The Write Way

The Write Way

By Samuel ElliottArts
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The Write Way episodes

  • Justin Krook And Luke Mazzaferro Discuss ‘A Fire Inside’
    Filmmakers and co-directors, Justin Krook and Luke Mazzaferro, joined me to discuss their feature-length documentary, ‘A Fire Inside’.
    TRIGGER WARNING: Topics discussed include the devastating effects of the 2019-20 bushfires that decimated Australia. Including discussing the resultant loss of lives, human and animal, and property, along with mental health/PTSD issues.
    Topics discussed include:
    - How Luke and Justin went about the making of the film – compiling so much unbelievable, apocalyptic footage, with stories, both heartbreaking and uplifting, of survivors and members of these ravaged communities.
    - The disparate people that are every-day Australians that go into these hellish scenes to save lives. How some do this for a very Australian reason - ‘it’s what we do’.
    - How heroes don’t just wear uniforms, extending beyond the volunteer fighters, to all other members of the community featured, all the selfless acts of altruism they did – and still do, for other members of their community.
    - Australia’s collective response to the efforts of these volunteer firefighters – phones never stopping ringing, so many donations people can’t move – the outpouring of assistance and kindness. How for every 1 person caught looting, there’s 9-10 more that are helping any way they can.
    - The changing of one emergency to another - from when the rains came and the fires ended, to when mental health/PTSD issues arise and continue to affect community members/volunteer firefighters. How the nation’s attitude has changed over the years – to that of, ‘it’s ok, to not be ok’.
    - Hope – lasting (and realistic) hope – how one person can truly make a difference.
    Be sure to see ‘A Fire Inside’ at the Sydney Film Festival:
    https://www.sff.org.au/program/browse/a-fire-inside
    Check out Finch Films, and their works, including ‘A Fire Inside’:
    https://www.finchcompany.com/production/a-fire-inside-feature-documentary/
    1 hr
  • Kiah Roache - Turner On 'Wyrmwood Apocalypse'
    Australian filmmaker and director, Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood, Nekrotronic), joined me to talk about his latest film, ‘Wyrmwood Apocalypse’.
    Topics discussed include:
    - The long road to the second instalment in the Wyrmwood series – from the various plot ideas discussed back in 2015 (at the special Q&A screening I attended), to what was ultimately committed to screen. How Kiah’s experiences with other projects, helped improve his writing, getting him to a place where he was ready to undertake a return to Wyrmwood and its world.
    - How ‘Wyrmwood Apocalypse’ has the same spirit in many respects as its predecessor, but how it is also different in many ways – ‘the ALIENS to ALIEN’.
    - Kiah’s collaboration with brother Tristan Roache-Turner, how they work and go about creating stories together. How the partnership has enabled them to make movies when the industry and process can be so tough.
    - And seriously so very much more!
    Huge thanks to Kiah for appearing on the program – run, don’t walk, to catch ‘Wyrmwood Apocalypse’ at the Sydney Film Festival, here:
    https://www.sff.org.au/program/browse/wyrmwood-apocalypse
    57 min
  • Mike Burge Talks 'Tank Water'
    Journalist and writer, Mike Burge, joined me to discuss his debut novel, ‘Tank Water’.
    TRIGGER WARNING: Topics/themes explored include homophobia, gay-bashing, hate-crimes, violence and murder. Please do not listen to this episode if this might trigger/otherwise affect you.
    Topics discussed include:
    - The novel’s ten-year journey. Mike allowing for the passage of time before he could write about such a setting, which is fictional (along with the characters) but inspired by his growing up in rural NSW.
    - Mike’s exhaustive research into Australian hate/gay hate crime - including the NSW Inquiry Into Gay And Transgender Hate Crimes Between 1970 and 2010 – along with his own journalistic-driven findings, how all of this informed and helped shape the story he wanted to tell with ‘Tank Water’.
    - Writing trauma – writing fictional characters but honouring the untold and unseen real-life people they represent – the importance of this and the need for a balance between earnest storytelling and never verging into gratuitousness, including the writing of ‘ghost chapters’
    - The importance of creating gay characters that were fully realised, and weren’t there to just be a victim of a crime, including featuring realistic and intense lust and desire, burgeoning sexuality and enduring love.
    - Intergenerational oppression and cyclical hate – how gay-bashing/murder has gone on for generations, exemplified within the different generations of families that orbit the fictional setting of Kippen.
    - How gay stories with outback settings are steadily emerging within contemporary literature, including within the Y.A. sphere.
    - Mike’s road to ‘Tank Water’ getting picked up by a publisher. The need to find that right publisher, particularly after being told that the genre was on its last legs (which was prior to Outback Noir emerging and becoming so insanely popular).
    - The importance of never giving up, and never truly meaning to anyway!
    Thanks heaps to Mike for appearing on the show to talk about ‘Tank Water’, you can pick up your copy from his publisher, MidnightSun Publishing, here:
    https://midnightsunpublishing.com/2021/09/tank-water/
    1 hr 6 min
  • Eugen Bacon Discussing 'Danged Black Thing'
    Computer scientist, editor, writer and prolific author of speculative fiction, Eugen Bacon, joined me on the program to discuss her latest collection of short stories, ‘Danged Black Thing’.
    Topics discussed include:
    - The assembling of the collection featured in ‘Danged Black Thing’, deciding which stories to pair from her body of work – what the overarching theme of the collection was/is.
    - Her use of various narrative styles – including the seldom-seen use of 2nd person – how a story comes to her and the process in which she writes it.
    - Eugen’s unique blending of the fantastical and surreal, paired with fully realised characters, how her technologically attuned brain informs her imagination and vice versa.
    - Where Eugen draws inspiration from – including fables and mythologies from all corners of the globe, along with her heritage and migration experience to Australia.
    - How speculative fiction is a ‘safe’ space, allowing for any and all kinds of thoughts and questions framed in any and all kinds of stories and settings.
    - And so, so much more!
    Thanks heaps to Eugen for appearing on the program, you can pick up your copy of ‘Danged Black Thing’ from Transit Lounge, here:
    https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/danged-black-thing/
    Also check out Eugen’s website: https://eugenbacon.com/
    1 hr 12 min
  • Chris Hammer On 'Treasure & Dirt'
    Best-selling Australian noir author, Chris Hammer (Scrublands, Silver, Trust), joined the program to talk about his new standalone novel, ‘Treasure & Dirt’.
    Topics discussed include:
    - The story of creating Finnigans Gap, the setting of ‘Treasure & Dirt’, from visiting Lightning Ridge and learning about opal mining from real-life opal miners. How Chris uses real-life landscapes as a basis for creating fictional towns and settings – letting the needs of the story shape the geography of them accordingly.
    - How Chris goes about creating his characters, be they major or minor – from their memorable names, to how they orbit the setting and interact with other characters, including discussing in detail the lead characters in Treasure & Dirt – Sydney homicide detective, Ivan Lucic and investigator Narelle ‘Nell’ Buchanan.
    - The challenges faced and new experiences gained with writing from members of the police force – how different they were/are to Chris’s experience in writing journalist protagonist of his other three novels, Martin Scarsden.
    - His writing process. Of the pantser persuasion, Chris talked about how his stories and novels evolve throughout their writing. How his process has changed, for the better and become smoother with repetition (including talking about re-writing the ending of Scrublands repeatedly).
    - Chris’s journey to becoming one of Australia’s leading crime fiction/noir writers – from writing a novel when he was younger, to two creative non-fiction books – and his journalist years, how it all served to bring him to the point of penning Scrublands and beyond.
    Thanks heaps to Chris for chatting with me on the show – you can pick up a copy of ‘Treasure & Dirt’ and all the instalments thus far in the Martin Scarsden novels, at Chris’s publisher, Allen & Unwin, here:
    https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/Treasure-and-Dirt-Chris-Hammer-9781760877606
    1 hr
  • Matthew Reilly Discussing 'The One Impossible Labyrinth'
    New York Times bestselling author, Matthew Reilly, appeared on the program all the way from the U.S. of A to talk with me about his latest novel (the final in the Jack West Jnr. series) – ‘The One Impossible Labyrinth’.
    Topics discussed include:
    - Thoughts and feelings about being at the definitive conclusion of a series he’s been working on for 17-odd years - the final send-off of Jack West Jnr – and how it needed to be Jack’s story, complete with sparing inclusions of flashbacks informing about his past.
    - How Matt went about ensuring that all characters, fan favourites and all the others that fill the series, got their right amount of ‘screen’ time within a very finite amount of pages.
    - Writing engaging characters. From the introduction of new ones, new heroes (i.e. Smiley the bronzeman) to the writing of good baddies. The importance of creating villains and ensuring that they receive an appropriately awful end after causing hell for the beloved heroes throughout the series.
    - How the COV-19 pandemic changed Matt’s writing process for the final novel.
    - Looking back thus far – what’s been achieved and what Matt’s overcome to get to where he is.
    - And so much more (including talking about ‘Squid Game’!)
    Thanks heaps to Matt for appearing on the program! You can get your copy of ‘The One Impossible Labyrinth’ and all other instalments in the Jack West Jnr from Pan Macmillan.
    52 min
  • Barbara Minchinton Talks 'The Women Of Little Lon'
    Writer, independent researcher and historian Barbara Minchinton, appeared on the program to discuss her book – ‘The Women Of Little Lon’.
    Topics discussed include:
    - Barbara’s collaborations with several archaeological teams operating on sites around Little Lon – uncovering artefacts and their history - how that served as the impetus for what would become the exhaustively researched ‘The Women Of Little Lon’.
    - The difficulty with researching and tracing the history of the sex workers featured in the book – including conflicting accounts and people going by many aliases. The missing puzzle pieces of accounts.
    - Those that opposed and condemned the sex workers – from politicians to policemen and journalists – many of them out and out misogynists – how their descriptions of, or recordings of events, shaped (wrongly) the historical accounts Barbara had to sift through, in order to find the truth/truest accounts (i.e. family history accounts).
    - How far removed from the truth the stereotypes peddled by these types were from the true lives and the characters of sex workers of Little Lon. Failing to mention, or choosing to completely ignore the support, documented support, and care the sex worker community gave to one another, from child minding and rearing to the helping of delivering babies and more – and how it shines through the accounts dimmed by the pervasively misogynistic historical accounts.
    - Just how significant and important the sex work and the sex workers were, not only within their own community, but within the broader society at the time – the many businesses and tradespeople who were reliant on their business – from milliners and dressmakers to landlords and grog suppliers, and everything in between.
    - The book’s purpose – shedding light on a place and the people that inhabited it, who are rarely mentioned, or even given the acknowledgement and respect they are due, throughout the annals of history. How Barbara has sought to create the true/truest account in order to rectify the grossly incorrect history perpetuated by the misogynistic accounts from the era.
    - Plus, a whole ton more!
    Thanks heaps to Barbara for appearing on the show, you can pick up your copy of ‘The Women Of Little Lon’ from her publisher, Black Inc, at:
    https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/women-little-lon
    1 hr 6 min
  • Screenwriter Shaun Grant On 'Nitram'
    Screenwriter Shaun Grant joined me to discuss his latest film – a biopic of Port Arthur gunman, Martin Bryant, ‘Nitram’.
    TRIGGER WARNING: Topics discussed include gun violence, mass-shooting and the lead-up to these real-life events.
    Topics discussed include:
    - What drew him to the project, how his experience with adapting other Australian historical events and figures, from the legendary (‘The True History of the Kelly gang’) to the similarly infamous (‘Snowtown’) has helped shape the process – along with his collaboration on these projects with director Justin Kurzel.
    - The decision to include no on-screen violence, including not showing the events of Port Arthur. When that was made, and why that was so vital in telling the story they wanted to tell.
    - The inherent difficulties in presenting an authentic and complete storyline, without being interpreted as ‘humanising’ such a monstrous figure.
    - And heaps more.
    Thanks to Shaun for chatting with me on the program. ‘Nitram’ is set to arrive on streaming platform, Stan, in the coming week(s), along with a full national theatrical release too.
    35 min
  • Mark Brandi Talks 'The Others'
    Award-winning writer and novelist, Mark Brandi, appeared on the program to talk about his latest novel, ‘The Others’.
    Topics discussed include:
    - Creating the ‘voice’ of the 11-year-old narrator, the pitfalls and challenges faced when writing a novel, an ‘grown-up’ novel, featuring a child narrator. How draining it could be – to sustain that voice in the writing, and how rewarding.
    - The wonder that was prevalent within the mind and actions of the narrator, how that was an important quality in attaining that authenticity.
    - The meaning of words – how much the meaning of words can sometimes only truly be conveyed from those with an empirical experience – how, within the context of ‘The Others’ the words and their meanings made the narrator question his father, his truth, their life.
    - A sense of duty and desire – duty in what the narrator will do to preserve the life he has with his father, desire or what soon transforms into something more compelling, forcing his hand, to do the right thing when faced with a terrible choice.
    - The connections in the novel, beyond that of the connection/dynamic at its core between the father and son – but that of the narrator and the animals/foxes/sheep he encounters – how these interactions exemplified his character, his kind nature.
    - And so much more!
    Thanks heaps to Mark for appearing on the program, you can pick up your copy of ‘The Others’ from Hachette, here:
    https://www.hachette.com.au/mark-brandi/the-others
    1 hr 7 min
  • Lyn Yeowart On 'The Silent Listener'
    Writer, editor and now novelist, Lyn Yeowart, joined me on the program to discuss her debut novel, ‘The Silent Listener’. TRIGGER WARNING: The chat included lengthy discussions of child abuse, domestic violence, partner/spousal abuse, etc. If these subjects or their offshoots might trigger you, I do not recommend listening to this episode.
    Topics discussed include:
    - How the novel came to be, arising from a collection of creative non-fiction writings, along with a Masterclass and everything in between, ultimately forming into ‘The Silent Listener’.
    - How items, seemingly innocuous ones, can be imbued with such power. How our empirical experience with them defines/denotes their importance and meaning to us. How a writer can be good at articulating to a reader the power of an item that might previously not have any sort of significance to them in their lives.
    - Terror. How terror can subside, but never completely go away, for those living in such a setting. Lyn’s use of ‘eels’ – a fine description to capture such a sensation. How this terror is lifelong, including even when visiting an enfeebled abuser on their deathbed.
    - Joy’s love of words, married with her imagination and synesthesia – the infinity library, what a good afterlife that would be.
    - Reading. The bliss of reading. How it is Lyn’s form of meditation (mine too).
    - And seriously so much more!
    Thanks so much to Lyn for appearing on the program and discussing her incredible novel with me. You can pick up your copy from PRH here:
    https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-silent-listener-9781760895730
    1 hr 1 min

About The Write Way

From the publisher's feed

A program founded and hosted by author and interviewer Samuel Elliott, that features a broad and disparate range of writer folk guests, ranging from international best-selling authors, to debut novelists or those as-yet unpublished writers. Regardless of what stage of their career they might be at, all of them are united by a love of writing, as well as having overcome some brutal challenges to get to where they are. This program will discuss not only each guest’s latest and greatest work or project, but also delve into what they’ve faced and conquered along their way to inevitable success.