Through discussions and interviews with writers, artists and health professionals, author friends James McKenzie Watson and Ashley Kalagian Blunt explore the big questions: how do books get written? How do people navigate life with chronic illness? And just what are you reading?
Ashley Kalagian Blunt is the author of Dark Mode, an internationally published psychological thriller. Her earlier books are How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, collected fiction and essays. Her writing appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, and more. Ashley is an enthusiastic teacher of writing and creativity. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico. Find her on Twitter and Instagram or visit her website.
James McKenzie Watson is the author of Denizen, which won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize and was shortlisted in 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for Best Debut. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings and the Newtown Review of Books. He has appeared at events including the Sydney Writers Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival and BAD Crime Sydney. He works as a nurse. Find him on Twitter and Instagram or visit his website.
Aug 5, 2025
In episode 120, bestselling author Michelle Prak discusses how she set her latest thriller against the backdrop of Australia’s housing crisis and why she writes flawed, sometimes rash characters.
She also reflects on how growing up in a lower socio-economic home influenced her love of reading and her ambition to be a writer, and also how it delayed her efforts to make that dream happen.
Michelle Prak is a professional communicator with a thirty-year career in PR, social media, and politics. She lives in Adelaide and teaches communication subjects at the University of South Australia. Her bestselling debut thriller The Rush was published internationally in 2023. Barren Cape is her second novel.
- 'The habit of writing' by Michelle Prak for Sisters in Crime;
- Colin Thiele
- Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister
- A Fortunate Life by AB Facey
- Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
- Universality by Natasha Brown
- The Last Victim by Tracy Hall and Summer Land
Upcoming events:
- Ashley is at the Mudgee Readers' Festival teaching narrative drive on Friday 15 August and speaking on Technology & The Future of Crime Fiction on Saturday 16 August
- Ashley is teaching a one-day narrative drive workshop for Writers at the Woolshed on Thursday 11 September and providing manuscript feedback sessions on Friday 12 September
- Ashley is doing one-on-one manuscript assessments for BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival on Saturday 13 September (only two spots available!)
- James is teaching Writing Setting and Landscape at Writing NSW on Saturday 20 September
- Ashley is teaching Online: Crafting Memoir for Queensland Writers Centre on Sunday 28 September
- Join Ashley and podcast fav Hayley Scrivenor for the Mystery and Mayhem Readers Retreat at the 5-star Tamborine Mountain Glades, 3-5 October
Learn more about Ashley's thrillers, Dark Mode and Cold Truth, and get your copies from your local bookshop or your library. Plus check out Like, Follow, Die from Audible.
Get in touch!