Great Ocean Reads Podcast

In Episode 10 of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Karen speaks with Author/Activist Lia Hills about her novel The Desert Knows her Name.
Lia explains how she narrates the first draft of her novels, how she recorded noises in the desert that were then transcribed into sentences and her deep relationship with Indigenous communities and country.
Lia also gives us a sneak preview of her next novel that is set in France.

In Episode 9 of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Karen speaks with Debut Author Rachel Morton about her prize-winning novel The Sun Was Electric Light.
Rachel speaks of her love of literature, which she considers her religion, why she hates being in the spotlight, and how Apollo Bay may feature in her next novel.

In Episode 8 of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Bookstore owner Karen O’Sullivan speaks with Author Kate Mildenhall about her new crime novel The Hiding Place.
Kate tells us how much she enjoyed killing off one of her characters, why she will always be a teacher at heart and how her Grandma’s Xmas Pudding recipe inspired her children’s book To Stir with Love.
Kate lets slip her next novel will be a good old epic love story, can’t wait for that one!
Music played is The Romp, and is played with permission from David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake.

In Episode 7 of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Karen interviews Tasmanian based author Maggie Mackellar about her memoir Graft and life on a sheep farm. Karen and Maggie share a love of the land, and are both navigating their lives as empty nesters. Maggie tells us how she found her husband through a TV interview, and her love of birds and walking with friends. 
 
Music used with permission from David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake

In this episode of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Karen chats with author Jock Serong about his latest novel Cherrywood. He tells us why he left a career in law, his love for surfing and why he'll never write his memoir. Jock gives us a sneaky insight into his new book A Suitable Man, which is due out in 2026. A Suitable Man is the biography of Sir David Fletcher Jones, who opened his first menswear store in Warnambool, ... David Jones went on to become one of Australia’s biggest clothing empires. 

In Episode 5 of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Karen speaks with her great friend, journalist, author and self confessed bogan from the outskirts of Brisbane, Tracey Spicer.
Tracey has written two books, The Good Girl Stripped Bare (memoir) and more recently Man-Made, how the bias of the past is being built into the future.
Tracey discussed serious health issues that landed her in a wheelchair for one year during Covid, and how she took a former employer to the Federal court over pregnancy discrimination.  
She's a woman on a mission, I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Tracey's story. 
Music used with permission from David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake.

In Episode 4 of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, author Mark Smith reveals his personal rescue effort that inspired him to write his psychological thriller Three Boys Gone. 
We chat about his new book due out in June 2026 that involves an extinction rebellion protest that goes horribly wrong. 
Mark reveals why he will most probably never write romance ...and the famous actor he'd like to play Grace Disher in a movie adaptation of his book Three Boys Gone.
Music used with permission from David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake.
 

In this episode Karen speaks with author Kylie Ladd about her latest novel The Mix-Up.  Kylie is a neuropsychologist who writes about complex issues involving medical, ethical and psychological themes. She gives us a sneaky insight into her next fascinating book, after a year long project writing about Voluntary Assisted Dying.
Music used with permission from David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake.
Here's the link to her paper written for the Go Gently organisation.
https://www.gogentleaustralia.org.au/dementia_and_vad_a_complex_issuei
 
 
 

In this episode of the Great Ocean Reads Podcast, Karen O’Sullivan talks with former Channel 7 News colleague Mike Amor about the inspiration behind his new book News Cowboys.  Mike currently presents the Channel 7 News weekend bulletins with Karina Carvalho. For 18 years Mike was the Seven Network's Foreign Correspondent, and covered major global news stories, including the 9/11 attacks on New York's twin tower. 
Music used with permission from David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake.

 
Welcome to the Great Ocean Reads Podcast! I’m Karen O’Sullivan, the owner of Great Ocean Reads Bookstore in Apollo Bay. As a long time journalist, it gives me great pleasure to share with you interviews with some fabulous authors. 
I am grateful to Anton and John at Apollo Bay Radio, (ABR) where all podcasts are recorded. 
A massive thank you to David Bridie, from My Friend the Chocolate Cake and Not Drowning, Waving, for allowing me to use one of his wonderful tunes, The Romp, to open and close all of our episodes.