Category: Podcasts

  • Ep 34 Secret podcast stuff

    In episode 34 of James and Ashley Stay at Home, we speak to bookish entrepreneurs and writers Amy and Laura about how Secret Book Stuff evolved from a kindness-generating project into a business, how books have been transformative in their lives, and how reading makes you better in bed. Secret Book Stuff is an online […]

  • Ep 32 Writing the story you want to write with author RWR McDonald

    When RWR (Rob) McDonald was writing his award-winning debut novel The Nancys, he was working full time in a high-stress job, studying a master’s degree, and was also a dad to two young girls. Around the time he got a literary agent, he decided to take a step down, career-wise, into a lower-stress role. Which […]

  • And the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize goes to …

    Huge congratulations are due to my podcast co-host, writers’ group member and fellow health-challenged friend, James McKenzie Watson, who has won the won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize for his manuscript Denizen. Launched in 2017, the Penguin Literary Prize was established to find, nurture and develop new Australian authors of literary fiction. I’ve read a […]

  • Ep 30 Recovering from childhood with Ruhi Lee, author of Good Indian Daughter

    After growing up suffering emotional, verbal, physical, sexual and psychological abuse within what was ostensibly a loving family, author Ruhi Lee decided to speak out. But before she could do that, she had to learn how to articulate and process her own feelings. Beyond basic terms like happy and sad, she didn’t have a language […]

  • Ep 28 Burning out with Dr Yumiko Kadota, author of Emotional Female

    Yumiko Kadota was a junior doctor and working hard towards her goal of becoming a plastic surgeon in NSW. But the demands of her workplace became increasingly extreme, and she found herself dealing with bullying, sexism and racism, as well as unreasonable hours. If anyone should know how important sleep is for the body, it […]

  • Ep 27 Writing for connection with Emily Maguire, author of ‘Love Objects’

    ‘It’s really important to me, as a writer, to get under the skin of my characters.’ In her new novel, Love Objects, Emily Maguire does exactly that, exploring one woman’s experience with hoarding disorder as a way to better understand our relationships with objects – and with each other. Emily is the author of six […]

  • Ep 26 Raising the Dead with Luke Stegemann, author of ‘Amnesia Road’

    ‘Sometimes just not knowing can actually be a good thing … but there are other times when you really do have to pursue truth. And when does one apply and when does the other?’ In Amnesia Road, Luke Stegemann explores complex questions about violence, history and society. He doesn’t profess to have answers, which is […]

  • Ep 24: Sea-creature days with Kavita Bedford, author of Friends and Dark Shapes

    In Friends & Dark Shapes, author Kavita Bedford uses the term sea-creature days, ‘Days when things that lurk beneath the surface start to come up and feel a little stronger in day-to-day life than they normally do.’ We’ve all had days like that. In episode 24 of James and Ashley Stay at Home, we interview […]

  • Ep 22: Are you equating Vegemite to urine? with Nash, artist and author

    Nash is not only the owner of a bad-ass mononym, he’s also an artist and now first-time author, and the latest guest on James and Ashley Stay at Home. A Sri Lanka-born multi-disciplinary designer and artist, Nash has been based in Melbourne since 2012. His work is both cynical social commentary and an account of […]