Words and Nerds: Authors, books and literature.

⭐️ Episode 833 Dani Vee and Andrew Clarke - Songs That Changed The World ⭐️ Published by Rockpool Publishing

Dear music lovers,

I have something very cool for you this week! I chat to Andrew Clarke about songs that have changed the world! Andrew is a football, motorsport and motoring journalist, and now he’s writing about music.

Some of the songs we focus on are I Am Woman, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Strange Fruit, F@$k the Police,

✅ Songs throughout history that changed the world through popularity, protest and lyrics
✅ The nostalgia of music
✅ Important movements that have been driven by music
✅ The courage of artists and record labels
✅ Songs that can empower you
✅ Feminism
✅ The importance of the punk and grunge movement

What an inspired chat!

Support the industry by hitting play, reading more books and throw on a record!

Dani 💋

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.

The main show will return next week for the final two episodes of the main series before we finish 2026 with three Debut Revisited specials, but to bridge the gap please enjoy a sneak peek of my newsletter show exclusive, Second Date, where authors return for a second round of rapid-fire questions.

Check out a historical fiction/romance special as I go spoiler heavy with Lenny Robinson and Bryony McGuinness, and if you like it, sign up below!

WARNING: this episode contains coarse language.

I have a special deal currently where if you sign up to the newsletter, you can have 50% off a monthly or yearly VIP subscription for the next twelve months. That's $3 a month, or $25 a year!

Sign up to the newsletter here (you can also get a free version too!): https://nickwasiliev.substack.com/

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Check out our brand new podcast website: https://dwad.podpixels.com/

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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/
MAIN EPISODES:
Lenny Robinson: https://dwad.podpixels.com/ep/series-4-episode-13-and-in-the-morning-by-lenny-robinson/
Bryony McGuinness: https://dwad.podpixels.com/ep/series-4-episode-17-violet-town-by-bryony-mcguinness/

BOOKS:

Debut Features:

And in the Morning / Lenny Robinson: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/JkWKNE
Violet Town / Bryony McGuinness: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/QYv6Ba

Other Books Mentioned:

Land / Maggie O’Farrell: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/m4J737
Middlemarch / George Eliot: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/L0yQqV
Mansfield Park / Jane Austen: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/4axb51
The Scarlet Letter / Nathaniel Hawthorne: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/m4JARD
The Handmaid’s Tale / Margaret Atwood: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/5kD6bn
Villette / Charlotte Bronte: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/rEqZnB
David Copperfield / Charles Dickens: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/VOvEyk
Crown of Midnight / Sarah J. Maas: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/VOvEyk
Crescent City / Sarah J. Maas: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/OYvgRG
The One Remaining / Paula McLean: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/yZP02y
Alchemised / SenLinYu: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/qWLJ4O
The Book Thief / Markus Zusak: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/gRej10
The Iliad and The Odyssey / Homer, Samuel Butler (Translator): https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/WOvnqn

PRODUCTION NOTES:

Host: Nick Wasiliev
Guests: Lenny Robinson & Bryony McGuinness
Editing & Production: Nick Wasiliev
Podcast Theme: ‘Chill’ by Sakura Hz
Production Code: 4:X2
Additional Credits: Dani Vee (Words & Nerds), Jean Smith, Siena Johnstone, Sarah Valle (UQP Press), Bakers Lane Books, Julia Ferracane (Righteous PR)
FOLLOW NICK WASILIEV (+ DATE WITH A DEBUT):
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© 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.

⭐️ Episode 832 Bridie Jabour - Ordinary, Funny, Tragic and creativity ⭐️ Published by Harper Collins

Dear book lovers,

This week I talk to Bridie Jabour about her new book
Ordinary, Funny, Tragic 🩷

I love, love, love Bridie’s work!

We chat about
✅ The challenge of writing comedy
✅ The important relationship between siblings
✅ Complexity of mother daughter relationships
✅ Parenting
✅ Scheduling creativity
✅ Writing process
✅ Publishing journey
✅ Leaning into her voice

Support the industry by hitting play and reading books 💫

Dani 💋

⭐️ Episode 831 Carla Fitzgerald - How to Make the World Cup and writing middle grade ⭐️ Published by UQP.

Dear middle grade readers,

This week I talk to Carla Fitzgerald about her third book in this series.

We chat about
✅ Being inspired by women’s sport
✅ Writing middle grade stories to engage kids
✅ Interesting research
✅ Writing process
✅ The challenge of the editing process
✅ Switching from middle grade to picture books

Support the industry by hitting play and reading books 💫

Dani 💋

QWS S5E6 Thomas Vowles and Troy Hunter

TEXT 🎙️ New QWS Podcast Episode! 🌈✨
In QWS S5E6, Troy talks to Thomas Vowles, author and screenwriter, whose incredible debut psychological thriller OUR NEW GODS came out last year

While discussing OUR NEW GODS, Tom and Troy also talk about crime and thriller tropes, about how Tom’s screenwriting helped inform his novel, about moving to a new city, about writing sex, and about the joy of being queer, among heaps of other things.

Books and authors discussed in this episode:
- Dead Ends by Samantha Byres (see the ep with her QWS S5E1)
- A Fairly Honourable Defeat and The Sea The Sea by Iris Murdoch
- James Baldwin
- Garth Greenwell
- Brandon Taylor
You can find Tom on the Gram at @thomasvowles and at www.thomasvowles.com and via his substack thomasvowles.substack.com
You can find Troy on the Gram @troyhunterwriter and at www.troyhuntwriter.com Troy is the author of Gus and the Missing Boy and Gus and the Burning Stones and the upcoming Gus and the Climate Killer
#Gayauthor #Queerwriting #adultfiction #WordsandNerds #LGBTQIABooks