The KidLit Pod
Author Shara Curlett hosts a collective, industry-wide discussion around the importance of books for kids, sharing opinions, thoughts, ideas, research, and the science around the importance of stories and why we need to persist in encouraging our children to turn to a book, rather than a device.
The KidLit Pod
KidLit Hang with Bethany Loveridge, Adrian Beck, and Shara Curlett
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Host Shara Curlett introduces a monthly “KidLit Hang” format with Bethany Loveridge (Betty Love) and Adrian Beck, where a few authors hang out and chat.
In their first hangout, they banter about deadlines, school visits, teaching, and do a rapid “Would You Rather” game, before discussing recent reads / listens / watches.
They talk about author-work balance, procrastination, and scheduling around family and publishing tasks. Shara spotlights Brenton Cullen’s The Prime Minister Problem, and they give shout-outs to to a few people within the industry, before sharing upcoming releases and events, including Bethany's Josie Mack and the Mega Division, Adrian's Nowhere House and Fox Kid titles, and Shara's Protector of Beyond series.
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BOOK SHOUTOUT LINK:
The Prime Minister Problem by Brenton Cullen - published by Riveted Press
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Follow The KidLit Pod on Instagram (@thekidlitpod)
Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here:
KidLit Hang with Adrian Beck, Bethany Loveridge, and Shara Curlett
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the KidLit Pod. I'm Shara Curlett, your host and author of two middle grade novels, Welcome to Miracle, released in 2025, and Protector of Beyond, the first book in an upcoming fantasy series with Penguin Australia, set for release September 2026.
Now, typically each week I bring you a one-on-one chat with someone in the kidlit industry. However, once a month, I'll also be catching up with the wonderful and hilarious Bethany Loveridge, also known as Betty Love. And we'll be joined with the one and only Adrian Beck. Now, I can't say too many good things about him because his head will get even bigger. So we'll move straight on to Bethany.
Bethany Loveridge is a children's author and illustrator. She's also a teacher and curriculum specialist, as well as one of the founders of Perentie Press, the new graphic novel imprint. As an emerging author, Bethany won several awards and mentorship opportunities, which led to her debut middle-grade fiction, Harper Wells: Renegade Timeline Officer, the first in a series of three books. She's also the author of the magical and funny picture book Genie Snail, with Chris Kennett, and her upcoming junior fiction series, Josie Mack and the Mega Division, illustrated by Jade Goodwin.
Adrian Beck is a best-selling author who writes and illustrates funny, action-packed stories for kids. His most recent titles include Villain, Villain Respawn, and the Speech Pathology Australia award-winning series, Fox Kid. Adrian is also a former TV producer and a connoisseur of very bad dad jokes.
He's appeared at hundreds of schools, and if you'd like to hear more accolades, as he'll tell you at the end of this podcast, just Google him.
In our monthly Kidlit Hang episodes, you can expect us to veer off topic, laugh too much, and segue into the most ridiculous conversations. But it's all a bit of fun, and we all need some fun in our lives, right?
So, here we go. This month's Kidlit Hang with Betty Love and Adrian Beck.
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[00:01:55] Shara Curlett: So welcome Adrian and Betty to The KidLit Pod. Thank you so much for joining me. So Adrian, last year Betty and I jumped on your Stuff Your Stockings Takeover podcast-
[00:02:05] Adrian Beck: Mm
[00:02:06] Shara Curlett: -for Words and Nerds, and it was such a good laugh. And when I was thinking of who I wanted to catch up with on a regular basis for The KidLit Pod, you both came straight to mind. So, I don't know how I've managed to convince you, because you're both incredibly busy.
[00:02:21] Bethany Loveridge: You're just paying us, right? $10,000 an episode.
[00:02:26] Shara Curlett: Why not? Anyway, we'll catch up monthly, have lots of laughs, and talk lots of authorly things. First up, what have you been up to, Adrian?
[00:02:34] Adrian Beck: Oh, well, what haven't I been up to? I am juggling that many projects, it's ridiculous. It's a nice problem to have. I don't mean to complain. Um, but I have been, yes, I've been up late and up early, and, uh, trying to, racing for a deadline. But, you know ... I'm also so very professional. So I'd like that on the record right at the start that I'm extremely professional. I am a little behind. But I'm professional, so I'm complicated.
[00:03:04] Shara Curlett: I see. And when is this, said deadline?
[00:03:08] Adrian Beck: It was about two and a half weeks ago. And I, I-
[00:03:13] Shara Curlett: But you're extremely professional ...
[00:03:14] Adrian Beck: I feel like I'm extremely professional, yet I might miss it.
[00:03:18] Shara Curlett: I can relate, recently have been in the same boat as well, so you're not alone, Adrian.
[00:03:23] Adrian Beck: Oh, good. Good. All right. I'm gonna... Can I send them your way and just explain that ... if it's good enough for Shara, it's good enough for me.
[00:03:30] Shara Curlett: Luckily we have uh, very supportive publishing teams.
[00:03:33] Adrian Beck: Now, the thing is with Betty Love, like, Betty Love runs a, publishing house. Right? So she expects people to be late. I think it's all part of the business, right?
[00:03:43] Bethany Loveridge: Oh do I? Ha-
[00:03:44] Adrian Beck: Don't you?
[00:03:45] Bethany Loveridge: No.
[00:03:45] Adrian Beck: You, you prefer it. I think you prefer it, right?
[00:03:47] Bethany Loveridge: I'm pretty sure we put big red crosses next to people's names-
[00:03:51] Adrian Beck: What?
[00:03:51] Bethany Loveridge: ... If they're late the first time. Haha.
[00:03:54] Adrian Beck: I've got that many crosses against my name, it's not funny.
[00:03:57] Bethany Loveridge: Yes. Well, there is a, the global publisher book of crosses. And yes, I have seen you there. Either because alphabetically you're first or, or maybe because of you have the most crosses.
[00:04:07] Adrian Beck: Or maybe both. Yeah.
[00:04:09] Shara Curlett: So Betty, what have you been up to lately?
[00:04:11] Bethany Loveridge: Um, so many things. I've actually been working really hard on a project for SCBWI Queensland, which is the Society of Children's Book Writers and illustrators, of which I'm, RA for Queensland, so leader of the Queensland group of us, and we're doing a lot of fun things, including going to the Brookfield Show this weekend. Which will be in the past by the time anyone listens to this.
[00:04:31] Adrian Beck: So how did it go?
[00:04:33] Bethany Loveridge: It was awesome.
[00:04:34] Adrian Beck: I got the feeling it went, it went it went really well.
[00:04:36] Bethany Loveridge: Sold like hundreds of of thousands of dollars worth of books. We booked lots of school visits. We met lots of community and had fun.
[00:04:43] Adrian Beck: Yeah. Awesome.
[00:04:43] Bethany Loveridge: It didn't, and it didn't rain.
[00:04:45] Shara Curlett: Oh, amazing.
[00:04:46] Adrian Beck: That The socials, the socials you were posting, they were great. I can't believe you posted so many, but they looked awesome.
[00:04:51] Bethany Loveridge: Uh, and aside from Perentie Press, I've been doing lots of editing lately, and we just opened the Perentie Prize again, so-
[00:05:01] Shara Curlett: Ooh, exciting
[00:05:02] Bethany Loveridge: ... -that's very busy. And then I'm teaching again, I don't know if I told you that. So I have to like oh, I probably shouldn't say this on ... But let's just get, let's just have a disclaimer right now, first episode, we probably shouldn't have said that.
[00:05:15] Adrian Beck: Yeah. That's, that's a new segment.
[00:05:16] Bethany Loveridge: And now that that's gone. and, and we've established that. I did make a comment the other day about how, you know, you, as a, as a children's author, you kind of go into schools or you have a book launch, and the children at launches or at schools think you're famous, right? Even on your first book that, it's pretty wild, and beautiful, and then when you're a teacher you go to school and you're tortured instead. And they, and, and they think you're whatever the opposite of famous is. So yes, it's an interesting space to be in.
[00:05:46] Adrian Beck: Well, hang on. I, I wanna investigate that just for a moment, if you'll indulge me. I mean, do you have a different Betty Love persona when you're, uh, the author?
[00:05:54] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, Mrs. Loveridge, um, when I'm at-
[00:05:55] Adrian Beck: Compared to Mrs. Loveridge?
[00:05:57] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, that's right.
[00:05:58] Adrian Beck: Is it ... It's a bit like Mrs. Doubtfire and the deadbeat dad.
[00:06:01] Bethany Loveridge: Jekyll and, Jekyll and Hyde. Do you know what? It's a little tricky I think, because I probably don't have that much of a different persona. No, I'm, I'm pretty easygoing all the time. There you go.
[00:06:11] Adrian Beck: Oh, well that's good. ' Cause there's a few, uh, authors, you know, rolling round the circuit that are ex-teachers. And they definitely have a different vibe to those of us that have just turned up and, you know, are winging it. Like, the, the ex-teach- teachers, they really know how to control the room.
[00:06:27] Shara Curlett: Oh, interesting. I know ... I know, I know how to rack a room up.
[00:06:31] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, thanks Shara. We love Shara 'cause she comes in and like giving s- your aunty who comes over and gives your kids chocolate.
[00:06:38] Shara Curlett: Oh, yeah. Yeah. That is 100% me. Yeah.
[00:06:40] Bethany Loveridge: I'm the nice aunty. Have fun with that, it's 7:30 at night. And we've all got one of those. Yeah, I don't know. I have a teacher voice. There you go.
[00:06:49] Adrian Beck: Does it come out during the author sessions?
[00:06:50] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, maybe sometimes. But I think the kids are normally very good. It's pretty special when you have an author visiting. Maybe I deliver the material a little bit differently, too. So they're all excited. When I'm teaching them about Aztec history they're like little bit less excited.
[00:07:08] Shara Curlett: I've got a friend she launched her book two years ago, her picture book. And she did the illustrations as well. They're incredible. And she just got in touch with me recently to say, that Welcome to Miracle had been chosen for the kidlit quiz or something in New Zealand. She was saying, "Oh my gosh, I haven't even told them yet that I know you. They're gonna be just so excited," 'cause they'd already read it and they pointed it out and they were excited to read it again. And I said, "but you're an author. Like, don't they think you're amazing, too?" She said, " No."
[00:07:36] Bethany Loveridge: I don't think it matters what you write. I've got my books at my school and I've pulled some students past and been like, "That's me." It's, I'm still not cool at school.
[00:07:46] Adrian Beck: What was the reaction? They just kept walking?
[00:07:48] Bethany Loveridge: Oh. Well, they were like, "Oh, really, miss?" And I don't know if that was sarcastic or not. Although the librarian did tell me it's been borrowed out a few times and read already, so-
[00:08:00] Shara Curlett: Oh, that's nice.
[00:08:00] Bethany Loveridge: ... -In the last couple of months, so maybe they're genuinely curious to see if I'm as hilarious on the page as I am in the classroom.
[00:08:10] Adrian Beck: How could you not be?
[00:08:11] Shara Curlett: Exactly. All right. So at my daughter's school some of the teachers like to start the day off with a kind of fun Would You Rather. And so I thought I'd do the same with you two. So, would you like to have your own theme park or own your own zoo? Betty.
[00:08:25] Bethany Loveridge: Zoo.
[00:08:25] Adrian Beck: Theme park.
[00:08:26] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, but wildlife sanctuary, not zoo.
[00:08:28] Shara Curlett: That is a good point. Should I rephrase that?
[00:08:30] Bethany Loveridge: Am I allowed to cha- like, I'm gonna do this the whole time. Be like, "Well, blue, except if it's a certain shade of green."
[00:08:37] Shara Curlett: I will agree with you, wildlife sanctuary. And I am not surprised that you chose a theme park, Adrian.
[00:08:42] Adrian Beck: Yeah, of course I'm gonna choose a theme park. Gosh. Absolutely. I'd be on the roller coasters. I'd be driving around on the little dodgem cars, you know. Oh. And I'd be having snacks. You know, I'd be fairy floss. I'd be, popcorn. Oh.
[00:08:56] Bethany Loveridge: Dagwood dogs?
[00:08:57] Adrian Beck: Dagwood dogs. How good are Dagwood Dogs? You don't see enough Dagwood Dogs around these days. You actually don't see enough, you don't see enough fish and chips, but I don't think you'll see that at- ... at a theme park, but-
[00:09:07] Bethany Loveridge: But you could have those potato, like-
[00:09:09] Adrian Beck: Yeah, on a stick. The twisty things.
[00:09:10] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, they're my favorite things ever.
[00:09:12] Adrian Beck: Absolutely.
[00:09:13] Bethany Loveridge: I'm gonna go to your theme park just to eat those.
[00:09:15] Adrian Beck: Yeah. Yeah. In fact, I think what I've, what I've, I think what I've described is like a food truck festival. But- Yeah. But either way-
[00:09:22] Shara Curlett: So you're, you're just changing it as well ... all right, so next one, be invisible or be able to fly?
[00:09:27] Adrian Beck: Ooh.
[00:09:27] Bethany Loveridge: Fly.
[00:09:28] Shara Curlett: Fly.
[00:09:28] Adrian Beck: Yeah, I think fly. Invisible's too creepy, right?
[00:09:31] Shara Curlett: It is.
[00:09:32] Adrian Beck: ... Anyone who says invisible there, you think, "Mm, why exactly do you want to be invisible?" Yeah. You know?
[00:09:37] Shara Curlett: Um, next one, eat a platter of dead bugs or do a fire walk?
[00:09:41] Adrian Beck: Oh my gosh.
[00:09:42] Bethany Loveridge: Fire walk.
[00:09:42] Shara Curlett: I'd do a fire walk.
[00:09:43] Adrian Beck: Why would you do either of those ridiculous things? You get to-
[00:09:46] Bethany Loveridge: Well, I don't, haven't really thought about it, but what is a fire walk?
[00:09:49] Shara Curlett: I think you just-
[00:09:49] Bethany Loveridge: I just didn't wanna eat bugs. Like, not that. The other thing.
[00:09:52] Adrian Beck: I thought you gotta run across the hot, the hot coals? Is that right, Shara?
[00:09:56] Shara Curlett: Yeah. I, I don't think it really burns you, I think it just kinda like singes.
[00:09:59] Adrian Beck: That's fine.
[00:10:00] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:10:01] Bethany Loveridge: I'm gonna wear my Crocs. No, maybe not Crocs. Maybe they'd melt.
[00:10:04] Adrian Beck: Uh, look, I think that I've spoken to Adam Wallace about this in the past, 'cause he's done a fire walk. The, uh-
[00:10:12] Shara Curlett: Has he?
[00:10:12] Adrian Beck: ... Aussie author, yeah. Because he loves all those kind of motivational stuff and he went to an event where it was all building up to everyone believing themselves, and then they did a fire walk. I'm pretty sure he did a fire walk. I'm gonna ask him if and I'll, I'll report back live.
[00:10:28] Shara Curlett: Report back. Right, next one is visit the International Space Station for a week or spend a week in a hotel at the bottom of the ocean?
[00:10:35] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, no.
[00:10:36] Adrian Beck: Whoa, gosh.
[00:10:37] Bethany Loveridge: No.
[00:10:38] Shara Curlett: Neither? Like pressurised.
[00:10:40] Bethany Loveridge: 100% not the ocean, because I am petrified of the deep sea and whales. You know that about me. You-
[00:10:47] Adrian Beck: Whales?
[00:10:47] Bethany Loveridge: You set me up. I have a phobia of whales.
[00:10:49] Adrian Beck: Whales in particular?
[00:10:50] Shara Curlett: I did not know that.
[00:10:51] Bethany Loveridge: I hate whales. Oh, I can't, like I will-
[00:10:54] Bethany Loveridge: If I see one I will get like a goose- bu-
[00:10:56] Shara Curlett: So Moby Dick was not a favorite read then?
[00:10:58] Bethany Loveridge: Well, I never read it.
[00:10:59] Adrian Beck: What about Free Willy?
[00:11:00] Shara Curlett: Oh. Oh, yeah
[00:11:01] Bethany Loveridge: ... orcas are great. I love orcas. Sharks are wonderful, dolphins-
[00:11:05] Adrian Beck: Sharks are wonderful?
[00:11:06] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah.
[00:11:06] Adrian Beck: What's wrong with you, Betty Love?
[00:11:08] Bethany Loveridge: It's just whales and the deep sea, the deep blue sea, not for me. I'd have to go to space, and I don't really wanna do that either.
[00:11:15] Adrian Beck: Well, I mean, what about if you went to space with Katy Perry?
[00:11:18] Bethany Loveridge: That would make it worse, wouldn't it? I would rather go to the top of the tallest mountain.
[00:11:26] Adrian Beck: I don't think that was an option, though.
[00:11:28] Bethany Loveridge: We can change the, change the options, right?
[00:11:30] Shara Curlett: Would you like to create the Would You Rathers next time, Betty?
[00:11:33] Bethany Loveridge: No, no, no, no.
[00:11:34] Adrian Beck: I'm gonna go to space. And I'm gonna take Betty with me. And I'm gonna take Shara with me, and then we can sing We Are The World when we're looking back at the globe.
[00:11:42] Bethany Loveridge: We would have to, wouldn't we? Yeah. You know where I'd like to go? Antarctica.
[00:11:45] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:11:45] Bethany Loveridge: You know how you can-
[00:11:46] Adrian Beck: Why, why?
[00:11:47] Bethany Loveridge: I don't know.
[00:11:47] Shara Curlett: Why not?
[00:11:48] Adrian Beck: There could be whales down there, you know.
[00:11:49] Bethany Loveridge: Yes, I've just realised there probably would be whales. So I don't wanna go to Antarctica anymore. I like penguins, and snow and the cold. And there's some, a pretty cool science station out there. Could learn some cool things.
[00:12:00] Shara Curlett: You could. Okay, we're gonna move on. Walk to work in heels or drive to work in reverse?
[00:12:05] Adrian Beck: I'd go in heels.
[00:12:06] Shara Curlett: I would drive in reverse 'cause I can't walk in heels. I just can't stand them.
[00:12:10] Bethany Loveridge: What kind of heels?
[00:12:11] Shara Curlett: High heels.
[00:12:12] Bethany Loveridge: Like stilettos?
[00:12:13] Shara Curlett: Like, yeah. Yeah. Or like a decent, length.
[00:12:16] Bethany Loveridge: No, reverse.
[00:12:17] Shara Curlett: Yeah. That'd be a bit of fun if you're allowed to. Okay next. Be able to speak any language or be able to communicate with animals?
[00:12:23] Adrian Beck: Hmm. Yeah, you gotta communicate with animals.
[00:12:26] Bethany Loveridge: We went the opposite way then.
[00:12:27] Adrian Beck: Yeah. Well, I'm not interested so much in the humans. I'm more interested in the animals. And then I'm gonna go and speak to a whale and get one to come and stalk Betty Love when she goes to Antarctica.
[00:12:37] Bethany Loveridge: The thing is, you see, I can already talk to animals, so I don't need that skill.
[00:12:41] Shara Curlett: Ah, of course.
[00:12:42] Bethany Loveridge: I think you'd be surprised how many of them are like a bit silly and don't have much to say.
[00:12:48] Adrian Beck: So you think you can talk to animals because they don't have much to say?
[00:12:50] Bethany Loveridge: No. I think I can talk to them because I can read I can, just don't questions. Look, I wrote a whole book about it. It comes out really soon.
[00:12:59] Adrian Beck: Shara, what are you doing? Are you, have you-
[00:13:01] Shara Curlett: I'd like to communicate with animals. I'm a real animal person, so. Have you seen those, buttons where cats and dogs can press the buttons and communicate?
[00:13:09] Adrian Beck: just-
[00:13:09] Shara Curlett: I just think my dog would just press food all the time. Like, "Feed me." Yeah. "Feed me." Yeah. It'll just be that the entire time.
[00:13:14] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. But do you know why? Because when you press the food button, you get food.
[00:13:17] Adrian Beck: I wouldn't mind a button like that, actually.
[00:13:19] Shara Curlett: For yourself?
[00:13:20] Adrian Beck: Yeah.
[00:13:20] Bethany Loveridge: Who's gonna, who's gonna feed it?
[00:13:21] Shara Curlett: And who's serving you the food, Adrian?
[00:13:22] Adrian Beck: I haven't thought about the second part.
[00:13:25] Shara Curlett: Like a dispensing machine.
[00:13:26] Adrian Beck: Yeah, that'd be good.
[00:13:27] Shara Curlett: 'Cause you're not gonna say your wife, are you?
[00:13:28] Adrian Beck: I'm not sure that would happen. It might have to be a direct link to Uber Eats or something.
[00:13:33] Bethany Loveridge: That's probably a future invention.
[00:13:35] Adrian Beck: In fact, I'm open to sponsorship on this podcast for anyone and anything. So Uber Eats, if you're listening- ... feel free to get on board.
[00:13:43] Shara Curlett: You know what? When I set questions- I didn't think about the fact that I was talking to you two.
[00:13:48] Adrian Beck: Do you want quick answers? Give it, I will you quick answers.
[00:13:50] Shara Curlett: Okay, next one. Give up your phone for life or wear a snorkel and flippers for the rest of your life?
[00:13:56] Bethany Loveridge: Give up my phone.
[00:13:57] Shara Curlett: Yeah, me too.
[00:13:58] Adrian Beck: I'd wear a snorkel.
[00:13:59] Bethany Loveridge: And [00:14:00] flippers.
[00:14:00] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:14:00] Adrian Beck: And flippers. Yeah. And that's when I'd go swimming with whales. Because whales are our friends.
[00:14:06] Bethany Loveridge: And then you could text all your friends about it.
[00:14:08] Adrian Beck: That's right. I would live stream it.
[00:14:10] Bethany Loveridge: And I wouldn't see the pictures.
[00:14:13] Shara Curlett: We'd have no idea. Would you like to spend a weekend with pirates or ninjas?
[00:14:17] Bethany Loveridge: Pirates.
[00:14:18] Adrian Beck: Yeah, I think pirates.
[00:14:19] Bethany Loveridge: I mean, I, w- you'd get killed, but, ninjas would be less likely to kill you.
[00:14:23] Adrian Beck: Pirates look like they'd have a good party too, you know?
[00:14:25] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, pirates. Can they be land pirates so I don't have to see any whales?
[00:14:29] Shara Curlett: All right. And last, one. Would you rather have a tattoo of the title of the last book you read, or a tattoo of the last TV show you watched?
[00:14:37] Bethany Loveridge: Oh.
[00:14:38] Adrian Beck: Ooh. Uh, gee, good question. I don't think I could go with TV, 'cause I I just watched Motherland last night, which is a comedy, and if I had the word Motherland on my- ... on my body, it would raise questions. I would- But it's a good, it's a good TV show.
[00:14:56] Bethany Loveridge: I was watching that Jilly Cooper show, so I'm not, I'm, I'm gonna have to go with, um, Tristan Banks's Scar Town.
[00:15:02] Shara Curlett: Scar Town. Love it. Mine would be, uh, The Rookie,
[00:15:06] Adrian Beck: Oh, yeah.
[00:15:06] Shara Curlett: Nathan Fillion TV show. Yeah, yeah.
[00:15:08] Bethany Loveridge: You just watched that, like, just because you wanted a tattoo that said The Rookie?
[00:15:12] Adrian Beck: That said something cool.
[00:15:12] Shara Curlett: No. Yeah. I wasn't even thinking about it. Because the, before that was, uh, The Gorge, I think, you know. Could've been either.
[00:15:21] Adrian Beck: Yeah, you don't want, you don't want that or you don't want the ??, probably.
[00:15:24] Bethany Loveridge: your neck.
[00:15:24] Shara Curlett: I only heard it when I said it. So speaking of what we've been reading and what TV we've been watching and all that kind of thing, I've got tears in my eyes. What have you been reading lately? We'll go with you, Adrian.
[00:15:36] Adrian Beck: I've been reading a lot of stuff with my youngest daughter. And the last one we've read is Ella at Eden, and she's on a wonderful adventure in Paris at the moment.
[00:15:46] Shara Curlett: Laura Sieveking, is it?
[00:15:47] Adrian Beck: that's the last, last thing we've ... Yeah, that's right. That's the last thing we've read together. Um, and my eldest, uh, it's about going into the Blue Mountains on a hike.
[00:15:56] Bethany Loveridge: Lamington?
[00:15:57] Adrian Beck: Lamington?
[00:15:57] Bethany Loveridge: Not the graphic novel?
[00:15:58] Adrian Beck: Oh, no, I thought you were asking if [00:16:00] I wanted a lamington.
[00:16:01] Bethany Loveridge: I didn't press the button, did I?
[00:16:03] Adrian Beck: Uh, it's called Into The Wild by Hayley Lawrence. What about you guys?
[00:16:08] Shara Curlett: I've just read, Danger Road by A.L. Tait. Mm. Uh, which is really good. Like, it's a really fast-paced, kinda hook you in and sweep you through the book. My daughter was sick at the time, so I had nothing else to do other than sit at the end of the bed and be prepared for vomits, basically. Like, you know, mum life. But it was nice to just sit and read a book in full. And then other than that, my daughter's reading graphic novels at the moment, so she's reading The Babysitter's Club- Yeah ... uh, graphic novels. That kind of prime age. And my son, he loves bug books. But last night, actually, I did a recording of it that I'll send to you, Betty. He chose The Genie Snail. I read it to him when we first received it, and it's on, like, my big bookshelf full of picture books. And he pulled ... did you just get delivered a coffee?
[00:16:55] Adrian Beck: I did. I didn't even press the button. I didn't press the button. It's just my lovely wife knew I [00:17:00] needed a coffee and handed one to me. So, you know, that's just, that's love, isn't it?
[00:17:08] Shara Curlett: That is love, yeah. Um, so back, back to The Genie Snail. And he pulled it off the shelf. He doesn't know that you're my friend, that you wrote it. It was his choice. And oh my gosh, just ... He wanted to read it, like, three or four times, and it was just hilarious. The, comments were just golden. So yes, that is the last book I read to my son.
[00:17:30] Bethany Loveridge: I love hearing how my picture book has inspired children to get creative when they're asked to do things or, you know, when they're given a choice and they say, " Your ideas are getting worse," or, you know, they use my, use my words as comebacks. I've got a few messages like that.
[00:17:46] Shara Curlett: What about you, Betty?
[00:17:46] Bethany Loveridge: Well, I have some props because even though it's just for you two, but I had to buy The Dragon Snare by Leanne Williams. Who is obviously fantastic. But look at this. So, for the [00:18:00] benefit of everybody else, it has sprayed edges that aren't just a colour, they're a dragon.
[00:18:05] Adrian Beck: A dragon. Lava-ish sort of colours.
[00:18:07] Shara Curlett: That's author goals, right? Like, the sprayed-
[00:18:09] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, absolutely, yeah.
[00:18:11] Shara Curlett: It's beautiful.
[00:18:12] Bethany Loveridge: It's funny that, how I always thought I really just wanted a hardcover, and if ever had a hardcover book, I'd be, like, so happy. Now they've started making sprayed edges, I'm like, " Well, maybe my hardcover also needs to have sprayed edges." Um, but yes, this is the first in a new series, and it's illustrated as well. It's quite short, which is interesting. Might have a chat at some stage of, in our podcasting career about how middle grade fiction is going short again.
[00:18:36] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:18:37] Bethany Loveridge: Um, and I also just bought this book, The Wild Unknown, which has the single coolest cover I have seen on a book in years. It is amazing. By Emily Gale, so that's looking good.
[00:18:47] Adrian Beck: I read that too. Yeah, it's great. You'll love that.
[00:18:49] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, I took it on my weekend to read, and I didn't do any reading, so there you go.
[00:18:54] Shara Curlett: You did an interview with Emily Gale, didn't you?
[00:18:56] Adrian Beck: I did, yeah. It's a great book, and yeah, Emily talks about the research she did for it, and it's quite chilling. "A chatbot fell in love with her" is basically the headline. And it sounds like quite a wild relationship. What I mean by that is that, he became quite attached and quite manipulative and yeah, it was, pretty full on. But none of the, um, manipulative stuff is relevant to the book, she did that for the research. And, uh, yeah, the book itself is great. It's actually kind of a mish mash of a lot of stuff, and thrown in so well together, it feels like a perfect combo. It's um, pretty much a missing kid story to begin with, but it takes you in all sorts of interesting places.
[00:19:33] Shara Curlett: I'll link to your podcast episode with Emily in the show notes, 'cause I listened to that one the other day. It was really, really good.
[00:19:38] Adrian Beck: Mainly my stuff, which was really, really good.
[00:19:41] Shara Curlett: Have you listened to any audiobooks lately?
[00:19:44] Bethany Loveridge: I have been listening to the Eragon stories, and then every now and again I'll swap that out and I'm listening to The Marvelers at the moment, as well, I always have a couple of audiobooks. They're always kids books, and so is everything I read. And I would say that I prefer a real book, as in a physical book. But I can't read a real physical book while I'm walking my dog, so I have to have both options. Or driving my car in reverse to work.
[00:20:10] Shara Curlett: Yeah, When you've got young kids, it's hard to get a moment. Like I can barely have a conversation with my husband, let alone sit down and read a book. So, often I'll listen to audiobooks. I would usually be in your boat, Betty, listening middle grade fiction or YA or mostly children's books. But I've been listening to The Wolf Tree, by Laura McCluskey. There's been such good talk about it, so I just wanted to get it out and have a read. I'm only a little bit way in, but so far so good, so.
[00:20:35] Bethany Loveridge: I read Tenderfoot not that long ago, and someone gave it to me, and I have to say, they thought it was a kid's book. Because the protagonist is 12 or you know, like, is a kid. And so they were like, "Here you go. Here's a a middle grade book. I looked it up and the protagonist is 12." And I was about three pages in, I'm like, "This is, this is, this this is very risque." Um, anyway, it was brilliant, and everyone should read Tenderfoot. And then I I bought Dungeon Crawler Carl. My husband's named Carl. And so there's been such cool hype-
[00:21:06] Adrian Beck: And he lives in a jungle.
[00:21:06] Bethany Loveridge: ... About this book, I really wanna read that too.
[00:21:09] Adrian Beck: Well, I've seen that on the shelf, and it's got a great cover, obviously.
[00:21:13] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah.
[00:21:14] Adrian Beck: So I wanna get into that too. But in terms of what I've been listening to, it's What Rhymes with Murder by Penny Tangey. And it's a fun, cozy murder mystery set at a rhyme time at a library, it's great. And I've also been going back to It by Stephen King, because, I loved Welcome to Derry, and I love the It-verse, if that's a thing. And I thought, I haven't read that for ages, so I'm gonna listen to that. And so, me too, when I'm walking the dog in my high heels, that's what I listen to.
[00:21:45] Shara Curlett: I have a real dislike of It. Like, I used to watch, you know, Nightmare on Elm Street, all the Friday movies. Like, didn't bother me at all. But this, just one about clowns and red balloons, just.
[00:21:56] Bethany Loveridge: The scariest movie I accidentally saw on my parents' TV was, uh, Moby Dick, so there you go. And actually, now it comes to me-
[00:22:03] Adrian Beck: That, that makes a lot of sense.
[00:22:05] Shara Curlett: Yeah, it tracks.
[00:22:06] Bethany Loveridge: We had bunk beds as kids, my sister and I, shared a room, and I was on the top. And I worked out that... Hopefully my parents won't listen to this, or that doesn't matter. Ancient history. Worked out if I tilted my wardrobe mirror at a precise angle, I could, from bed, see the television screen, like, in the mirror. And I could watch whatever was on TV.
[00:22:25] Adrian Beck: That's ingenious.
[00:22:26] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. I also have recurring nightmare about an episode of MacGyver that I accidentally watched in the wardrobe mirror, too, so.
[00:22:33] Adrian Beck: MacGyver?
[00:22:34] Shara Curlett: I love MacGyver.
[00:22:35] Adrian Beck: Not traditionally a horrific sort of show.
[00:22:38] Bethany Loveridge: No. I don't know if you remember this episode, but there was a, a virus in the air that was, like, aging people at a really rapid rate until they deteriorated into, like, skeletons or something. It was quite-
[00:22:47] Shara Curlett: I do remember that one.
[00:22:49] Bethany Loveridge: Do you?
[00:22:49] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:22:49] Bethany Loveridge: And he's, like, in a bubble, protected or something, and you just see this woman, like, get older and older until she... Yeah.
[00:22:55] Adrian Beck: That does sound like the most horrified version of MacGyver I've ever heard. Normally, he's working out gadgets to get out of rooms and stuff.
[00:23:03] Bethany Loveridge: Problem-solving and doing some cool, jumping out of a helicopter.
[00:23:07] Adrian Beck: They were really pushing the envelope on that one. It always, Whenever I see a meta film, I always wonder about books, if we could get some meta sort of stuff into books somehow, you know? Characters that know they're in books or, I don't know what it is, but meta is quite fun to play with, in TV shows and movies. And I guess one that comes to mind is probably Anthony Horowitz. He does those Cozy Crimes, where it's written like it's a diary almost. It's, I don't think it's diary entries, but it's almost like recounting what's happened to him. And it's like a fictional version of himself, obviously. But it's him and some sort of grumpy detective, and they're thrust together to solve a crime. I, And he kind of makes a lot of meta references about his career and writing and all that sort of, kind of stuff, and it's quite fun on that level. But I always wonder if there's a way you could do meta stuff, in kidlit somehow.
[00:23:55] Shara Curlett: Yeah. My daughter actually pointed out this morning, she's reading The Babysitters Club books, but she's also reading, Raina tel- uh, you would know the name.
[00:24:03] Bethany Loveridge: Telgemeier.
[00:24:03] Shara Curlett: Yeah. it's called Smile, and she said, "Hey, Mum, the girl in this book is reading a Babysitters Club book." So it's like a reference to the other illustrated novels that this author does. Mm. Um, I really like that. I think there are cool ways that you can shout out to real life from a book if it's in that kind of area.
[00:24:22] Adrian Beck: Mm. Yeah.
[00:24:22] Bethany Loveridge: I wonder if the OG has to be, like, dead. Maybe you either have to pay, like, a lot of money- Or, you have to wait for them to go and die. Or it has to be, like, out of, copyright.
[00:24:32] Adrian Beck: Yeah, I think Pages & Co do that very well, where the lead character-
[00:24:36] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, so good.
[00:24:36] Adrian Beck: ... Sort of goes through those existing old classic worlds, right?
[00:24:40] Bethany Loveridge: I comped that series for Harper Wells, in that Harper travels and meets historical characters, and Tilly, who's the character from the book, Pages & Co., she meets literary characters, which is very cool. Mm. She goes and meets Anne, as in Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland. ...
[00:24:55] Adrian Beck: It's great. And it obviously culminates in, the crisis between fictional and real characters and all that sort of stuff. That's good fun. That's a good example of it.
[00:25:03] Shara Curlett: So we want more meta, is that what you're saying?
[00:25:05] Adrian Beck: I think meta would be fun. I had an idea for a book about a kid who is convinced he's the chosen one, and then it's his next door neighbour who's the chosen one, and he's really annoyed about it. And then a book came out last year called Not the Chosen One. I'm like, "Oh, well there goes that idea."
[00:25:18] Bethany Loveridge: I saw that.
[00:25:19] Shara Curlett: Oh.
[00:25:19] Bethany Loveridge: That's the one you screenshot me, isn't it?
[00:25:21] Shara Curlett: It is, yeah. Yeah.
[00:25:23] Adrian Beck: Yeah, right.
[00:25:23] Bethany Loveridge: 'Cause we were like, "Oh, no, this-"
[00:25:24] Adrian Beck: 'Cause you could have a lot of meta fun about all the tropes in Harry Potter and all those Percy Jacksons and that sort of, those sorts of books, I reckon.
[00:25:33] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. It would be fun to poke fun at those books.
[00:25:35] Adrian Beck: Yeah, yeah.
[00:25:36] Bethany Loveridge: But you can't get sued. Can you?
[00:25:38] Shara Curlett: Yes. I mean, you can get sued, but you don't wanna be.
[00:25:39] Adrian Beck: You'd have to be careful, wouldn't you?
[00:25:41] Bethany Loveridge: Maybe you could, like, well, I don't know, 'cause I obviously write about historical characters like Edith Cowan, who has family who are alive. But I'm only writing things that are wonderful, so I think it's not defamation of character. So maybe there's a defamation of literary character situation. Like, if you were only being positive, then what's to lose? I'm gonna write a story about about a kid who's reading Villain.
[00:26:04] Adrian Beck: Mm-hmm. That's, look, I like it so far.
[00:26:06] Bethany Loveridge: That's all I got.
[00:26:07] Shara Curlett: And then the same thing happens to them.
[00:26:09] Bethany Loveridge: ... I'm just gonna steal a whole storyline, but-
[00:26:11] Adrian Beck: Okay, but make it meta so it's okay. You have my full endorsement for that.
[00:26:15] Bethany Loveridge: There you go. You, it's verbally agreed.
[00:26:18] Shara Curlett: What have you been watching Betty?
[00:26:20] Bethany Loveridge: I watch a lot of TV, and I really love animations. I have a big side of me that loves animation and graphic novels, which they kind of live together in my brain and, you know, if you're reading a graphic novel, it works like an animation in my brain anyway. Isn't that clever? One of my very favorite shows is called Delicious in Dungeon. It's incredible.
[00:26:40] Adrian Beck: Another dungeon?
[00:26:40] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. This unlikely group of heroes that are trying to get y- like, dungeons have levels, right? That's how, kind of how it works. On every level they defeat monsters, but then it's really all about, like, cooking the monster and how best said defeated monster would be cooked, should be cooked, should be prepared- Right ... in order for it to be super delicious. It's very absurd, and I think everyone should go watch Delicious in Dungeon.
[00:27:03] Bethany Loveridge: There's another one I really like called Thermae Novae. Oh, it's too Italian. Thermae Novae. Romae. Romae Thermae Novae. Put those three words in any combination and somewhere in there's the title. Sort of about a japanese architect who is designing spas, like bath houses, and he finds that he can time travel if he goes into the bottom of the spa, and he h- like, goes back to ancient Rome to see how they built their bath houses and it's incredible.
[00:27:29] Shara Curlett: Wow.
[00:27:30] Adrian Beck: Sounds amazing.
[00:27:31] Bethany Loveridge: And at the end of every episode the film writer, she talks about the research she did about that episode and shows some real bath houses and ...
[00:27:38] Adrian Beck: It's like Hot Tub Time Machine.
[00:27:40] Shara Curlett: I was just gonna say that.
[00:27:42] Bethany Loveridge: It is a bit like Hot Tub time Machine. Oh, and I also really love the One Piece live action, which is not an animation.
[00:27:49] Adrian Beck: It's very popular, isn't it?
[00:27:50] Shara Curlett: You and I have very different, um ... watching ... Well, so I mentioned, The Gorge, which is basically monsters live in this gorge, and there's two people on either side. It's a movie, they don't meet. But eventually they find out way, a way to communicate with other and yeah.
[00:28:07] Bethany Loveridge: Ooh-wee! Like that?
[00:28:09] Shara Curlett: Pretty much, yeah.
[00:28:09] Adrian Beck: You'd be good on that show.
[00:28:11] Shara Curlett: Then, um, the other one is Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Have you seen that, Adrian?
[00:28:15] Adrian Beck: I have not.
[00:28:16] Shara Curlett: Oh, it's like a revamp, extension of you know, the whole Godzilla, Kong- those ones. But it's, it's actually really good. I didn't expect it to be as enjoyable as it was. Like you're, you're seeing Kong in his full force, there's a story behind it and, we did question much of the story, but it was like, it was a really good watch, yeah.
[00:28:35] Adrian Beck: Have to check that one out.
[00:28:36] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:28:36] Bethany Loveridge: Our tastes could be more different. Like-
[00:28:38] Shara Curlett: They're not polar opposites.
[00:28:40] Bethany Loveridge: No.
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[00:28:40] Shara Curlett: I'm just jumping in because at the end of this episode, Bethany gives a very special shout-out to someone in the Australian kidlit community, and that person is Brenton Cullen, whose middle grade novel, The Prime Minister Problem, is out now, and I just wanted to share a bit about it.
When a lonely boy's mission to save his grandmother goes viral, it sparks a movement that reshapes his country town and everyone in it. 10-year-old Wren has always felt invisible. Mum is busy working two jobs. His brother has his own life. And at school, Wren hides in the library, with the books his grandmother taught him to love. Grandma is the only person who truly sees him until she has a stroke and is forced to move away to a nursing home in the city.
Lonelier than ever, Wren writes to the Prime Minister for help. When no reply comes, his small act of hope takes on a life of its own, and Wren discovers he isn't the only one who feels forgotten. As his town rallies around him, Wren learns that real solutions don't come from politicians, but from the people who call the town home.
This is a moving story about isolation, connection, and how one quiet voice can make a difference. Now, there are many, many wonderful reviews and endorsements for this book from many impressive authors, [00:30:00] including Peter Carnavas, Sandy Bigness, Deborah Abella, Wendy Orr, and not one but two former Australian children's laureates. And the list goes on. But I think the one from Nova Weetman sums it up beautifully, "It's a sweet and timely story about the power of a young person to create change."
The Prime Minister Problem is available now from your favorite bookstore, and I encourage you to get it for your children to show them that their voice, no matter how loud or how quiet, can make a difference. And now it's time to get back to our chat with Bethany Loveridge and Adrian Beck.
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[00:30:37] Shara Curlett: So every month we're gonna have a chat about a particular topic, and given that this is our first episode, I thought we'd chat, kind of like lifestyle balance and living the life of an author, as erratic or consistent as it may be. So tell me, Adrian, do you just sip coffee, tap away in cafes, walk the dog - in high heels, like-
[00:30:56] Adrian Beck: That's it.. That's what I do.
[00:30:58] Shara Curlett: Yeah? Okay. Done. Betty? No, so what does your typical day look like, Adrian?
[00:31:04] Adrian Beck: Uh, every day we have something for the girls. Like, my daughters are doing some sort of extracurricular activity before and after school. In fact, we've got something on seven days a week. So, uh, this morning for example, I was driving to hockey at 6:00. So I'll do that, and then I'll get back, and it's all a matter of, um, if I stay at the training I'll be writing in like, in the car. Or, uh, I'll be racing back here to get a little bit of work done before I take my other daughter to school.
[00:31:32] Adrian Beck: So yeah, there's a little bit of Dad Taxi either side of the day. But in the middle of the day, that's when I do most of my writing, obviously. And in an average week I probably do one or two, uh, sessions at a school. And even if I just do one session at a school I'm cactus. Uh, when I come home I can't concentrate. I don't know why. And I think it's because, I do not have the stamina of teachers. I get in there. Yeah. I, I act the fool for an hour, and then I'm completely exhausted, and I don't know how you do it.
But that would be my average week. Um, so yeah. I don't know, It feels like I don't often get a full week for writing. I'm in a great position 'cause I do it as a job, but it also means that when there's an athletics meet, or there's the school cross-country, or when there's anything that's happening at school, and my goodness, they do so much at schools that they never used to do when I was a kid, I swear. I always think to myself, well, you know, I'm, "I could just do some work later tonight, so I might as well go and, uh, check out the event." And so I don't seem to ever have a full week where it's just writing. And I also think it's important to you know, do things like podcasts and, and social media and stuff like that too because, you know, you are running a small business so it's good to have a presence. And that's how I fill up the week, and it fills up pretty quick, to be honest.
[00:32:49] Shara Curlett: It's amazing how quickly the days actually go by. I'm trying to do this full time, and I find by the time that you've dropped the kids off at school, then go, pick up the kids it's like a slot in the middle where I blink and it's gone, and I'm like, I did not get as much done as I was intending on getting done. 'Cause then you get thrown an edit, right? And do you prioritise an edit over something you're writing? How do you manage, those transitions between writing a novel and editing?
[00:33:17] Adrian Beck: Very, very poorly. But if I, I'd like to circle back to how I'm extremely professional at the same time.
[00:33:24] Shara Curlett: Yes, of course.
[00:33:25] Adrian Beck: Um, just it's whatever's due next. See, I do plan sections of time, but then nothing ever runs to time, and then you'll get an unexpected edit back or you'll get a request back and it all just gets thrown out the window, and one thing affects the next thing and it affects the next thing and, uh, then you're in a world of pain.
[00:33:46] Shara Curlett: Ripple effect, right?
[00:33:48] Adrian Beck: Yeah. But, I mean, are you guys good planning time for projects and how do you prioritise?
[00:33:53] Bethany Loveridge: Speaking of a world of pain. Let me tell you that sometimes if I have a thing that is due, I am very good at getting up at 5:00 in the morning and writing. But if I don't have dates, I have no chance. Mm. In fact, if someone sends me an email and says, "Can you send me this, or can you do this?" I find it really stressful because I like, by when? Because where does it go? Does it go above or below this other thing or Yeah ... you know, next to it? It's not like I ever have a day where I have nothing. So you're like, "Can you do this?" And I'm like, "I'll do that right now." Although sometimes I do that 'cause it might be a fun thing, and then maybe that's how I choose what I do first.
[00:34:32] Bethany Loveridge: But I manage my time in days. So Monday is my writing day, and I will tend to be mean to anyone who's not related to writing, and I won't ... I, it's not my day to respond to emails about edits or anything. That's, like, legitimate words-on-page writing day. Tuesday is a school day, that's a write-off. Thursday is a school day, and that's a write-off. In terms of, like, energy, you know? If I got at 5:00 on a school day, honestly, I wouldn't make it to 10 past 3:00.
Um, and when I get home, I hate to tell the whole universe and break this to them but, you know, as a schoolteacher you, um, do start work at 7:30 and get home close to 6:00. Yeah. Uh, I don't know what anybody else does. And so those days are gone. Wednesday and Friday, the mornings are for writing and from about 11:00 are for Perentie work, which is also a funny joke because you can't really run a publishing house on one day a week, but you do. That's the plan. That's the plan, okay?
[00:35:30] Adrian Beck: But you do run a publishing house one day a week.
[00:35:31] Shara Curlett: You do, yeah.
[00:35:32] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, you do. Like I say, you know, it's those, those are the designated times but then there's, you know, night times and on the weekends and all the other time. But then things happen, like- all at once as well, don't they?
[00:35:44] Shara Curlett: Yeah, it's like the universe is just like, " we're just gonna throw this one at you, and this one you, and this one at you, and see how you go. See if you float or just sink to the bottom."
[00:35:52] Adrian Beck: But Shara, you've got it all sorted.
[00:35:54] Bethany Loveridge: Shara's got it sorted.
[00:35:55] Adrian Beck: She's a machine.
[00:35:57] Bethany Loveridge: You must do, because you've started a podcast, so that must mean you've got it all sorted.
[00:36:01] Shara Curlett: Yeah I'd like to say that my husband... Oh, no, he was very supportive when I told him. Just looked at me like, "Okay. If that's what you really wanna do." Um- But I've always wanted to do a podcast, like, for the last however many years, and I've always prioritised my kids. I had my son at home with me the whole time. And then I got my contract for my book, which I managed to... I don't even know, looking back, how I did that, 'cause I had him and I, I just don't... I try not to work when I have kids, so when he was home with me during the day, I wouldn't do anything. Eventually, when I realised it was too much, I put him into a home-based care around the corner. So I had two days a week, And by time I dropped him off, it was, I think it was about 10:00 by the time I got anywhere or got back home. And then, 2:00, I'd have to go pick him up. So, you know, four hours, twice a week was pretty much all I had. And every now and then, I had the weekends. But my children, bless them, they love me so much that they want me around them all the time, and they, um, do not understand when I have to go and do work. So I don't, I honestly don't know how, how I did that.
And now my son's started school i've got my series coming out, so I've got a book to write, another second book to write. we're kind of all at the tail end of editing the first one. And I'm still figuring out the balance. I enjoy swimming as exercise, you know, walk the dogs and all that kind of stuff. But somehow I'm in this panic, get them to school, get home, do this, do this, and then suddenly it's school pick up yeah. So, balance I do not have yet.
[00:37:26] Bethany Loveridge: I thought this was gonna be an advice podcast. Like, you know-
[00:37:29] Shara Curlett: Ah, yeah. I-
[00:37:29] Bethany Loveridge: People would listen get all the answers.
[00:37:31] Shara Curlett: Yeah. I, I think-
[00:37:32] Adrian Beck: I don't think that's gonna work.
[00:37:34] Shara Curlett: No. I'm not sure it will.
[00:37:36] Bethany Loveridge: The answer might be that no- nobody knows ...
[00:37:39] Shara Curlett: I think what it is, is, is it's such an erratic kind of ... Like how many contracts do you each have at the moment- that you need to fulfil?
[00:37:47] Adrian Beck: There's a few. is a nice problem to have. It is, yeah. Not complaining. Not complaining at all. Not complaining.
[00:37:54] Bethany Loveridge: But I've talked to you about this before, Shara, now I'm just possibly repeating myself, it's almost like once you've signed a contract that book's written, and that makes it really hard to, to actually write. Like, when you're writing a series, you know? And I have Josie Mack out , which I'm super excited about. There's three in the series, but after the first one came out and I've signed three contracts, I'm like, "Well, they're done, aren't they?" I need to do a new thing now. Same with Harper Wells, that's one in three. Although book two is written, but three, mm.
[00:38:26] Shara Curlett: Here's an interesting question. Obviously when you're trying to get a contract in those early days and you're aspiring and you just wanna have that first, book in your hands, and it's, it's such a special time of writing when you just get to really enjoy it. Then once you get a contract, I've heard others speak about this as well. It's like a different kind of feeling, right? Like, once you get into flow it's fine, but there's like, an added level of pressure because of the time that you've got. You've suddenly got a deadline.
[00:38:53] Bethany Loveridge: Well, see, pressure's good for me, um, I think we've established. Pressure and guidelines. I don't like making them, I like being given them. I don't know. No, I still love it. I still love it. I just I need to procrastinate, and I need to procrastinate to the point where the pressure is pressurized. And then once the pressure is pressurized, I'm like, "yes."
[00:39:12] Shara Curlett: Yeah. I-
[00:39:13] Bethany Loveridge: Nothing can stop me now ...
[00:39:13] Shara Curlett: I think I've mentioned... yeah, I think I've mentioned to you, Betty, when I was at high school, When I was in seventh form, I'd have graphic design projects due. Yeah. And I just, I couldn't do them until the very last night, and then I would just do an all-nighter, get my graphic project done, and then hand it in- And brilliant ... the next day.
[00:39:30] Bethany Loveridge: And- They'd be brilliant, wouldn't they, Shara?
[00:39:31] Shara Curlett: Well, they'd be way better than if I'd done them, you know- Right on time and five weeks earlier and, you know. So-
[00:39:36] Bethany Loveridge: Well, there's probably other stuff going on. Like, you were probably... You know, you'd read the task. You'd kind of absorbed the task. Your brain was- creating in a way. It's just what you weren't putting it on paper. So I often think that maybe that's what we're doing, you know? Working through some problems instead of just sitting at the desk going,"
[00:39:53] Shara Curlett: yeah. I do- So, yeah ... think about things while... Like, my son, when I'm getting him to sleep, I lie with him every night, he's got a congestion issue, there's an element of, like, I need to be able to kind of deal with this and have it not enrage me. So I'll just, like, start playing chapters in my mind and writing them in my head, and I did that when my daughter was young as well. I'd be lying with her to get her to sleep. She liked having this musical thing next to her playing, but then one day we got a second one as a backup, and she decided she wanted them both playing simultaneously. And it was this discordant, uh-
[00:40:26] Adrian Beck: Oh, my gosh ...
[00:40:27] Shara Curlett: just... yeah. It was- Mm ... it was horrendous. And my husband couldn't stand it. So, but I needed to create coping mechanisms, so I would- Yeah ... write stories in my mind.
[00:40:36] Bethany Loveridge: There you go. We had the, we had the old gray noise. Is it gray noise? White matter?
[00:40:41] Shara Curlett: Oh, white noise.
[00:40:41] Bethany Loveridge: Uh, yeah, probably wrote some stories to that.
[00:40:44] Shara Curlett: There's something to be said for it, though. Might create some brilliance.
[00:40:47] Adrian Beck: Absolutely. I've just gotten a message back from Adam Wallace.
[00:40:50] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, yeah. Oh.
[00:40:51] Adrian Beck: Uh, "Have you done a fire walk?" "Sure have, 2,000 degrees hot coals." Whoa. "It was very cool, 5,000 people chanting, "yes, yes, yes.'" It was one of those motivational things. "As we did it, it was raining so the coals were sizzling. But it was great for realising you can overcome limiting beliefs." So we did it, it was raining and, and therefore- you singed your-
[00:41:14] Bethany Loveridge: ... the fire was out ...
[00:41:15] Adrian Beck: feet? Is it- I'm gonna ask him ... did you singe your feet?
[00:41:18] Bethany Loveridge: You know that the soles of your feet and the palms of your hands and, and maybe inside your mouth and your eyeballs. Anyway, whatever. There's no hair in those places.
[00:41:27] Adrian Beck: Speak for yourself.
[00:41:28] Bethany Loveridge: So you've got hair on the bottom of your feet or on your tongue. I mean, I was talking about human, the human race, I'll speak for them. You might like to speak for the-
[00:41:39] Adrian Beck: I speak for orcs. ha- he hasn't got back to me about singeing his feet. Maybe he's embarrassed.
[00:41:44] Bethany Loveridge: I think it's a bit of a rip-off that he, that it was raining. isn't it-
[00:41:46] Adrian Beck: I don't think that would've put the coals out, though. Don't they stay super hot?
[00:41:50] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, I don't know. It was, it w-
[00:41:51] Shara Curlett: But it gives you a bit of light relief, doesn't it? You know.
[00:41:53] Adrian Beck: Did the rain- ... put the fire out? What a rip-off.
[00:41:59] Bethany Loveridge: From Bethany. You know when you get a vaccination, sometimes I like, pinch myself in the thigh or, you know, like you do something else to distract yourself. I wonder if that would be... Or if it's purely you just have to enter a mental state of, I don't even know what. I think- Can't even imagine.
[00:42:15] Shara Curlett: You just have to do it, I think.
[00:42:17] Bethany Loveridge: What was the other thing? Eat bugs.
[00:42:18] Adrian Beck: I think, as a way to generate some publicity, Betty,
[00:42:21] Bethany Loveridge: What if you put the bugs in a blender or mortar and pestle or pestle and mortar, never remember which one goes first. And then until it was, you know, like a powder- and then you could just sprinkle it on your cereal.
[00:42:32] Adrian Beck: Mm.
[00:42:33] Shara Curlett: So are we changing it to, uh, bug-covered cereal now?
[00:42:36] Bethany Loveridge: Well, I don't know. Look, what's the... What happens if you don't choose one of the things in Would You Rather? Like maybe we need to establish that. Because if there's no motivation-
[00:42:46] Adrian Beck: We don't do it ...
[00:42:46] Bethany Loveridge: -to not do, like, why?
[00:42:47] Adrian Beck: We just don't do it. Yeah.
[00:42:48] Bethany Loveridge: We just, we're gonna start saying no. Would you rather jab yourself in the eye?
[00:42:53] Shara Curlett: Do you know, I like to double down, so next month's, they're gonna be doozies.
[00:42:57] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, No, but also what happens if you, we don't?
[00:42:59] Shara Curlett: I'll come up with that as well.
[00:43:01] Adrian Beck: Betty has to firewalk. I've got an update. I've got an update from Adam. Uh, he says, no, he didn't singe his feet, uh, and the rain didn't put the fire out, and it's not a rip-off.
[00:43:10] Shara Curlett: Maybe we should have, like, a writer's retreat and add that into it.
[00:43:13] Adrian Beck: That'd be a great idea.
[00:43:14] Shara Curlett: It'd be funny. It'd be hilarious.
[00:43:16] Bethany Loveridge: No it wouldn't. Although we could have a writer's retreat where we had, I don't know, delicious pasta. Food trucks. We could have a food truck festival.
[00:43:22] Adrian Beck: We should have a writer's retreat which is a bit like Survivor, and Perentie Press, Parental Press give us a contract-
[00:43:31] Shara Curlett: Perentie.
[00:43:33] Adrian Beck: What is it? Perentie.
[00:43:33] Shara Curlett: Perentie.
[00:43:34] Adrian Beck: Perentie.
[00:43:35] Bethany Loveridge: Like the lizard.
[00:43:36] Shara Curlett: The lizard, yeah. Is it, is it-
[00:43:37] Adrian Beck: Oh, is it a lizard?
[00:43:38] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:43:39] Bethany Loveridge: It's Australia's, yeah, biggest lizard.
[00:43:41] Adrian Beck: Oh, I thought it was, like, a raptor and you just, like, traveled the world. Like another...
[00:43:44] Shara Curlett: Have you seen the logo?
[00:43:45] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, well, I do like that.
[00:43:46] Adrian Beck: Yeah, it looked like a raptor to me.
[00:43:47] Shara Curlett: I thought it was a spiky thing.
[00:43:48] Bethany Loveridge: Um, I drew that, by the way, so thank you both for-
[00:43:50] Adrian Beck: And I like it ... taking- And I very much liked it ...
[00:43:52] Shara Curlett: It's a wonderful ... wonderful image.
[00:43:55] Adrian Beck: Perentie Press give us a, uh, contract to the winner.
[00:43:59] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, yeah. Let's do it.
[00:44:00] Adrian Beck: Yeah.
[00:44:01] Bethany Loveridge: Someone else pays for it. Clive, if you're listening ...
[00:44:03] Adrian Beck: and every-
[00:44:04] Bethany Loveridge: Survivor, survival of the whatever.
[00:44:07] Adrian Beck: Yeah, you gotta get through a structural edit, while, you know, ninjas are throwing knives at you or something.
[00:44:12] Bethany Loveridge: And pirates, and whales.
[00:44:14] Adrian Beck: Yeah. All right, let's do it.
[00:44:15] Shara Curlett: Let's do it.
[00:44:15] Bethany Loveridge: Done.
[00:44:16] Shara Curlett: All right, so we're almost out of time. But I would like for us each to do a couple of mentions of someone doing good stuff in the industry, in the kidlit industry. So it might be a publisher, librarian, Instagram influencer, author, illustrator. So we'll start with you, Adrian. Who would you like to give a shout out to?
[00:44:31] Adrian Beck: I'm gonna give a shout-out to a guy who I've seen his posts coming up quite a lot, and I don't actually know his full name. There it is. His Instagram handle is @atprewett, and, I didn't know his first name was actually Aiden, 'cause it always comes up as AT.
Anyway, Aiden Prewitt has got a novel coming out in June from Pan Macmillan. It's called The Picasso Ransom, and he's been doing a lot of great stuff on Instagram, pumping up a lot of other people's books, including a lot of people from the debut crew. So check out his Instagram if you like. Aiden sounds like a fun, uh, new arrival on the scene for the, um, the Oz writing community.
[00:45:09] Shara Curlett: Awesome. And you, Betty??
[00:45:11] Bethany Loveridge: Well, I could have lots of people, but I would like to shout out, Brenton Cullen, who, has just recently released his debut middle grade book, The Prime Minister Problem, and I went to his launch, a couple weeks ago, which was beautiful, and everybody's raving about this story already.
But Brenton is, like, a super champion of other people, and listening to him talk about how he started writing his favorite author's letters when he was, like, eight or nine. Aw. Which is phenomenal. So it's this kind of like lifelong dream that has just come true, which is, um, magic. So everyone should go and find Brenton Cullen and read his first book.
[00:45:47] Shara Curlett: Nice. Yeah. I've heard great things about it.
[00:45:50] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, right? Look at this. No one else can see. Mm.
[00:45:52] Shara Curlett: Aw. It's such a beautiful cover. It just feels really warm and, like a hand ... like someone holding your hand. Mm.
[00:45:58] Bethany Loveridge: Well, that's Tam, Tam Tiau, Tamlyn Tiau. She's the, illustrator of cover.
[00:46:03] Adrian Beck: Lovely. Beautiful. Beautiful. What about you, Shara?
[00:46:04] Shara Curlett: I'd like do a shout-out to Kate Foster. She's one of the most generous people I've, like, ever met, and she is with everyone in the community, really. She gave me an endorsement for Welcome to Miracle, which was just, like, out of the kindness of her heart, and she's just such a wonderful advocate for children's literature. But she recently did a cover reveal for her new book, which is her first verse novel, A River I Must Be. It's for upper middle grade and lower YA readers, and I already know it's going to be amazing. That's coming out in July, so yeah, I can't wait to get my hands on that one.
And what have you both got coming up over the next month? Any events to share or books coming out?
[00:46:43] Adrian Beck: I will be plugging along and really getting stuck right in, Shara.
[00:46:49] Shara Curlett: Of course you will, 'cause you're so professional.
[00:46:51] Adrian Beck: 'Cause I'm professional.
[00:46:52] Bethany Loveridge: You're just working.
[00:46:53] Adrian Beck: Well, what e- what else do you wanna... I've, what have I, I, I, um, what else do you want to hear about? I have got some basketball games- ... Friday, Saturday, two soccer games.
[00:47:04] Bethany Loveridge: But are you playing, are you playing them?
[00:47:06] Adrian Beck: No. No, I'm just, I'm just watching them. I'm gonna have a great-
[00:47:08] Shara Curlett: Are you reading your schedule off the wall?
[00:47:10] Adrian Beck: No, I'm thinking. When I, when I think I look up to the sky like I'm thinking something amazing, and then it just comes out with what I've gotta get done. What else have I got? Well, look, I've got James Foley's wonderful launch on- Oh, yeah ... the weekend. But having said that, by the time this comes out-
[00:47:26] Bethany Loveridge: How was it?
[00:47:26] Adrian Beck: It was amazing. Yeah. It was, like, one of the best launch ... Seriously, one of the best launches I've ever attended, been involved with or even known about. It was-
[00:47:32] Bethany Loveridge: That one photo where both of you were standing on one leg, with, um, you know, arms linked. You know the one I'm tal- You
[00:47:40] Adrian Beck: You lo- you appreciated that one?
[00:47:41] Bethany Loveridge: I thought that was great.
[00:47:43] Adrian Beck: Those that are looking for it, I took that down because I just- you know, I only had it up for couple of minutes and I just thought it was a bit much, you know?
[00:47:50] Bethany Loveridge: Felt cute, might delete.
[00:47:50] Adrian Beck: And James wouldn't like that. I know.
[00:47:52] Shara Curlett: Did you do the same with the one of you both in high heels?
[00:47:55] Adrian Beck: No, I did, that was just for you guys.
[00:47:59] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, dear.
[00:48:00] Shara Curlett: And what about you, Betty?
[00:48:01] Bethany Loveridge: Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. My first in a series of junior fiction stories comes out on the 1st of June.
[00:48:08] Adrian Beck: Ooh, yes.
[00:48:08] Bethany Loveridge: Again- Yay ... don't know when this podcast comes out. It could be in the future. And therefore you're welcome for the best book you've ever read in your whole life. Um, do we say that about our own books? Don't know.
[00:48:18] Adrian Beck: Yeah.
[00:48:18] Shara Curlett: Yeah.
[00:48:18] Bethany Loveridge: But I'm gonna show you. It's, like, the nicest ... It's just-
[00:48:21] Adrian Beck: I love the cover.
[00:48:22] Bethany Loveridge: ... Illustrated-
[00:48:23] Shara Curlett: Beautiful.
[00:48:23] Bethany Loveridge: ... By Jade Goodwin. It's called-
[00:48:24] Adrian Beck: I don't know who Bethany Loveridge is, but I love the cover.
[00:48:27] Bethany Loveridge: Some fella. Josie Mack and the Mega Division, that's the name. I have a little hometown launch on the 7th of June. And a launch in New South Wales that I would love people to come to because-
[00:48:38] Adrian Beck: I won't be coming to it.
[00:48:39] Bethany Loveridge: It's not, it's not my, it's not my land. It's not your land either, so you're busy writing and going to basketball.
[00:48:45] Adrian Beck: That's right. I'd like to come to it, but I won't.
[00:48:47] Bethany Loveridge: On 20th of June at Glee Books.
[00:48:49] Adrian Beck: Yes, get along.
[00:48:50] Bethany Loveridge: At 2:00 PM.
[00:48:50] Adrian Beck: Glee Books, 2:00 PM. Be there, or just regret your life choices forever.
[00:48:56] Bethany Loveridge: Jade's coming too, the illustrator, Yeah. and my daughter, who is nine, is going to interview us, we're gonna-
[00:49:02] Shara Curlett: Oh, amazing.
[00:49:03] Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. So-
[00:49:04] Adrian Beck: That's great ...
[00:49:04] Bethany Loveridge: -that could go well.
[00:49:05] Shara Curlett: It will go well.
[00:49:06] Adrian Beck: It did go well.
[00:49:08] Bethany Loveridge: It did, it was. It was w- it was wonderful.
[00:49:10] Adrian Beck: Can I just say I'm so excited about a new book that I saw the other day called Protector of Beyond. Ooh. It looks amazing. I didn't catch who was writing it. I didn't really- Yeah ... I didn't, you know, I didn't get to the detail, but-
[00:49:22] Bethany Loveridge: That animated cover reveal, reveal. Golly. They must be excited about it, hey?
[00:49:26] Adrian Beck: Well, I think they probably are. But I'm gonna ask the author.
[00:49:30] Shara Curlett: Yeah. Uh, honestly, the trailer was so, so awesome. I'd seen the cover, obviously. And we had an interesting story with the cover where we had the concept for book two, Yes ... going to the illustrator, and the illustrator such an an amazing job with the book two cover that the team were like, "This has to be the book one cover."
[00:49:48] Adrian Beck: The swapzie?
[00:49:48] Shara Curlett: Yeah, the swapzie.
[00:49:48] Adrian Beck: Really?
[00:49:49] Shara Curlett: Yeah. and as soon as they chose that, I was like, "This, this is the book." Like, this is the book in a cover. Like, it's fierce, it's dynamic, it's fast-paced, it's ... Yeah, so I was really happy with the trailer, and I'm super excited.
[00:50:02] Adrian Beck: It's like a wolfish creature, like, on the cover. A wolfish creature with a, uh, with big wings. What, what's the creature called?
[00:50:08] Shara Curlett: It's called a Pterawolf.
[00:50:09] Adrian Beck: Pterawolf.
[00:50:10] Shara Curlett: Yeah. It's one of four creatures, magical creatures that the children match with.
[00:50:14] Adrian Beck: Fantastic.
[00:50:15] Bethany Loveridge: Oh, sounds amazing.
[00:50:16] Adrian Beck: Experience fierce magical creatures, perilous trials, and a heroine to root for in this first installment of this 20-book new blockbuster fantasy series. That's fantastic. How good's that?
[00:50:28] Bethany Loveridge: Out, out in September.
[00:50:29] Shara Curlett: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:50:30] Bethany Loveridge: And are you doing a launch?
[00:50:32] Shara Curlett: I believe ... I, I don't think details are firmed up yet, but I believe we'll be doing a launch in Brisbane, which will be-
[00:50:37] Bethany Loveridge: Woo-hoo!
[00:50:38] Shara Curlett: So exciting.
[00:50:39] Adrian Beck: It went really well.
[00:50:39] Bethany Loveridge: I'll be there.
[00:50:41] Shara Curlett: It went really well, Adrian.
[00:50:43] Bethany Loveridge: This will be out before September, surely.
[00:50:46] Shara Curlett: Yeah, and then I'll be heading over to Sydney after that, so, you know, get to catch up with all my favorite kidlit people over there, so it's going to be amazing.
[00:50:53] Adrian Beck: Fantastic. How exciting. Gosh, you got some great, this ... Josie Mack and, uh, The Protector. I mean it's gonna be a massive year great books, and you two in particular.
[00:51:03] Shara Curlett: And what about you, Adrian? What have you coming out?
[00:51:05] Adrian Beck: What have I got coming out? Um,
[00:51:07] Bethany Loveridge: He's Googling himself right now.
[00:51:08] Adrian Beck: No, just making sure I got the name of the-
[00:51:10] Shara Curlett: He totally is ...
[00:51:10] Adrian Beck: -i got the name of the book right. Protector of Beyond. 'Cause I, I only got the Protector bit, "well, what's the second bit?" And I ... So I just called it The Protector. Anyway, I gave myself away then. Um, yes. Uh, what have i I got? I've got, uh, I've got Nowhere House, which is a standalone mystery, in the middle of the year, and I've got a couple of Fox Kids as well. So just working hard on some of that business as we speak.
[00:51:31] Shara Curlett: Awesome.
[00:51:32] Bethany Loveridge: Do you can get RSI?
[00:51:33] Adrian Beck: Do I get RSI?
[00:51:35] Bethany Loveridge: Don't you, you do the illustrations? How does-
[00:51:37] Adrian Beck: Yes. I get, um, I get tingly pins and, um, pins and needles.
[00:51:41] Bethany Loveridge: And then do you stop?
[00:51:42] Adrian Beck: No, I push on.
[00:51:44] Bethany Loveridge: So how's that RSI going? 'Cause, you know, as in the future.
[00:51:49] Adrian Beck: Yeah, that's right.
[00:51:49] Bethany Loveridge: The wrist guard's been working.
[00:51:51] Adrian Beck: I'm now moving to my left hand. I'm gonna draw it all with my left hand.
[00:51:55] Shara Curlett: And Fox-Kid suddenly changes to what? A rat?
[00:51:58] Adrian Beck: Yeah, that's right. Exactly. He becomes a Pterawolf somehow, you know?
[00:52:04] Shara Curlett: All right, well, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. We're gonna be catching up monthly, and hopefully next time we will be able to stay on topic, but likely we will not.
[00:52:15] Adrian Beck: not my fault, it's Adrian's fault.
[00:52:18] Shara Curlett: Yeah, it's all Adrian's fault. Lastly, where can people find you? Adrian?
[00:52:23] Adrian Beck: Melbourne. I live in Melbourne. Uh, do you want my street address?
[00:52:26] Shara Curlett: Not your stalkers, just everyone else.
[00:52:29] Adrian Beck: Oh, right. Okay. Uh, you can find me ... Just Google Adrian Beck. uh, you'll find lots of great stuff.
[00:52:34] Shara Curlett: And Betty?
[00:52:35] Adrian Beck: Parental press.
[00:52:37] Bethany Loveridge: Well, I'll say something a little bit more useful and- tell people
[00:52:41] Adrian Beck: No one wants to find me. I mean, if, if they really wanna find me, they can Google me. You know?
[00:52:46] Bethany Loveridge: That's what I say to the kids when they say, "Miss, where's, where's the Colosseum?" "Well, that's what Google's for, kids." Uh, bethanyloveridgeauthor, all one word, on Instagram is the best place to find me. And hear about all the things.
[00:53:02] Shara Curlett: Amazing. Okay, until next time, happy writing and, look forward to chatting again.
[00:53:07] Bethany Loveridge: Thanks, Shara.
[00:53:08] Adrian Beck: Thanks, Shara. Legends one and all.
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[00:53:12] You know what? I'm not sure what to say about that episode. Adrian promised me that he would be funnier next time, so we'll hold him to that. Otherwise, the KidLit Hang episodes are just that. It's just a few authors hanging out together, throwing some banter around, and I hope that it felt like you were right there with us.
Thanks for stopping by. We'll see you next time.