Secrets from the Green Room

Irma Gold & Karen Viggers
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In each episode of the Secrets from the Green Room podcast hosts Irma Gold and Karen Viggers chat with a writer about their experience of the writing and publishing process in honest green room-style, uncovering some of the plain and simple truths, as well as some of the secrets – whether they be mundane or salubrious – and having a lot of fun in the process.

  1. Season 7: Episode 81: Ingrid Laguna

    6D AGO

    Season 7: Episode 81: Ingrid Laguna

    Karen and Irma chat about the environmental cost of publishing books, and uncover some positive take-aways.  Then Irma talks to children’s author Ingrid Laguna about how running away from home impacted her as a creative, how the traumatic experience of losing her own twin boys led to her memoir and then a novel for kids, why her agent didn’t want to pitch her book but then her publisher ended up loving it, why kids books need to tackle tough subjects, how to keep going when you’re writing about traumatic personal events, writing book recommendations, and top tips for engaging school visits.  About Ingrid Ingrid Laguna is a multi-award-winning novelist and educator. She has published a memoir and numerous books for children. Her work has been published internationally, featured by Reading Australia and given Notable recognition by the CBCA. Ingrid’s writing has featured in various publications, including The Monthly, The Age, Teacher Magazine and the AEU Magazine. She runs a range of writing courses and regularly presents to teachers and students at schools, libraries, festivals and conferences.  Show notes Why plantation stock is better for making paper Arts Law for any legal issues  The Writer’s Room by Charlotte Wood The 90-Day Novel by Alan Watts Find out more about Irma and Karen Visit Irma Gold’s website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook Visit Karen Viggers’ website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook Follow Secrets From the Green Room on Instagram and Facebook

    47 min
  2. Season 7: Episode 80: Toni Jordan

    MAR 30

    Season 7: Episode 80: Toni Jordan

    Irma and Karen talk about how different platforms – Instagram, Facebook, X, Substack and author websites – help sell books (or don’t!) Then Karen chats to Toni Jordan about how to successfully inject serious subjects with humour, the book to film process of Addition, why she structures her life to the nth degree but with writing is completely unstructured, how to approach writing as a business and why networking should be reframed, why being a skilled public speaker is important as a writer, how she has managed to make a living as a writer, the painful experience of having a book that didn’t sell well, and how that then led to her greatest career high. About Toni Toni Jordan is an award-winning, internationally best-selling author of 8 novels. Her debut novel Addition was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and has recently been made into a film. Her novel Nine Days was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards, and Our Tiny, Useless Hearts was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. Toni is a physiologist who has also completed a PhD in creative writing and she lives in Melbourne. Show Notes 'Social Media is Dead – Old School Marketing Tactics for Creatives' by Creative Plus Business ‘Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, it’s Unreliable’ on the New York Times ‘If you get a million views on a social media post, how many books will you sell?’ on Nicola Washington’s substack post about a viral Tweet about a book event that no one showed up to. Find out more about Irma and Karen Visit Irma Gold’s website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook Visit Karen Viggers’ website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook Follow Secrets From the Green Room on Instagram and Facebook

    47 min
  3. Season 7: Episode 79: Tasma Walton

    MAR 10

    Season 7: Episode 79: Tasma Walton

    Karen and Irma talk about the importance of writers centres, and urge listeners to sign the Writers Victoria petition. Then Irma chats to Tasma Walton about novelising the story of her ancestor Nannertgarrook, how she protected herself in the process of writing about trauma, the reclamation of her Boonwurrung language and the importance of language in her novel, how writing and acting feed into each other, the challenges of writing versus acting, how writers rooms for TV and film work, and an embarrassing green room encounter with an Australian music legend. About Tasma Tasma Walton is a proud Boonwurrung woman from the saltwater country of Melbourne and surrounding coastlines. She has had a hugely successful career as an actor in film and television, with acclaimed roles in everything from Blue Heelers and The Secret Life of Us to Mystery Road and How to Please a Woman. In 2009, her first novel, Heartless, was nominated for an ABIA Award, and the first book in her children’s series Nerra: Deep Time Traveller was longlisted for the DANZ Children’s Book Award. Her most recent novel, I am Nannertgarrook, won the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize. Show notes Writers Victoria petition I am Nannertgarrook Find out more about Irma and Karen Visit Irma Gold’s website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook Visit Karen Viggers’ website, or follow her on Instagram and Facebook Follow Secrets From the Green Room on Instagram and Facebook

    50 min
  4. Season 7: Episode 78: Fleur McDonald

    FEB 16

    Season 7: Episode 78: Fleur McDonald

    Karen and Irma debate whether AI is useful to break writer’s block. Then they both chat to Fleur McDonald about pioneering the way in rural crime writing, how she built her profile over the years and then rebranded, connecting emotionally with readers, using imposter-syndrome to motivate her next book, how an imaginary character changed her life, fighting for your rights as an author and why she changed publishers, why making a difference with her writing is so important to her, how experts help inform her crime fiction, why she is refusing to use AI, the value of having an agent (especially when you’re having a hissy fit!), why she insists on being involved in planning the publicity campaign, and how meeting her writing hero left her speechless. About Fleur Fleur McDonald is a prolific bestselling rural crime author who lives in Western Australia. She’s published 26 novels and sold over a million books, with her 27th book out in April. She is an active public speaker and an advocate for rural women experiencing domestic violence. She has worked as a jillaroo, and then a farmer and parent, and is now a fulltime author. Show notes ‘Should you use AI to break writer’s block?’ in The Conversation ‘AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief’ in The Guardian DV Assist

    39 min
  5. Season 7: Episode 77: Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Pulitzer Prize finalist)

    JAN 26

    Season 7: Episode 77: Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Pulitzer Prize finalist)

    Irma and Karen chat about the year ahead, and dive into their first Book Chat of the year, championing Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, and Colony by Annika Norlin. Then Karen talks to Colombian writer Ingrid Rojas Contreras about how she coped with all the international attention after being a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, how the violence of the Pablo Escobar era stimulated her curiosity as a writer, caring for yourself when writing from trauma, how she uses inherited stories and hauntings in her work, how she involved her family in fictionalising her childhood, how she hid microphones to collect her mother’s stories, using dreams in fiction, and why losing her memory was the best thing that’s ever happened to her. (Karen met Ingrid at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2025) About Ingrid Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her memoir,  The Man Who Could Move Clouds won the California Book Award and was a finalist in multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. Her debut novel was Fruit of the Drunken Tree, and her essays and short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines. She lives in California.

    40 min
  6. Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 76: Craig Leeson (impact film maker)

    12/21/2025

    Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 76: Craig Leeson (impact film maker)

    In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Craig Leeson (impact filmmaker) about how growing up in Tasmania made him an environmental activist, how to find a hook to capture your audience, how to tell a story in few words, the importance of character development, how to keep an audience engaged, how to avoid overwhelming people when telling tough stories, and how hitting the lowest low of his career paved the way for the highest high. Supported by the ACT Government About Craig Craig Leeson is an acclaimed Australian filmmaker, television presenter, explorer, public speaker, and entrepreneur. He is the director, narrator, and writer of the multi-award-winning documentary feature films A Plastic Ocean, and The Last Glaciers: Journey To The Extreme . He was the 2022 Tasmanian Australian of the Year and is an International Fellow of the Explorers Club.

    37 min
  7. Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 75: Banu Mushtaq (International Booker Prize Winner 2025)

    12/16/2025

    Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 75: Banu Mushtaq (International Booker Prize Winner 2025)

    In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Indian author, winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize, Banu Mushtaq about what drives her to write about the fundamentalist Muslim community in which she grew up, how she became an activist for women’s rights, how stories can change lives and culture, the process of working with her translator, how she injects humour into dark stories, the censorship she faces, and the meaningful impact of winning the Booker. Supported by the ACT Government About Banu Banu Mushtaq is an Indian writer, activist, and lawyer from the Karnataka region of southern India. She is best known for Heart Lamp, a selection of her short stories translated by Deepa Bhasthi, which won the International Booker Prize in 2025. She has published six short story collections, a novel, an essay collection, and a poetry collection. Her work has been translated into Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English.

    25 min
  8. Ubud Readers & Writers Festival Special Series: Episode 74: Jenny Erpenbeck (International Booker Prize Winner 2024)

    12/08/2025

    Ubud Readers & Writers Festival Special Series: Episode 74: Jenny Erpenbeck (International Booker Prize Winner 2024)

    In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Irma chats to German author, winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize, Jenny Erpenbeck, about the pros and cons of coming from a family of famous writers, why she mourns aspects of the German Democratic Republic and is driven to express this through writing, how she weaves the personal and political together, the translation process, the financial support available to German authors that we do not have in Australia, why the worst moment of her career was having one of her plays produced, and the best was finding out she’d won the Booker (while busting for the toilet!) Supported by the ACT Government About Jenny Jenny Erpenbeck is an acclaimed German novelist, playwright and opera director born in East Berlin. She has been translated into over 20 languages and has won many prizes, including the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The End of Days and the 2024 International Booker Prize for Kairos.

    36 min
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About

In each episode of the Secrets from the Green Room podcast hosts Irma Gold and Karen Viggers chat with a writer about their experience of the writing and publishing process in honest green room-style, uncovering some of the plain and simple truths, as well as some of the secrets – whether they be mundane or salubrious – and having a lot of fun in the process.

Information

  • Creator
    Irma Gold & Karen Viggers
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Secrets from the Green Room
  • Show Website
    Secrets from the Green Room

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