What if you found out that the central story of your life was a lie?

A successful writer returns to her hometown of Baltimore on the hunt for new material and stumbles into the middle of a mystery which takes her back to her schooldays.

Former classmate Callie Jenkins hit the headlines when she was jailed for 7 years having refused to give up the whereabouts of her missing child. But why did she remain silent? And whatever happened to the little boy?

Cassandra thinks she can find out. But in the course of her investigation she finds out that her own history might be far from the truth...

Another enjoyable interview!

16−year−old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older brother‚ Johan‚ were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as Johan was adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when Karl‚ the Dutch man who raised him‚ was arrested by soldiers during Sukarno′s drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past.

Adam sets out on a quest to find Karl‚ but all he has to guide him are some old photos and letters‚ which send him to the colourful‚ dangerous capital‚ Jakarta. Johan‚ meanwhile‚ is living a seemingly carefree‚ privileged life in Malaysia‚ but is careering out of control‚ unable to forget the long−ago betrayal of his helpless‚ trusting brother.

"Map Of The Invisible World" is a masterful novel‚ and confirms Tash Aw as one of the most exciting young writers at work today.

Tash Aw is a recent graduate of UEA. He is Malaysian by birth but now lives in London. The Harmony Silk Factory was his first novel.

Tash was great fun to talk to, and I really enjoyed interviewing him!

The Weight Of Silence is the gravity of all the unsaids, the unseens, and how they shape our lives. A father's drinking, a mother's shame, a daughter's longing to hold onto a trouser leg to hear someone speak of what never happened. The Weight of Silence = 9 lbs 4 ozs. In her achingly funny, heartbreaking childhood memoir, Catherine Therese takes the reader inside her head, and upside down on a unique emotional rollercoaster from picking her belly button in her backyard in Blacktown, pulling her hair out standing on her head, to the stage; hiding inside her wardrobe interpreting silence, to the bedroom of a boy with half a thumb and to the labour ward, in an unforgettable story of remembering, forgetting, pretending, of becoming who you are.

Catherine Therese was born quietly in 1965. She wrote the first draft of her memoir ‘The Norty Girl’ aged four, acted it out for the next 36 years and began rewrites in 2001. In 2005 she attended the inaugural Varuna Masterclass. In between acts she's created poetry, prose and children in Australia, Belguim and Spain; studied Languages, Car parks, Colour and Design, and worked as a stylist, mentor and lecturer. She is a 2007 Varuna Fellowship recipient. The Weight of Silence is her first book. She is married with three children and lives noisily amongst trees in Sydney.

If there′s one thing I′ve learned it′s that the pleasure in life is doing what other people say you can′t.′ − LAUREN HUXLEY

It was a shocking crime that made headlines around Australia.

An innocent young woman‚ violently attacked in her family home by a total stranger and left to die. Beaten repeatedly and soaked with petrol as her home burned‚ Lauren Huxley′s life was hanging by a thread.

Lauren′s battle to survive caused an outpouring of public love and support. The crime was so horrific‚ so senseless‚ anyone who read about the attack couldn′t help thinking: how could I bear someone I loved to go through this?

For her father‚ Patrick‚ mother Christine and sister Simone it was like being plunged into hell. Doctors gave Lauren only a five percent chance of survival. Her injuries were among the worst they had ever seen‚ so horrific that she was barely recognisable.

But those insurmountable odds counted for little against the Huxley family′s determination‚ courage and love. Together‚ they started to rebuild their shattered lives ... and Lauren started coming back.

This is their extraordinary story.

Author Lisa Davies is the senior court reporter for The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. She was the first journalist to interview the family at Lauren’s hospital bedside just four days after the attack that changed their lives. She has remained close to the family and wrote this story with their cooperation.

This is a very interesting interview about an horrific act.

A man walking his dog by the River Lea in London makes a grisly discovery and soon DCI Jack Hawksworth is in the grip of a confounding case: Londoners have become the target of a calculating killer‚ who ′trophies′ the faces of his victims.

Under enormous pressure from politicians and the public‚ Jack and his team begin their investigation‚ which takes them into the murky world of human organ trading. But when the murderer strikes closer to home than Jack could ever have imagined possible‚ the case becomes a personal crusade −− and a race against time. Can the killer be brought to justice before Jack is removed from the operation?

From London′s backstreets to the dangerous frontiers of medicine‚ Beautiful Death will keep you reading late into the night.

Fiona McIntosh was born and raised in Sussex in the UK‚ but also spent early childhood years in West Africa. She left a PR career in London to travel and settled in Australia in 1980. She has since roamed the world working for her own travel publishing company‚ which she runs with her husband. She lives in Adelaide with her husband and twin sons. Her website is at www.fionamcintosh.com.

Another great interview with Fiona, who's becoming a regular here at The Small Picture Podcasts!

He is the man who brought you the award−winning Choir of Hard Knocks − made up of the homeless and the disadvantaged − the judge on Battle of the Choirs‚ a highly renowned opera singer and conductor who has worked with some of Australia′s most talented performers.

But Jonathon Welch′s own story is less well known‚ and here he tells it in his own words for the first time. His modest beginnings in suburban Melbourne where he exhibited early ′theatrical′ tendencies‚ his life at the centre of a family falling apart‚ his coming to terms with his sexuality and the rifts that caused‚ the discovery of his singing talent‚ his stellar career in the heady worlds of opera and theatre and the crisis which caused him to question his life′s direction and to walk away from it all.

In this warm and candid memoir‚ Jonathon reflects on the forces which shaped him and made him an advocate for social change − and how music was at the centre of helping him put his own life − and that of many others − back together again.

Jonathon has received numerous awards in recognition of his services to the Community including a Commendation from the City of Melbourne, St Michael’s Medallion, the John Campbell ‘MO’ Award along with nominations for News Limited’s Pride of Australia and the Bar None Award from the Victorian Government. In 2008 Jonathon was also awarded RMIT Communicator of the Year, ANZAC of the Year, Victorian and Australian of the Year – Local Hero and an Honorary Doctor of Griffith University in Queensland. He has also received the Limelight Award ABC Music Personality of the Year and Medibank Community Service Award.

Together with Jimmy Barnes, Jonathon has created the School of Hard Knocks Foundation, dedicated to assisting those who are homeless and disadvantaged with further support and educational opportunities through music, arts and cultural programs as part of the ‘Play It Forward’ ™ program. A percentage of the profits from all sales of Choir Man will go to this organisation.

You can find out more at:

www.jonathonwelch.com

I really enjoyed talking to Jonathon, and I hope you enjoy this interview!

Kenny′s Department Store‚ with its handsome Edwardian façade‚ is the jewel in Ardagh town′s crown.

TV presenter Ingrid Fitzgerald has watched her husband David‚ Kenny′s charismatic owner‚ pour his heart and soul into the family store‚ making it the epitome of boutique chic. She′s juggled family life and her glittering career admirably. Now‚ as their children fly the nest‚ Ingrid discovers a secret that will shake her world to its very foundations.

Natalie Flynn shares a flat with Ingrid′s daughter‚ Molly. As love blossoms in her life‚ motherless Natalie starts to ask questions she has never dared to before. But will they help her make sense of her life and who she really is?

Charlie Fallon is a passionate and motivated Kenny′s employee who adores her husband and son‚ but her eccentric mother seems bent on wrecking her life. Now it′s time to fight for her own happiness.

Free spirit‚ Star Bluestone‚ who handcrafts fabulous tapestries for Kenny′s‚ is the woman with the knowledge to help them all. Star knows from experience that the important things in life must be nurtured and treasured. She harbours many secrets and understands that the chance for real joy comes only once in a lifetime...

Cathy Kelly is the author of nine other novels‚ all of which were number 1 bestsellers. In 2005 Cathy became an Ambassador for UNICEF in Ireland‚ helping to raise awareness of the plight of 12 million children orphaned across Africa through AIDS. Cathy Kelly now lives in Wicklow with her partner and young sons.

I had a great time talking to Cathy, and finding out more about the person behind the books!

A huge book for cricket fans‚ Hat Trick combines tons of info about the game with three out−of−this−world Toby Jones cricketing adventure stories.

Toby Jones is not your average schoolboy cricketer. He and his friends live for cricket‚ but Toby′s ability to travel through time makes him unique.

Using a copy of Wisden‚ the ′bible′ for cricket enthusiasts‚ Toby drops in on the great cricket matches of the past‚ first in India and then in the West Indies. But at the 1930 Test at Leeds where Don Bradman bats his legendary 334‚ Toby gets unexpectedly involved in the match.

Packed with tips from Brett Lee‚ one of Australia′s fastest−ever bowlers‚ Hat Trick offers hours of top reading ... and the inside edge on Australia′s most loved sport.

Hat Trick includes:

Toby Jones and the Magic Cricket Almanack

Toby Jones and the Secret of the Missing Scorecard

Toby Jones and the Mystery of the Time−Travel Tour

Michael Panckridge has published over 20 books‚ including the bestselling Toby Jones cricket series and the new Legends of League series with Laurie Daley.

You can find out more about Michael at his web site:

http://www.michaelpanckridge.com.au/

It was great talking to Michael, he made me all nostalgic about cricket on the radio - and he's a fun guy to talk to as well!

′Nullius in verba′‚ The Royal Society′s motto‚ roughly translated‚ means
 ′Take nobody′s word for it′. Why not do the experiment 
for yourself and see the reality of nature.

Don′t trust authority − trust nature.

Does cranberry juice cure urinary tract infections″ Is the hookah really a safer way to smoke″ Will the Large Hadron Collider destroy the Earth and the Universe″ Is the purpose of the peacock′s tail to attract females″ And in the unlikely event of a plane crash‚ are some seats safer than others″

The human hand has 27 bones; Uranus has 27 moons; 27 is a perfect cube‚ being 3 x 3 x 3; and in this‚ Dr Karl′s 27th book‚ he takes us on another exploration of the dazzling world of science.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki used to be a ‘proper pukka scientist‚ engineer and doctor’‚ but is currently a popular author and science commentator on radio and television. He appears on Triple J and other ABC radio stations‚ the BBC and is a regular on Channel 7’s Sunrise program. He writes a weekly column‚ ‘Mythconceptions’‚ for Good Weekend magazine‚ and is presently the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at the University of Sydney‚ and is one of Australia’s bestselling authors. Last year Dr Karl ran as a candidate in 2007 Federal Election‚ campaigning for the Climate Change Coalition. He lives with his family in Sydney.

You can find out more about Dr Karl and his record breaking attempt at:

http://www.drkarl.com/

′This dog has no nose.′

′How does he smell″′

′ Terrible′

Join Selby and Gary Gaggs‚ Bogusville′s craziest comedian‚ with this gathering of giggles and gut−busting gags.

Watch Gary tackle life on a leaky boat with a bad history.

Chuckle as he gets involved in a film romance with a difference.

Be part of the epic ′Poem that Stopped Bogusville′.

And when an unseen heckler beats him to the punchline every time‚ Gary′s in trouble. Selby must not only discover who the phantom gagster is‚ but stop himself laughing at Gary′s terrible jokes ... and blowing his own secret!

For the first time in one book‚ readers can find‚ and fans can rediscover‚ all the hilarious stories starring Gary Gaggs‚ Selby′s favourite funnyman. And Gary′s own great jokes can be found in Selby′s Joke Book and Selby′s Side−Splitting Joke Book.

Duncan Ball is one of Australia′s most popular authors for children. The books about Emily Eyefinger‚ the girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger‚ are among his best−loved works. His books also include the Selby series.

Duncan lives in Glebe‚ NSW with his wife‚ Jill‚ and their adorable but incomprehensible cat‚ Jasper.

You can find out more about Duncan at his website:

http://www.duncanball.com.au/

The Naked Truth is the very personal story of Graeme Blundell - Australia's first sex icon (by chance), a founder of the Melbourne's theatre groups La Mama and Playbox, which showed audiences that actors could speak in Australian English, and now an acclaimed writer and journalist. From his a childhood in Melbourne's working-class outer suburbs Graeme passionately followed his dreams to becomes a central part of Australian popular culture. He has worked in films, TV and theatre. The hit movie Alvin Purple made him Australia's first permissive pin-up, and he became a symbol of the early seventies - an era everyone still wants to be part of. Actor, director, producer, biographer, critic and journalist, Blundell established theatre companies and was there when they closed, watched the film industry through its many renaissances, and television as it became an addictive digital environment. In The Naked Truth Blundell writes about Australian life in the 40s, 50s and on with the insight of someone who was always part of the action - whether he wanted to be or not.

Actor, director, producer and writer, Graeme Blundell has been associated with many pivotal moments in Australian theatre, film and television. After working at the legendary Pram Factory and then Hoopla, he was co-executive director of the Playbox Theatre Company, associate director of the Melbourne Theatre Company, artistic director of the National Playwrights' Conference and artistic director of Kinsela's in Sydney. He has directed over 100 plays, acted in about the same number, appeared in more than 40 films and hundreds of hours of television. He is also an award-winning director and a prolific journalist. He wrote the bestselling book King, co-authored a biography of painter Brett Whiteley, An Unauthorised Life, and edited and compiled Australian Theatre: Backstage with Graeme Blundell for Oxford University Press. His columns appear most frequently in the Australian and he has also written for the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Sun Herald, the Australian Women's Weekly and Luxury Travel. He lives on the New South Wales Central Coast with writer Susan Kurosawa.

Graeme Blundell has long been on my list of people I'd wanted to talk to, so this was, to me, an excellent opportunity to ask questions about the things I'd always wanted to know!

Michael Stoddart is the Senior Sales Manager, Creative Solutions for Adobe Asia Pacific, and is definitely the man to talk to when it comes to how to make CS4 work for you!

This interview looks at what's new in the CS4 packages - and what packages are available to help users out there!

With Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection you can:

Design across media

Create visually rich, engaging content for virtually any media — print, web, interactive, video, audio, and mobile — using the tightly integrated tools and services in Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 Master Collection software.

Express yourself richly in virtually any medium

Express yourself freely and stay in the creative flow, no matter what the medium for your design, thanks to numerous new features and improvements in Creative Suite 4 Master Collection.

Simplify workflows for greater efficiency

Design across media more efficiently and effectively using simpler ways to complete common tasks and innovative new approaches to moving from one medium to another.

Exchange information, ideas, and feedback more easily

Work with new and enhanced creative professional services that enable you to collaborate online with colleagues and clients, find answers to technical questions, create and share color harmonies, and more.

Michael is not just an Adobe salesman, he's an avid user of the products himself - and a great interview!

And for more about the Adobe CS 4 packages, take a look at:

http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/mastercollection/

'Jones knew the score with "deniable" operations that were sanctioned secretly at the highest levels. If they turned to custard and the cover was blown, the powers–that–be would simply deny everything and disown all involved, from the military down to the spooks and, at the bottom of the food chain, hired guns like him.'

What happens to the elite, close–knit soldiers of Australia's Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment after they leave the Who Dares Wins world of special forces? For some, there are highly paid jobs in the world's war zones and trouble spots protecting global corporations from terrorism, sabotage and violence. Others become powerful government advisers, many join foreign armies to train their special forces and expand the global brotherhood. Most risky of all, is the shadowy world of deniable 'black ops'. Guarding a deadly secret military cargo – a new missile system brokered through a spook under the guise of a Middle Eastern arms dealer – is all in a day's work. These are the risky yet vital jobs that governments will never admit. From Iraq and Afghanistan to Africa and Asia, award–winning defence writer Ian McPhedran uncovers a virtually unknown network and tells how Australia's top soldiers are forever linked in a seemingly borderless world.

Ian McPhedran is the Sydney based national defence writer for News Limited. He has been a journalist all his working life and has covered conflicts in Burma, Somalia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq.In 1993 he won a United Nations Association peace media award and in 1999 the Walkley award for best news report for his expose of the navy's Collins class submarine fiasco.His first book, The Amazing SAS: the inside story of Australia's special forces, is a national best seller.McPhedran lives in Balmain with his wife Verona and daughter Lucy.

Ian actually takes time to do what a good defence writer should do - go to the sharp end, and talk to the diggers on the ground. You can't cover a war over a telephone.

This book is a bloody good read, and it highlights the inadequate ways in which former SAS troopers are treated by not only the government, but by society in general.

A great interview about a great book.

It's Christmas Day in Shaggy Gully.

The kangaroos are feeling bouncy, the echidnas are being prickly, the emus are feeling peckish and the possums are just hanging around.

Only the Bunyip is gloomy. 'I'm mad and I'm mean! Bunyips don't like Christmas!'

Meanwhile, Dawn and her chorus are playing Christmas carols, but somehow Emily Emu can't get a note right. Her musical mishaps float down to the creek, where the Bunyip lives...

Can Emily Emu and her friends possibly make the Bunyip smile this Christmas?

A delightful new picture book from the team who created bestselling Diary of a Wombat, Pete the Sheep and Josephine Wants to Dance.

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.

It's always an absolute pleasure to talk to Jackie, and this was a particularly fun interview - I hope you enjoy it!

You can find out more about Jackie and her books at:

http://www.jackiefrench.com.au/

A grieving widower gets caught up in the politics of his Texas hometown when he returns to make peace with his father. Beck Hardin returns to his Texas hometown - and his estranged father - after the death of his wife leaves him with two children to raise. The town is still reeling from the murder of sixteen-year-old Heidi, whose father - Beck's old college friend - asks Beck to help him find Heidi's killer before the statute of limitations runs out.

Meanwhile, Beck is pushed into becoming town Judge, and he makes some powerful enemies amongst the rich white landowners when he refuses to condone their treatment of the Mexican workers of the town. As events escalate, the landowners carefully plot their revenge...

From Mark’s website: I grew up in Galveston County, Texas. I attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, and earned a B.A. in Political Science with honors. I then attended Notre Dame Law School in Indiana and earned a J.D. degree magna cum laude. I practiced law with a large Dallas law firm and became a partner. After ten years, I left to practice solo and to write. I live outside Fort Worth with my wife and two sons. Author Location: Texas, USA

I'm not a big fan of lawyers, or legal fiction, but I did really enjoy talking to Mark about his book - and I hope that shows through in the interview.

A rainy night in south London. A gun is fired into a car which swerves on to the pavement and ploughs into a bus stop. It seems that a chilling gang initiation has cost an innocent victim their life. But the reality is far more sinister…

One life is wiped out and three more are changed forever: the young man whose finger was on the trigger; an ageing gangster planning a deadly revenge, and the pregnant woman who struggles desperately to uncover the truth. Two weeks away from giving birth, how will she deal with a world where death is an occupational hazard?

In a city where violence can be random or meticulously planned, where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, anything is possible. Secrets are uncovered as fast as bodies, and the story’s final twist is as breathtakingly surprising as they come.

Mark Billingham was born and brought up in Birmingham. Having worked for some years as an actor and more recently as a TV writer and stand-up comedian his first crime novel was published in 2001.

Sleepyhead was an instant bestseller in the UK. It has been sold widely throughout the world and was published in the USA in the summer of 2002.

Though still occasionally working as a stand-up comic, Mark now concentrates on writing the series of crime novels featuring London-based detective Tom Thorne. The second novel, Scaredy Cat was published in July 2002 and was followed by Lazybones, The Burning Girl, Lifeless, Buried and Death Message. The newest novel, a standalone thriller called In The Dark is published in August 2008. Mark is at work on the next Tom Thorne novel called “The Life Thief” and the second in a trilogy of thrillers for children - Triskellion - written under the pseudonym Will Peterson.
Mark lives in North London with his wife and two children.

A fantastic bloke to talk to, I certainly enjoyed this interview!

Led by Loethar, an ambitious and ruthless tyrant, a terrifying army of mercenaries and renegades from the great southern steppes threaten to overwhelm the Kingdom of Penraven, having already overthrown its two neighbouring realms, leaving a trail of devastation and broken lives in their wake.

Penraven is Loethar's most desired prize, not only because of its wealth, safe harbour, extensive coastline, and abundant natural resources. This time the tyrant wants more than a crown. Driven by dreams of empire, fuelled by his increasing obsession with magic, Loethar's plan to overthrow King Brennus of Penraven, 9th of the Valisars, was cemented the hour upon when he learned that Brennus possessed the power of coercion.

All of the Valisar heirs have been blessed down the ages with the sinister ability to bend people entirely to their will and Loethar is convinced that if he consumes these empowered people he will then be imbued with their skills and magics... and be unstoppable.

Fiona McIntosh was born and raised in Sussex in the UK, but also spent early childhood years in West Africa. She left a PR career in London to travel and settled in Australia in 1980. She has since roamed the world working for her own travel publishing company, which she runs with her husband. She lives in Adelaide with her husband and twin sons. Her website is at www.fionamcintosh.com.

It's always a pleasure to speak to Fiona, and find out what fun things she gets up to when she's not writing!

The Rise Of Australia's Master Muck Racker.

For Over Thirty Years, He Was One Of The Most Powerful Men In Australia.

In 1922 Ezra Norton inherited the newspaper Truth from his father, John. Norton Senior was a fiery polemicist and fierce drinker who used the paper to castigate his enemies and indulge his biases. He even fought out his differences with his wife in its pages by publishing their divorce proceedings.

Truth and later its stablemate the Daily Mirror made Ezra Norton one of the key media figures of his day. His notorious feud with Frank Packer led to a fist fight at Randwick racecourse. And his newspapers adopted and promoted his father's muckraking style to turn the Norton brand of tabloid journalism into an institution. Yet for someone who profited from others' scandals, Ezra Norton was an unusually private man.

Sandra Hall's thoroughly researched and lively account of Ezra Norton's life gives a fascinating insight into this influential Australian figure. In doing so, it traces the evolution of tabloid newspapers and the Australia in which the Nortons thrived.

Sandra Hall is well known for her film reviews. In 2006 Fourth Estate published Sandra’s novel, Beyond the Break, which was longlisted for the 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award. She has also written a history of Australian television.

Another bloody good interview, I hope you all enjoy it!

It's the most controversial conflict of our time: a war which has divided citizens, politicians, and militaries, resulted in headlines about torture and suicide bombings, death and destruction. There's no single identifiable enemy and no exit strategy. So how will the war in Iraq be won? What will victory look like?

In 2004, when Australian Major General Jim Molan was deployed to the war to oversee a force of 300,000 troops, including 155,000 Americans, he faced these and other questions on a daily basis. In Running the War in Iraq he gives a gripping insider's account of what modern warfare entails – the ghastly body count, the complex decisions which will mean life or death, the divide between political masters and foot soldiers – and the small, hard–won triumphs.

General Jim Molan joined the Australian Army in 1968 and has served in Jakarta, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. For his contributions in Iraq, he has been awarded the legion of merit by the US government and the Distinguished Service Cross by the Australian government.

This is an incredibly down to earth interview with one of the people who was on the ground in Iraq, grappling with the every day problems of running a counter insurgent campaign.

Probably one of the most interesting and thought provoking interviews I've done in an awfully long time, and one of which I am very proud. I hope you share and enjoy this interview.

Wheels skate park has been built and is about to be officially opened. It's meant to be an area for skateboarders, in–line skaters, scooters and BMX bikes to share. But now a decision has been made to ban the bikes on the grounds that they are dangerous and cause destruction to the facilities.

Deciding to campaign against this injustice, the freewheelers organize a petition, much to the chagrin of the skateboarders who want them out of the park. Undaunted by a series of dirty tricks, the Freewheelers, supported by Mr Lark, go to the local council to appeal the decision, but their efforts are sabotaged by a rowdy protest from their rivals.

For Mio, it's getting increasingly personal. Mr Lark's precious ID dogtags from the Vietnam war have been stolen while in her care. Someone is sending abusive email from her account, and the school wants to expel her. Her parents are ashamed of her and her best friend in Japan doesn't want to know her after seeing the emails.

Mio must take on the skateboarders and ride the course of her life to uncover the truth and win the park back for the BMX riders.

Age 10 – 14

Jeni Mawter is the author of UNLEASHED! and LAUNCHED!, the first two books in the Freewheelers series, and also the popular So! series. She has an MA in Children’s Literature and is a tutor at Macquarie University. She lives in Sydney with her family

Another enjoyable interview!

Share & Enjoy!

35 new stories celebrating the wild side of Australian fantasy writing

Welcome to the energy, invention and imagination of Australia's finest writers of speculative fiction – from acclaimed international bestsellers to the freshest new voices.

Ten years ago, Dreaming Down–Under captured the excitement of the wild side of Australian fiction and won a coveted World Fantasy Award. Now it's time to start Dreaming Again ...

Includes a previously unpublished story from the late great A. Bertram Chandler

Jack Dann has written or edited over sixty books, including the international bestseller The Memory Cathedral, which is published in over ten languages and was number 1 on The Age bestseller list. The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a grand accomplishment", Kirkus Reviews thought it was "an impressive accomplishment", and True Review said, "Read this important novel, be challenged by it; you literally haven't seen anything like it." His novel The Silent has been compared to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn; Library Journal chose it as one of their "Hot Picks" and wrote: "This is narrative storytelling at its best – so highly charged emotionally as to constitute a kind of poetry from hell. Most emphatically recommended."

Dann's work has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Castaneda, J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, and Mark Twain. He is a recipient of the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Australian Aurealis Award (twice), the Ditmar Award (three times), and the Premios Gilgames de Narrative Fantastica Award. He has also been honoured by the Mark Twain Society (Esteemed Knight). His novel, Bad Medicine (retitled Counting Coup in the US), has been described by The Courier Mail as "perhaps the best road novel since the Easy Rider days". The West Australian called his retrospective short story collection Jubilee "a celebration of the talent of a remarkable storyteller". He is also the co–editor of the groundbreaking anthology of Australian stories, Dreaming Down–Under, which won the World Fantsasy Award in 1999, and co–editor of Gathering the Bones, a collection of horror stories from around the world.

Jack Dann lives in Melbourne, Australia, and "commutes" back and forth to Los Angeles and New York.

His website is at www.eidolon.net/jack–dann

One of those nice, fun interviews I do so like doing!

Mia Montrose, archaeological linguist, has discovered that the Black Madonna is a code used by secret societies throughout time for the lost key to an ancient power source: the Sphere of Amenti.

Kali, inter–dimensional Queen of the Anunnaki –now fully merged with the youngest Dragon Queen, Tamar Devere – has less than a year to rehabilitate her Fallen kindred who desire inter–galactic domination. Ashlee Granville–Devere, and the Dragon Queens must pool their talents to open the twelve Stations of the Signet Grid and unlock the Halls of Amenti lest the Fallen succeed in using time–travel technologies to destroy humanity.

From the ancient past to the distant future, from Montsègur to the way–stations of the universe, from the Underworld of the Kali Rift to the Otherworld of the Ranna Time Flow – the inter–time war must be won for the sake of the future.

Traci Harding was born and raised in Sydney. A natural storyteller, she has been writing since childhood. Traci lives along the Hawkesbury River, NSW, with her husband and two children.

What a wonderful person to talk to - I should do more interviews like this!

You can find out more about Traci at: http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding

Do your kids sometimes make you feel like your head is going to explode? Have you ever yelled until you were hoarse? Do you ever have days when all you feel like doing is making a run for the airport? Why is it so hard to be the parent you thought you would be?

For harassed parents struggling to understand why they end up screaming at their kids and tearing their hair out trying to make them understand that bad behaviour has consequences, here's the perfect book to help your family make it through the crucial first decade or so and actually enjoy each other's company.

Practical commonsense answers and examples from actual cases, logical and realistic strategies, and innovative behaviour–modification tools that work in the real world –– all from a parent and family therapist who's seen almost everything there is to see and offers some hard–won battlefield wisdom.

Written in down–to–earth language, this book should be handed out at birth, an essential guide for the struggling parent who knows family life can and should be better.

Clinical psychologist Nigel Latta is the author of Execution Lullaby, and the bestselling Into the Darklands: Unveiling the Predators Amongst Us. Nigel specalises in working with kids in the ‘too hard’ basket and consults with families from throughout the country.

A sought-after speaker and trainer, Nigel is also a regular media commentator. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and two children. Nigel Latta can be heard in the parenting segment of This Way Up each Saturday on National Radio.

Fantastic guy to talk to is Nigel, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Eighteen–year–old Mumma is pregnant and abandoned on a remote island by her respectable family. Her only company is a neighbour, a youth she calls Mister who brings offerings of fresh fish, and her only consolation is feeding her beautiful daughter Lolly on the recipes her mother taught her.

Yet in her isolation, Mumma spins a haven of light and warmth that beckons Mister (a boy who knows all about abandonment, his mother having run off years before) and allows the two of them to forge an unlikely affection. It also allows Mumma's child, Lolly, to grow unaware of the dark secrets surrounding her ...

Yet Mumma cannot protect Lolly from the world forever. At school there are plenty of people willing to point out to Lolly how eccentric her family is, and that Mister is not her real father. It's a subject she cannot broach with her mother, any more than she can talk about the way her baby sister died at birth, and how she has always felt responsible.

Eventually, Lolly's distress manifests in a desperate effort to exert control in the only way she can –– by controlling her own body.

This richly textured novel weaves the pleasures of cooking and the freedom of daydreams into a story of a young woman's fierce resilience, rending vulnerability, and unexpected love.

Corrie Hosking grew up in the Adelaide Hills, where she now lives with her partner, her children and a collection of animals. The manuscript of her first novel, Ash Rain, was the inaugural winner of the Adelaide Festival Award for an unpublished manuscript in 2002. It was subsequently published by Wakefield Press in 2004. Corrie has presented at the Sydney Writers' Festival -- the result of being chosen as one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists, 2005 -- and at Adelaide Writers' Week.

Corrie was great fun to talk to, and I hope you can catch up with her at the Adelaide Writers' Festival in March!

What is the most Australian thing about Australians? It’s the Australian accent! But what is it? Where did it come from? And is it under threat? Join us on the fascinating journey that is “The Sounds of Aus”.

How can you tell if somebody is Australian? Can you tell an Australian by the way the look? By what they do for a living? Or even by the way they think? Arguably, the Australian accent is the most Australian thing about us. The cultural DNA in this country is in the way Australians speak.

But what is the Australian accent? Where did it come from? Does the broad ocker accent represent how the majority of Australians sound? Does our accent vary significantly from region to region? Is the accent under threat from the forces of globalisation? Is it even worth preserving? And where is it going from here?

Hosted by John Clarke, and told through an array of illuminating interviews with linguists, historians, social and political commentators, comedians, actors, and plenty of opinionated people with genuinely hilarious anecdotes, The Sounds of Aus is a humorous, informative and uplifting documentary that tells the story of the Australian accent. It tells us how we got it, how to do it, how it has evolved over the two centuries since the First Fleeters first transported the English language to our shores, and what is happening to the accent now.

Lawrie Zion's done a great job with this DVD, and this is a really fun interview!

In Percheron, Zar Boaz is preparing for the imminent arrival of the Galinsean war fleet. Despite the necessity for him to be part of the delicate negotiations, Spur Lazar determines to travel back to the desert to rescue the abducted Zaradine Ana.

Ana is a prisoner of the despotic Arafanz and his fanatical followers, and as it slowly becomes clear what they plan for Percheron, Ana does not know if she is to survive.

Pez – once the palace fool – is now locked in a mighty battle of wills with his nemesis, the charismatic Grand Vizier Tariq ... which may make the threat of war irrelevant as the final confrontation for the region's faith is played out.

Fiona McIntosh was born and raised in Sussex in the UK, but also spent early childhood years in West Africa. She left a PR career in London to travel and settled in Australia in 1980. She has since roamed the world working for her own travel publishing company, which she runs with her husband. She lives in Adelaide with her husband and twin sons. Her website is at www.fionamcintosh.com.

It's always great to talk to Fiona, and this is a great interview!

Les Norton is back, wearing ten-hole Doc Martens …

Les is quite happy resting up after the flu, when Warren has to tip him into an earn. Norton’s mate from the Albanian mafia, Bodene Menjou, is planning to make the most politically correct movie ever made in Australia, Gone with the Willy Willy, and has a script stolen. If Les can find it, a lazy $50,000 could fall in. How can Norton say no?

After almost getting his head blown off in a drug lab, being attacked by crazed women with broomsticks, and beaten up by monstrous drag queens, Les is wondering if it is all worth it. The trip to Terrigal and the magical mystery tour with Marla is good. And Topaz with her chicken soup is an unexpected delight. But apart from that, Les doesn’t find much joy at all in his search for the missing film script. Especially not trapped in a fight for his life with a sadistic giant, where only one thing can save him: the Mongolian Death Lock.

Set in Bondi and Terrigal, Robert G. Barrett’s latest Les Norton adventure, The Case of the Talking Pie Crust, is vintage Les Norton doing exactly what he does best: his worst. And proves once again why Robert G. Barrett is, according to the Australian, the king of popular fiction.

Robert G. Barrett was raised in Sydney’s Bondi, where he worked mainly as a butcher. After thirty years he moved to Terrigal on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Robert has appeared in a number of films and TV commercials but prefers to concentrate on his writing career. Visit his official website at www.robertgbarrett.com.au

'Surely God weeps,' an Australian Vietnam veteran wrote in despair at the memory of the Vietnam War. But no act of God intervened to stop the long years of carnage and devastation in this most controversial of wars.

In Vietnam, Paul Ham (author of the bestselling Kokoda) narrates in compelling detail the full story of Australia's involvement in our longest military campaign, in which 50,000 Australians participated.

This extraordinary, sweeping account, draws on hundreds of unpublished sources and interviews with soldiers, politicians, medical practitioners, aid providers, entertainers and the Vietnamese people to reconstruct the epic history of a campaign that disfigured a country and divided the world, nations, families and friends.

At its heart, this is the soldiers' story –– of being tossed about in politicians' battles. Unlike any previous history of the war, Paul Ham sets the Australian story in the context of both the American and Vietnamese experiences, giving us a true sense of the sheer scale of this tragedy.

Paul Ham is the author of Kokoda and the Australia correspondent for The Sunday Times (London). He has a Masters degree in Economic History from the London School of Economics.

Paul Ham offers us an incredible insight into what the Vietnam conflict was really about - and at the heart, the very core of this book is one key issue... that Australian troops involved were not blindly following the Americans, that they didn't commit atrocities, nor did they deliberately harm the civilian population.

If you only ever read one book about Australia's involvement in this conflict, this is the book to read.

Simply amazing.

Belinda Alexandra returns with a dazzling novel about two exceptional sisters, set in the Australian film world of the 1920s.

In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adela and Klara must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. There, Adela becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood.

But while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away. And ultimately dreams of the silver screen must compete with the bonds of a lifetime ...

Silver Wattle confirms Belinda Alexandra as one of our foremost storytellers. Weaving fact into inspiring fiction with great flair and imagination, this is a novel as full of hope, glamour and heartbreak as the film industry itself.

Belinda Alexandra has been published to wide acclaim in Australia and New Zealand, France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Norway and Greece. She is the daughter of a Russian mother and Australian father, and has been an intrepid traveller since her youth. Her love of other cultures and languages is matched by her passion for her home country, Australia, where she is a volunteer rescuer and carer for the NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES).

Belinda was fantastic fun to talk to, and I look forward to her next novel!

At eighteen months of age, Lucky, a cream–coloured terrier, was dropped off at a vet's clinic in Queensland, abandoned by his owners and suffering from ticks and other terrors. A week from being put down he was adopted by Frank Robson and his partner, Leisa. From the start, the fluffy new member of the household proved an enigma, displaying a twelve–snort vocabulary, an ability to climb trees (the better to chase parrots) and a disdain for suburbia. In this full–blooded account of a friendship between man and dog, Robson puzzles on the sentient being who trotted into his life and taught him about survival, mateship and the joys of an independent spirit.

Born in New Zealand, Frank Robson spent an itinerate, jack-of-all-trades existence in Australia before becoming a journalist. He has worked for numerous publications, from The Melbourne Truth to Time, run a freelance press agency, made documentaries, and written two previous books, Dare to be Different (on Queensland oddballs), and a novel, Food of Fools. Robson has won two Walkley Awards for feature writing and in recent years has been a full-time writer with Good Weekend magazine.

Frank was fantastic to talk, moored on his yacht in the Noosa River. I look forward to future tales of his and Lucky's adventures!

Oh, and you can find out more about Lucky at www.luckyforme.com.au !

MARTIAL ARTS, MAGIC, DEMONS and SCIENCE

The forces of Hell are poised to strike ...

When Emma's relatives come to visit her, they are totally freaked out by what they learn ... Emma's beloved, John Chen, is a 3000 year old Chinese god. Not only that, John is becoming weaker by the day. Demons pursue him relentlessly, hoping to use Emma, and his child, Simone, as bargaining tools against him.Emma battles to defend Simone as John's energy is drained by the effort of both living in the mortal world and protecting them. While Emma is nagged by doubts about her own nature, she must find the courage to go on ...

Kylie Chan married a Hong Kong national in a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony and lived in Hong Kong for many years. She now lives in Queensland with her two children. Blue Dragonis her third novel.

Kylie is probably my all time favourite author to interview, simply because we seem to manage to never actually talk about her books! Well... they're in there somewhere, but because she's just much fun, the interviews seem to cover anything and everything else... from Chinese mythology to equine Flu, this interview was just great fun.

Not as much fun as her books are, though!

You can find out more about Kylie at her website:

http://www.kyliechan.com

Controversial bishop and moral activist John Shelby Spong has been on a lifelong quest to rescue the Church from irrelevance. In 'Jesus for the Non–Religious', he takes aim at the core of the Christian faith: the identity of Jesus himself. He first strips back the myths that have surrounded Jesus for centuries from the virgin birth to his resurrection from the dead. Next, Spong explains how these myths arose because Jesus's followers saw everything he did through the lens of the Hebrew scriptures.

With these new revelations, we are then able to see the true Jesus: a heroic figure who revealed divinity through his humanness and can still guide us today. Spong breaks Jesus free from the idol religion has created and restores for us a revolutionary and life–giving figure we all need to meet.

John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. As a visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches throughout the English-speaking world, he is one of the leading spokespersons for liberal Christianity. His many books include A New Christianity for a New World; Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism; and his autobiography, Here I Stand.

Bishop Selby Spong - or Jack as he asked me to call him - was a fantastic person to interview, and we covered a wide range of subjects!

Truly a wonderful listen - especially if you're not terribly religious!

A wickedly funny account of celebrity, Hollywood and everything in between!

What's it like to be a veteran director up against the machinations of modern–day Hollywood, with its self–absorbed stars, studio executives who think 'Singapore' is a made–up country, destitute producers posing as lords of finance –– the mad, the bad and the downright notorious?

Award–winning film–maker Bruce Beresford takes us through the highs and lows of the screen trade –– from high–powered dinner tables to obscure backlots, from the centres of power to far–flung locations –– with a cast of characters that includes Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Jeffrey Archer, Steven Seagal, and many others. Delightfully literate and sharply observed, this is a highly entertaining insider's account of a rarely glimpsed world.

Bruce Beresford has made some of Australia's best known and most interesting films, including Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues and The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie, and has had international success with Black Robe, Double Jeopardy and Driving Miss Daisy, which won an Academy Award. He lives in Sydney. This is his first book.

Unfortunately the microphone and telephone connection with Bruce was, to put it bluntly, bloody appalling, and this is reflected in the recording quality of this interview.

Which is a shame, because this was one of the most fun interviews I've done in ages, and I really enjoyed myself....

The ten years of the Cultural Revolution in China tore Chinese society apart - a wound from which it had never fully recovered.

Lee, who owns the Allsilk stores in the Central Market and Glenelg, came out to Australia 16 years ago, and agreed to talk to me about her memories of this turbulent period.

This is the second of an on-going series of interviews about her experiences of this time. This interview looks at her education and experiences during the time of the Big Character Poster Campaign, and the Red Guards.

It was incredibly kind of Lee to share these memories with me, and I greatly appreciate her time and efforts to do so.

The ten years of the Cultural Revolution in China tore Chinese society apart - a wound from which it had never fully recovered.

Lee, who owns the Allsilk stores in the Central Market and Glenelg, came out to Australia 16 years ago, and agreed to talk to me about her memories of this turbulent period.

This is the first of an on-going series of interviews about her experiences of this time. This interview looks at her first experience of the Cultural Revolution, when Red Guards took away her Grandfather because of his association with Madame Mao and the film industry.

Her family was declared "Black", and her home life fell apart.

It was incredibly kind of Lee to share these memories with me, and I greatly appreciate her time and efforts to do so.

I went to the Australian premiere of "The Home Song Stories" the other night, and I'm damn glad I did.

It's a great film.

Tony Ayres has done a magic job of bringing his life story to the big screen, and he's picked a great cast to do it with.

Newcomers John Lok and Irene Chen are fantastic as the young Tony and his older sister, Mei.

Joan Chen's finally found a great role, after a string of awful ones.

She shines as Tony's mother, a former Hong Kong nightclub singer who moves to Australia in 1971 with her two children, after marrying an Australian sailor... who she promptly shoots through on.

I don't really want to tell you too much about the movie, because I'd rather you went and saw it yourself.

All I can say is that it's a great study of immigrant life in the 70's, and a snapshot of Australia at the time.

I'm not sure how wide a release "The Home Song Stories" will get, but if it turns up in your local cinema, go see it.

I haven't enjoyed a film this much in a long time.

Tony was fantastic to talk to, and I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Check out the flick at: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0452631/