Interviews with writers – Page 9 – Australian Writers' Centre

Fiction writing

‘The Rosie Project’ author on productive days writing nothing

Do not adjust your sets. Yes, we really did just say that you can be a productive writer without actually writing a word. At least that’s how Graeme Simsion (author of the ridiculously popular 2013 smash hit, The Rosie Project) sees it.

Well, kind of anyway. It’s true that The Rosie Project does indeed have words – around 75,000 of them, and that Graeme actually did write them himself. In fact, when we spoke to him in Episode 1 of our top rating podcast So You Want to Be a Writer earlier this year, he also had some interesting things to say about the evolution of the story from screenplay to novel.

11 August 2014

Fiction writing

Kate Forsyth on creating worlds

Writing any kind of fiction, purely by definition requires an element of suspended disbelief. After all, it’s a ‘made up’ story. And Kate Forsyth knows a thing or two about the subject, having written many fantasy novels over the years, often with a fairy tale angle or inspiration.

When we had a chat with Kate recently – in episode 21 of our top-rating podcast So you want to be a writer – we asked her about her fantasy novels, and what the most valuable lessons were that she’d learned creating her own worlds?

28 July 2014

Fiction writing

Writing about being gay, Jewish and Melburnian. This debut novelist reveals all.

Eli Glasman is an author based in Melbourne, Australia. His first book The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew explores the complications of being a homosexual boy in the Melbourne orthodox Jewish community.

We caught up with Eli to discuss his writing process and the blurred lines between real life and fiction.

14 July 2014

Interviews with writers

Has your cat been published yet?

Spend a small amount of time online and you’re bound to come across a cute video of a cat playing a violin or ice skating. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that cats can be published authors, too.

Since Bailey Boat Cat first started his blog in 2012, his adventures have captured readers’ imaginations around the globe. And now, with help from his human companion Louise Kennedy, he has released his first book about life at sea. We sat down with Louise to chat about the journey from blog to book.

Your first post on the Bailey Boat Cat blog was in October 2012 – around the time Bailey was one year old. Where did the idea to create a blog around your cat’s adventures come from?

8 July 2014

7 questions with ‘Saving Zali’ author and AWC graduate Lisa Venables

Lisa Venables is an Australian Writers’ Centre graduate and newly published author. She lives on the NSW Central Coast with her husband, her 16-year old son and six-year-old daughter. It was her daughter, Zali, who provided the inspiration for her first book – a memoir recounting Zali’s diagnosis and recovery

3 June 2014

Fiction writing

Su Dharmapala on the power of kharma and writing from the heart

Su Dharmapala is an author, social media commentator and blogger. Her debut novel, The Wedding Season, was published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster and she’s just released her follow-up, Saree. Set in Sri Lanka, India and Australia, Saree is the story of a young saree maker, whose creations transform

9 May 2014

Fiction writing

7 Questions: Josephine Moon on her ‘foodie fiction’

Josephine Moon is an Australian author whose debut novel, The Tea Chest, prompted a hotly contested auction between several publishers. The manuscript was eventually published my Allen & Unwin. Josephine describers her novel as “like a chocolate brownie – indulgent, comforting, a treat for the senses, but filling, and with chunky nuts to chew on.”

Josephine started her writing career as a journalists but had always wanted to write fiction. She also spent time teaching English and working as an editor. For many years she experimented with a number of genres, writing and publishing a number of short stories. She began work on her first novel in 2007 and is now working on a second for Allen & Unwin. She lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland with her husband and young son.

2 May 2014

Fiction writing

Author Profile: Gabrielle Tozer

It’s 5.30am. Gabrielle Tozer, 28, shuts the door to her study and sits at her desk. Sydney’s concrete jungle is quieter so early in the morning and Gabrielle likes to write in silence. A gumtree stands outside her window – the only greenery among the nearby buildings. It’s a reminder

22 April 2014

CBCA Shortlisted author Barry Jonsberg on writing and keeping young readers happy

Barry Jonsberg is a former lecturer and high-school teacher and author of books for young adults and kids. He has published eight books for young adults and the latest, My Life As An Alphabet, has been shortlisted in the 2014 Children’s Book Council Awards Book of the Year for Younger Readers.

Barry moved to Australia from the UK in 1999 and wrote his first novel in 2001. In 2004 his first book was published, The Whole Business with Kiffo and the Pitbull. That book was his first CBCA shortlisted novel – it made the list in 2005 list in the Older Readers category. Since then he has published 10 more books for young adults and younger readers including It’s Not all About YOU, Calma (which won the 2006 South Australian Festival Award for Children’s Literature), Dreamrider (shortlisted for the 2007 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards) and Being Here.

11 April 2014

At My Desk: Australian author Karen Viggers

Melbourne-born Karen Viggers is the author of three novels, the latest of which is The Grass Castle. Karen grew up in the Dandenong Ranges spending her free time riding horses and writing stories. Her love of creative writing was put aside in high school in favour of maths and science after being told it was too hard to make a living from writing. It was only after she completed vet school that she began writing again, though those works were mainly poetry and were not published. After years of working, studying and family life, Karen finally began writing fiction and, two years (and many drafts) later, her first novel, The Stranding, was published. The novel was well-received and Karen followed it up two years later with The Lightkeeper’s Wife.

Her third novel, The Grass Castle, has just been released. It follows the stories of two women in the Brindabella Ranges and their struggles to free themselves from long-buried family secrets.

28 March 2014

Crime and thriller

At My Desk: Bestselling action thriller novelist Matthew Reilly

International best-selling author Matthew Reilly began writing his first novel at 19, while still at university. That first novel, Contest, was rejected by all major publishers and Matthew self-published it in 1996, printing 1000 copies and selling it himself to bookstores across Sydney. In early 1997, he was contacted by

27 January 2014

Mitch Lewis: From IT Systems Manager to published author

Mitch Lewis, 34, was working as an IT Systems Manager when he first discovered the Australian Writers’ Centre. Mitch knew that he enjoyed writing but he didn’t know how to take this interest further. At the time, Mitch says he knew that he liked writing his cricket team’s match reports,

26 January 2014

Category: Interviews with writers

‘The Rosie Project’ author on productive days writing nothing

Kate Forsyth on creating worlds

Writing about being gay, Jewish and Melburnian. This debut novelist reveals all.

Has your cat been published yet?

7 questions with ‘Saving Zali’ author and AWC graduate Lisa Venables

Su Dharmapala on the power of kharma and writing from the heart

7 Questions: Josephine Moon on her ‘foodie fiction’

Author Profile: Gabrielle Tozer

CBCA Shortlisted author Barry Jonsberg on writing and keeping young readers happy

At My Desk: Australian author Karen Viggers

At My Desk: Bestselling action thriller novelist Matthew Reilly

Mitch Lewis: From IT Systems Manager to published author

Browse posts by category

Courses starting soon