Words and Nerds: Authors, books and literature.

Date with a Debut is a podcast hosted by writer Nick Wasiliev: shining a light on debut authors, their incredible books, and their journeys to publication.

In our second episode of series four, Nick sits down with Bridie Blake, the debut author of romance novel The Boyfriend Clause.

WARNING: This podcast contains coarse language.

Enjoy the show? Drop us a review, it really helps the show out!

You can also subscribe to our new monthly newsletter: https://nickwasiliev.substack.com/

Check out our brand new podcast website: https://dwad.podpixels.com/

Check out the 2026 sponsor of the podcast, Pod Pixels: https://bit.ly/4cbG1Zt

Subscribe on Podbean to never miss an episode: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/3mRME5IMoSJx

Date with a Debut is featured as part of the Australian literary platform Words & Nerds. Check out all shows on the platform here: https://danivee.com.au/podcasts/

BOOKS:

Debut:

The Boyfriend Clause / Bridie Blake: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/QYKVaz

Additional books mentioned:

The Butterfly Women / Madeleine Cleary: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/9VevmY

What Did I Miss? / Holly Brunnbauer: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/Vx5MZj

Looking For Alibrandi / Melina Marchetta: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/bay9Jb

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Bridie’s piece with the Australian Writers Centre: https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/bridie-blake-the-boyfriend-clause/

PRODUCTION NOTES:

Host: Nick Wasiliev

Guest: Bridie Blake

Editing & Production: Nick Wasiliev

Podcast Theme: ‘Chill’ by Sakura Hz

Production Code: 4.2

Episode Number: #60

Additional Credits: Dani Vee (Words & Nerds), Aideen Gallagher, Fruzsi Gal (Text Publishing)

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© 2026 Nick Wasiliev and Breathe Art Holdings

‘Date With A Debut’ is a Words and Nerds and Breathe Art Podcasts co-production recorded and edited on Awabakal Country, and we pay our respects to all elders past and present.

Dani Vee and Melissa Manning chat about her new book Frogsong published by UQP and how Melissa captures the sensual aching years of young life along with its confusion and exuberance.

They chat about nostalgia, the things that haunt us and the impact of addiction on those around us. They examine setting, character, the writing process and the path to publication.

They also discuss the impact of constantly multi-tasking in a busy world and how this has contributed to anxiety.

Listen now.

Date with a Debut - S4, E1 - Live at the 2026 Newcastle Writers Festival with Nick Wasiliev, Alejandra Martinez, Sam Elliott and Emma Pei Yin

Date with a Debut is a podcast hosted by writer Nick Wasiliev: shining a light on debut authors, their incredible books, and their journeys to publication.

Our Series 4 opener sees Date with a Debut live at the 2026 Newcastle Writers Festival, as Nick sits down with Sam Elliott, Alejandra Martinez and Emma Pei Yin to discuss their books and journeys to publication.

WARNING: This podcast contains coarse language and adult themes.

Enjoy the show? Drop us a review, it really helps the show out!

You can also subscribe to our new monthly newsletter: https://nickwasiliev.substack.com/

Check out our brand new podcast website: https://dwad.podpixels.com/

Check out the 2026 sponsor of the podcast, Pod Pixels: https://bit.ly/4cbG1Zt

Subscribe on Podbean to never miss an episode: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/3mRME5IMoSJx

Date with a Debut is featured as part of the Australian literary platform Words & Nerds. Check out all shows on the platform here: https://danivee.com.au/podcasts/

Dani Vee and Mohammed Massoud Morsi chat about his new novel The Hair of the Pigeon, the importance of humanity in dark times and interesting pathways to publishing.

The Hair of the Pigeon is an epic tale of exile, survival and love. They talk about the character development, how we respond to violence when we have no control over our world.

Mohammed shares his self-doubt as a writer and an interesting pathway to publication.

Mohammed Massoud Morsi is an Egyptian-Danish-Australian photographer, journalist and writer. His work has been published in all three of his traditional languages. His work is enriched by his photographer’s eye for detail and a passion for speaking out for those suppressed, challenging and breaking common narratives all at once.

New Episode #796

Dani Vee and Helena Pantsis discuss her unique and dark collection of short stories Mother Salad.

They talk about the chaos and complexity of being a woman, the fact that women should not comply to society’s expectations and the challenging the perceptions of women.

They talk about vibes, how to write short stories and the path to publication.

Mother Salad unravels the image of the woman in shambles, identity fractured and exploring a world which has long abandoned the creature it so carefully constructed.

Helena Pantsis is an editor, writer and artist with a fond appreciation for the weird, the dark, and the experimental.

Helena has won Going Down Swinging’s micro-microfiction challenge in 2021, has been shortlisted in WigLeaf’s top 50, nominated for Best American Short Stories and Best Short Fictions, and was the 2022 recipient of the H B Higgins Scholarship. In 2024, her debut short story collection GLUTT was published by Grattan Street Press. Today we chat about her surreal collection of short stories, Mother Salad.

Listen now!

Dani Vee and Frances Whiting , a senior feature writer and award winning journalism chat about the brilliant The Nocturnals.

They chat about:

⭐️ The power of nostalgia.

⭐️ How far would you go to protect the people you love?

⭐️ How does a career in journalism impact writing fiction?

⭐️ Whether they were cool, gla or dangerous as teenagers.

⭐️ Working full time and writing.

From the bestselling author of The Best Kind of Beautiful, Frances Whiting, comes an endearing, wise and witty novel of love and friendship, which asks, how far would you go, to protect the people you love?

 

In the summer of 1997, five high school students meet. Nina, the Good Girl. Beatrice, The Poetess. Harriet, the Ghost. Cosmo, the Professor. And Hunter, the Golden Boy. In their last year of school, they become inseparable, five sides of the same star, until a fault line cracks between them, scattering them to all corners of the globe.

 

Now, fifteen years later, Hunter has called them with his conch shell lips to return to the place where they lived and laughed and cried together, before secrets were whispered, and promises were broken. No-one knows why he has assembled them, but there is no question they will go. Because to outsiders, they might be, in turns, a little bit weird, a little bit glamorous, and a little bit dangerous. But to each other, they are, and always will be, The Nocturnals.

 

From bestselling author Frances Whiting comes an irresistible, witty, darkly delightful and utterly endearing novel of friendship - and the lengths we will go to protect those who we love.

 

‘Joyous, deep, funny and so bloody gripping. Hooked me, heart and soul. Whiting’s words are so full of life. Aching, puzzling, heartbreaking, magnificent life.’

Trent Dalton, bestselling author of Gravity Let Me Go

🩷 NEW EPISODE 🩷

Catch this brand new episode with Dani Vee and Zoe Gaetjens, not her first time on the Words and Nerds podcast (she was part of a Takeover with Amy Adeney back in 2024.

This time Dani chats to Zoe about her new YA novel Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans published by Penguin Random House.

They chat about:

⭐️ Continuing to reinvent who you are.

⭐️ The path to publication in a career built on rejections.

⭐️ The importance of firsts.

⭐️ The power of art (and drawing nudes!)

⭐️ The writing process.

Cleo would have loved to spend the summer before year 12 hanging out with her sister Emmy, who had a plan for dealing with every situation. Instead, Emmy is gone, and Cleo is attending a life drawing class with a bunch of random teenagers. Without Emmy’s plans to guide her, Cleo navigates new friendships, wonky penises and maybe even first love, discovering who she is and what she is capable of.

A novel about finding yourself . . . in a room full of strangers, drawing naked people.

Dani Vee and award winning investigative journalist Louise Milligan chat about her new book Shellybanks. A novel about buried secrets and unimaginable trauma. Published by Allen and Unwin.

They chat about the impact of cross-generational relationships between women, and working through trauma through a feminist lens.

Louise chats about her Irish influence, humour and the impact of trauma as an investigative journalist.

Listen now!

Meet Jayne McIntyre, debut author of the trilogy The Feathers of Farwood, published by Riveted Press.

In this episode we chat about:

⭐️ The long pathway to publication.

⭐️ Balancing parenting and passions.

⭐️ Why the fantasy genre resonates with readers, and how it’s a great way to explore serious issues in a gentle way.

⭐️ The amount of research needed in a fantasy trilogy.

⭐️ Developing a trilogy and story arc.

⭐️ The importance of kids relating to characters.

#podcast #fantasy #fantasygenre #trilogy #publishing

Dani Vee and Ian Kemish chat about Two Islands, balancing fiction and non-fiction and finding the goodness in characters.

They talk about inherited trauma, political landscapes and the importance of setting.

Two Islands (March 2026) is a debut thriller novel by former Australian diplomat Ian Kemish, focusing on Niko, a Balkan war survivor hiding from pursuers on a remote Scottish island. The story explores themes of trauma, memory, and international conflict through the lens of a quiet community, featuring a plot that involves a, war crimes investigator. Published by UQP.