Secrets from the Green Room
In each episode of the Secrets from the Green Room podcast hosts Irma Gold and Karen Viggers chat with a writer about their experience of the writing and publishing process in honest green room-style, uncovering some of the plain and simple truths, as well as some of the secrets – whether they be mundane or salubrious – and having a lot of fun in the process.
Episodes
61 episodes
Season 6: Episode 61: Tania McCartney
Karen and Irma talk about the intel Irma has gleaned from booksellers on her Shift book tour. Then Irma chats to Tania McCartney about how she made the transition from self-publishing to traditional publishing, creative bur...
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Season 6
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Episode 61
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51:53
Season 5: Episode 60: Nardi Simpson
Irma and Karen chat about juggling jobs to survive while writing. Then Karen talks to Nardi Simpson about the creative crossover between making songs and writing books, why she decided to start writing novels, how writing helps her ...
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Season 5
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Episode 60
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49:06
Season 5: Episode 59: Katherine Collette
Karen and Irma chat about the challenges of being able to accept praise. Then Irma talks with Katherine Collette about how co-hosting The First Time podcast was life-changing, her most excruciating experience with the podca...
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Season 5
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Episode 59
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44:11
Season 5: Episode 58: Cate Kennedy
Irma and Karen chat about the changing shape of the Australian publishing industry as small publishers are bought up by larger publishing houses. Then Karen talks to short-story maestro Cate Kennedy about how she came to be a writer...
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Season 5
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Episode 58
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1:06:06
Season 5: Episode 57: Bob Brown
Irma and Karen chat about their top books from the last 12 months. Then Karen chats with lifelong activist and former politician Bob Brown about why writing is so important to activism, why storytelling with intent is important, how...
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Season 5
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Episode 57
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55:38
Ubud Readers and Writers Festival Special Series: Episode 56: Omar Musa
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) Omar Musa chats with Irma about how growing up in an artistic family set his course, why he stopped reading and writing during a dark period and how a new form of expr...
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Episode 56
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58:04
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2024: Episode 55: Bora Chung
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Bora Chung chats with Irma about how she wrote her first short story solely for prize money but it eventually led to a short fiction collection that was shortlisted for the B...
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Episode 55
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32:59
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 54: Laura Jean McKay
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Laura Jean McKay chats with Irma about the experience of touring her books to the UK, why she threw up in a caravan sink after finishing her novel, how the publishing landsca...
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Episode 54
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50:00
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 53: Aube Rey Lescure
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Aube Rey Lescure chats with Irma about how she initially followed a friend’s advice not to become a writer but then ditched law to pursue it anyway, how being multilingual im...
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Episode 53
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42:28
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 52: Nam Le
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Nam Le chats with Irma about why his first unpublished novel was a spectacular failure but still worthwhile, why for a long time he was a secret writer and the renowned Iowa ...
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Episode 52
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46:06
Season 5: Episode 51: JP Pomare
Irma and Karen chat about writers festivals they’ve recently attended, as well as the joys and challenges of being a panel moderator and interviewing other authors. Then Karen talks to JP Pomare about how he didn’t know he was writi...
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Season 5
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Episode 51
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50:11
Season 5: Episode 50: Kylie Needham
Irma and Karen chat about the upcoming Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Then Karen talks to Kylie Needham about how a short story turned into her debut novel, the joys and challenges of writing for television and the screen, the c...
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Season 5
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Episode 50
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49:03
Season 5: Episode 49: Finegan Kruckemeyer
Irma and Karen chat about audio books.Then Karen speaks with Finegan Kruckemeyer about how he got his first break as a playwright, the difference between writing for young people and adult audiences, how much freedom there is in the para...
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Season 5
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Episode 49
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50:25
Season 5: Episode 48: Jacinta di Mase, literary agent
Irma chats to agent Jacinta di Mase about what agents do to earn their 15%, the intricacies of contracts – including rights reversion, world rights, backlists and rising royalties, how an agent can fight for an author over cover design and choo...
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Season 5
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Episode 48
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56:44
Season 5: Episode 47: Hilde Hinton
Karen and Irma chat about the ins and outs of contracts. Then Irma talks to Hilde Hinton about the way her work polarises people, how an argument with her brother (actor Samuel Johnson) led to her first novel, why Lego is an important p...
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Season 5
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Episode 47
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46:38
Season 5: Episode 46: Beejay Silcox
Irma and Karen reveal exciting new partnerships with Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and Writers Victoria. Then Karen chats with Beejay Silcox about literary criticism in Australia – what good critics endeavour to do, the blowback fro...
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Season 5
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Episode 46
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51:32
Season 4: Episode 45: Children's books: Andrea Rowe and Anna Walker
Irma tries to convert Karen to writing program Scrivener. Then Irma chats to children’s creators Anna Walker and Andrea Rowe about how authors and illustrators work together (or don’t!), why illustrator notes are a no-no, the profound i...
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Season 4
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Episode 45
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1:06:23
Season 4: Episode 44: Kris Kneen
Irma and Karen discuss author websites. Then Karen chats with Kris Kneen about writing into deeply uncomfortable spaces and confronting issues like fatness and identity, how to write sex well, why they’re always switching up genres, how...
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Season 4
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Episode 44
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53:27
Season 4: Episode 43: Diana Reid
Irma and Karen talk about prepping for radio interviews. Then Karen chats to Diana Reid about how writing scripts has informed the way she works as a novelist and her approach to being edited, what it was like to be thrown into the ...
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Season 4
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Episode 43
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45:47
Season 4: Episode 42: Peter Papathanasiou
Karen and Irma chat about point of view and writing from multiple perspectives. Then Irma talks to Peter Papathanasiou about his very long and convoluted journey to publication, how his debut was rejected by 100 agents and took 10 years...
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Season 4
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Episode 42
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52:53
Season 4: Episode 41: Melinda Smith
'Irma and Karen talk about the ins and out of book marketing. Then Karen chats with Melinda Smith about winning the Prime Ministers Literary Award for poetry, the potential of TikTok for poets, how arts grants have sustained her writing...
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Season 4
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Episode 41
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52:12
Season 4: Episode 40: Niq Mhlongo
Irma and Karen chat about the highs and lows of podcasting. Then Irma talks to Niq Mhlongo about what it was like growing up in Soweto, South Africa, how sleeping in a tiny room with seven brothers got him hooked on reading, why he ditc...
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Season 4
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Episode 40
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46:53
Season 4: Episode 39: Daniel O'Malley
Karen and Irma talk about ten awful publishing truths. Then Karen chats to Daniel O’Malley about writing humour in books and how to develop this skill, how he lost the first 150 pages of his bestseller The Rook, the potential p...
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Season 4
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Episode 39
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47:09
Season 4: Episode 38: Kate Mildenhall
Karen and Irma chat about what makes a good book title. Then Irma talks to Kate Mildenhall about how she organised (and survived!) a massive book tour, the brutal experience of her second book being rejected, why writing retreats are in...
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Season 4
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Episode 38
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1:01:07
Season 4: Episode 37: Christos Tsiolkas
Karen and Irma discuss the challenges of author photo shoots. Then Irma chats with Christos Tsiolkas about how reading Monkey Grip cross-legged in a bookstore was a seminal moment, and how his father – who couldn’t read – made ...
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Season 4
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Episode 37
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50:12
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