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Today's guest piece for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, about the way in which people won't help others in China.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/05/07/help-who-helps-people/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Like all of us Sally Wise loves a sweet treat, at the end of the day, in the middle of the afternoon - or any other time. Here she has drawn on her talents as an everyday cook and a mother of six, including one child with coeliac disease, to create a book of delicious treats from old fashioned custards and puddings to tarts and slices, from cookies and biscuits to cakes of all sizes and varieties, from fruit pies to confectionary. These are recipes which can be enjoyed by everyone, even if they are watching their weight, they can be made without sugar or eggs and still come up tasting fabulous.
Sally Wise is the bestselling author of A Year in a Bottle and Slow Cooker. She is a regular guest on ABC Local Radio in Tasmania, and often holds cooking demonstrations at Gardening Australia Expos and community events. Sally loves to share the cooking experience and has taught children and adults of all ages. She is also passionate about seasonal produce and creating exciting flavours from natural, readily available ingredients.
You can find out more about Sally, and read some of her amazing recipes at:
I spent this interview trying not to drool into my microphone, as Sally talked about a range of fantastic recipes.
This really is an interview to listen to with a cup of tea and a few biscuits close to hand!
A bottle of blood is found buried in a wombat hole, but where is the body?
Is a suburban couple paying the babysitter with freshly stolen money?
Can a lucky leech outsmart a brazen burglar?
Match wits with real life investigators to answer these questions, and also discover how nine of Western Australia’s most wanted criminals escaped from Perth’s Supreme Court in broad daylight; why an Adelaide wife sent her husband’s privates to a fiery end; and how a Melbourne woman convinced high-level professionals to raise her stolen family at a cult in Eildon — undetected — for over twenty years.
Cunning crims, cruel cults and common crackpots abound in these 12 fascinating true tales from the badlands of contemporary Australia. Journalist Liam Houlihan goes behind the headlines to prove truth is not only stranger than fiction but also more colourful, more baffling and more twisted.
Liam Houlihan is an award-winning journalist and former lawyer. He has reported from New York (for the NY Post), Washington, DC (including a stint in the White House press pool), from Sri Lanka after the Boxing Day tsunami, and has trailed Mick Gatto’s pursuit of missing Opes Prime money in Singapore. As a Crime Reporter with the Sunday Herald Sun, his police and underworld exclusives were regularly syndicated by other media around the country. He is currently Chief of Staff at the Sunday Herald Sun.
Liam was great fun to talk to, and we covered everything from witnessing George W. Bush invent the term "chicken growers", through Adelaide being "the city of shallow graves", to the way in which he picked the stories for this book.
These are great stories, and this is a fun interview!
In our future worlds the Administration rules the Sphere of Humankind, the Games Board sanctions and funds wars and conflicts, and the Haulers′ Collective roams the space routes like the caravanners of old.
Marko and his crew of fellow soldier-engineers are sent to investigate an unknown planet. When they encounter strange artefacts and an intelligent but aggressive squid species, they are forced to embark on a perilous journey far from the Sphere.
They will have to survive not only other alien encounters but also their own Administration′s deadly manipulations.
Political factions and galactic media moguls vie for power ... and money.
Steve Wheeler was born in 1957 in NZ. He was given the option at age 18 of becoming a Catholic priest or a policeman - he chose the latter. He has served in the military, and since 1987 has worked as a bronze sculptor, knifesmith and swordsmith. He lives with his wife and children in Hawkes Bay.
He was also the knife maker for the upcoming film "The Hobbit", and is one of the most interesting, enthusiastic and exciting authors I have spoken to in a very, very long time.
A fantastic bloke, I suggest you keep your eyes open for more of his work in future!
′Through this book I hope to share with you the journey that has brought me to this point 50 years after my birth. Many of the recipes that I cook, the ideas, the memories I have about food come from my grandmother through my mother. I am the daughter of a Jewish mother and Christian father ... migrants from Bulgaria ... and nothing gives me greater pleasure than to share my table with friends and family, because food is such an essential component of our lives.′ - Rilka Warbanoff
In this delightful and heartwarming book, ABC Local Radio foodie Rilka Warbanoff takes us back more than 100 years and charts the course of her family′s journey from Bulgaria to contemporary Melbourne, through food. Through 180 recipes, she shares with us her happy, sad and frequently funny memories of family and food.
From watching her mother and grandmother making filo pastry from scratch, to starting school in sixties Adelaide and hiding her salami sandwiches under the front seat of the family car because they were too ′foreign′ from her joyous memories of the beautiful ′name day′ cakes her mother would make for her and her twin sister, to the poignant memory of her beloved husband Bill relishing his favourite duck dish in hospital days before he died, Rilka shows how we can map our lives through food and memory, but most of all, she shows us how joyful life can be, when it is celebrated through food, family and friends.
Rilka Warbanoff is known and loved by Victorians as the weekly voice of culinary culture on the high-rating Lindy Burns Drive show on ABC Radio Melbourne. Idiosyncratic, big-hearted and renowned for her authentic East European recipes, Rilka has had a varied career as an entreprenuer, business woman and style icon (winning both Business Woman of the Year and The Age Best-Dressed Woman award in the same year!) and now runs her own business in Melbourne.
A woman after my own heart, Rilka enjoys every aspect of food, and thinks that it is the most important thing in life! This interview ranges over the importance of ingredients, the variety and evolution of food in Australia, the need for people to learn to cook, and the best, easiest dessert recipe I've run across in a long, long time.
Rilka was amazing to talk to, and I hope you enjoy this interview!
It was a David and Goliath style battle: Australian investigators up against a global organised crime empire. What seemed like an impossible task resulted in one of the most ambitious investigations in the world, infiltrating international money laundering streams and exposing the global crime bosses in control of the world’s drug trade.
The Sting is the never-before-told story of the ongoing efforts of Australia’s most secretive and powerful law enforcement agency to topple the new face of organised crime. This is a tech-savvy, billion-dollar empire with tentacles reaching across the world, from outlaw motorcycle gangs to powerful Asian crime syndicates to law and government agencies.
This is not a conventional story of good versus evil. It chronicles criminal, law enforcement and political tactics through the eyes of its major players—the criminal investigators, the international crime bosses, the senator, the drug cook and the investigative journalist—and exposes what many in power don’t want the public to know.
Nick McKenzie is one of Australia’s leading investigative journalists.
He works for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald and occasionally reports for ABC TV’s Four Corners program. He has won Australia’s highest journalism award, the Walkley, three times for his work exposing corruption and organised crime. His work has triggered several major inquiries, including Australia’s biggest bribery investigation. In his free time he surfs and reads.
The Sting's a great read, and it was wonderful to talk to Nick about how the book came together, the characters in it, and his time as an investigative journalist!
Today's guest blog for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, on the flighty nature of Chinese employers.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/04/18/workplace-relations-in-the-middle-kingdom/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you.
Today's guest piece for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, on what you can and can't read in the Middle Kingdom.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/04/15/censorship-what-censorship/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Kirra Hayward is an ordinary sixteen year old - smarter than most, but otherwise completely anonymous. When she stumbles across an unusual puzzle on the internet and manages to solve it, she has no idea of what she′s letting herself in for.
Kidnapped by a shadowy organisation known only as The Industry, Kirra soon discovers how valuable her code-breaking skills are. And when she stubbornly refuses to help them, they decide to break her ... by any means at their disposal.
Kirra knows that to protect herself, she must trust no one, not even her fellow prisoner, Milo. But as time goes by she realises he might be the only person she can rely on ...
Compulsive and page-turning, The Industry is the first in a new series.
Rose Foster lives in Melbourne and is studying Screen Writing at RMIT, Melbourne. She is writing the subsequent titles in the Industry series.
This was a fantastic interview with a young author who definitely knows what she's doing - it was amazing to talk to her about the whole writing process, and the importance of reading.
Rose Foster is a talent to watch, and I hope you enjoy listening to this interview!
Today's guest post for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, on why Easter's never going to really hit it off in China.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/04/08/easter-in-china/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Today's guest piece for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, about a sweeping wave of nostalgia that's manifesting itself in China today.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/04/03/nostalgia-for-an-eighties-i-never-knew/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Internationally renowned chef Walter Trupp and his nutritionist wife Dorota bring together their wealth of experience and knowledge in Trupps’ Wholefood Kitchen. Based on the latest nutritional research, the book is packed with recipes that use clean, whole and organic foods to promote good health and well-being.
Gorgeously illustrated, and with step-by-step instructions, Trupps’ Wholefood Kitchen contains over 70 delicious and easy-to-make recipes, from waffles to beef bourguignon, from cider-braised mussels to chocolate tofu cheesecake. Alongside these, the Trupps write about the benefits of natural foods and explain how the food we eat affects our minds and bodies. Replete with handy cooking and ingredient shopping tips and providing many gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan alternatives, Trupps’ Wholefood Kitchen will teach you how to incorporate good food simply and easily into your everyday life and get you on the way to looking great and feeling healthy.
Walter Trupp has managed some of the most prestigious restaurants in Austria, England and Australia. Accolades for Walter’s restaurant in Austria include 18 out of 19 points and three chef’s hats from the prestigious French restaurant guide Gault Millau when Walter was just twenty-five years old. In England Walter worked in several two- and three-Michelin star restaurants, eventually becoming an executive head chef for the world renowned Marco Pierre White. Walter grew up in an Austrian mountain village, where whole foods were a natural part of his childhood.
Nutritionist Dorota Trupp focuses on the relationship between food and well-being, based on the science of nutrients in food. Having grown up on a Polish farm, her interest in how the environment affects quality and safety of foods, and how these factors influence health and disease, led to work in environmental protection. After meeting Walter in England, she combined her environmental passion with her new interest in food and moved into nutritional medicine.
You can find out more about the Trupps at:
Walter was great to talk to, his passion for food really shines through.
This is a great interview for anyone who is serious about what they eat!
TV vet Dr Katrina Warren, one of the country′s most recognised and loved veterinarians, has teamed up with professional dog trainer Kelly Gill and the Wonderdogs ─ Willow, Jordie, Jinx and Flynn.
Wonderdogs teaches 20 fun tricks ranging from easy to advanced, and every trick is accompanied by straightforward step-by-step instructions and photographs. You′ll find everything your dog wants to learn: from sitting, staying and fetching to dancing, spinning and spelling. Plus, there is a puppy guide to help set up your puppy for life.
By learning the secrets to successfully training your pet, you′ll strengthen the bond you both share. With love, patience and a few minutes a day you′ll have your very own Wonderdog.
Dr Katrina Warren is a qualified veterinarian, author, event MC and dog trainer who has appeared across all media platforms. She is the resident veterinarian on the Today Show and has hosted a number of popular TV shows. Katrina loves all animals but has a huge passion for Border Collies. Her first bestselling book Wonderdog starred Toby the border collie who was known and loved Australia-wide.
It's always great fun talking to Dr Katrina, and this time we covered all sorts of bits and pieces about how to make working with your dog as much fun as possible!
Today's guest post for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, on trying to add a little spice to otherwise bland lessons here in China.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/03/15/kitchen-in-a-box/
And don't forget to tell her I sent you!
Maria Tumarkin was born in 1974 in the former Soviet Union in a Russian Jewish family, which in 1989 immigrated to Australia. She now lives in Melbourne with her two children.
Maria's journalism across a range of issues has been published widely in Australia. Her three books are lively responses to social history: Traumascapes deals with the power of places of terror, war and catastrophe; Courage about the guts and grit of everyday life and actions;
and Otherland is the account of returning to her country of birth with her daughter Billie – a lesson in history and humility. All have received
multiple award shortlistings.
Maria is currently working on book of literary non-fiction about memory.
It was a delight to talk to Maria, who was a guest at the Australian Writers' Week In China.
In this interview, we looked at the ways in which travel and experience can shape the way a writer works, the parallels between aspects of contemporary China and the former Soviet Union, and the ways in which culture may shape memory.
You can find out more about Australian Writers' Week In China at:
Mark McKenna is one of Australia’s leading historians. A research fellow in History at the University of Sydney, he is the author of several prize winning books, including Looking for Blackfellas’ Point: an Australian History of Place, which won the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction and Book of the Year in the 2003 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
His essays and articles have been widely published in Australia and overseas. Seven years in the making, his biography of Manning Clark is his most ambitious project to date.
Mark was a great bloke to talk to, not only for his wonderful way with words, but also for his depth of knowledge and desire to share that with others.
His books are brilliant, and I hope that his time in China as a guest of Australian Writers' Week and The Walkley Foundation gives people the chance to hear him in action.
I mistakenly refer to his new book "An Eye For Eternity" as "An Eye For Infinity", and I feel such a wally for it...
This interview ranges over "An Eye For Eternity", through the labour involved in putting it together, and on to Australian and Chinese culture and history.
You can find out more about Australian Writers' Week In China at:
Janette Turner Hospital grew up in Queensland and began her teaching career in remote Queensland high schools, but since her graduate studies she has taught in universities in Australia, Canada, England, France, and the United States.
Her first published short story appeared in the Atlantic Monthly (USA) where it won an "Atlantic First" citation in 1978. Her first novel, The Ivory Swing (set in the village in South India where she lived in l977) won Canada’s $50,000 Seal Award in l982. She lived for many years in Canada, and in 1986 she was listed as by the Toronto Globe & Mail as one of Canada′s "Ten Best Young Fiction Writers." Since then she has won a number of prizes for her 7 novels and 3 short story collections, and her work has been published in 12 languages. Three of her short stories appeared in Britain’s annual Best Short Stories in English in their year of publication, and one of these, “Unperformed Experiments Have No Results,” was selected for The Best of the Best, an anthology of the decade in l995.
Oyster was a finalist for both the Miles Franklin and the Banjo Book Award. It was also a finalist for Canada’s Trillium Award, and in England it was listed in Best Books of the Year by the Observer, which noted “Oyster is a tour de force… Turner Hospital is one of the best female novelists writing in English.” In the USA, Oyster was a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year.”
Due Preparations for the Plague won the Queensland Premier′s Literary Award in 2003, the Davitt Award from Sisters in Crime for “best crime novel of the year by an Australian woman”, and was shortlisted for the Christina Stead Award. In 2003, Hospital received the Patrick White Award, as well as a Doctor of Letters honoris causa from the University of Queensland.
Janette has just retired from teaching at Columbia University, and divides her time between the US and Queensland.
This is an amazing interview, looking at just how different China and Australia are, especially when seen through the eyes of a writer. It is always a pleasure to speak to someone so gifted in crafting tales from well chosen words.
Janette visited China as a guest of Australian Writers' Week In China.
You can find out more about AWW at:
Beautiful beaches, sexy young backpackers, cheap drinks: southern Thailand in the mid- 1990s is the perfect place for a holiday.
It’s also the perfect place for Billy — Loyalist hard man, NO SURRENDER chest tattoo, on the run from the Belfast police — to lie low. He’s turning away from a life of crime, but isn’t sure where to go.
A series of fights and one-night stands helps put his troubles out of mind for a while. But when Billy ends up in a Buddhist retreat he learns that no matter how far you travel, your past will always catch up with you.
A heady ride of sex, drugs and bar-room brawls, A Tiger in Eden is a raucous debut novel in the anti-tradition of Trainspotting and The Beach.
Chris Flynn is books editor at The Big Issue and fiction consultant at Australian Book Review. The former publisher of Torpedo magazine, he writes for the Age, Australian, Paris Review and ABC Radio National, and is editing a forthcoming issue of McSweeney’s partly devoted to Indigenous Australian fiction. He was born in Belfast and lives in Melbourne, and was once a sumo-wrestling referee in a travelling fair.
The way that Chris has written Bily's character in A Tiger In Eden fascinated me, and so I was really excited to talk to him - and I'm glad I did.
This interview covers the way in which Chris created the book, his childhood in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, some of the amazing things he's done since he left there, and the way in which the book came about.
A Tiger In Eden is a brilliant novel, and Chris is an excellent story teller - I strongly urge you to check out his work NOW!
Siblings Laurel and Hank Shelton live in the cove, fruitless farmland nestled in perpetual shadow, land locals say is cursed. Hank has returned an amputee from World War I. He soon falls in love but his new bride refuses to live in the cove.
Hank must choose between his bride and abandoning his socially outcast sister in the loneliest place imaginable. Laurel’s fate is altered forever when she discovers an injured man on their land. The stranger slowly heals and insinuates himself in to life in the cove—bringing Laurel happiness, even love.
But when Laurel stumbles on the stranger’s true identity, she realises they are in real danger, beyond any kind of mythical curse. And the ramifications are breathtaking.
This atmospheric novel set in Appalachia during World War I, is both beautiful and dark, full of love, betrayal and fear.
Ron Rash is a multi-award-winning poet, short story writer and author of the internationally acclaimed and prize-winning novels Serena and One Foot in Eden. A PEN/Faulkner finalist for Serena, he is also a recipient of the O.Henry Prize and teaches at Western Carolina University.
Unfortunately, the first two minutes of this interview were lost due to Room Service (at Ron's end, not mine!), but the remaining time covers the importance of reading, and its part in creative writing and politics, how Ron does his research, and what Ron is working on at the moment.
I loved "The Cove", and the way Ron developed the characters in it, and I hope you enjoy this interview!
Glen Duncan now gives us a stunning follow-up to The Last Werewolf, which has been hailed as "a brilliantly original thriller, a love story, a witty treatise on male (and female) urges, even an existential musing on what it is to be human" (James Medd, The Word).
Talulla, pregnant, grieving, and on the run, must face her werewolf future without Jake. Premature labor under a full moon leaves her near death, but with her newborn son in her arms, she believes the worst is over.
Until the door opens - and a new nightmare begins.
What follows tests her sanity, her motherhood, and her will to survive, in a race against time to recover her lost child, an epic struggle that sees her crossing paths with a psychotic new WOCOP leader, an unlikely human lover, blood-drinking religious fanatics, a pack of London werewolves, and (rumor has it) the oldest living vampire on earth...
Talulla Rising pushes the werewolf myth further into new territory to give us a novel rich in action and ideas, delivering in the process the definitive twenty-first-century female of the species.
Glen Duncan was born in 1965 and studied philosophy and literature at Lancaster University. His first novel, Hope, was published in 1997 and has been followed by six further novels. l, Lucifer (2002) was shortlisted for the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
You can find out more about Glen and Tallula Rising at:
It was once again an absolute delight to talk to Glen - I find his works fantastic reading, and the ideas and thoughts expressed in them are brilliant.
I urge you to go out and buy "The Last Werewolf" and "Tallula Rising" NOW, and to get ready for the final book in the trilogy next year!
Today's guest blog for Chicago base author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, looking at the perils of imperfect translations...
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/03/01/last-in-translation/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Claire Bidwell Smith, a fourteen-year-old only child, learns that both her parents have cancer. The fear of becoming a family of one compels her to make a series of fraught choices, set against the glittering backdrop of New York and Los Angeles—and the pall of regret.
When the inevitable happens and Claire is alone in the world, she is inconsolable at the revelation that suddenly she is no one’s special person. It is only later, when Claire falls in love, marries and becomes a mother, that she emerges from the fog of grief.
Using the five stages of grief as a window onto her personal experience, Claire Bidwell Smith has written a powerful memoir that is at once exquisite and profound. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Greg Boose and their daughter. Claire is an experienced therapist specializing in grief.
Claire has a bachelor’s degree from The New School University in Manhattan and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She has written for many publications including Time Out New York, Yoga Journal, BlackBook Magazine, The Huffington Post and Chicago Public Radio. She has also worked for nonprofits like Dave Eggers’ literacy center 826LA and most recently worked as a bereavement counselor for a hospice in Chicago.She is currently working on her second book.
Claire was amazing to talk to, and her book is stunning. I strongly recommend it to everyone, not just as a piece about grief, but as a story about living!
You can find out more about her at:
Today's guest blog for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, on the delights of wholesale grocery shopping in Tianjin.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/02/24/mission-to-metro/
and don't forget to let her know I sent you!
This collection of fifteen accounts of flood by ABC senior journalist Ian Mannix, relates the stories of Australians caught in flood, from Grantham to Mackay, Kempsey to Bullita Station.
In recent years, flood has devastated the wide brown land, in some instances bringing much-needed relief from drought, but in many others, bringing tragedy, homelessness and despair.
From the 1970s to the present day, Ian Mannix charts the pattern of floods in Australia, and recounts many stories, from the story of two local women trapped in a house infested with snakes as the flood waters rose ever higher, to the daring helicopter rescues of the townsfolk of Newry in Gippsland and the brave truck driver who saved the town of Charleville in Queensland by putting levee walls in place against oncoming flood, and with all the odds stacked against him. And of course, he examines the causes and effects of the devastating floods in Queensland in 2010-2011, which have taken so many lives.
Ian Mannix heads ABC Local Radio′s Emergency Broadcasting and Community Development team in Adelaide and he is responsible for the radio coverage of national disasters. He has been a journalist for 30 years and released his first book, Great Australian Bushfire Stories, in 2008.
This book is in the finest tradition of Australian story telling, and Ian's done a fantastic job of just letting people tell their own stories, in their own words.
It was great to talk to Ian, and find out more about how this book can to be, the role of stories in preserving history, and how social media can help in times of disaster.
I'd thoroughly recommend both of Ian's books to everyone.
Today's guest piece for Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason's blog, on the joys of finding somewhere nice to eat!
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/02/16/the-wonders-of-westin/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you.
Today's guest blog for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, an interview with Jan Wong about her book "Red China Blues", from 1997.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/02/14/guest-post-i-was-a-teenage-maoist/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Jason Dowd is a photographic artist based in Tampa, Florida, who is exploring the themes behind some of the best known "fairy stories" in circulation today.
This series started in 2010 with “Death to Yesterday”; a symbolic idealization about living for the future and not mourning your past. That initial photograph gained so much attention that the series grew into volumes. In July 2010, “Death to Yesterday” along with other pictures from the series made headlines in “The Laker.” The popularity only grew from there as the series caught the attention of a gallery in Hong Kong called “That Gallery”. They had three pieces from this series on display for the month of August, taking this series international!
In this interview we explore the differences between digital and film photography, how the "Dreams, Nightmares, Fears And Fantasy" collection came about, and the ways in which people can be involved in it.
Jason was a great bloke to talk to, and I look forward to seeing more of his work around the place in years to come.
You can find out more about Jason's work at:
Tired, listless, no enthusiasm or energy? Join the club.
More and more people are suffering the effects of chronic stress, bad diets and busy lifestyles which, in turn, have a terrible impact on the way they look and feel; as well as their physical health.
Julie Wood′s 4-Week Energy Diet shows you how to turn your life around and transform yourself into the fit, energetic and vital person you have always wanted to be.
In the first two weeks you will give your body a spring-clean, ridding yourself of toxins. Then learn how to fit exercise, meditation and enjoyable activities into your everyday life, no matter how pressed for time.
In the second two weeks, you will rebuild your body′s essential nutrients, restoring your balance, vitality and spirtual health, recharging those important energy reserves.
Julie Maree Wood′s holistic approach harnesses the healing power of food, enabling you to shed kilos naturally; and restore and nourish your body and soul. And because you already have enough to do, the program is worked out for you, for each day for 4 weeks - from when you rise to when you return to bed. Meditation, exercise, activities and, of course, menus are all designed to give you the best results. The program also contains
A diagnostic quiz to help you pinpoint what′s wrong
Great recipes
Advice on stretching, meditation, relaxation, exercise, sleep and dealing with stress
A follow-up weekend program to help you keep yourself in tip-top shape.
Let the 4-Week Energy Diet restore a spring to your step and a sparkle to your eyes through the healing power of food, exercise and rest.
Julie Maree Wood is a registered, practising naturopath and nutritionist. She also holds a degree in International Business and had a career in advertising, building brands, before she became a food nerd.
In addition to running a naturopathy and nutrition clinic in Sydney’s Inner West, Julie writes books and contributes to school newsletters and local papers including the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Julie’s great passion is wellness education. Her work focuses on boosting the diet and health awareness of Australians through education to bring healthy food ‘alive’ in their everyday lives.
It's always great to talk to Julie, and to find out more about the ways in which you can make life feel better!
You can find out more about Julie Maree Wood at her website:
Today's guest blog piece for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, looking at what's wrong with time travel in China.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/02/06/doctor-who-banned-in-china/
And don't forget to tell her I sent you.
From using body language to increase your mating rating to finding a long-term partner, The Body Language Of Love will help you to identify and correct the body language that could be letting you down. This book covers essential tips when looking for love:
Understanding the mating game
The art of flirting and courtship signals
Speed-dating, first dates, parties, internet dating and other suicide missions
For better or worse - the secrets of successful relationships
Allan Pease has been known internationally as "Mr. Body Language" since his Definitive Book Of Body Language became a multi-million seller and the communication bible for organisations worldwide.
Allan's a great bloke to talk to, and I hope you enjoy the tips in this interview!
You can find out more about his work at:
Today's guest blog piece for Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason. This time I look at how we spent the Lunar New Year here in Tianjin.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/01/30/spring-festival-in-tianjin/
and don't forget to tell her I sent you!
Today's guest blog post for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason, this time looking at the upcoming Lunar New Year here in China.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/01/16/letter-from-tianjin-chinese-new-year-2012/
And don't forget to tell her I sent you!
Today's guest post for Chicago Based author Susan Blumberg-Kason's blog.
This piece looks at how coffee is becoming an aspirational item in China, and how huge coffee franchises are pandering to that dream. Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/01/07/a-cafe-cultural-revolution/
And remember to let her know I sent you!
Today's guest blog for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason's site.
This piece looks at how tea drinking has changed in China over the last five years, and the new trends emerging in the market today.
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2012/01/01/all-the-tea-in-china/
And don't forget to tell her I sent you.
A timely piece for Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason's blog, about the strange way that Christmas is being embraced in China.
Go and take a look at it at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2011/12/25/chinese-christmas/
and remember to tell her I sent you!
A new piece today for the blog of Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason, dealing with fine dining on Christmas Eve in Tianjin:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2011/12/24/ruffled-on-christmas-eve/
Swing by and take a look - and tell her I sent you!
A new guest blog for Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason's blog, this time on the perils of food substitution scams in China.
Donkey meat soaked in tiger urine, anyone?
Check it out at:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2011/12/22/fake-food/
And don't forget to let her know I sent you!
Another guest piece today that I wrote for Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason's blog.
It's all about trying to live an ordinary life in an extraordinary way in China!
Swing by:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2011/12/14/5-ways-to-live-like-a-superhero-in-china/
and take a look.
Remember to tell her I sent you!
So many movies...
But which ones are worth watching? With Marc Fennell′s That Movie Book in your hand, you will never again be at a loss for what to pick up in the DVD store.
Movie critic and mischief-maker Marc Fennell (ABC Local Radio, triple j, Hungry Beast, The Circle) has cunningly programmed and reviewed more than 260 movies to fill every weekend of the year. Each weekend has a theme - a genre, filmmaker, actor or trend. Think:
Movies based on true stories (that aren′t really true)
A weekend with Walt Disney′s most racist characters
The many disturbing faces of Santa Claus
You start with an easy introductory movie on Friday night, go a little further on Saturday and then things become downright freaky on Sunday afternoon. Whether you′re bored, infirm or under house arrest, your level of commitment is catered to.
Expect movies from the past as well as the present, from Hollywood to art house, from kids to adult.
It′s a veritable film festival from your couch.
Marc Fennell is a film critic, broadcaster and twitter addict (twitter.com/marcfennell) who likes to pull high-brow culture down off its high horse and give it a solid spanking. He is the disembodied voice of film culture on triple j and ABC Local Radio. On television, Marc is the weekly movie reviewer for Network Ten’s morning chat show The Circle and a regular guest on Showtime and Sky News. Marc was also a presenter on ABC1’s Hungry Beast, where he explored the world of media, culture, technology and Jedis. He has a massive on-line following.
It was great talking to Marc about movies, and how hard it is to actually knuckle down and pick one out.
In this interview we look at everything from why "Song Of The South" won't be hitting the DVD shops in the US any time soon (or ever...), why Weyland-Yutani isn't going to win Employer Of The Year, and why Miyazaki isn't "The Disney Of The East". We also explored why some films just keep on giving (Donnie Darko), and why some film critics need to stop and think about audiences!
I really enjoyed talking to Marc, and I hope you enjoy this interview!
In Campaign Ruby, Ruby managed to get:
1. drunk
2. the leader of the Opposition elected
3. Luke
Now that the balloons from the election night party have sagged, as well as the electorate’s enthusiasm for the new PM, Ruby is battling political and personal spot fires. She has a whole new To Do list scrunched up at the bottom of her Prada handbag.
1. Screw things up with Luke
2. Turn 30
3. Deal with hormonal pregnant lesbian aunt
4. And an imploding goverment
5. Avoid killing peppy intern
6. Attend party after waxing accident
7. Cosy up to Pretty Boy
7a. Complicate things with Luke
8. Save the government from itself
9. Figure out who the hell she is
10. And who she wants.
Jessica Rudd has had three career changes in as many years —law, PR, politics — but is now going steady with her life as a writer. She hopes Ruby Blues, sequel to Campaign Ruby, will give her readers as many laughs as she had writing it.
Jessica is based in Beijing, and it is always a delight to talk to her!
This interview looks at how the character of Ruby came to be, life in Beijing - both good and bad - and that Jessica is expecting a baby in May.
It was great fun catching up with Jessica, and I hope you enjoy this interview!
Another guest blog piece for Chicago based author Susan Blumberg-Kason's site, this time about the perils of shopping whilst under the influence of being foreign.
If you feel like peeking under the covers of what makes the Chinese economy tick, swing by:
http://www.susanbkason.com/2011/12/06/guest-blog-to-grow-rich-is-glorious/
and be sure to let her know I sent you!
Here's a guest blog I wrote for Chicago based author, Susan Blumberg-Kason.
http://www.susanbkason.com/2011/12/02/in-search-of-the-ideal-tianjin-kitchen/
It's about the different kitchens I've had over the years in China, and gives a kind of overview of the problems that each had.
Go and have a look at it, you could probably do with a chuckle.
Christmas comes but once a year, and it′s just as well for Santa′s reindeer, who have to fight with Mothball for the carrots left out for them by the local children. And when Mothball takes an unexpected sleigh ride, it′s not just Santa who faces the prospect of getting stuck in the chimney.
Christmas from a wombat′s eye view is always going to be interesting - especially when that wombat is Mothball.
This is a beautifully crafted book, with marvelous illustrations by Bruce Whatley - a pleasure to read.
Jackie French is a full-time writer who lives near Braidwood in the Araluen Valley, NSW. In 2000, Hitler’s Daughter was awarded the CBC Younger Readers’ Award. To the Moon and Back won the Eve Pownall Award in 2005. Macbeth and Son, and Josephine Wants to Dance were both shortlisted for the 2007 CBC Awards.
She is also the most wonderful person to talk to!
This interview covers everything from willfull wombats to the process of writing a book - it takes nearly three years for each Wombat book to be produced!
Jackie is a fantastic author for kids and adults alike, and I really enjoy each chance I get to talk with her.
Mothball, her fellow wombats and Jackie's farm (and the surrounding valley) are under threat from the development of a gold mine in the area, which will lower the water table to such an extent that the bush and local farms will be killed off.
If you can help, know someone who can, or just want to donate your time or money to saving Mothball, please go to Jackie's website:
What do we think we desire? What do we truly desire? These are the two competing forces underlying Xu Xi's latest fiction collection Access. These thirteen tales are at once acerbic and heartbreaking, directing our gaze at the incongruities of human relations and the persistence of wounds our hearts cannot heal. Those in the multi culti world of these fictions seek answers to questions they have yet to learn to ask. But every so often they glimpse an entry point, and these sightings offer reason to hope, even if access will again be denied, as it inevitably is, for those whose desires strain towards perfection in our highly imperfect world.
"This is a collection of tales with hints of Chaucer, ranging from the world of privilege to office workers and massage girls; from heavily ironic vignettes on the corporate world to edgy stories of broken lives and selfish times. What is remarkable is that there is no irritable reaching after pathos, just sharp interior monologues combined with translucent prose like thin ice, cutting in and out of frame through private feelings and public narratives. Xu Xi is a rare writer whose perspectives can shift effortlessly between personal pronouns, gender and impersonal sex. The access code to this grammar is to glean the shadow of loss lying between language and the loneliness of existence."
- Brian Castro, author of The Bath Fugues, The Garden Book, and Shanghai Dancing
"Xu Xi has a sharp ear. The dominant voices in her latest collection of short stories belong to the bold and elegant Chinese women, the high achievers, losers, dreamers, and dancers with families and lovers, who are separated by continents and cultures. Their stories, unsentimentally told, are a stimulating read."
- Suchen Christine Lim, author of A Bit of Earth, Fistful of Colours, and Rice Bowl
This interview ranges far and wide across how Access came together, short stories Vs novels, how writers are taught to read like a writer, the joys of teaching and even the comparitive values of paper publications and electronic formats.
It's been a delight catching up with Xu Xi again, she's fantastic to talk to.
I truly hope you enjoy listening to this!
You can find out more about Xu Xi at her website:
Chronic pain has been described as a silent epidemic. More than one in ten people - over ten per cent of the population - suffer from persisting pain.
Over the last month, how often have you:
1. taken pain killers so you could do something you know would stir up your pain?
2. completed a task, regardless of pain, then ′paid′ for it later with more pain?
3. found that pain is interfering with your sleep, work, sport and social activities?
4. had one or more long rest periods during the day because of your pain?
5. felt you cannot go on as your pain gets worse
6. worried that your doctors have ′missed something′?
7. been told to ′live with the pain′ but not shown how to do it?
If you answered ′yes′ to any of these questions, then Manage Your Pain will help to improve your life.
All too frequently, chronic pain cannot be successfully treated -- and drugs are not always the answer. But the combination of approaches provided by Manage Your Pain can help you learn to minimise the impact of pain, and put persisting pain where it belongs -- in the background of your life.
Dr Michael Nicholas is a Clinical Psychologist who specialises in pain management, and has done so for the last thirty years. In this very interesting interview, we looked at what pain is, how it comes to be chronic, and some of the ideas behind managing and preventing pain.
We also looked at the problems of an aging population, and the way that pain management skills could be taught as a preventative measure in the near future.
If you've ever had a twinge that just won't go away, then this is a good place to start.
Power through service, says Head Chef. It’s one of the first lessons taught at Cook School, where troubled youths learn to be master chefs by bowing to decadence and whim, by offering up a part of themselves on every plate.
It’s a motto Zac takes to heart. A teenage boy with a difficult past, he throws himself into the world and work of haute cuisine. He has dreams of a future, of escaping the dead-end, no-hope lot of his fellow cooks. He wants to be the greatest chef the world has seen. He thinks he’s taken his first steps when he becomes House Cook for a wealthy family. Never mind that the family may seem less than appreciative. Or refined. Or deserving. Power through service.
But as the facade crumbles and his promised future looks unlikely to eventuate, Zac the Cook is forced to reassess everything. Sweet turns sour and ends in bitter revenge.
Blackly funny and deliciously satirical, The Cook feeds our hunger to know what goes on in the kitchen, while skewering our culture of food worship.
Wayne Macauley is a Melbourne writer. He has published two novels, Blueprints for a Barbed-Wire Canoe (2004) and Caravan Story (2007). His short-fiction collection, Other Stories, was released in 2010.
I really enjoyed this book, and speaking to Wayne about its creation. He's captured that whole cooking craze that seems to have gripped the world, and nailed the ideas behind it.
This interview ranges far and wide over how the book came into being, the difficulties of different writing genres, and how some of the research was done into it.
Wayne's books are great reads, and this interview is definitely well worth a couple of listens!
You can find out more about Wayne at his website: waynemacauley.com
From the songs of Arab diva Umm Khultum on the banks of the Tigris to the strains of a young boy playing the violin for his mother in Melbourne, to the swing jazz of the nightclubs and cabarets of 1940s Baghdad, a fisherman playing a flute on the banks of the Mekong, and Paganini in the borderlands of eastern Poland…
Music weaves its way through each of these spellbinding stories. Each tale, each fragment of music, leads to Amal, the woman who saved her life by clinging to a corpse for twenty hours alone in the sea.
Arnold Zable takes the reader on an intimate journey into the lives of people he met on travels over the last forty years. These are tales aching to be told. Tales of hardship, of yearning and of celebration. Tales that span the globe, and bring us back to Melbourne to the powerful and heartbreaking story of Amal—her flight from Baghdad, her fears boarding the unseaworthy SIEV X, her survival when it went down, and her desire to have her story told.
Arnold Zable was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and grew up in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton. He has travelled and lived in the USA, India, Papua New Guinea, Europe, Southeast Asia and China, and now lives in Melbourne with his wife and son. His books include Jewels and Ashes, Café Scheherazade, The Fig Tree, Scraps of Heaven and Sea of Many Returns. Arnold is president of the International PEN, Melbourne, and is a human rights advocate.
It was just incredible talking to Arnold, he just has the most wonderful stories to tell... I hope he tells more of them soon!
This interview looks at the way in which "Violin Lessons" came into being, how writers hone their craft, and the importance of story telling today.
You can find out more about Arnold at his website:
It’s 1952 and the Scott family has moved unexpectedly from Los Angeles to London. Janie feels uncomfortable in her strange new school, until the local apothecary promises her a remedy for homesickness. But the real cure is meeting the apothecary’s son Benjamin, a curiously defiant boy who dreams of becoming a spy.
Benjamin’s father is no ordinary apothecary, and when he’s kidnapped, Benjamin and Janie find themselves entrusted with his sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia. And it seems that Russian spies are intent on getting their hands on it.
What secrets does the book contain? Who is the Chinese chemist Jin Lo? And can they trust a skinny pickpocket called Pip to help them?
Discovering transformative elixirs they never imagined could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous quest to save the apothecary and prevent an impending nuclear disaster. The Apothecary sparkles with life and possibility. This is a story that will delight kids and return not-so-young readers to the magic of childhood.
Maile Meloy is the award-winning author of the short story collections Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It and Half in Love and the novels Liars and Saints and A Family Daughter. The Apothecary is her first novel for young readers.
It was wonderful to talk to Maile, and we chatted about not only her new book, but also her book of short stories, "Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It". This interview ranges over lots of topics, such as working as working in Disney's sequel department, the importance of having time to write, and how graduate programmes are really helping new writers to emerge.
You can find out more about Maile at her website:
Burma, 1930.
At their final marriage lesson, when the priest had talked on and on, Desmond bent his head to hers and whispered, ‘Our world is newer, faster and better—you will see.’ She took his hand in hers then and squeezed it. His skin had a peppery, meaty sweetness, a smell that seemed to stick to her dress, her hair and skin. She named it ‘the scent of men’. Beside her, he snored gently in his sleep, his face no more than an outline, rising and falling in the dim light. She decided that she liked the sound.
Winsome is just married and filled with anticipation. Her new husband is a stranger—one of the suitors chosen for her and the other mixed-race girls from the men who apply to the orphanage. But as the night train rattles towards her new home she sees possibility in this uncertain destiny. She knows she is headed for a new life in the metropolis.
She does not know about Rangoon, this city cradled in the arms of rivers. That it is about to be torn apart in the struggle between its ancient owners and new masters. That it will seduce her, possess her senses and change utterly her notion of what kind of woman she can be. When she meets Jonathan—when the monsoon comes—she begins to find out.
Michelle Aung Thin was born in Rangoon the same year as the coup d’état (1962) and brought up in Canada; she now lives in Melbourne. The Monsoon Bride, her first novel, was shortlisted for the Unpublished Manuscript Fellowship of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2010 and is the product of her PHD in creative writing under the mentorship of Brian Castro.
It ws great to talk to Michelle, and the interview ranges over the creative process, how the novel was researched, the influence of Burma on her work, and what she does for fun!
You can find out more about Michell and her work at:
facebook.com/michelle.aungthin
Wil is a stand up first and foremost, touring Australia and the world at every opportunity, performing more than a hundred shows a year. His stand up is a densely written, high-speed ride though one of the most wonderful comedic imaginations in the country. Politics, pop and the banal come together in a Wil Anderson routine, always delivered with more conviction and enthusiasm than any man’s vocal chords can take.
Previously host of ABC-TVs AFI Award winning program, The Glass House, Wil returns to TV once again in 2011, with the third season of the ABC runaway hit, The Gruen Transfer. The show proved to be such a success in its initial year that the series was released straight onto DVD.
In amongst the TV hosting, and constant touring, Wil writes a highly popular regular column for Australia’s most highly read magazine, The Sunday Magazine, His first book, ‘Survival Of The Dumbest’ was released by Random House.
Wil has also appeared regularly on Chelsea Lately, and recently toured America.
In this interview, we look at how much hard work goes into making comedy appear effortless, how The Gruen Transfer came to be, and why stand up comedy is the best job in the world.
It also touches on some of the problems in taking an Australian act overseas, and how jokes can be refined.
Will is an amazingly funny bloke, and it's an absolute pleasure to talk with him - I hope you enjoy this interview.
For more information about Wil, his tour and his podcast, "Thirty Odd Foot Of Pod", head to:
Rod Quantock is one of the reasons that Melbourne is the live comedy capital of Australia. As a pioneer of stand up comedy, Rod has more than thirty years experience working in cabaret, theatre, television, radio, advertising and the corporate sector. For an old boy, Rod is still doing extremely well, thank you very much. His live shows are predictably box office hits at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Adelaide Fringe Festival and he is an evergreen favourite at corporate events.
The truly remarkable thing about Rod is that for more than thirty years he has remained a contemporary stand up comedian, evolving and staying at the forefront of the craft. His contribution to Australian cultural life was rewarded when he received the Individual Award at the 2004 Sydney Myer Performing Arts Awards, putting him in the company of such arts luminaries as Geoffrey Rush, Robyn Nevin, Nick Enright, Lucy Guerin & Paul Grabowsky. That he continues to build new, younger audiences all the time is testament to possibly the most impressive career in Australian comedy.
His work on "Australia: You're Standing In It!" introduced me to a world of comedy that didn't rely on cheap visual gags, sexist chase scenes or easy inuendo to get a laugh. He made me sit up and think about how comedy could be used to make people look at an issue seriously - in fact, he made me sit up and think about a lot of things.
Rod's influenced not only me, but a whole generation of Australian stand up comedians and writers. His work on TV shows such as "Backberner" featured some truly wonderful satire, and he is still an incredibly funny man.
But he won't admit it.
This is Rod's first interview in about a year, and I really enjoyed it - huge thanks must got to Erin at Token Events for putting it together, and especially to Rod for agreeing to talk to me!
Justin Hamilton has carved out an incredibly successful career as a stand up comedian, writer and director while maintaining his unique voice within the Australian Comedy scene.
In 2010, Justin not only continued his live stand up career, but appeared in the Librarians as the recurring character Biscuit. A regular guest on television and radio has seen Justin expand his popularity and following. Whether it is as co-host of Triple M’s weekend breakfast team Toast alongside Charlie Pickering and Terri Psiakis which Justin did up until 2009, or regular movie reviewer for Perth’s number one rated Mix FM, he has brandished a unique voice in the radio landscape.
Not content with standing still, Justin has allowed his desire to push the boundaries take their full flight at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and beyond. In 2009 year he wrote and starred in “Goodbye Ruby Tuesday” a play that Aussie Theatre Review stated was “…intelligent and surprising storytelling” while the UK based site Chortle claimed it was a “…touching story as warm as it is witty, building delicately to a satisfyingly uplifting conclusion.”
2010 saw Justin return to what he does best with his stand up show “Idiot Man Child” touring all over Australia in the first half of the year. Justin has not only sold out numerous solo seasons at the Adelaide Fringe and the Melbourne Comedy Festival but also won awards and nominations to go along with them. He won the 2007 Melbourne Comedy Festival Director’s Award for his show “Three Colours Hammo”, a show that also won the Adelaide Advertiser’s best show award at the 2008 Adelaide Fringe. His 2008 stand up comedy show “The Killing Joke” was nominated for best show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival that year.
He has toured Australia as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow from 2002 to 2011,. And he has also supported Wil Anderson on his national tours from 2006-2010.
Justin's an incredibly funny guy (and writer... and podcaster!), and I loved doing this interview - it just took me back to a simpler time.
We also talked about Judith Lucy's new TV show, "Spiritual Journeys", and how Justin started out writing and performing.
You can find out more about Justin, his writing and his podcasts at:
and
Go the F**k to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don’t always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland.
Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach’s verses perfectly capture the familiar—and unspoken—tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.
With illustrations by Ricardo Cortés, Go the F**k to Sleep is beautiful, subversive and pants-wettingly funny—a book for parents new, old and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children.
Adam Mansbach’s novels include The End of the Jews, winner of the California Book Award, and the best-selling Angry Black White Boy, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2005. His fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Believer, Granta, the Los Angeles Times and many other publications. He was the 2010–11 New Voices Professor of Fiction at Rutgers University, New Jersey. His daughter, Vivien, is three.
Adam is an amazing guy to talk to! This interview ranges over a wide area, covering hip hop, poetry, the importance of books and their influence, through to getting kids to sleep, graffiti and the very nature of writing itself.
This has to be one of my favourite interviews that I've done - to find out more about Adam, check out:
This is a story about a snow-covered island you won’t find on any map.
It’s Minou’s story. She’s twelve. A year ago, the morning after the circus, her mama walked out into the rain with a black umbrella and never came back.
It’s a story about a magician and a priest and a dog called No Name. It’s about Papa’s endless hunt for the truth.
It’s about a dead boy who listens, and Minou’s search for Mama’s voice. And it’s about discovering what love is.
The Vanishing Act, Mette Jakobsen’s spellbinding debut novel, is a story you will never forget.
Mette Jakobsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1964 but now lives in Newtown, Sydney. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and a BA in philosophy. In 2004 she graduated from NIDA’s Playwrights Studio and several of her plays have been broadcast on ABC national radio. The Vanishing Act is her first novel.
Mette was fantastic to talk to, and her book is just brilliant - I really enjoyed this interview, and I hope you will too!
Christine wakes in a strange bed beside a man she does not recognise. In the bathroom she finds a photograph of him taped to the mirror, and beneath it the words ‘Your husband’.
Each day, Christine wakes knowing nothing of her life. Each night, her mind erases the day. But before she goes to sleep, she will recover fragments from her past, flashbacks to the accident that damaged her, and then—mercifully—she will forget.
Chilling, exquisitely crafted and compulsively readable, S. J. Watson’s debut novel Before I Go to Sleep is a psychological thriller of the highest order. It asks primary questions. Are there things best not remembered? Who are we if we do not know our own history? How do we love without memory?
S. J. Watson was born in the Midlands, lives in London and worked in the UK National Health Service for a number of years. In 2008 Watson was accepted into the first Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ Course, a program that covers all aspects of the novel-writing process. Before I Go to Sleep is the result.
Now sold in over 30 languages around the world, Before I Go to Sleep has also been acquired for film by Ridley Scott’s production company, Scott Free, with Rowan Joffe to direct. Filming is scheduled to begin later this year.
S.J. (Steve) was great to talk to, even though somewhere along the way, the phone cut out... twice. Despite that, we covered everything from where the novel began, through learning to write creatively, and onto his upcoming work.
A lovely bloke, and well worth the listen - and make sure you read his book before it gets turned into a film!
You can find out more at:
Why did I do this interview?
That's a good question...
I did it because I wanted to.
Because I like Doug Stanhope, and I want to introduce him to other people.
Doug Stanhope is a stand-up comic. Has been since 1990.
His material ranges from true-life graphic perversion to volatile social criticism. Doug is vulgar, opinionated, brutally honest and shockingly uninhibited and is certainly not for everybody.
He started his career in Las Vegas doing jack-off jokes for free drinks. Not much has changed, save for the mullet.
Doug has built a wide-ranging television resume of dubious achievement. He hosted The Man Show on Comedy Central as well as the ubiquitous pseudo-porn for the sexually crippled, "Girls Gone Wild", both solely and shamelessly for financial gain. He has appeared on "The Howard Stern Show", "Comedy Central Presents", "Premium Blend", NBC's "Late Friday", "Spy TV" BBC's "Floor Show Live" while on ecstasy and wrote, produced and starred in Fox's "Invasion of the Hidden Cameras" and has even popped up on "Fox News with Greta Van Sustern" and "The Jerry Springer Show". But none of it compares to seeing him live.
He’s appeared at major comedy festivals including the Montreal Just For Laughs, Aspen US Comedy Arts, Chicago Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, where he won the Strathmore Press Award in 2002.
Also in 2002, he was named as one of the Top Ten Comics To Watch by both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. He has released three CDs and three DVDs including the latest through Showtime, "No Refunds" in 2008.
"Ask anyone whose opinion matters, and they'll tell you Doug Stanhope is one of the top ten stand-ups in the world today.
Stanhope's confrontational stance comes from the rough, blistered underbelly of America's trailer parks; he's a feral, aggressive man full fuelled by primal urges to drink, fight and screw and the corrosive material has all the venomous aggression you might expect from that background.
But what underlines it, and makes it so untouchably good, is the passion and conviction with which he holds his intelligent beliefs, informed by sensibilities that might seem alien to such a no-nonsense, pig-headed persona. -Chortle UK
"Stanhope shocks you with the virulence of his lucidity; he shocks you into realising how transparent the confidence trick of western propaganda can be made to seem. What he has in abundance is the charm, don't-give-a-damn swagger and aggressive intelligence that make for important, exciting comedy." -Guardian, UK
"Some of the sharpest and most biting cultural commentary you'll see in a comedy club." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Austin Chronicle says, "Let me tell you something, friends. Doug Stanhope is one funny sumbitch. He's also one of the most twisted individuals I've ever met, but that's part of his charm. He's one of those comics that doesn't make shit up. He lives a mad, mad life and what he remembers he reports back to us. He's been known to bare his soul, and other things, right there on the stage. If you're easily offended, stay home this week. Watch Matlock or something. But if you like your comedy rough, raw, and rowdy, there's no one better than Doug Stanhope. Have I made myself clear?"
"Sharp, off color, and howlingly funny" - The San Francisco Chronicle
"Stanhope breaks down the walls of decency. He uses profanity, but nothing he says is meant to shock. Everything he says is designed to make the audience laugh. Stanhope has worked his way to become one of the best comics around" - The Reno Gazette Journal
Doug Stanhope makes me laugh.
I hope he makes you laugh, too... he's a very funny guy, despite his protesting otherwise.
I enjoyed doing this.
I took a punt, and it paid off.
And if you don't like it, email me.
Or Doug.
And if you want to know more, check out:
Listening to podcasts on your mobile devices is extremely convenient -- and it's what makes the podcasting medium so powerful.
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