PODCAST

SECRETS FROM THE GREEN ROOM

Irma is co-host of the Secrets from the Green Room podcast with Karen Viggers. Each episode they chat with a writer about their experience of the writing and publishing process in honest green room-style, uncovering some of the plain and simple truths, as well as some of the secrets — whether they be mundane or salubrious — and having a lot of fun in the process.

Secrets from the Green Room is supported by the Marion Writers and The Book Cow bookshop in Kingston, ACT.

Episodes feature conversations with Charlotte Wood, Craig Silvey, Sofie Laguna, Tony Birch, Nikki Gemmell, James Bradley and many more!

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LISTEN

Inga Simpson, episode 27

Booksellers, episode 26

Natasha Lester, episode 25

Craig Silvey, episode 24

Brooke and Rhett Davis, episode 23

Claire G. Coleman, episode 22

Robert Watkins, episode 21

Tony Birch, episode 20

Sulari Gentill, episode 19

Cat Sparks and Rob Hood, episode 18

Nigel Featherstone, episode 17

Isobelle Carmody, episode 16

Allison Tait, episode 15

Charlotte Wood, episode 14

Mirandi Riwoe, episode 13

Jack Heath, episode 12

Nikki Gemmell, episode 11

Lisa Fuller, episode 10

Sofie Laguna, episode 9

Eugen Bacon, episode 8

Valerie Parv, episode 7

Brendan Fredericks, episode 6

James Bradley, episode 5

Karen Viggers, episode 4

Chris Hammer, episode 3

Holden Sheppard, episode 2

Anna Spargo-Ryan, episode 1

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Tony

Sofie

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A gorgeous day in the Dandenongs with a very special preview of @phillip_johnson_landscapes new @chelseaaustraliangardenolinda, which is a bigger version of his winning entry to the English Chelsea Gardens Show a decade ago (the only Aussie ever to have won). It’s so stunning, do get there when it opens. (Phil, you are a wonder!) Also walked the golden-leafed arboretum and ate an unnecessary amount of cake.

#chelseaaustraliangardenolinda #dandenongs #botanicalgardens #landscape #sneakpeek

Snuggled up in bed on this rainy morning with The Grandest Bookshop in the World. I have been meaning to read Amelia Mellor’s glorious book for the longest time, so I was delighted to be asked to be in-conversation with Amelia at Willy Lit Fest. I only wish I could transport myself back to childhood to experience this story because I know I would have truly lived the magic. Whether you’re an adult or a kid, come share the magic with us at the festival. Tix via the Willy Lit Fest website.

@amelia_r_mellor @limeywesty @willylitfest @affirmpress #thegrandestbookshopintheworld #writingfestival #kidlit #childrensliterature #writingcommunity #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

My long overdue newsletter full of writerly goodness is about to drop. Sign up and you’ll go in the draw to win this awesome book pack. Sign-up box on my website. Link in bio.

@ramonakoval @midnightsunpublishing @daleypaulp @pipdrysdale @rijncollins #writing #writingcommunity #authorsofinstagram #bookgiveaway

Perfect Mother’s Day weather, even got out on the paddleboard in my bikini. So damn good to be on the water again with the sun on my skin. And boys now prepping our dinner 😊

Special shout out to the single mums out there — you fucking rock. And also to everyone who is struggling today for any or all of the reasons 🤗

#mothersdaycake

So delighted that the first book in the Discovery Centre series that I’m editing for the National Museum is out in the world looking beautiful! The story is by Biripi man Adam Duncan and was developed over 10 years with kids at the Wiradjuri Preschool, and then again with me! Illos are by Paul Lalo and are so unique, drawing on his background in animation. And design was by Anna McGregor who did such an incredible job of taking it all to the next level. An amazing team to work with. Can’t wait for you all to see the next four 💜

@nationalmuseumofaustralia @soymilk_studio @annamcgregorau #DiscoveryCentre #thebunyipandthestars #adamduncan #editinglife #writingcommunity #kidlit #childrensliterature #picturebook #bunyip

Lovely people, I’m planning a trip to Ubud — tell me your hot tips for best things to do, especially non-touristy stuff and amazing hikes. Thx 🙏🏻

#ubud #indonesia #travel #hikingadventures #wanderlust

Love this all-smiles snap from the Sorrento Writers Festival with the gorgeous @andrearowe_coastwriter and @jockserong. You can listen to a fab chat that @karen_viggers has with Jock in our latest ep of @secretsfromthegreenroom.

#writinglife #authorlife #writingcommunity #writinginspiration #writingpodcast #publishing #authorsofinstagram

What an utterly delightful launch for @claireandpearl’s novel West Side Honey by the always fabulous @kmildenhall. There was so much joy in the room and I can’t wait to crack this one, especially since Kate offered a personal money back guarantee! Since she has excellent taste, I can only conclude that it’s a red hot winner.

(@tinaholzhauser and @virginiajardine this should be your next book club book—read the blurb. Wish I could still come! 🥲)

@text_publishing @readingsbooks #westsidehoney #booklaunch #writinglife #authorlife #writingcommunity #bookstagram

Yesterday’s break from editing to walk the beach and admire the love-heart sky. An accurate reflection of how I feel about my new home. Almost six months now. Not so new 💙

#walking #dailywalk #beachtime #beachlife #morningtonpeninsula

It’s 10 years since Megumi and the Bear was published, so to see it as a featured book at the Geelong library is super lovely. It’s always a joy receiving pics of my books in the wild, but extra joyous when they’re still coming in after a decade.

And to think that both an agent and a publisher once told me that ‘books with snow don’t sell because we don’t have snow in Australia’. Lucky the brilliant Sue Whiting snapped Megumi up for Walker Books shortly afterwards. And now here we are. Still going.

#MegumiandtheBear #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #kidlit #picturebooks #childrensliterature #writingcommunity #australianauthor @craigphillipsillustration @walkerbooksaus @suewhiting4

Had the most fun interviewing Hilde Hinton, Pip Drysdale, Ramona Koval and Pirooz Jafari at the Sorrento Writers Festival. What an incredible bunch of writers and humans. But there must be something about me as a moderator that brings authors to tears because we again had some very moving moments. There was also so much laughter and so many fascinating insights. I could have kept talking for hours.

Plus afterwards Ramona — who I have long admired, and who has interviewed practically every author on the planet — said the loveliest, most generous things about my interviewing. Totally made my festival!

@sorrentowritersfestival @hilde.hinton @pipdrysdale @ramonakoval @gotlander17 @hachetteaus @text_publishing @ultimopress @simonandschuster #sorrentowritersfestival #literaryfestival #writingcommunity #writerslife #writinglife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #bookstagram

It was so very lovely to meet former peninsula girl, Avenue bookseller and Willy Lit Fest Director Emily Westmoreland at the Sorrento Writers Festival this weekend. Book signings and great chats ❤️

#TheBreaking @limeywesty @sorrentowritersfestival @avenuebookstore @midnightsunpublishing #sorrento #writinglife #writerslife #writingcommunity #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #sorrentowritersfestival

Popped into the marvellous @antipodesbookshop during the Sorrento Writers Festival to sign books. Apparently I like to wrestle the pen before putting it to paper.

#literaryfestival #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity #australianauthors #sorrento #SereesStory @sorrentowritersfestival @walkerbooksaus

My first panel at the Sorrento Writers Festival with Chris Hammer and Rijn Collins was so much fun.

Two fave moments. When I asked Rijn about her writing rituals and she said, ‘Mine are very boring’ then proceeded to describe how she finds it comforting to write with her snake curled up inside her bra.

And when I asked Chris about his highest high as a writer and he was brought to tears describing the bidding war for his debut novel, Scrublands, that changed his life.

Laughter and tears is the ultimate combo. Loved chatting with these two in front of a packed audience. The inaugural festival is really rocking, with every session full to capacity. Great stuff.

And thanks to @andrearowe_coastwriter for the pix!

@sorrentowritersfestival @thehammernow @rijncollins @simonschusterau @allenandunwin #TheTilt @corrieisreading #FedtoRedBirds #literaryfestival #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity #australianauthors #sorrento #sorrentowritersfestival

Read this cracker of a book on my flight back from Tassie and I can’t wait to chat with my old Canberra mate Chris Hammer about it tomorrow. He knows how to deliver a gripping novel — five of them in five years! The Sorrento Writers Festival is on now, come join us as we talk all things writing.

@thehammernow @allenandunwin @sorrentowritersfestival #sorrentowritersfestival #writingcommunity #literaryfestival #writerslife #writinglife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #thetilt #sorrentowritersfestival @corrieisreading

So very lovely to meet Bron and Tim and the gorgeous booksellers at the Hobart Bookshop. They’d literally just sold their last copy of The Breaking, but great to know it’s still kicking about two years on. And that Seree’s Story is finding its way into kids’ hearts.

#writerslife #writinglife #writingcommunity #authorlife #picturebook #kidlit #thailand #elephantlove #sereesstory @hobartbookshop @walkerbooksaus @midnightsunpublishing

So fun to drop into the beautiful Fullers Bookshop in Hobart and meet the gorgeous Maddy and sign copies of Where the Heart Is. Thanks for having me!

@fullersbookshop #writerslife #writinglife #writingcommunity #authorlife #picturebook #kidlit @oh.susannah.illustration @ekbooksforkids

The hiking around Cradle Mountain was insanely good. Such stunning landscape. Plus I saw my first wild wombat, followed by a bunch more.

#cradlemountain #cradlemountainnationalpark #marionslookout #dovelake #hiking #hikingadventures #tasmania #tassie #holidaytime

How good is autumn sunshine?! Just as good as Ramona Koval’s fascinating book about human evolution. I’ll be in conversation with her at the Sorrento Writers Festival this weekend. Such a fab line up of authors. Can’t wait!

@ramonakoval @sorrentowritersfestival @text_publishing #alettertolayla #sorrento #evolution #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #writinglife #authorlife #literaryfestival #writingcommunity #sorrentowritersfestival

Melbourne has got nothing on Cradle Mountain which genuinely manages to do four seasons in four minutes. We went from sunshine to snow (swipe right) in the space of time we were having our photo taken. Completely forgot about the camera because I got so caught up in the magic of it all. Loved this wild place.

#cradlemountain #cradlemountainnationalpark #snowstorm #hiking #hikingadventures #tasmania #tassie #holidayadventures

Cradle Mountain may have turned us into fagus lovers! As we learnt, they are Australia’s only native deciduous trees, and are found only in Tassie. Apparently leaf peepers (yes, that’s a thing) come from all over at this time of year to see ‘the turning of the fagus’, but we just got lucky 🍁

@doddsnick only just realising that your socks matched and maybe you were secretly a leaf peeper all along :)

#fagus #turningofthefagus #leafpeepers #cradlemountain #tasmania #tassie #landscape #autumn #autumnleaves #holidaytime #walkingadventures

Mount Amos was a hike like nothing else I’ve ever done. Scrambling up 60 degree slopes then sliding back down. The most fun. And the views were epic. Best hike ever.

#freycinet #freycinetnationalpark #mountamos #wineglassbay #tasmania #tassie #hiking #hikingadventures #mountainclimb

Sunset at Honeymoon Bay was ridiculous! (No filter.)

#freycinet #freycinetnationalpark #tasmania #tassie #holidayadventures #beachtime #beachdays #sunset

Tasmania is next level beautiful! The weather in Freycinet was literal perfection. Did the Wineglass Bay / Hazards Bay hike and it was stunning, with so many gorgeous little coves along the way. Been wanting to come to Tassie forever and it is certainly delivering 💙

#tasmania #tassie #freycinet #wineglassbay #hazardsbay #walkingadventures #hiking #holidaytime

Roadtripping with the next girl ahead of my session with Pip Drysdale at the Sorrento Writers Festival. It’s a pacey thriller about Billie, a young paralegal who is out for revenge, that is underpinned by some serious social issues. Can’t wait to chat!

@pipdrysdale @simonschusterau @sorrentowritersfestival #thenextgirl #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity #literaryfestival #morningtonpeninsula #sorrentowritersfestival

I adore Marion Halligan and it was such a joy to sit around her kitchen table and chat about writing and life and how things have changed in publishing over the decades for the latest Secrets from the Green Room ep. She is one of the wisest and most generous people I know. And now you all get to have a cup of tea with her too! Enjoy x

(As always I have managed to be the only one who doesn’t know how to look at the camera 😆)

#writing #publishing #writinglife #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #bookstagram #booklove #booklovers #booknerd #writingpodcast @marionwriters @thebookcowkingston @irma.gold @karen_viggers

I began reading Childless on the beach waiting for penguins to emerge, and it is a gut-punch of a book, in all the best ways. Sian Prior is so raw and vulnerable in her writing, and her sentences are so beautifully crafted that they strike hard. We share in her grief, her rage and her heartsoreness as she tries to have a baby. I loved it, fiercely. And I am so looking forward to the Sorrento Writers Festival where I get to chat with Sian about writing on a topic that is rarely discussed in such a frank and open way.

@sianshyprior @sorrentowritersfestival @text_publishing #childless #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #writingcommunity #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #memoir #childlessness #morningtonpeninsula #sorrentowritersfestival

Last time I was in Phillip Island I was a kid; yesterday I went back with my kid. Glorious sunshiny day of perfection. And the penguins were a massive hit.

#phillipisland #nobbies #penguinparade #holidaytime

I am so delighted to be speaking with Rijn Collins at the Sorrento Writers Festival in a couple of weeks because I have followed her debut novel’s emergence into the world via this very platform. Fed to Red Birds is set in Iceland, where I was due to go for the Iceland Writers Retreat when a little thing called Covid hit, so I read this novel with fascination and longing.

It’s the story of Elva Bloom who works in a Reykjavik shop of curios and secretly eats the pages of books. Her Icelandic mother disappeared when she was young, her Australian father is practically a stranger and her beloved grandfather has just suffered a stroke. Then there’s a mysterious man called Remy who shows up and presses his way into Elva’s orbit. It all makes for a compelling read and I gobbled this up in just 24 hours ❤️

@rijncollins @simonschusterau @sorrentowritersfestival #iceland #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booklove #writingcommunity #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #literaryfestival #morningtonpeninsula #sorrentowritersfestival

Currently reading Limberlost by Robbie Arnott ahead of the Sorrento Writers Festival and I’m so delighted that I get to chat with him about all things writing because his prose is always so beautifully crafted. His debut, Flames, blew me sideways, and has stuck with me since.

Limberlost, his third novel, is a more conventional narrative and immerses us in the Tasmanian landscape (I’m particularly enjoying this because I’m headed there this week for the first time). The story is a bildungsroman that deals with masculinity, war, the environment and the complex relationships humans can have with animals. Loving it.

Update: Sadly, Robbie has had to pull out of the festival. But it’s still an amazing program. If you’re in Melbs, come!

@robbie_gc_arnott @sorrentowritersfestival @text_publishing #limberlost #sorrentowritersfestival #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #writerslife #authorlife #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #morningtonpeninsula

My boy in the mouth of a ram. Me and the kid love this place, but my dad wasn’t a fan of a single sculpture. ‘None of them are Michelangelo’s David, are they?’ he said. Fair to say he’s not into contemporary sculpture 😅

#contemporarysculpture

Fabulous night at the launch of @toni_jordan_writer’s latest by the wonderful @paddyoreilly.writer. Love this title so much and I’m guessing I’ll gobble this one up like every other Toni novel!

@hachetteaus @readingsbooks #tonijordan #prettierifshesmiledmore #writinglife #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #booksragram #bookstagrammer

In beautiful Sorrento today at the equally beautiful @antipodesbookshop for the launch (by Andrea Rowe) of Rebecca Fraser’s Sea Glass. Master 11 is now officially obsessed with sea glass and wanted to head straight down to the beach in search of it. You have a new convert, @becksmuse!

@andrearowe_coastwriter @wombat_books @rochellemanners #seaglass #beachlife #beachdays #booklaunch #writingcommunity #writinglife #authorlife #kidlit #childrensliterature

Well, this is just the loveliest! When I started up the podcast during that little thing called a pandemic I knew that I didn't want to make something that only two people listened to! Thanks to our fabulous sponsors Marion Writers and The Book Cow Bookshop that was never going to be the case, but to be in the top 15% of pods after just two and a bit seasons is very special.

A massive thank you to everyone who puts Secrets from the Green Room in your ears every ep. I've had so much fun interviewing so many incredible writers, and it has been such a joy working with two equally incredible co-hosts and friends – Craig Cormick and now Karen Viggers. THANK YOU ALL! 💚

@secretsfromthegreenroom @marionwriters @thebookcowkingston @karen_viggers #writingcommunity #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #publishing #writingpodcast

Glorious afternoon for a paddle. Made friends with a huge stingray and hung out for a bit. Happy days.

#beachlife #beachdays #beachvibes

The water yesterday. You’d think we were in the tropics. Sadly, I think it was our last real taste of summer.

#beachdays #beachlife #pointleo #summerdays

Lazy Saturday morning in bed reading Hilde Hinton’s second book and it is full of such loveliness. It is an absolute delight to be inhabiting the quirky kindness of Evelyn’s world, and I can’t wait to chat with Hilde at the Sorrento Writers Festival next month.

I was supposed to be in conversation with Hilde in Canberra about her debut, The Loudness of Things Unsaid, and then Covid hit. We all know how that story went. Happily, we get to tell a different story in Sorrento.

@hilde.hinton @sorrentowritersfestival @hachetteaus #writerscommunity #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #asolitarywalkonthemoon #morningtonpeninsula #sorrentowritersfestival

Tonight’s walk was Melbs at its schizophrenic best. Sun, rain, sun, rain (repeat indefinitely). And to think I almost came out in a singlet and shorts. Haven’t quite nailed this crazy (but wonderful) place yet. Not four seasons in one day, more like four seasons in forty minutes!

#mountmartha #morningtonpeninsula #walking #walkingadventures #dailywalk #beachdays #beachlife

I love this photo of me and my publisher, Anna Solding, taken from the balcony at the launch of my novel, The Breaking.

I have recently signed another contract with MidnightSun for my sixth children's book and I'm super excited to be working with Anna and the team again.

Shout out to the wonderful Dylan Jones who was the official photographer and captured this moment so beautifully. This launch was one of the best moments of my life, surrounded by so many people who I love.

@annasolding @midnightsunpublishing @dylanhughjones #TheBreaking #booklaunch #newbookcontract #writinglife #writerslife #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity