In this week’s bonus episode of Writers Behaving Badly: It’s the full, un-cut interview with Rachael Johns covering the highs and lows of the publishing industry, imposter syndrome and so much more. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, there is so much to take away from this chat with Rach!

Season Two of Writers Behaving Badly returns on 9th August 2025.

This week on Writers Behaving Badly: Annie cries into her keyboard and calls it kink, Brooke rewrites her way out of despair, Lisa almost writes (Word is open!), and we all lose our minds over a listener’s first page. Also: AI in publishing—is it the end of craft as we know it?

What You'll Learn:

How to craft a first page that grips and devastates

The emotional tools to write through chaos

Why great writing doesn’t need connections—just humanity

Whether AI is a shortcut or creative death spiral

Segments Inside:

✍️ Sins & WinsRewrites, rage, and resilience—plus a reminder that “almost writing” still counts.

🔥 Roast or ToastA listener delivers a mangy dog metaphor we won’t shut up about. Submission tip: raw truth + character voice = gold.

🙋‍♀️ Curly QuestionCan you get published without connections? Lisa shares the only “networking” that actually matters.

🍵 Tea Time RantGenerative AI in writing: we talk about it. Lisa would rather chew on a teabag than let a robot write her sentences, and honestly, fair.

Like the pod? Leave us a review so we can keep reminding you that imposter syndrome ain't worth your time!

This week on Writers Behaving Badly: Annie cries into her keyboard and calls it kink, Brooke rewrites her way out of despair, Lisa almost writes (Word is open!), and we all lose our minds over a listener’s first page. Also: AI in publishing—is it the end of craft as we know it?

What You'll Learn:

How to craft a first page that grips and devastates

The emotional tools to write through chaos

Why great writing doesn’t need connections—just humanity

Whether AI is a shortcut or creative death spiral

Segments Inside:

✍️ Sins & WinsRewrites, rage, and resilience—plus a reminder that “almost writing” still counts.

🔥 Roast or ToastA listener delivers a mangy dog metaphor we won’t shut up about. Submission tip: raw truth + character voice = gold.

🙋‍♀️ Curly QuestionCan you get published without connections? Lisa shares the only “networking” that actually matters.

🍵 Tea Time RantGenerative AI in writing: we talk about it. Lisa would rather chew on a teabag than let a robot write her sentences, and honestly, fair.

Like the pod? Leave us a review so we can keep reminding you that imposter syndrome ain't worth your time!

This week, Kelly Rimmer joins the pod to chat imposter syndrome and drops some truth bombs for aspiring writers, Brooke and Annie face off over trigger warnings, Annie reads her words and Lisa recommends a cozy cat game.

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

Leave a comment

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins – Sinners and winners are all around!

✍️ Roast or Toast – Annie reads the latest from her WIP and Lisa gives her a gold star for improvement

🙋‍♀️ Author Interview – Kelly Rimmer shares her thoughts on imposter syndrome, bad writing advice and the one thing all aspiring novelists must do.

🍵 Tea Time Rant – Brooke and Annie face off over trigger warnings. And Lisa sits on the fence.

🎙️ Want us to roast (or toast) your manuscript? Submit your first page via Substack.

🌟 Leave us a five-star review or tell Lisa she’s a saint for mentoring us. Either one fuels our egos.

Catch up on the last episode 👇

Why is my manuscript being mean to me?

This week, Lisa fesses up to making her debut (pics below), Brooke wants to know why her manuscript hates her then proceeds to read a breathtaking passage, Lisa answers a curly question and Kylie Orr fesses up!

Did we all just…win??? You’ll have to listen to find out. Brooke has a very relatable editing moment but then proceeds to knock it out of the park with her feedback. Lisa explains how to know if you have a story or a situation and Kylie Orr admits to getting busted in a library.

It’s chaotic. It’s unhinged. It’s exactly the kind of writing therapy you didn’t know you needed.

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

Leave a comment

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins – We win! Kinda! So why does it feel like this?

✍️ Roast or Toast – Brooke reads the latest from her WIP and Annie needs tissues.

🙋‍♀️ Curly Question – Lisa explains (so well!) how to tell if what you have is a situation or a story.

🍵 Tea Time Rant – Kylie Orr spills the tea on the time she was busted being a little naughty in the library. Authors—have you ever committed this sin? We bet you have!

Writers, dreamers, and literary mischief-makers—subscribe for your weekly fix of craft, comedy, and confessions.

🎙️ Want us to roast (or toast) your manuscript? Submit your first page via Substack.

🌟 Leave us a five-star review or tell Lisa she’s a saint for mentoring us. Either one fuels our egos.

Catch up on the last episode 👇

"Just Admit You're Bad in Bed..."

Thanks for reading Writers Behaving Badly! Subscribe to be notified when a new episode drops.

This week, Lisa gives you a free pass to watch TV, Brooke gets tongue-tied interviewing our guest Ella Ward and has a pre-prepared tea rant that SLAPS.

Two of us are in the sin bin, one of us delivers words while the other two hype her up like she’s famous, one of us has her dreams come true by becoming an Ella Ward and Lisa Ireland sandwich and delivers a pre-prepared tea rant that scolds genre snobs.

It’s chaotic. It’s unhinged. It’s exactly the kind of writing therapy you didn’t know you needed.

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

Leave a comment

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins – We win, we lose, we try to correct our errors by teaching you useful writing techniques but two of us are in the sin bin (again!)

✍️ Roast or Toast – Annie reads the latest from her WIP and stuns Brooke into a face that resembles buffering internet.

🙋‍♀️ Author Interview – Ella Ward as a good sport when Brooke (again) mentions her shrine and talks about cicada shape-shifting and shares with us a brilliant example of ‘before and after’ the edits!

🍵 Tea Time Rant – The kettle gets hot as we talk about genre snobbery and why smut has a place. Don’t yuck someone’s yum!

Writers, dreamers, and literary mischief-makers—subscribe for your weekly fix of craft, comedy, and confessions.

🎙️ Want us to roast (or toast) your manuscript? Submit your first page via Substack.

🌟 Leave us a five-star review or tell Lisa she’s a saint for mentoring us. Either one fuels our egos.

This week, things get weirdly sexual.

One of us ghosts an agent (for five years), one of us confesses to writing nothing (again), and one of us accidentally turns a homicide detective into a Renaissance actor. There’s also drone footage, shame spirals, and the most unexpected sex metaphor ever uttered on a writing podcast (thanks, Lisa.)

It’s chaotic. It’s unhinged. It’s exactly the kind of writing therapy you didn’t know you needed.

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

Leave a comment

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins – We spiral. We stall. We sort-of-write. Lisa stares us down with disappointed mentor energy. Also, immersive writing via candlelight and Scottish landscapes becomes a thing. It shouldn’t work. It does.

✍️ Roast or Toast – A listener’s submission blows us away—emotional, elegant, and full of potential. Lisa gives light-touch feedback, high praise, and a not-so-subtle plea for the rest of the manuscript.

🙋‍♀️ Curly Questions – Annie admits to ghosting an agent after a full request. Lisa reacts in real time. What follows is… educational. And slightly unhinged. (Yes, there’s a metaphor. No, we won’t spoil it.)

🍵 Tea Time Rant – We unpack the Belle Gibson scandal, publishing accountability, and the uncomfortable truth that some writers are lying—and it’s probably not you. Probably.

Writers, dreamers, and literary mischief-makers—subscribe for your weekly fix of craft, comedy, and confessions.

🎙️ Want us to roast (or toast) your manuscript? Submit your first page via Substack.

🌟 Leave us a five-star review or tell Lisa she’s a saint for mentoring us. Either one fuels our egos.

This week on Writers Behaving Badly, Brooke and Annie spiral into shame spirals, Lisa serves up a full-course manuscript masterclass (with sides of encouragement and mild roasting), and author Kylie Ladd drops by to destroy every writing rule you thought was gospel. Honestly? It’s a lot. But it’s also your new writing therapy session.

Welcome back to Writers Behaving Badly, the podcast where manuscripts are sacred, self-doubt is shared, and our editing decisions come with a side of existential dread. This week, Annie confesses her manuscript is quietly weeping in the corner, Brooke faces down some plotting demons, and Lisa accidentally unravels her WIP like a wool jumper caught on a nail.

Oh, and Kylie Ladd joins us to confirm: you don’t have to write every day. (Take that, hustle culture.)

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

Leave a comment

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins –Annie flirts with 30 new book ideas and neglects her WIP (again), Brooke rewrites herself into a corner, and Lisa unpicks her manuscript like it personally offended her—then remembers she saved all the old versions like the good anxious author she is. Penance is assigned, sass is served.

✍️ Roast or Toast –Lisa gently (mostly) critiques Brooke’s second chapter, praising her brilliant rewrite and new narrative voice for Sully. She toasts the improvements, suggests trimming a few redundant words, and reminds us all that white space is a kindness—not a formatting crime.

🎤 Author Spotlight –Kylie Ladd joins the chaos to share her biggest writing sins, worst advice (spoiler: "write every day" is cancelled), and why her breakthrough book still hasn’t, technically, broken through. A vulnerable and hilarious chat on publishing, process, and resilience.

🍵 Tea Time Rant –Are author blurbs dead? Simon & Schuster seems to think so. The gang spills the tea on why blurbs are kind of fake news, the stress of begging favours from author friends, and how we’re all too emotionally fragile for this nonsense.

💀 Chaotic Sign-Offs –We wrap with a healthy amount of imposter syndrome, chaotic giggling, and an invitation for Lisa to join the Dragon Smut Book Club (spoiler: she declines with conviction).

Writers, dreamers, and literary mischief-makers—subscribe for your weekly fix of craft, comedy, and confessions.

🎙️ Want us to roast (or toast) your manuscript? Submit your first page via Substack—we’ll only make fun of it a little.

🌟 Leave us a five-star review or tell Lisa she’s a saint for mentoring us. Either one fuels our egos.

Welcome back to Writers Behaving Badly, the podcast where the manuscripts are dusty, the ideas are questionable, and the clients are—well, if you ask Lisa, one of them is a real handful the rest are delightful (Annie, this is about you). This week, we’re diving into the emotional chaos of writing when you’d rather be doing literally anything else (like inventing erotic Wordle-based Substacks), and Lisa tries to stay professional while her co-hosts spiral into sentient-object romance and questionable life choices.

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins – Lisa is laser-focused, Brooke solves a plot riddle, and Annie… well, Annie’s manuscript is quietly sobbing in the corner while she flirts with new ideas and ponders publishing “Dirty Wordle.”

✍️ Roast or Toast – We critique a beautiful scene from a listener submission, unpacking the nuances of narrative distance, child POV, and why “extricates” is not exactly playground vocabulary.

🧠 Curly Questions – Brooke corners Lisa with the dreaded “Show, don’t tell” dilemma, and Lisa delivers a masterclass on filter words, narrative technique, and why your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect (but your second one better try).

🍵 Tea Time Rant – Publishing house mergers are shaking up the Aussie lit scene. Lisa shares her spicy take on what this means for authors, small presses, and the ever-shrinking list of places to pitch your masterpiece.

😂 Chaotic Sign-Offs – Annie and Brooke admit to corrupting their algorithms with object romance, Lisa tries to bring some order (again), and we end on a high note of monks, nuns, and carnival rides. You just had to be there.

Writers, readers, and lovers of literary drama—subscribe for your dose of craft, chaos, and occasionally useful advice.

🎙️ Want your manuscript critiqued live on air? Submit your first page on Substack—we promise we’ll be gentle!

🚨 Leave us a five-star review Leave us a five-star review… or tell Lisa how brave she is for mentoring Annie. Either works.

Lisa’s full critique of Brooke’s work

We’re sharing the original submission and Lisa’s edits on Substack. It’s a masterclass in turning good writing into great—and a perfect example of how to bring childlike perspective to life on the page. Big toast energy. 🥂

Catch up on the last episode 👇

Thanks for reading Writers Behaving Badly! Subscribe to be notified when a new episode drops.

Welcome back to Writers Behaving Badly, the podcast where writing sins are confessed, manuscripts get a little crispy, and literary chaos reigns supreme. This week, we’re serving up fresh mischief with special guest Kerryn Mayne, who joins Lisa, Brooke, and Annie to spill all the tea on publishing, manuscript meltdowns, and the questionable choices that got us here.

Got a sin to confess?

Tell us your worst writing sin of the week in the comments—did you out-bad us?

What’s inside this episode?

🔥 Sins & Wins – Who’s been productive, who’s been procrastinating, and who’s drowning in a shiny new idea instead of finishing the old one? (Brooke, we’re looking at you 👀).

✍️ Roast or Toast – Lisa takes a very close look at Brooke’s latest manuscript draft. Will she make it out unscathed?

📖 Editing is Painful – Kerryn Mayne shares how her debut novel Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder changed from first draft to final book—and why sometimes, losing a character (or two) is necessary.

🍵 Tea Time Rant – Are male authors really being discriminated against in publishing? 🤡 Or are women just writing better books? The WBB crew spills their most scalding takes yet.

😂 Chaotic Sign-Offs – Who’s getting roasted next? How can you submit your manuscript for a light (read: brutal) critique? And why is Lisa pretending she has control over this podcast?

If you’re a writer, an aspiring author, or just here for the absolute shenanigans, hit subscribe and join us every week for more literary mayhem.

🎙️ Want your manuscript critiqued live on air? Submit your first page on Substack—we promise we’ll be gentle(ish).

🚨 Leave us a five-star review or roast us. We really don’t mind.

Lisa’s full critique of Brooke’s work

If you’d like to read Brooke’s full extract (including Lisa’s comments), you can access a Google Docs version below.

Brooke should be deep in edits for her current book… but The Shiny ✨ (aka a tempting new idea) is making that very difficult. Hopefully this critique will get her back on track! Lisa loved the atmosphere of Brooke’s opening pages but had thoughts on clarity and flow. You can hear the full critique—and Brooke’s reaction—on the podcast!

To read our brave guest, Kerryn Mayne’s latest book JOY MOODY IS OUT OF TIME click the button below!