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.
May 13, 2025
How did Jay Martin go from an award-winning memoir to a fiction manuscript she ultimately abandoned? And what did she learn that helped her craft her debut novel, Boom Town Snap?
Jay talks with Ashley and James about what toxic workplaces have in common with abusive relationships, and how we get trapped in toxic relationships at the community level as well.
Jay Martin’s first book, Vodka and Apple Juice: Travels of an Undiplomatic Wife in Poland, won the Hungerford Award and was published in 2018. She has worked in a range of roles including in community development, government policy and consulting. This included positions in federal government in Canberra, as well as in consulting firms in Australia and Canada. Jay designs and runs writing workshops and programs around Western Australia. Her debut novel is Boom Town Snap.
Books & authors discussed in this episode:
- Arna Radovich (from ep 105)
- Anatomy of a Secret by Gerard McCann
- The Hollow Girl by Lyn Yeowart
- The Silent Listener by Lyn Yeowart (from ep 39)
- Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
- Tender Is the Flesh by Augustina Batzerrica
Upcoming events:
- Ashley is in conversation with Jay Martin to launch Boom Town Snap at Better Read Than Dead on Sunday 18 May, 3pm
- Ashley is in conversation with Dinuka McKenzie at Sutherland Library, Thursday 5 June, 6.30pm
- Ashley is part of the Sisters in Crime – Death in a Cold Climate panel, Friday 27 June, 7-10pm, South Melbourne
- Ashley will be doing an in-conversation in Meeniyan with Jacinta Dietrich, Saturday 28 June, 6.30-7.30pm
- Ashley is speaking at Bendigo Library, Monday 30 June, 1-2pm
- Ashley is teaching a multi-day memoir masterclass as part of the Writers at the Woolshed Winter Writing Retreat in the Southern Highlands, 13-18 July
- 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.
Get in touch!