Words and Nerds: Authors, books and literature.

Mark Brandi chats to Dani Vee about his compelling new crime fiction novel The Rip. After the success of Winnera, Mark chats about the social commentary within the book, homelessness and why readers are drawn to dark ideas.

We also chat about crime fiction, the writing process and developing characters.

A wonderful chat about a gripping novel, The Rip.

Dervla McTiernan, internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed author of The Ruin and The Scholar set in Ireland part of the Cormac Reilly detective series chat about crime fiction, the writing process as well as going off on a number of excellent tangents.

Dervla and Dani have a wonderful conversation about writing, books and everything in-between.

Crime fiction at its best!

Elliot Perlman and Dani Vee chat in depth about his novel Three Dollars. Set in a time of significant economic, political and social change, they discuss the human impact and consequences of a society driven by wealth.

Elliot provides an in-depth explanation of neoliberalism and the demise of a mixed market. We also chat about character development, empathy, kindness, depression and writing.

An incredible second episode with highly acclaimed, award-winning Australian author Elliot Perlman.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a mind-bending and original novel that will have you compelled to the end. Body swapping and time hopping in a manor reminiscent of Agathie Christie novels, Stuart Turton throws us a complex and rich novel where our protagonist Aiden Bishop wears the body of eight characters in order to solve a murder.

Stuart chats to Dani about the murder mystery genre, the writing process and how three months of planning and two and half years of writing created the most original murder mystery I've read.

We chat about empathy, forgiveness and redemption.

Bram Presser describes himself as a

Scruffy scrivener

Semi-reformed punk rocker

Recovering academic

Occasional criminal lawyer

Two-time cartoon character

His book The Book of Dirt, a book of love and anger,

winner of the 2018 National Jewish Book Awards Goldberg Prize for debut fiction, is a very special book that traces the experiences of Bram’s grandparents through the Holocaust.

A powerful novel that will alter you once you’ve read it.

Helen Scheuerer is the YA fantasy author of the bestselling novel, Heart of Mist (2017) and the upcoming sequel Reign of Mist (September 2018). Both books are part of the action-packed trilogy, The Oremere Chronicles.

Helen is also the Founding Editor of Writer’s Edit, an online literary magazine and learning platform for emerging writers. It’s now one of the largest writers’ platforms in the world.

She has been previously shortlisted for Express Media’s Outstanding Achievement by a Young Person in the Literary Arts Award and the Young Writers Showcase. Helen has also run writing and editing workshops for the NSW Society of Women Writers.

Sarah Myles chats to Dani Vee about the incredible novel The Wolf Hour; a story that takes place in Uganda capturing the violence, humanity and challenges in a confronting an authentic way.

We chat about the complexity of the political and social issues in South Africa, and the varying perspectives of conflicting groups. The media has a significant role in depicting the issues in other countries and how we perceive them. The novel deals with childhood trauma, the impact of memory and a loss of innocence.

The Wolf Hour is a beautifully written novel that tells a unique story in a complex and confronting setting. A wonderful piece of literature relevant to our world today.

Dani Vee chats about the podcast having a social conscience and discussing books that talk about serious issues that can open up conversations and eventually positive change.

Dani talks about the reasons for beginning the podcast; to encourage reading, as a free resource for educators and students and to create something that brought some good into the world and had a social conscience.

This tiny podcast with big ideas talks stats and how listenership continues to grow thanks to the incredible authors who have been part of the conversation. Shout outs to Trent Dalton, Craig Johnson, Elliot Perlman, Jack Heath, Lexi Frieman, John Purcell, Michael Pryor, Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Megan Jacobson, Kate Forsyth, Christian White, Sarah Bailey, Alice Nelson, Will Kostakis, Alex Miles, JP Pomare, Nicole Hayes & Rusty Young. Hello Mexico!

Emily Gale chats to Dani Vee about her YA fiction novel 'I am out with lanterns.' We explore multiple perspectives, the editing process and the messiness of writing. Emily chats about writing complex and unalienable characters and the impact on the reader.

The novel explores important social issues such as bullying, social media, ownership, toxic masculinity, sexuality and identity.

We also chat about Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and how it inspired the novel and remains relevant today.

Lisa Gabriele chats to Dani Vee about her gripping psychological thriller, The Winters, a response to Daphne du Maurier's classic Rebecca. We chat about gothic fiction, echoing texts from the past, feminist perspectives, the impact of social media and growing up in the 80s. We also chat about the other Dani, the one in the novel, a brilliant complex teenage character and new addition to this timeless classic.