Write-on with Riley: Recent Episodes
Riley Writes
A podcast dedicated to sharing the awesomeness of authors whom I know you'll find inspirational and I have been privileged enough to grill.
I was absolutely thrilled to interview Anna Whateley! In this nearly 40 minutes long interview, we chat about; gaming worlds, being autistic and awesome, Peta Lyre's Rating Normal and a bunch of other cool things!
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Anna and I both had so much fun during this interview! She's such an inspiration to me, so I hope you love watching this as much as we loved doing it. She also has oodles of fabulous advice for young writers too!
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So thrilled to have interviewed Will Kostakis! In this 20 minute interview, we chatted about Will's most embarrassing moment during a school presentation, conversations with pets during lockdown, gaming and the differences between the ARCs and the final versions of monuments and rebel gods plus heaps more.
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Will is so fun passionate about writing and he has lots of wonderful advice for writers too. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did and you enjoy getting to know the incomparable Will Kostakis.
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I was blessed to interview the epic Rhiannon Wilde and ask her about her debut book which will be released in July this year (2021); Henry Hamlets Heart.
We chatted about cemeteries, awkward high school teacher moments, personal libraries with sliding ladders, queerness, amazing grans, awkwardness and much more.
Make sure to check out this video and then go and check out Rhiannon Wilde's website, socials and her extraordinary book;
Instagram- @rhiannon-wilde
Website- www.rhiannonwilde.com.au
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So I had a total fanpeep moment at the beginning of this one but managed to pull myself together and seem almost sort of professional eventually... but he's so cool!!
We talked about his short stories, Firefly, Carried away and Island Boy, which are all awesome and we also talked about video games, gay love stories, comic books, that time he met Tom Felton and his migration from Mauritius to Perth.
Check out Raphael at these links:
www.raphaelfarmer.com
https://centreforstories.com/person/raphael-farmer/
www.instagram.com/raphaelfarmer
www.youtube.com/c/RaphaelFarmer/featured
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I was a little (okay a lot) start struck during this interview But AJ is just so humble, kind and funny, so we had a lot of fun, some of my questions were a little tough, but it was all in good fun. This was definitely a career highlight for me.
We chatted about cycling around Europe, the ups and downs of book tours, the concept of "good vs evil", characters in her books that we love but would hate to meet and SO MUCH MORE.
This is random, but if you know what this book is, please let us know: It's a picture book from a few decades ago, it features a king from a faraway land and a ticking cake which everyone thinks is a bomb but it turns out it's just a ticking cake?
Also; PSA: Don't ever give this woman a boring ice cream, she deserves an epic ripple and crunchy stuff in it! Here's some links to check out AJ's awesomeness:
www.instagram.com/ajbettswrites
http://www.ajbetts.com/
www.facebook.com/AJBettsAuthor
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How awesome is Josh Langley! His newest book "Magnificent Mistakes and Fantastic Failures" was launched right at the beginning of the pandemic but is thankfully, now getting out to families. I have a copy and LOVE it! We chatted about using kindness as a super power, building residence, setting our fear to the side so we can be ourselves and other important things like drawing poop for a living while other people have to work, flowers, pasta and of course; ice cream. Here's the link to our interview from last year in case you missed it and some links to stalk, I mean check out Josh Langley! www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7SRVP6iyZo www.facebook.com/joshlangleywriter https://joshlangley.com.au/ www.instagram.com/joshlangleyauthor
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This was a very special interview for me, Alyssa is such an inspiration to me as she's a brilliant, beautiful writer but she also lives with Crohns disease which some days is too much to push through but other days, she absolutely kicks its butt and I love how real and honest Alyssa is about that. That honesty makes me feel stronger and okay about my chronic illness sometimes getting the better of me too. We chatted about her wonderful short story which has just been published on the "centre for Stories" website, the FABULOUS new book she's working on that I can't wait to read, what makes someone a "valid" writer, puzzles, staring in a Gym video, people watching and so much more. We're wearing purple here because we filmed this on "Wear it Purple Day" 2020, which is a day to celebrate and acknowledge LGBTQIA+ youth in Australia. I was particularly wriggly in this vid, I guess this is what I look like when I'm dealing with a bit of sensory overload (two interviews in one day) and during a high pain day. Alyssa was very kind to ignore it :-) Here's the link to read "Swift" centreforstories.com/story/journal-alyssa-shapland And the link to the "Girls With Guts" blog: www.girlswithguts.org And Ayssa's instagram: www.instagram.com/gameofcrohns14
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One of the funniest interviews so far but also very deep! We talked about self acceptance, the importance of representation in literature, taking time to have fun and of course the amazing book; Invisible Boys!
It was a super windy day and unfortunately the camera picked up all the noisy wind, but it's definitely still worth watching Holden has a lot of fabulous advice for everyone.
I have had a few comments about the fact that I was allowed to read Invisible Boys which is clearly for older teens so I'd just like to mention that this was very well managed by my mum, my amazing sister, Holden and his wonderful publicist Jen. Jen and Holden cleared it with my mum first and my sister read it before me and censored all of the inappropriate parts, so I was able to enjoy the book without any of the nitty gritty stuff which I'm not ready to read about yet.
Also, I look and sound a lot younger than I am, most people think I'm about 10 when they meet me, but I'm older than that! I'm just a bit teeny for my age.
Here's a book review for Invisible boys: http://www.imanitheauthor.com/blog/book-review-invisible-boys Here's the link to Holden's website to learn more about this amazing, soon to be super rich and famous author: https://www.holdensheppard.com
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Oh wow. this was just SO MUCH FUN! Sandi is one of the most empowering and uplifting humans I know, she's always got heaps of great advice and is as obsessed with stories and books as I am, you can feel her passion radiating through the screen in this vid. We chatted about her gorgeous but mischievous dogs, the "growing Up Disabled" anthology, the good things which have come out of lockdown, being a human book and so much more awesomeness. Any publishers watching this; PLEASE, PLEASE publish "The Ned Head Heist" I love that story, it needs to be a book. I'm off to google Mia Corvere from never night...
Here's the link to some of our bloopers and to last year's Booktoberfest vid and of course, Sandi's website and socials. Please check them out and share how awesome she is! LAST YEAR'S INTERVIEW: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k-OfBrf6aw
THIS YEAR'S BLOOPERS: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPn119esIT0
https://sandiwrites.com.au/
www.facebook.com/SandiParsonsWriter
www.instagram.com/sandi.writes
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So much awesomeness in this interview! I was buzzing for the rest of the day! We chatted about how Cristy almost accidentally killed her entire family and the book which was inspired by that, what it was like to work with the extraordinary Fiona Wood, hard work, passion and all the amazing books Cristy has been working on. We even manage to get some spoilers for the one that's coming out early next year!!
Here's the link to our interview from Booktoberfest 2019: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KcB2YM-mOU And you can find out even more about Cristy at these links: https://cristyburne.com/ www.facebook.com/CristyBurneAuthor www.instagram.com/cristyburne
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It was so good catching u with Rebecca, I was especially excited to hear about how well the next book "City of Quartz" is coming along and how Rebecca is dealing with the challenges of progressing a story when the main character has a terminal illness.
We talked about Dungeons and Dragons (of course) I may have got a little too excited during that part of the interview... I can't help myself!
Rebecca also shared her experience of talking to experts about how to sabotage some of Perth's biggest tourist attractions, designer babies, nanowrimo and her amazing workshops which will be coming up soon and so much more.
Here's some links to check out her awesomeness:
www.facebook.com/rebeccalaffarsmith
www.rebeccalaffarsmith.com
www.instagram.com/laffarsmith
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It's Jeremy Lachlan!! * This interview was a dream come true but I think I did pretty well at pretending to be cool and calm, what do you think? It turns out, he actually had a similar experience of being totally, hilariously star struck as I did when I met him, you can hear all about it in this vid.
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We chatted about his EPIC Jane Doe duology which is already out and is AWESOME as well as how the next book "The Quill of all Tales" is coming along. Jeremy gave us a few little spoilers about that too.
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We also talked about creating mysterious characters, his father's first impressions of the very first draft of Jane Doe and the Cradles of all Worlds", what it's like to be a karaoke champion, zelda and so much more!
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Now I'm off to google "Angel" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer but after listening to this episode you can check out Jeremy at these links: www.jeremylachlan.com www.instagram.com/jeremy.lachlan
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And if you haven't read the Jane Doe duology yet... DO IT!!
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This is our FIRST video of Booktoberfest 2020!
Gabriel Evans is an amazing author and illustrator of children's books; Ollie and Augustus, The Happy Penguin, Norton and the Bear and more!
In this interview we chat about oak trees, sibling rivalry and of course his amazing books! Fans of Gabriel's work will get to know a lot more about one of their fave book creators as well as hear some wonderful advice about getting started with their own art work and stories.
If any of my friends win the lotto or sell millions of copies of your books, please buy this man a Richmond Crompton first edition?
Check out these links for more Gabriel Evans Awesomeness:
www.facebook.com/GabrielEvansArt
https://gabrielevansartist.com/
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This interview was another one which was very special to me because I've known Marlize and her sons for a very long time, I met them at a home schooling group.
Marlize is always very kind and supportive and is an inspiration to me.
When I found out that she is also a published author, I just had to make her a part of booktoberfest! https://marlizeventer.wordpress.com/
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How amazing is Elaine Forrestal! This interview really was a lot of fun and I also felt like I learned a lot too, so I'm sure you will as well.
We chatted about the importance of being honest when writing about historical events, even if it feels uncomfortable, what it was like growing up in the Goldfields 100 years ago, scary books that make you lock the doors at night, hilarious and brutal feedback from kids at school and so many more awesome things.
You can support Elaine by checking out her website and social media via these links: http://www.elaineforrestal.com.au/ www.instagram.com/elaineforrestal
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If you want a giggle, hear me attempt to ignore the painful hiccups I was having during the first 1/2 of this episode!!
But seriously, Alison is SUCH an inspiration to me, and I just love how open and real they are during this interview. We chatted about writing a happy trans book, magic, witchcraft, plants, travelling through dimensions, writing through depression and of course their three amazing books which are EPIC! They are also working on some very exciting books too which I can't wait to read.
We had a bad connection on this day, so sorry for the little glitches but it still turned out great and I hope you love learning more about one of your fave gender diverse/queer writers.
Here are the links to the last interview we did for Booktoberfest 2019 (it was via email) and their website and socials: http://www.imanitheauthor.com/blog/booktoberfest-alison-evans www.alisonwritesthings.com www.facebook.com/alisonwritesthings
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This is one of the most chilled interviews of the month, I was nervous at first because she's such a super star but we eased into and she's just so lovely to talk to.
We talked about SO MUCH AWESOMENESS including; her most super embarrassing moment, the importance of writing stories that YOU love, the need for more LGBTQIA+ stories and how we can make that happen, her brilliant work with the Love OZ YA committee, launching a book in the middle of the pandemic and so much more!
Sorry I was very wriggly in this interview, I was having a high pain day, the EDS was kicking my butt but I didn't want to miss it.
In other news: I've decided that as well as working on my goal of becoming a published author I am going to be a literary agent and will apply to TAFE next year to start making that happen! YAY! Danielle absolutely inspired me.
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HILARIOUS interview, but as always I love how open and real Holden gets during this interview too.
I think Holden definitely has the WEIRDEST place he has got inspiration for his writing from, we also chatted about what a huge Harry Potter nerd he was in school, the insane amount of amazing awards and accolades "Invisible Boys" has won, how the book is helping so many people, who is the most dramatic, Holden or his talented, writer husband and of course the next epic books that will be coming out soon.
Of course we also talked about the new TV series of Invisible boys which i'm just SO EXCITED about! Since pretty much everyone else has already asked if they can be an extra in the TV show, I won't ask for that job, but what do you think my chances are of getting a job in the writing room where all I have to do is throw the book at the staff every time they attempt to deviate too far from the book?
Here's the links to Holden's other info:
www.holdensheppard.com/
www.instagram.com/holdensheppard
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How awesome is Yohann Devezy?
Throughout this brilliant interview we chatted about his book, school workshops, the weirdest email he wrote, why representation in literature matters and more!
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Heather's brand new, debut novel was officially released at the beginning of october 2020 so I was extremely grateful to be one of the lucky ones who got to interview her!
We talked about her new book, where her inspiration comes from, goats and other cool things!
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This is a long one but OH SO worth the time!
Nevo is brilliant, I could talk to them for hours, they are so insightful and full of awesomeness. We talked about "finding Nevo", their gorgeous book. plus we chatted about dumpster diving, how to deal with inappropriate questions that queer and trans/gender diverse people ALWAYS get asked, respecting and honoring your past and inner child, cheese, chocolate and so much more.
Nevo runs a writing workshop for trans and gender diverse youth with Alison Evans, if you're keen to join, you can reach out here: youngadults@melbourne.vic.gov.au
You can also follow and reach out to Nevo here:
www.facebook.com/nevozisin
www.nevozisin.com/about
www.instagram.com/nevozisin
And if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend Finding Nevo, I adore this book.
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I was privileged enough to grill the wonderful Rebecca Newman! She is a brilliant writer and human being. I love how she shares her poems and passion for writing with kids and encourages them to love literature.
We chatted about the inspiration behind her poetry, Her paper bird fellowship of 2019 the anthology's she's been in her flash fiction kitchen garden and more!
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I was super blessed to interview the spectacular Sharon Giltrow. She is a brilliant children's writer she has just had her first book published and has two more on the way! She did a paperbird fellowship in 2019 and has achieved many more awesome things.
We discussed her upcoming books ,her paperbird fellowship, the ups and downs of being a writer and much more!
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I was super privileged to grill the incredible Andrew Macleod. He is an amazing surrealist poet and writer, he does great workshops for kids and adults! Andrew truly is an inspiration to me and I know that he will inspire you too!
In this Interview we discuss surrealism, the life of a writer, his poetry collection that he self published, writing through childhood trauma and much more!!
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The First Episode; Featuring author extraordinaire; Mark C Evans, This podcast episode is the audio of an interview from 2019 where Mark suggested I create a podcast out of all the video interviews I've hosted with amazing authors... Better late than never right!?
We chatted about Crazy Crabs, being an awesome author, taking inspiration from silly thing and so much more.
ENJOY!
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