Creative Momentum with Meg

Meg Dunley
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Creative conversations and mindset coaching. Creative Momentum with Meg is a podcast featuring thoughtful conversations with writers, artists, musicians and performers about creative practice, process, and what it takes to keep going. Hosted by Meg Dunley, a creativity coach, each episode explores the rhythms of creative life—routine, doubt, momentum, rest, and persistence—with people making work across different disciplines and stages of practice. These are conversations about how creative work actually happens: not just the finished outcomes, but the habits, tensions, and questions that shape the work over time. Some episodes are short and focused, others more expansive. All are grounded in curiosity, honesty, and a belief that creative momentum is something that can be nurtured, not forced. Episodes are released weekly and are available in both audio and video formats. Show notes: megdunley.substack.com megdunley.substack.com

  1. S2E11: Debut author Kerry Jewell on writing dark humour

    4D AGO

    S2E11: Debut author Kerry Jewell on writing dark humour

    Season 2: The Home Season The second season of Creative Momentum with Meg, The Home Season, features interviews with Australian writers and artists where I explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 11: Debut Author Kerry Jewell Kerry Jewell is a nuclear medicine physician and writer based in Melbourne whose debut novel, A Little Unwell, is a darkly funny look at life inside the Australian hospital system. Kerry began the book in 2015 during a night shift, venting a bureaucratic frustration into a Word document she almost never opened again, and finished the first complete draft seven years later. Her first three chapters were shortlisted for the Richell Prize in 2020, and the book is published by Hachette. She is also, it turns out, a genuinely funny person to talk to at an early hour of the morning. In our chat, we discuss - Why so many doctors end up as writers, and what medicine and creative work have in common - Dark humour in medicine: why healthcare workers rely on it, and why Kerry was surprised to learn hers was dark - Kerry’s deliberately routineless approach to writing and why attempting a routine makes things worse - The car as creative space and how a one-hour commute does more for plot and character than sitting at a desk - How the book moved from vignettes and loose notes to a complete manuscript across seven years - Why Kerry chose fiction over non-fiction to tell these stories, and what fiction allows that non-fiction does not - The connection between creative practice and showing up well at work and for patients Whether you are a writer who has been sitting on a half-finished manuscript for years, a creative person trying to balance a demanding day job with the work that feeds your soul, or someone who simply needs permission to stop trying to have a routine, this conversation is for you. Kerry is warm, funny, and bracingly honest about the messiness of the creative process, and her story is a good reminder that the gap between venting into a Word document at 2am and holding a published novel is mostly just time, stubbornness and a willingness to let the work find its shape. Connect with Kerry A Little Unwell https://www.hachette.com.au/kerry-jewell/a-little-unwell Website https://www.kerryjewell.com/ Substack https://substack.com/@drkerryjewell/notes Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drkerryjewell/ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/drkerryjewell.bsky.social Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews: https://megdunley.substack.com/s/creative-momentum-with-meg-dunley A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp (https://yvonnemorton.bandcamp.com/) and Instagram.(https://www.instagram.com/yvonne.morton/) Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    45 min
  2. S2E10: Co-Authors Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist on a shared writing life

    MAY 6

    S2E10: Co-Authors Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist on a shared writing life

    Season 2: The Home Season The second season of Creative Momentum with Meg, The Home Season, features interviews with Australian writers and artists where I explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 10: Co-Authors Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist have been creative collaborators for their entire relationship. They have now written five books together, including the Menzies Mental Health series, which follows trainee psychiatrist Hannah through the sometimes brutal world of public hospital medicine. The third book in that series, The General Hospital, is out now. In this conversation, they talk about what it actually looks like to write a book together, from brainstorming scenes on cards thrown into an ice cream container, to sitting side by side for eight hours a day during first draft, to the rule that Anne does not give Graeme her first draft because it is too sloppy and he will feel disrespected. They talk about why Graeme believes pantsing is a choice not an identity, why screenwriting training produces better novelists than prose courses, and the mash-up method he uses to find original ideas. Graeme’s advice for anyone starting out is blunt: know why you are writing, follow a process and understand that there are two kinds of people who say they sit in front of a blank screen and wait for drops of blood to form. One group are geniuses. The other are liars. Connect with Graeme & Anne Anne on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/anneebuist/ )& Website https://annebuist.com/ Graeme on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/gcsimsion/ ) & Website http://www.graemesimsion.com Buy The General Hospital, the third book in the Menzies Mental Health Series: https://www.hachette.com.au/anne-buist-graeme-simsion/the-general-hospital-a-menzies-mental-health-novel The Novel Project by Graeme Simsion (https://www.amazon.com.au/Novel-Project-Step-Step-Biography/dp/1922458384/) Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews: https://megdunley.substack.com/s/creative-momentum-with-meg-dunley A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp (https://yvonnemorton.bandcamp.com/) and Instagram.(https://www.instagram.com/yvonne.morton/) Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    46 min
  3. S2E9: Author Emma Hardy on writing memoir

    APR 29

    S2E9: Author Emma Hardy on writing memoir

    Season 2: The Home Season The second season of Creative Momentum with Meg, The Home Season, features interviews with Australian writers and artists where I explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 9: Emma Hardy, Author Emma Hardy is a writer who works across fiction and non-fiction. Her debut book Periodic B***h is a literary memoir of menstruation, madness, and monsters. It is a hybrid non-fiction work that weaves her own experience of PMDD during Melbourne’s lockdowns with archival research and a sweeping look at how women’s illnesses have been treated throughout history. It is also, as the title suggests, not shy about being angry. In this conversation, Emma and I cover a lot of ground. We talk about improv and how it helps or hinders writing, what it means to craft a curated version of yourself in memoir, and Jane Alison’s book on story structure that made everything click. We talk about body doubling, dead cow narrators, and why workshop can sometimes edit out the good bits. And we talk about Melbourne as home for Emma and her writing. Connect with Emma Hardy Instagram Website Buy Periodic B***h book Emma’s Substack ‘Hot Mess’ See Emma at Melbourne Writers Festival Join Emma at her book launch at Readings on 14 May 2026 Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp and Instagram. Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    46 min
  4. S2E8: Author Toni Jordan on the importance of training the mind

    APR 21

    S2E8: Author Toni Jordan on the importance of training the mind

    Season 2: The Home Season The second season of Creative Momentum with Meg, The Home Season, features interviews with Australian writers and artists where I explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 8: Toni Jordan Toni Jordan is the author of several much-loved novels including Addition, Tenderfoot, and The Fragments, and was my first writing teacher at RMIT. In this conversation, Toni is as funny, sharp and generous as you would hope. Toni is a devoted pantser who runs her writing life with military precision. Word counts on whiteboards. Breakfasts and lunches made on Sunday night. A strict desk-by-11 rule. And a story about sitting at her desk until 4 in the morning to prove to her unconscious mind that she meant business, which she only had to do once. She talks about matching what she reads to the tense and point of view of what she is writing, why writer’s block is often just losing the rhythm of a sentence, and the two books she recommends every writer keep on their desk. One you think is a masterpiece. One you think is terrible. And somewhere in between those two is you. Her advice for anyone at an early stage or a wobbly moment is simple and beautiful: fall in love with the process. The rest takes care of itself. Connect with Toni Jordan Instagram Website Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp and Instagram. Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    31 min
  5. S2E7: Painter Stacey McCall on a creative life

    APR 14

    S2E7: Painter Stacey McCall on a creative life

    Season 2: The Home Season The second season of Creative Momentum with Meg, The Home Season, features interviews with Australian writers and artists where I explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 7: Stacey McCall, Painter Stacey McCall studied gold and silversmithing at RMIT, raised five daughters, and somewhere in between all of that, discovered that the things sitting around her house were the most meaningful subject matter she could paint. These days she works full-time from a tiny studio in her backyard, shows regularly with Boom Gallery in Geelong and Michael Reid Galleries, and is about to head to London and Berlin, where she has an exhibition opening. In this conversation, Stacey talks about the rituals that get her into flow each morning, the bridge painting that connects one body of work to the next, and what four weeks in a Montmartre Airbnb with a fellow painter gave her that a regular studio day simply cannot. She talks about knitting as thinking time, afternoon naps as creative problem solving, and why she always goes back to the sketchbook when confidence runs low. And she shares something that will resonate with anyone whose creative life has had to wait: she didn’t really start until her youngest started school. And then she found her thing. Connect with Stacey McCall Instagram Website The Bridge Letters: letters between artists Stacey and Elizabeth Barnett Galleries & exhibitions Michael Reid Berlin exhibition (14 May to 6 June 2026) Boom Gallery in Geelong Michael Reid Murrurundi Links to things mentioned in the interview Fitzroy Painting Amber Creswell Still Life book Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp and Instagram. Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    32 min
  6. S2E6: Creative Couple, Alice Garner & Dave Bowers

    APR 8

    S2E6: Creative Couple, Alice Garner & Dave Bowers

    Season 2: The Home Season Welcome to the second season of Creative Momentum with Meg. This season is features interviews with Australian writers and artists where Meg Dunley talks to them about their processes, routines, inspiration and more to explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 6: Alice Garner and Dave Bowers, a creative couple Alice Garner and Dave Bowers have been together since 1987 and have been making things, separately and together, for just about as long. Dave is a painter, illustrator, musician, songwriter, gardener and cook. Alice is a musician, actor, oral historian, audio editor and has discovered that a loop pedal is basically heaven. They play in a band Sunshine Tip with a couple of friends. In our conversation, Dave and Alice share what it looks like to live a fully creative life as a couple: how they carve out time, how they let go of precious bits that don’t work, and why they have never really had a territorial battle over who gets to take up creative space. They agree on the best piece of advice they can offer anyone trying to make things: get out there and be part of the community you want to belong to. The rest will follow. Connect with Alice & Dave Dave Bowers: Instagram Website (for his art) Sunshine Tip band: Bandcamp Website Instagram Email Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp and Instagram. Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    56 min
  7. S2E5: Melissa Manning, Author

    MAR 31

    S2E5: Melissa Manning, Author

    Season 2: The Home Season Welcome to the second season of Creative Momentum with Meg. This season is features interviews with Australian writers and artists where Meg Dunley talks to them about their processes, routines, inspiration and more to explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 5: Melissa Manning, Author Melissa Manning has been writing for close to 18 years, and her practice looks nothing like it did when she started. These days she is up before dawn, moving her body before she sits down at the desk, keeping her brain free of noise until she opens the laptop and sees what comes. Her debut short story collection Smokehouse won the 2022 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Her novel Frogsong, published by UQP, launches in April. And she still has a folder on her laptop called S**t Poetry. In this conversation, Melissa talks about writing from a spark rather than an idea, why she never plans her work, and what happens to the words on the page when she tries. She talks about the studio she has filled with twigs and leaves and art and a wearable minotaur’s head her daughter made for a university theatre production. She talks about the questions her fiction keeps returning to: who are we, how do we become the people we become, and is any of that fixed? She also shares something that will resonate with anyone who has been waiting for the right idea before they start. She waited until she was 40. And then she realised it was never about the idea. Connect with Melissa Manning - Publisher’s author page - Instagram - Books: Frogsong (2026), Smokehouse (2022) Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp and Instagram.Episode 5: Melissa Manning, Author Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    33 min
  8. S2E4: Amanda Hewitt, Debut Author

    MAR 24

    S2E4: Amanda Hewitt, Debut Author

    Season 2: The Home Season Welcome to the second season of Creative Momentum with Meg. This season is features interviews with Australian writers and artists where I talk to them about their processes, routines, inspiration and more to explore how and why people do their creative work. Episode 4: Amanda Hewitt, Debut Author What does it look like to write a debut novel while working three days a week, raising three boys and fitting in words wherever you can snatch them? On the lounge, in the kitchen, on post-it notes stuck to the back of your phone? This week’s get is Amanda Hewitt. Amanda is an Australian romance author whose debut novel The Last Resort, an over-40s romance with baggage, was released in February this year. In this conversation, Amanda shares what it means to be a pantser, why her best writing happens between 5 and 7 in the morning with just her and the dog and how a holiday in Fiji reminded her that love stories are absolutely everywhere if you know how to look. She talks about the book that started as a spy drama and became a romance, the magpie out the back that sings for its food, and why writing in the chaos of family life isn’t a workaround. It’s just how it works. And her piece of wisdom for anyone sitting on a notebook full of ideas? Stop taking the ideas down. Start writing the book. Because unless you have something tangible, you don’t really have anything at all. Connect with Amanda Hewitt Website Instagram Facebook Book The Last Resort Find all Creative Momentum with Meg show notes and interviews A special thanks to Yvonne Morton for the music accompanying this episode. You can find Yvonne on Bandcamp and Instagram. Get full access to Musings with Meg at megdunley.substack.com/subscribe

    24 min
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About

Creative conversations and mindset coaching. Creative Momentum with Meg is a podcast featuring thoughtful conversations with writers, artists, musicians and performers about creative practice, process, and what it takes to keep going. Hosted by Meg Dunley, a creativity coach, each episode explores the rhythms of creative life—routine, doubt, momentum, rest, and persistence—with people making work across different disciplines and stages of practice. These are conversations about how creative work actually happens: not just the finished outcomes, but the habits, tensions, and questions that shape the work over time. Some episodes are short and focused, others more expansive. All are grounded in curiosity, honesty, and a belief that creative momentum is something that can be nurtured, not forced. Episodes are released weekly and are available in both audio and video formats. Show notes: megdunley.substack.com megdunley.substack.com

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