Words and Nerds: Authors, books and literature.

Dani Vee and bestselling author Dermal McTeirnan chat about her new book Three Reasons for Revenge. They chat about horror films causing anxiety, the infamous scene in Se7en, the incredible premise of this new novel and setting the book in Melbourne - her first time setting a book in Australia, They chat about the importance of portraying women of all ages in books and films, how to write twisty crime fiction, why crime fiction resonates with so many readers and Dervla gives the best writing advice to create a page turner. Order the book here: https://geni.us/ThreeReasons4R Newsletter sign up link: https://dervlamctiernan.com/newsletter/

Celebrate the 800 episode milestone with Dani Vee, Adrian Beck, Tristan Bancks and Cristy Burne. The gang kick off by chatting about Cristy's new verse novel One Day Soon, a personal story inspired by real events. To celebrate life and 800 episodes of talking to creatives about their work, Dani, Adrian, Tristan and Cristy ask each the hard questions about their childhood dreams, things they've always wanted to do, books they've always wanted to write and they have a lot of fun doing it! Whatever journey you've been on with Words and Nerds, join the celebration of 800 epic interviews with authors, illustrators and publishers.

Date with a Debut is a podcast hosted by writer Nick Wasiliev: shining a light on debut authors, their incredible books, and their journeys to publication. In our second episode of series four, Nick sits down with Bridie Blake, the debut author of romance novel The Boyfriend Clause. WARNING: This podcast contains coarse language. Enjoy the show? Drop us a review, it really helps the show out! You can also subscribe to our new monthly newsletter: https://nickwasiliev.substack.com/ Check out our brand new podcast website: https://dwad.podpixels.com/ Check out the 2026 sponsor of the podcast, Pod Pixels: https://bit.ly/4cbG1Zt Subscribe on Podbean to never miss an episode: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/3mRME5IMoSJx Date with a Debut is featured as part of the Australian literary platform Words & Nerds. Check out all shows on the platform here: https://danivee.com.au/podcasts/ BOOKS: Debut: The Boyfriend Clause / Bridie Blake: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/QYKVaz Additional books mentioned: The Butterfly Women / Madeleine Cleary: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/9VevmY What Did I Miss? / Holly Brunnbauer: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/Vx5MZj Looking For Alibrandi / Melina Marchetta: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/bay9Jb ADDITIONAL LINKS: Bridie’s piece with the Australian Writers Centre: https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/bridie-blake-the-boyfriend-clause/ PRODUCTION NOTES: Host: Nick Wasiliev Guest: Bridie Blake Editing & Production: Nick Wasiliev Podcast Theme: ‘Chill’ by Sakura Hz Production Code: 4.2 Episode Number: #60 Additional Credits: Dani Vee (Words & Nerds), Aideen Gallagher, Fruzsi Gal (Text Publishing) FOLLOW NICK WASILIEV (+ DATE WITH A DEBUT): A LITTLE IDEA PODCAST: Feed NEWSLETTER: nickwasiliev.substack.com WEBSITE: www.nicholaswasiliev.com YOUTUBE: @NickWasiliev_Official INSTAGRAM: @nickwasiliev TWITTER/X: @Nick_Wasiliev FACEBOOK: Nick Wasiliev TIKTOK: @nickwasiliev © 2026 Nick Wasiliev and Breathe Art Holdings ‘Date With A Debut’ is a Words and Nerds and Breathe Art Podcasts co-production recorded and edited on Awabakal Country, and we pay our respects to all elders past and present.

Date with a Debut - S4, E1 - Live at the 2026 Newcastle Writers Festival with Nick Wasiliev, Alejandra Martinez, Sam Elliott and Emma Pei Yin Date with a Debut is a podcast hosted by writer Nick Wasiliev: shining a light on debut authors, their incredible books, and their journeys to publication. Our Series 4 opener sees Date with a Debut live at the 2026 Newcastle Writers Festival, as Nick sits down with Sam Elliott, Alejandra Martinez and Emma Pei Yin to discuss their books and journeys to publication. WARNING: This podcast contains coarse language and adult themes. Enjoy the show? Drop us a review, it really helps the show out! You can also subscribe to our new monthly newsletter: https://nickwasiliev.substack.com/ Check out our brand new podcast website: https://dwad.podpixels.com/ Check out the 2026 sponsor of the podcast, Pod Pixels: https://bit.ly/4cbG1Zt Subscribe on Podbean to never miss an episode: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/3mRME5IMoSJx Date with a Debut is featured as part of the Australian literary platform Words & Nerds. Check out all shows on the platform here: https://danivee.com.au/podcasts/

New Episode #796 Dani Vee and Helena Pantsis discuss her unique and dark collection of short stories Mother Salad. They talk about the chaos and complexity of being a woman, the fact that women should not comply to society’s expectations and the challenging the perceptions of women. They talk about vibes, how to write short stories and the path to publication. Mother Salad unravels the image of the woman in shambles, identity fractured and exploring a world which has long abandoned the creature it so carefully constructed. Helena Pantsis is an editor, writer and artist with a fond appreciation for the weird, the dark, and the experimental. Helena has won Going Down Swinging’s micro-microfiction challenge in 2021, has been shortlisted in WigLeaf’s top 50, nominated for Best American Short Stories and Best Short Fictions, and was the 2022 recipient of the H B Higgins Scholarship. In 2024, her debut short story collection GLUTT was published by Grattan Street Press. Today we chat about her surreal collection of short stories, Mother Salad. Listen now!

🩷 NEW EPISODE 🩷 Catch this brand new episode with Dani Vee and Zoe Gaetjens, not her first time on the Words and Nerds podcast (she was part of a Takeover with Amy Adeney back in 2024. This time Dani chats to Zoe about her new YA novel Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans published by Penguin Random House. They chat about: ⭐️ Continuing to reinvent who you are. ⭐️ The path to publication in a career built on rejections. ⭐️ The importance of firsts. ⭐️ The power of art (and drawing nudes!) ⭐️ The writing process. Cleo would have loved to spend the summer before year 12 hanging out with her sister Emmy, who had a plan for dealing with every situation. Instead, Emmy is gone, and Cleo is attending a life drawing class with a bunch of random teenagers. Without Emmy’s plans to guide her, Cleo navigates new friendships, wonky penises and maybe even first love, discovering who she is and what she is capable of. A novel about finding yourself . . . in a room full of strangers, drawing naked people.

Meet Jayne McIntyre, debut author of the trilogy The Feathers of Farwood, published by Riveted Press. In this episode we chat about: ⭐️ The long pathway to publication. ⭐️ Balancing parenting and passions. ⭐️ Why the fantasy genre resonates with readers, and how it’s a great way to explore serious issues in a gentle way. ⭐️ The amount of research needed in a fantasy trilogy. ⭐️ Developing a trilogy and story arc. ⭐️ The importance of kids relating to characters. #podcast #fantasy #fantasygenre #trilogy #publishing

QWS S5E2 Kemper Donovan and Troy Hunter 🎙️ New QWS Podcast Episode! 🌈✨ In QWS S5E2, Troy chats with USA crime author Kemper Donovan, creator of the bestselling Ghostwriter mystery series: The Busy Body, Loose Lips, and the upcoming Sweet Spot. Kemper talks about his path to publication with his first novel The Decent Proposal, as well as his move into mystery writing. He also discusses how his queer identity influenced his writing, and the value of being published a little later in life. Kemper and Troy then nerd out on Agatha Christie, discussing Kemper’s wonderful podcast All About Agatha (created with his late friend and co-host Catherine Brobeck) and how Christie continues to influence him today. They also talk about their upcoming appearances at the International Agatha Christie Festival. (Note, we recorded this episode last year before the festival in September 2025.) Books Kemper recommends: - What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier You can find links to buy Kemper’s books The Busy Body and Loose Lips (and pre-order Sweet Spot), via his website at https://kemperdonovan.com You can also follow him and his All About Agatha podcast on Instagram at All About Agatha. Visit the podcast on Instagram, and me personally at my author website. Hosted by Troy Hunter who you can find on Insta @troyhunterwriter and at www.troyhuntwriter.com Troy is the author of Gus and the Missing Boy and Gus and the Burning Stones, with a third Gus novel coming in 2027.

In this TAKEOVER episode Rory H Mather chats to author Renae Hayward and illustrator Susan Joy Lu about their beautiful new picture book What Can I Get For Mother's Day? They chat about the creative process of picture book development, taking inspiration from reading to their children, unpacking rhyme, the illustrative process and bringing picture books to life. Listen now!

Dani Vee and Julianne Negri explore the devastating impact of youth suicide through the verse novel The Belly of a Wolf. They chat about art as medicine, the publishing industry, the importance of friendship, and the challenges of writing a verse novel. Listen now!

Dani Vee and Niraj Lal chat about his new book Behind the Screens and how we can keep our kids safe. Giving your teenager a phone is a big deal, they suddenly have access to the world their parents didn't have before them, so how do we keep them safe? We chat about how the internet is one of the most life changing inventions in history and how it has changed human behaviour, how tech uses its consumers, data collection and digital surveillance and the debate about AI. An enlightening chat! Listen now.

Dani Vee and Pip Knight chat about her new book Pip Wants to Die. This is not your average vampire novel. A female vampire who wants to be human. Dani and Pip chat about vampire culture, tropes and inspirations from The Lost Boys to True Blood, and they talk about the impossibility of writing and taking risks. Listen now!