When Jacinta Dietrich’s boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer, she turned to fiction to find this new terrain explored on the page.

Except she couldn’t find her story.

While there were lots of narratives involving cancer, Jacinta was looking for a story that involved a young couple involved in a newer – but crucially, established – relationship, who had to navigate the progression of their romance while one of them also went through cancer treatment.

Jacinta Dietrich is a writer and editor who holds a Master of Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne. Her first book, This Is Us Now, was published in 2021 by Grattan Street Press.

In episode 45 of James and Ashley Stay at Home, Jacinta talks about fictionalising her story, writing confronting emotions, and telling her partner that the book she’d written based on their relationship was going to be published.

Plus, things go off the rails as we get into a heated and cryptic discussion of Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, and also exactly which co-host asked author Lyn Yeowart what she was wearing. (If you’re looking to give James a gift, maybe don’t go with a photo book.)

Books and authors discussed in this episode

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott
• The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
• Lee Kofman (featured in episode 3)
• Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
• Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow
• Kay Kerr (featured in episode 37)
• The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan
• Tana French
• Dinuka McKenzie
• Andrew Solomon, of course
• Ten Thousand Aftershocks by Michelle Tom (featured in episode 38)
• Lyn Yeowart (featured in episode 39)

You can order This Is Us Now from Booktopia and bookshops across Australia.

Listen to episode 45 of James and Ashley Stay at Home here, or on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favourite podcast app, and find out about past episodes here.