Australian Writers' Centre Podcast

JJ Cooper's debut novel is The Interrogator. It is a military thriller made frighteningly authentic thanks to Cooper's own experience as a Human Intelligence officer with the Australian Army. He spent 17 years in the army, during which time he did two tours of duty in East Timor and one in the Middle East.  Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Michael McGirr is the author of the best-selling book 'Things You Get For Free', about his trip to Europe with his mother, and 'Bypass: the story of a road', about Australia's 'main road', the Hume Highway. His latest book is 'The Lost Art of Sleep', a book that explores sleep and its seeming demise despite its many benefits and the huge role it plays in everyday life.  Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Dr Leah Giarratano has been a clinical psychologist for many years - she's therefore well placed to write convincing crime thrillers. She has also worked in television - in 2009 she was the host of Channel 7's Beyond the Darklands. Her latest book is Black Ice, the third in the series of Jill Jackson novels.   Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Linwood Barclay is the hugely successful author of No Time for Goodbye, which was the bestselling novel in the UK for 2008. He started his career in journalism in his hometown of Ontario, Canada and went on to become a regular humour columnist in the Toronto Star from 1993 to 2008. His latest book, Fear the Worst, has just been released.  Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Marele Day is the author of 10 books, including the four-book Claudia Valentine series of crime novels. She has won several awards including the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement, 2008 and won international acclaim for her 1997 novel Lambs of God. Her latest book is The Sea Bed, about a Buddhist monk who leaves his monastery to carry out a fellow monk's dying wish.   Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Helen Brown is a newspaper columnist and author originally from New Zealand and now living in Melbourne. She has published 10 books and has written regular columns for papers such as the Christchurch Star, Marlborough Express and LIVE Magazine. Her latest book is Cleo, the story of the cat Cleo who entered her one week after her oldest son was killed, and stayed with her and her family for 24 years. It will be released in Australia in September this year.   Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

In 1992, Poppy King set up Poppy Industries selling her own brand of lipstick, and within three years, her business had grown into a multi-million dollar company. She quickly became known as the 'Lipstick Queen'. In 2002 Poppy Industries was sold to Estee Lauder. Poppy has now returned to running her own company, this time called Lipstick Queen. She has also just released her first book, Lessons of a Lipstick Queen: Finding and Developing the Great Idea That Can Change Your Life.  Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Susannah Fullerton is a popular literary lecturer and author. She is a leading authority on 19th and 20th century writers with a special interest in Jane Austen - she is president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia. She also leads literary tours to the UK every year. Her latest book is "Brief Encounters: Literary travellers in Australia 1836-1939".   Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Craig Silvey was only 19 when he finished his first novel, Rhubarb. It was published two years later in 2004 and won Craig the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist award. The book was hailed by critics and readers alike and was chosen as the 'One Book' for the Perth International Writers' Festival in 2005, and was included in the national Books Alive campaign.   Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Mary Moody has had a long passion for gardening. Her gardening and love of writing led to a number of columns on gardening and eventually many books. She is probably most well-known for her French trilogy - Au Revoir, Last Tango in Toulouse and The Long Hot Summer. Written during her time in France, where she lived alone for six months while her family remained in Australia, they were bestsellers in Australia and overseas.   Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com

Gregor Salmon is a Sydney based freelance writer. He has written for many Australian magazines including Sunday Life, Inside Sport, Ralph, Readers Digest and Playboy. He has also worked as a producer in television for Beyond Productions, The Morning Show on Channel 7 and an online producer for Channel 7 and Yahoo7.  Interview by Valerie Khoo, director of Sydney Writers' Centre. www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au www.valeriekhoo.com