Content warning: Please note this episode contains brief references to crimes against children, including mentions of historical cases and industry terminology. These topics are not discussed in detail, but listener discretion is advised. Not suitable for younger audiences.

Madeleine interviews beloved Australian author, Rebecca Lim. Rebecca is an Australian writer, editor and lawyer, and the author of over twenty books, including Tiger Daughter (a Kirkus, Amazon and Booklist Best Book, CBCA Book of the Year, and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award-winner), Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky (NSW History Award-winner) and the bestselling Mercy. Her work has been twice shortlisted for the NSW Literary Awards and Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and ARA Historical Novel Prize, shortlisted multiple times for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Aurealis Awards and Davitt Awards, longlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award and the Tasmanian Literary Awards, and has been optioned for film.

Rebecca talks to us about:

• why being a publishing flake might be a good thing
• rejections and the financial realities of being an author
• having no brand (but loving what you do)
• how she balances life as a corporate lawyer, mother, dog owner and writer (and a little spoiler, her advice includes the use of toilet paper rolls).

The Graduate (Affirm Press, 2026)

A razor-sharp revenge thriller that blows the whistle on the cutthroat world of corporate law.

New graduate Fei Fei Chou is an outlier at her prestigious law firm.

She's too quiet.
She wears too much makeup.
She’s only here because the boss has a thing for Asians.

But Fei isn’t here to climb the corporate ladder – she’s here for revenge.
Thirty years ago, three schoolgirls were kidnapped and abused by a man who’s never been identified. The information Fei needs to find him is buried somewhere in the firm’s records.
Deliberately placing herself in harm’s way, Fei will uncover a secret history of power and privilege that haunts not only her firm, but the nation itself.
Taut, riveting and blackly humorous, The Graduate is a mesmerising legal thriller and a masterfully dark crime debut from a beloved Australian writer.

Our Debut in the Spotlight this week is Lit by Anna Woods (Allen & Unwin, 2026).

00:51 Meet Rebecca Lim

02:33 Early Writing

08:46 Quitting Law For Writing

10:23 Genre Hopping

13:56 The Graduate

32:24 Debut in the Spotlight

33:45 Editing

40:20 Writing Adults Vs Kids

42:37 Balancing life

43:52 Burnout And Career Breaks

50:58 Feedback And Resilience

54:31 Top Tip

Join our Patreon community for less than the cost of a coffee per month and support the pod! Your contribution will go to directly paying our sound producer, Brogan, and to help us bring you the conversations with industry professionals you love.

Follow The Book Deal podcast on Instagram The Book Deal podcast (@the_book_deal_podcast) • Instagram photos and videos

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

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Tina Strachan welcomes author and teacher Jess Galatola to The Book Deal podcast to discuss her upcoming children’s books: picture book The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell (launching 19 July) and graphic novel Seasons of Clementine (launching 4 July). Jess shares that The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell uses homophones and comedic chaos to encourage resilience, imperfection, and joy in language, praising debut illustrator Lou Baker’s Easter eggs. She explains Seasons of Clementine evolved from a picture book (The Cloud Collector) into a graphic novel after publisher feedback, and describes learning the format through Perenti Press workshops and the Perenti Prize. Jess recounts her “backwards” publication journey, writing Some Families Change during a 2020 separation, its 2024 release with EK Books, and her advice to remember your “why,” avoid comparison, build relationships, and persist through slush-pile submissions.

00:00 Podcast Introduction
00:56 Welcome Jess Galatola
01:43 The Witch Who Couldn't Spell Pitch
04:25 The Witch Who Couldn't Spell Message
06:24 Illustrator Magic
09:29 Seasons of Clementine Origins
13:45 Graphic Novel Craft
16:10 Perenti Workshops
20:19 Reading Kids Today
23:27 Why Reading Matters
23:56 Books as Escape
25:13 Representation Matters
26:03 Jess Origin Story
27:25 Writing Through Separation
29:38 Landing a Publisher
30:41 Finding Kidlit Community
33:41 Slush Pile Reality
35:12 Rejection and Resilience
39:48 Advice for Authors
44:25 Pitching and Conferences
47:45 Upcoming Launch Events
48:57 Final Thanks and Outro

Join our Patreon community for less than the cost of a coffee per month and support the pod! Your contribution will go to directly paying our sound producer, Brogan, and to help us bring you the conversations with industry professionals you love.

Follow The Book Deal podcast on Instagram The Book Deal podcast (@the_book_deal_podcast) • Instagram photos and videos

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

If you want to stay in the know, sign up to Madeleine, Tina and Natasha's newsletters for the latest news first.
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Hosts Tina Strachan, Madeleine Cleary, and Natasha Rai introduce The Book Deal podcast and share monthly updates. Tina takes a break from an intense manuscript, catches up on author admin, runs a kids’ workshop at The Little Book Nook in Palmwoods, prepares for workshops and Bethany Loveridge’s Josie Mack launch at Quick Brown Fox, and flags opportunities including the Lighthouse Arts Residency (Hunter Writers Centre) and the Spier(s) Prize for middle-grade fiction via UWA Publishing ($5,000 plus a publishing deal). Madeleine finishes a book-two rewrite, recounts being heckled while interviewing Belinda Alexandra at Readings, and discusses craft insights from Dervla McTiernan and Benjamin Stevenson about questions and clues per page. Tash explains completing structural edits quickly by prioritizing time and using Emily Maguire as an early reader, and outlines an upcoming library workshop on pitching, including X-meets-Y, comp titles, and “vibe sheets.”

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:56 Hosts Catch Up

01:15 Tina Writing Reset

02:00 Workshops Launches

03:22 Declutter Phone Detox

05:01 Grants Residencies

07:12 Mads Rewrite Win

08:20 Heckler At Event

12:40 Tash Deadline Sprint

17:44 Crime Writing Tricks

21:34 Hooks And Structure

22:46 Reading While Writing

25:07 Avoiding Close Comparisons

28:42 Pitching And Comp Titles

32:21 Vibe Sheets And Playlists

33:58 Release Dates And Wins

34:55 Dymocks Top 101 Spotlight

37:06 Wrap Up And Farewell

Join our Patreon community for less than the cost of a coffee per month and support the pod! Your contribution will go to directly paying our sound producer, Brogan, and to help us bring you the conversations with industry professionals you love.

Follow The Book Deal podcast on Instagram The Book Deal podcast (@the_book_deal_podcast) • Instagram photos and videos

You can find out more about Tina, Madeleine and Natasha and follow their journeys here:

Tina Strachan (@td_strachan) • Instagram photos and videos
Tina Strachan children's book author
Madeleine Cleary (@madeleineclearywrites) • Instagram photos and videos
Madeleine Cleary | Author
Natasha Rai (@raiwriting) • Instagram photos and videos
Natasha Rai | Author | Mentor

If you want to stay in the know, sign up to Madeleine, Tina and Natasha's newsletters for the latest news first.
Madeleine: Subscribe here...