Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

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.

  1. All Episodes
  2. 35 | Bonus episode! Amy Lovat of Secret Book Stuff grills James and Ashley

35 | Bonus episode! Amy Lovat of Secret Book Stuff grills James and Ashley

Jul 27, 2021

James and Ashley are interviewed by Amy Lovat of Secret Book Stuff (who they interviewed in episode 34), for Amy & Laura's radio show 'Reading Makes You Better in Bed.' In it, they discuss reading habits, the history of James and Ashley's podcast, and whether or not reading really does make you better in bed. This interview originally aired on Newcastle Live Radio on June 25 2021. 

You can learn more about Secret Book Stuff on their website, follow them on Instagram and Facebook, or explore their various radio shows/podcast appearances.

Books and authors discussed in this episode:

  • Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson (interviewed in ep 18); 
  • Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota (interviewed in ep 28); 
  • Of Gold and Dust by Samantha Wills; 
  • Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon; 
  • The Shape of Sound by Fiona Murphy;   
  • Hitch by Kathryn Hind;
  • The Spill by Imbi Neeme;
  • The Rabbits by Sophie Overett; 
  • The End, My Struggle Book 6 by Karl Ove Knausgaard; 
  • David Vann (interviewed in ep 23)

Get in touch!