Reading Between Deadlines Podcast

Listen above or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or if you want to SEE us in all our glory… watch at the bottom of this post.
This episode's book: The Only One Left by Riley Sager, a gothic thriller packed with family secrets, dodgy characters, and a creepy old-mansion. The story follows a home health aide caring for a woman accused decades earlier of murdering her family.
This week’s guest is Mercedes Mercier (otherwise known as Rach’s co-writers). Mercedes is a crime and thriller author known for her fast-paced, twist filled novels. When she’s not writing or looking after her twin daughters, she works in the criminal justice system - no wonder her crime novels are so realistic! Her latest book is The Couple’s Retreat.
In this episode, we cover:
Bios - men vs women.
Creepy, gothic settings.
Is Riley the male Frieda McFadden?
Materialism and old houses.
Co-writing and more!

💋 And, of course, we rate THE ONLY ONE LEFT: Kiss, Kill, or Marry.
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📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep
Anything by Robin Hobbs
The Baby-Sitters’ Club series
Goosebumps series
IT by Stephen King
Sophie Kinsella’s novels
DOVE by Georgia Harper
Harry Potter series
The Lord of the Rings
⏰ Timestamps
1.0 – Welcome, and feel free to be intimidated
2.19 – Mercedes Mercier – pretty much James Bond but a lady
3.57 – The Only Once Left – Tik Tok hype at work
4.43 – Mansions, murder and cliff tops – the blurb is a total vibe
8.28 – The male bio – fewer dogs and kids than you’d think
9.51 – Mercedes shamelessly (and quite correctly) brags that she has kept Rach to a95 000 word count! Anthea passes out…!
11.09 Mercedes and Rach celebrate their (reading) promiscuity
12.31 – Kiss, Kill, Marry – it’s unanimous!
13.45 – Anthea says it’s crazy at the end. FIFTY YEARS CRAZY!
16.15 – Rach loves the crazy – but she doesn’t want to marry it
18.43 – Riley Sager – how to fit a whole lot of crazy into one book at a time
20.39 – Themes - Rach wonders what her books are about??
21.43 – Anthea goes postal about 50 years of arse-wiping
23.40 – Why 1983? Does this novel really need to be set in Dark Ages??
25.57 – We question Mercedes about her personal choices – and find out she’s a crier! (and a nerd) (both of which we wholeheartedly support!)
28.54 – DNF – is it our right? Or our DUTY?
31.22 – Fantasy novels and Sophie Kinsella – because dragons like Jimmy Choo’s, too?
33.18 – Reviews – the work of the Devil, and dummies with no taste…!
33.48 – Co-writing – a brief masterclass from Rach and Mercedes
37.46 – Book recommendations.
41.22 – Harry Potter – divisive? Or still magical?
43.11 – Rach tells Anthea what she’s reading next – Anthea writes it down.
44.57 – See you next time!
👉 Watch now and tell us - did you love The Only One Left?
👉Next Ep, we’re diving into Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy and our May guest is Sara Foster who has chosen to make us read The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.
June Books: 14th June - By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult28th June - Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster with guest author Tamara Moss
Exciting NEWS - we’ve pretty much locked in all our books for the rest of the year! You can see them here!
🎽 Do you read between deadlines too? Grab the merch


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Deadliners
We hope you enjoy this latest edition of Reading Between Deadlines.
It’s come to our attention that some of you don’t realise that we still DO post a video but due to something to do with Apple and Spotify we post the audio at the top and the video at the bottom. So if you’d rather watch than listen, scroll to the end of this post.
Anthea writes the FUNNIEST timestamps for the show - honestly, we’re not even sure what these are for but the wonderful Virtually Annie told us to do these so we do and I really hope people read them, cos they make me laugh so much!
Happy listening/watching. Don’t forget to vote in our Kiss, Kill, Marry poll below.
Love lots,Rach and Anthea

This episode’s pick: WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConoghy is the book EVERYONE in Australia (and we think the world - thanks Reese) has been reading and talking about lately, so we thought we’d better see what all the fuss is about. We’re in awe that Charlotte is so accomplished so young and proud she’s Aussie. We rarely read books by Aussie authors because we’d never want to diss a compatriot and we want to talk honestly about our thoughts and feelings here, but because WILD DARK SHORE has been such a HUGE success, we felt it would be remiss of us not to take a read.
In this episode, we cover:
Climate fiction - is it a thing?
Writing style - fancy or over-written
Romance/love story in lit fiction
How expectations going into a book influence reading experience
💋 And, of course, we rate it: Kiss, Kill, or Marry
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⏰ Timestamps
00 – Welcome to a windswept island - where two authors have been swept up on a rocky beach. (and Anthea wonders why she keeps saying yes to Rachael’s crazy schemes..)
2.58 - Anthea inserts MAFS into the conversation (any excuse) Rach has no time for the television, because she is classy - and insanely busy!
4.04 - Anthea complains about being busy. Rachael nearly passes out - then realises she doesn’t have time.
5.12 - Wild Dark Shore, please come to reception! It’s time to be judged. (and bring a couple of fur seals with you..)
9.06 - Award nominations for Wild Dark Shore. Who is Booktok Boy anyway? Anthea’s finger creeps further from the pulse every day.
10.13 Wake up and smell the turtle-necks - it’s Literary bio time! But does this bio deal in LIES??
14.26 - Kiss, Kill, Marry… Anthea does her civic duty and dobs Rachael in for trying to cheat...!
15.47 - Anthea’s rollercoaster relationship with Wild Dark Shore.
18.55 - Fancy writing - hot or not? And why Rach is captivated by lyrical renderings and Anthea is looking over Wild Dark Shore’s shoulder to see if ML Stedman is at the bar…
21.15 - Was Rach just in a really good mood when she read this novel? And is the honeymoon is over.
23.20 - They called it Wild DARK shore for a reason. Murder, suicide, dead penguins in a barrel. Shiz gets DARK.
25.34 - Hank. Your classic narcissist. And then some. Hang on, just how romantic is the love story? Rach wonders if we need the love story at all…
30.00 - Rach ponders low expectations and their ability to really make literature sing.
36.52 - Rach questions global warming, and likens Dark Shore to a long poem.
39.30 - The seed bank question. Which ones get off the island?
40.46 - Next month The Only One Left by Riley Sager. Rach reminds Anthea what books she’s read. Anthea is very interested!
👉 Watch the episode above and let us know your feelings about WILD DARK SHORE.
📖 Coming up next:
👉Next Ep we’re chatting to Mercedes Mercier about The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
In May, we’re diving into Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy and chatting to Sara Foster about The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.
For what we’re up to after that, click here.
🛍️ Do you read between deadlines too? Grab the merch
Thanks for following. We love ya!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

Listen above or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or if you want to SEE us in all our glory… watch at the bottom of this post.
This episode's book: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is a quiet novel about a woman who inherits the dog owned by her best friend when he dies. Not just any breed of dog but a MAMMOTH Great Dane, oh and her rental agreement is NO DOGS. Although a novel about grieving a friend, it also offers a lot of insight into a writers life as both the MC and her friend are writers.
This week’s guest is John Purcell, who we think might be one of the most well-read authors in Australia. While still in his twenties, John Purcell opened a second-hand bookshop in Mosman, Sydney, in which he sat for ten years reading, ranting and writing. He’s currently Head of Books at The Nile Australia and his latest book, The Amateur's Guide to Killing Bad Guys, will release in August this year.
Shoutout to our inner circle - aka our paid subscribers.
We LOVE you and we LOVE our bonus episodes that we do JUST for you!!
If you’re not already inner circle, you can join for only $5 a month and you’ll get our monthly Recs and Not Recs ep as well as a surprise chat every second month.
In this episode, we cover:
Re-reading old faves
Writing classes and the writing advice in this novel
This dangerous profession and the risks of having a writer in your family
Is telling really a sin?
Dogs vs Cats
2nd person point-of-view
The movie adaptation, which John refuses to watch.

📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep
Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
A Gentleman of Moscow by Amor Towles
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
Lee Child’s Jack Reader novels.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Books by Bryce Courtenay, Colleen McCullough, Agatha Christie, Thomas Hardy, Deborah Levy, Rachel Cusk, Ali Smth.
⏰ Timestamps
1.0 Intro
1.25 – John apologises for loving Brother of the More Famous Jack, as well he should.
1.30 – Rachael cranks the handle on her feminine wiles. Anthea settles in to learn from the master
3.21 – John refers to Rachael as a wonderful author and Rach responds with a comment about John’s top-notch erotica.
5.20 Anthea reads the blurb in an attempt to bring down the spice!
7.21 John complains that Rach and Anthea kind of ruined his re-read of The Friend. Anthea refuses to feel bad about it.
9.33 Rach adds background info about The Friend. Anthea starts thinking about tea.
10.53 Rating time – Kiss, Kill or Marry?
12.07 Anthea goes first, and makes some excellent points
14.34 John doubles down on The Friend. Rachael captivated, Anthea suspects he’s a cat person.
18.56 Rach agrees with John about everything – but she does mention Anthea’s latest book, so Anthea agrees with herself that they can still be besties!
22.06 There’s some nonsense conversation about cats and dogs. Anthea wonders if she can make it to the kettle..
27.05 Not naming characters – cool literary device – or just a bit wanky?
27.39 Writing in second person. Pointless? Wanky? Is the kettle on?
29.44 John discusses self-publishing and AI. A cup of tea is delivered to Anthea by an 83 year old ghost. Nice!
34.10 John loves Room With A View. Anthea wonders about the cat thing.
35.27 Rach tells John he has picked a novel that’s TOO good, with TOO much to discuss! Anthea bows to the master, and realises she still has much to learn.
36.40 Rach and John discuss the issue of offending modern audiences, and modern sensibilities.
41.40 John disses tonnes of hyped books – Rachael and Anthea are in awe.
46.37 John disses Dame Agatha Christie, which Anthea thinks is a bridge too far.
47.07 Rachael enthuses about John’s Nile posts (Anthea wishes they would get a room already..)
47.36 Thomas Hardy – John’s wingman – and one of the greatest reading experiences of John’s life
49.50 Rachael asks – are all writers monsters??
54.23 John has lost three dogs, and has chosen to replace them with cats. Enough said.
55.25 Next book – Wild Dark Shore (and a super fond farewell from Rach!)
👉 Watch now and tell us - did you love The Friend?
👉Next Ep, we’re diving into Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy and our April guest is Mercedes Mercier who will make us read The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
May Books: 14th May - Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy28th May - Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster with guest author Tamara Moss
Exciting NEWS - we’ve pretty much locked in all our books for the rest of the year! You can see them here!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

A couple of quick announcements from Rach:
It’s come to our attention that some of you don’t realise that we still DO post a video but due to something to do with Apple and Spotify we post the audio at the top and the video at the bottom. So if you’d rather watch than listen, scroll to the end of this post.
Anthea writes the FUNNIEST timestamps for the show - honestly, we’re not even sure what these are for but the wonderful Virtually Annie told us to do these so we do and I really hope people read them, cos they make me laugh so much!
Also, there’s only FIVE MORE DAYS left to claim our deal to upgrade your subscription to PAID for 25% off the full price.

Do you get the appeal of Pumpkin Spice?
This episode’s pick: The Crash by Freida McFadden is one of her zillions of books. Her biggest hit is The Housemaid, which was recently made into a hit movie. This novel is about a hugely pregnant woman who crashes during a snow-storm is rescued by a scary yeti, but that’s only the BEGINNING of her nightmare.
In this episode, we cover:
The HUGENESS of Freida McFadden
Twists, wildly improbable plots and stupid main characters
The two main plots and how/if they related to each other
The need to move during pregnancy
Tuna!!
💋 And, of course, we rate it: Kiss, Kill, or Marry

⏰ Timestamps
00 – Welcome – Rach and Anthea have an Inner circle – and they are as surprised about it as anyone
1.19 – Rachael has NO aircon (Anthea decides to tread carefully for episode duration!)
2.08 – Rach reports an itchy nose. May be unrelated. This week’s book – The Crash by Freida McFadden.
4.50 Freida – what a show off. And The Crash blurb. Don’t drive in blizzards, people!
8.16 – Freida’s bio – another chance to show off – Anthea mostly impressed with her house by the ocean. Not the cat part.
10. 50 – Kiss, Kill, Marry!? Rachael’s vote possibly affected by heat stress..
12.24 – Rachael does NOT respect Tegan’s choices. (too dumb to live??)
14.23 – Tegan’s brother. Not awesome.
14.27 – Rach and Anthea discuss all the crazy in The Crash. It takes a while.
19.04 – Tax fraud and it’s role in modern relationships
20.29 – Why Sadie, the kid from next door will never unload the dishwasher
21.23 – Is Rach addicted to crack? The role of coincidence and contrivance..
25.31 – The Prologue DEALS IN LIES kind of. Who asked to hear from Hank, anyway?
28.09 – The importance of Point of View (and air-conditioning!)
29.50 – Anthea - pragmatist to the end. Would you TAKE THE MONEY?
31.05 – One Star reviews – always fun when it’s someone else!
32.32 – Freida – would RBD date her/read her again?
34.03 – Contrivance and character motivation, the TED talk.
37.36 – Stephen King – would have written the shit out of this! Oh, that’s right – he already did.
38.37 – What are we reading next? And will Rach get the air-con working? BYE!!
📖 Coming up next:
👉Next Ep we’re chatting to John Purcell about The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
In April, we’re diving into Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy and guest author Mercedes Mercier will make us read The Only One Left by Riley Sager.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

This episode's book: My Sister, the Serial Killer is the debut thriller novel (although Rach reckons it’s more a novella) by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It was originally published in Nigeria as Thicker Than Water. It received critical acclaim upon publication and was long listed for the 2019 Booker Prize.
This week’s guest is multi-genre author, Kayte Nunn, who has the most delightful accent, probably because she grew up between England and the United States, although she’s now lived in Australia for more than twenty-five years. Kate is a lifelong book lover (which is obvious in this wonderful chat) and believes stories find their writers. Her latest book is THE PALAZZO.
In this episode, we cover:
Titles - original vs translation
Dynamics between sisters
Nigerian culture and setting
Dumb guys
What exactly is literary fiction?
The ethics of serial killer fiction.
Thoughts on Booktok.
💋 And, of course, we rate My SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER: Kiss, Kill, or Marry.
📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson
Jilly Cooper’s books
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Katherine Heiny books
Trespassers by Louise Kennedy
Small Pleasure by Clare Chambers
And TV/Movies:
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Timestamps
0.42 - Intro our author mate Kayte Nunn - what’s a nice girl from Wiltshire doing on a pod like this?
3.13 - Rach’s earrings get stabby - accessories for the crazy author in your life...
5.38 - Bios - boring, useful, a great way to brag about
7.10 - Anthea gives the narrator a full tick of approval - and not just because she didn’t have to read the book herself!
9.15 - A very average Goodreads rating and is the original title, classy - but boring?
11.53 - Double Kiss! Anthea commits to reporting back to RBD about her deathbed experience, and what she’d like to read before she goes..
14.30 - Tade - a tall dark and handsome Dr - Rachael not a fan. WTF???!!!
17.15 - Anthea - pro-serial killer - not into anti little sister movement. Speaks passionately in defence of junior siblings everywhere..
19.25 - OMG Rach admits she’s WRONG (and Anthea is very classy about it!)
21.10 - Kates raves about the symbolism and language - Fancy.
23.0 - Rach wonders about literary serial killers - just because you’re stabbing some guy, doesn’t mean you’re basic.
27.47 - Are serial killers sexy now? Is that ok?
30.02 - How does Kate read? Is she a DNF’er? YES SHE IS!
33.5 - Rach disses Anne of Green Gables and Anthea talks about the olden days. Again. And appreciates charming bloody Anne because she isn’t a total heathen!
35.25 -Car rides with Kayte’s family - NEXT LEVEL! (Best mum award goes to Kayte’s mum!)
38.02 - The historical vs contemporary fiction debate. Again. (Rach just won’t let it go) (Anthea quietly realises she’s written both, so she wins!)
40.00 - In praise of the voice. Kayte loves snark! (Anthea thinks the word snark isn’t used nearly enough)
42. 23 - Fave book adaptations (Kind of including The Talented Mr Ripley, but we forgot the name at the time!)
44.00 - Reviews - Kayte loves wallowing about in reviews - the thought alone makes Anthea reach for a stiff cup of tea.

Next Ep, we’re diving into The Crash by Freida McFadden and March guest is John Purcell who will make us read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
April Books: 14th April - Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy28th April - The Only One Left by Riley Sager with guest Mercedes Mercier


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe