieFractured family relationships on both sidesThe next challenge for GillHow the pandemic is affecting workbr /

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Where to find Gill Paul: br /

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Website: gillpaul.combr /

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gill.paul.16br /

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 Twitter: @GillPaulAuthorbr /

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gill.paul1/br /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: But now, here’s Gill.br /

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Hello there, Gill and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.br /

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Introducing Gill Paulbr /

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Gill Paul: Jenny, thank you so much for inviting me back again. It's lovely to speak to you.br /

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br /

Jenny Wheeler: Yes, it is the second time we talked and it's a real pleasure. We got you back because this book you've just published, your latest book, is a fascinating one. It's on a topic that will appeal to many people. But first of all, let's just clarify. It's got two different titles, depending on which part of the world you're reading it in. Tell us about that. Why has it got two titles and where does each one apply?br /

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Gill Paul historical fiction authorbr /

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Gill Paul: It's so complicated. It's called Jackie and Maria in the United States and Canada, but my UK publishers decided that the two names weren't recognizable enough for the British market, so they came up with this other title, The Second Marriage, and that's the title it will have In Australia and New Zealand as well.br /

br /

br /

br /

But I do get readers contacting me saying, I've read Jackie and Maria, where can I buy The Second Marriage and I have to explain. I hope nobody buys the same book twice.br /

br /

br /

br /

Jenny Wheeler: It is a bit confusing, but a lot of the publishers do that. I find it a bit unbelievable that the names Jackie and Maria wouldn't have much resonance in the UK, but there we are. I think we know who you are talking about – Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Maria Callas.br /

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Gill Paul: That's right.br /

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First comes love, then betrayalbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: The tagline for the book is a great one – ‘First comes love, then comes betrayal’. At their time these were the most famous and wealthy women in the world, perhaps. What inspired you to tackle them as a subject?br /

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br /

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The Second Marriage by Gill Paulbr /

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Gill Paul: It was a reader in Athens who got in touch with me. Her name's Barbara Douka and she wrote to me on Twitter and said why don't you write about Maria Callas and O...

Kathryn Lane’s Nikki Garcia international thrillers are a great way to enjoy armchair travel if you can’t get on an aeroplane right now. Her latest book, Revenge in Barcelona, number three in the series, provides the perfect escape for people with itchy feet.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in today’s Binge Reading podcast Kathryn talks about how her previous career as an international fraud investigator inspired her Nikki character, and why her creation is a lot more courageous – or maybe foolhardy – than she is.

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How some famous waterfalls prompted inspirationHow Nikki Garcia is different from her creatorKathryn's passion for BarcelonaA life-changing time on Australian cattle stationThe writers she admires mostWhat she'd do differently second time around

Where to find Kathryn Lane: 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Lane/e/B01D0J1YES

Website: https://www.Kathryn-Lane.com

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kathryn-lane

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15096935.Kathryn_Lane

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynlanewriter

Email: [email protected]

What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny Wheeler: Now, here's Kathryn. Hello there Kathryn and welcome to the show. It's so good to have you with us.

Kathryn Lane: It's great to be with you.

Introducing Kathryn Lane author

Jenny Wheeler: Just a little geographical introduction. I'm sitting at my desk here in Auckland, New Zealand, and you are in the mountains of New Mexico.

Kathryn Lane: That is correct.

Jenny Wheeler: That's fantastic. It's wonderful isn’t it?

Kathryn Lane: It is absolutely wonderful.

Jenny Wheeler: Beginning at the beginning, was there a Once Upon a Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction and if so, was there a catalyst for it?

Kathryn Lane thriller author

Kathryn Lane: Let me say Jenny, that there were two catalysts. One was when I was still in my corporate job and I had been in Argentina for about six weeks and I took a weekend to go up to Iguazu Falls, which is on the border between Argentina and Brazil.

I had a fabulous weekend and the location is unbelievably beautiful. As the plane was taking off on Sunday afternoon, I looked down at the Falls and thought 'I have got to write a novel and put this location as a setting for the novel.' I might confess I haven't done that novel yet, but that was the first catalyst.

Then let's fast forward a few years. I took my early retirement from my corporate job and I was talking to a friend about the fact that here I've been retired for almost a year and a half and I still have not even started writing. She said, what's stopping you? That question put me into action. I went home and enrolled in a creative writing course.

Finding the courage to start

Why did I do that instead of writing a novel right away? Because I didn't have any training to be a writer. About the only training I'd had was traveling to a lot of countries around the world and having all sorts of interesting experiences, but so far as actually writing, I didn't know how to do it. So I decided that I would take a couple of classes and the very first short story I ever wrote was published. That really helped me along. It really helped my confidence.

Jenny Wheeler: It gave you validation.

Kathryn Lane: Yes, absolutely.

Jenny Wheeler: A lot of writers say that one of the best ways to understand how to be a writer is to already be a good reader. I imagine you probably were a reader, weren't you?

Kathryn Lane: That's very true.

Jenny Wheeler: You've got three books published now in this thriller series, the Nikki Garcia Thriller series, and funnily enough they feature a former fraud investigator – someone who's doing a job rather similar to th...

Kathryn Lane’s Nikki Garcia international thrillers are a great way to enjoy armchair travel if you can’t get on an aeroplane right now. Her latest book, Revenge in Barcelona, number three in the series, provides the perfect escape for people with itchy feet.br /

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Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in today’s Binge Reading podcast Kathryn talks about how her previous career as an international fraud investigator inspired her Nikki character, and why her creation is a lot more courageous – or maybe foolhardy – than she is.br /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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How some famous waterfalls prompted inspirationHow Nikki Garcia is different from her creatorKathryn's passion for BarcelonaA life-changing time on Australian cattle stationThe writers she admires mostWhat she'd do differently second time aroundbr /

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Where to find Kathryn Lane: br /

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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Lane/e/B01D0J1YESbr /

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Website: https://www.Kathryn-Lane.combr /

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Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kathryn-lanebr /

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15096935.Kathryn_Lanebr /

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynlanewriterbr /

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Email: [email protected] /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: Now, here's Kathryn. Hello there Kathryn and welcome to the show. It's so good to have you with us.br /

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Kathryn Lane: It's great to be with you.br /

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Introducing Kathryn Lane authorbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: Just a little geographical introduction. I'm sitting at my desk here in Auckland, New Zealand, and you are in the mountains of New Mexico.br /

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Kathryn Lane: That is correct.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: That's fantastic. It's wonderful isn’t it?br /

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Kathryn Lane: It is absolutely wonderful.br /

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Jenny Wheeler: Beginning at the beginning, was there a Once Upon a Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction and if so, was there a catalyst for it?br /

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Kathryn Lane thriller authorbr /

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Kathryn Lane: Let me say Jenny, that there were two catalysts. One was when I was still in my corporate job and I had been in Argentina for about six weeks and I took a weekend to go up to Iguazu Falls, which is on the border between Argentina and Brazil. br /

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br /

br /

I had a fabulous weekend and the location is unbelievably beautiful. As the plane was taking off on Sunday afternoon, I looked down at the Falls and thought 'I have got to write a novel and put this location as a setting for the novel.' I might confess I haven't done that novel yet, but that was the first catalyst.br /

br /

br /

br /

Then let's fast forward a few years. I took my early retirement from my corporate job and I was talking to a friend about the fact that here I've been retired for almost a year and a half and I still have not even started writing. She said, what's stopping you? That question put me into action. I went home and enrolled in a creative writing course.br /

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Finding the courage to startbr /

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Why did I do that instead of writing a novel right away? Because I didn't have any training to be a writer. About the only training I'd had was traveling to a lot of countries around the world and having all sorts of interesting experiences, but so far as actually writing, I didn't know how to do it. So I decided that I would take a couple of classes and the very first short story I e...

Fiona Palmer is a natural born storyteller who chanced into writing because she wanted to create something that she’d like to read – never thinking it might be published. Nearly twenty books later, she’s one of Australia’s most popular - and beloved - rural fiction authors.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading episode Fiona talks about her typical year – combining writing with farming – and a family heritage that taught her there’s no such thing as failure, just more practice.

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Fiona's remarkable story of publicationThe most 'rural' of Australia's rural authorsRelatable stories about real life issuesCombining writing with a farming lifeBeing a third generation Speedway driverAustralia's remarkable beauty

Where to find Fiona Palmer: 

Website: www.fionapalmer.com

Facebook: @FionaPalmerAuthor

Twitter: @fiona_palmer

Instagram: @fipalmer

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3179597.

What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny Wheeler: But now, here's Fiona. Hello there, Fiona, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Tell us, how did you get into writing and was there some moment when you thought, I’ve just got to do this?

Introducing author Fiona Palmer

Fiona Palmer: I can honestly say that being an author that never, ever entered my mind. I was terrible at school. English was probably one of my worst subjects. I remember being in Year 11.

I loved the creativity side of English, I can remember for a test, we had to write a story of a picture and I loved that and I remember writing this story and my friends said, it's amazing, but when it came time for marking I nearly failed because of my spelling and grammar and everything like that. I was never marked on the storytelling ability side of English.

Fiona Palmer - Australian stories

For that reason alone, storytelling, writing books, was never on my radar. I happened into writing by chance.

Jenny Wheeler: How did that happen? We mentioned before you came on air that the little town you live in is tiny. Tell us a bit about where you're speaking from so people can get a picture of what your childhood might have been like.

Fiona Palmer: I was born and raised in Pingaring. It's a tiny, tiny little town about three and a half hours southeast from Perth. There are four houses in the town, and one belongs to my parents and the other is ours, so you can almost say we own half the town. I have a big history here. My nana used to run the shop once, my granddad had the mechanic shop once. Born and raised here.

Authentic Aussie farming life

I did primary school here and then went away to boarding school for Year 8. Our primary school shut down in 1998 so our town shrank from then on. We might be lucky to say there are 30 in the district. Our little one street has our four houses and a shop.

We do have a hall, it gets used once a year, and there’s a tiny CWA (Country Womens Association) that doesn't get used anymore, but the surrounding area is all farmland. If I step out my back door, there's a paddock and we have these great big wheat bins across the road so at harvest, all the grain goes there.

Pingaring scene - Western Australia

It’s predominantly sheep and cropping, mainly wheat and barley, some canola and some lupins and bits and pieces. So I grew up in a small country town and my uncle had a farm out the road and I spent every weekend there, so I'm very much born and raised a country farm kid, I suppose you could say.

I went away to boarding school, got to Year 11 and I knew school wasn't for me. I wanted to come home and be hands on. I’m very much an outside person. I left school after Year 11, came back and I did all sorts of jobs – rousing, working on the crutching cradle,