Rusty Young, author of the incredibly eye-opening Marching Powder and Colombiano chats to us about his relationship with Thomas, a drug-trafficker he befriended in a Bolivian prison, and the fictional Pedro drawn from the stories of child soldiers. Rusty gives a detailed and horrific account of the experiences of child soldiers, including real-life stories of tortures that occurred as a result of the war in South America.

His documentary Wildlands has him interviewing George Jung, depicted by Johnny Depp in Blow; and Popeye, Escobar's assassin, a man responsible for countless murders during Escobar's reign. Rusty takes us through the interviews and provides an insight into what really happened behind the scenes.

Colombiano is a haunting and disturbing depiction of the life of a child soldier in a war where no one wins. An absolute must read. It's book you need to talk about afterwards, so drop us a line on Twitter (WordnNerds), FB or Insta once you've read it!

In this latest Indie Hour we chat to Australian authors A.K. Leigh and Ellen Read, romance/mystery novelists. Celebrating female Indie authors.

A.K. Leigh's Triple Threat centres around the Farris triplets as they investigate cold cases. Interesting because A.K. Leigh is a triplet herself, giving an authentic insight into the challenges and joys of being an identical triplet.

Ellen Read, chats about her beautifully murder mystery novel The Dragon Sleeps, set in the 1920s this mystery novel centres around a family who sell and collect antiques, and what people are willing to do to get their hands on something valuable.

Mark Smith, Australian author of dystopian novels A Road to Winter and Wilder Country chats to podcaster and educator Dani Vee about writing Australian dystopia, winning the YA Fiction Category in the Indie Book Awards 2018, and engaging boys in reading.

A brilliantly entertaining and honest discussion about writing, Australian influences, staying moral in an immoral world and the power of nature.

This episode we speak to the enthusiastic and hilarious Arnie Cantarero, American/Latin American author of the Indie sci-fi book Emotions, from the perspective of an alien visiting Earth. The book and the podcast was a wild ride, and we had an absolute blast talking to Arnie. This one will make you laugh.

The second episode on our Indie Hour special we chat to Derek Borne, Canadian author of the Ultimate Agent. A more insightful chat about superheroes and what it means to make a difference. We also chat about surviving the cold, mums and food.

We love Indie authors.

Eliza Henry-Jones is an author based on a little farm in the Yarra Valley of Victoria.

Eliza chats to Words and Nerds about mental illness , the power of friendship in a world created for couples and art. In this very honest and entertaining podcast Eliza shares personal experiences that led her to write this beautiful book.

Her debut novel In the Quiet was published in 2015 as part of a three book deal with HarperCollins Australia and is now out in the US through Harper360. It was shortlisted for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and was longlisted in the Indie Awards and ABIA Awards. Her second novel Ache was released in 2017.

Eliza has also signed an additional two book deal with HarperCollins Australia for two works for younger readers. Her first Young Adult novel P is for Pearl has just been released.

Eliza has qualifications in English, Psychology and grief, loss and trauma counselling. She has also completed an honours thesis exploring representations of bushfire trauma in fiction. Her work has been published widely, appearing in places such as The Guardian, The Age, Southerly, Island, The Big Issue and Daily Life.

Sarah Ridout, Australian novelist chats about her novel Le Chateau and how living in France as an Australian inspired her writing. The Gothic fiction novel set in the French countryside centres around our protagonist Charlotte who returns home to a family she doesn't remember. Mystery and intrigue follow her throughout this romantic gothic novel.

Sarah also discusses the importance of fighting for humanitarian rights in Manus Island. Finally, she discusses her upcoming novel a memoir centred around her grandmother's relationship with Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

We also chat about souffle, giving birth and being an ex-pat.

New York Times Bestselling author William Kent Krueger chats to Words and Nerds about his writing process, how the Ojibwe people have influenced his writing and Cork O'Connor.

Sulfur Springs in Kent's 16th book of the Cork O'Connor series, this time the book is set in Arizona where Cork and his new wife Rainy come up against a dangerous drug cartel in order to save her son. A wonderfully written crime fiction novel about love, family, justice and proving voices for the voiceless.

Steph Bowe is a 24-year-old YA author represented by Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown. Her latest novel is NIGHT SWIMMING, her debut novel, GIRL SAVES BOY, was published in September 2010. Steph's debut novel have been translated into Spanish, Dutch and Catalan. her second novel, ALL THIS COULD END, was published in 2013.

Steph Bowe chats about developing unique characters and going beyond the cliche when creating them. We chat about the importance of secondary characters to add depth to the novel and how readers can relate to the character's unique personalities as well as their weirdness. Huge advocates of being weird or at least being yourself, this podcast challenges young people to be confident in who they are and what they believe.

Writing from the perspective of a young girl who falls in love with the new girl who arrives in town, the story is about love, friendships and above all accepting yourself.

Australian young adult author Nadia L King discusses her novella Jenna's Truth.

The novella discusses important issues that are relevant to our young people today: cyber-bullying, bullying, friendships, alcohol and most importantly suicide prevention.

Nadia L King has visited many schools and her positive message is always the same: you'll get through the challenging times, don't give ever give up.

In our Valentine's Day special we chat to CRAIG JOHNSON, New York Times Bestselling author of the Longmire series, because who doesn't love Walk Longmire, Henry Standing Bear and Vic Moretti?

Craig chats about his novels, what inspired the character Walt Longmire and the process of casting the television series. We hear about Lou Diamond Phillips' audition process, and wonderful Australian actor Robert Taylor, and Katie Sackhoff.

Craig gives an insight into complex storylines and how he manages writing parallel narratives in his latest novel The Western Star.

A wonderful chat with an incredible author!