Louise O'Neill joins Kate and Michelle to discuss her new novel, Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone?, a story of twin sisters, a Hollywood casting that changes everything and the discovery of a storage unit twenty years later that forces Chelsea to ask whether she ever really knew her sister at all.

Louise unpacks how the Paris Hilton storage unit scandal influenced parts of the book, why she set it against the Y2K celebrity era, and what it meant to write about two women on opposite sides of a system that rewards compliance and punishes those who refuse to play along. She also reflects on the very real parallels between that era and what young women are navigating today.

She opens up honestly about handling the publicity of promoting new books, the tension between wanting your book to reach readers and balancing your energy levels during promotions and why being good at something doesn't always mean you enjoy it. Louise also talks about writing her memoir, due out in September.

A rich, wide-ranging conversation about sisterhood, navigating writing multiple books and holding onto hope when the world keeps giving you reasons not to.

Key takeaways for writers:

• Being good at publicity and enjoying it are two very different things, knowing the difference matters.
• Writing nonfiction requires finding a voice that is distinct from your fiction voice, even when it is your own.
• The most powerful character dynamics often come from showing two sides of the same experience.
• Holding onto hope is not naive, for writers exploring dark themes, it is essential.

Natter is proudly brought to you in association with Bookstation Ireland & IrishCentral.

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Bestselling Irish author Louise Nealon joins Kate and Michelle to talk about her much-anticipated new novel, Everything That Is Beautiful. A story of three women, an Irish wedding and the traumatic secret that has kept them from each other for years.

Louise unpacks how the novel came together, why she made truth itself the central tension of the book and what it means when people are right about something but still cause damage in the way they reveal it. She reflects on the fine line between honesty and being too harsh within families, and the question that sits at the heart of the novel!

She also opens up about the very real pressure of following a debut as celebrated as Snowflake. A deeply honest conversation about storytelling, the subjectivity of truth, imaginary friends and why the best writing often comes from getting out of your own way.

Key takeaways for writers:

• Placing impossibly high literary expectations on yourself is one of the fastest ways to stop writing altogether.
• Characters surprise you, the excitement of not knowing where they'll go is often what keeps you at the desk.
• A "scenes I'd like to see" document can be a more generative planning tool than a chapter-by-chapter outline.
• The sentences you agonise over most are sometimes the ones readers fly past.
• Finishing the book is the only thing you actually have to do, everything else follows from that.

Natter is proudly brought to you in association with Bookstation Ireland & IrishCentral.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling Irish author Ruth O'Leary joins Kate and Michelle to discuss her latest novel, The Last Week of Him, the story of three women reunited in the west of Ireland after receiving a shocking WhatsApp message about the sudden death of their secondary school golden boy.

Ruth walks through exactly how the book came together, she also reflects on the central question she hopes the book raises for readers and book clubs: how well do we really know our friends when so much of our insight into their lives comes through social media? And does a difficult upbringing ever truly excuse the way we treat people?

Away from the page, Ruth shares stories from over twelve years working as a film and TV extra, from playing a nun beside Russell Crowe to running up Wicklow fields as a Viking.

A joyful, generous conversation about storytelling, friendship & writing.

Key takeaways for writers:

• A strong visual concept, can anchor an entire novel before you write a word.
• Using a tight timeframe as a structural scaffold keeps your plot grounded and your pacing sharp.
• Writing detailed character bios with reference images before drafting helps bring fictional people to vivid life.
• Location is not just backdrop, it actively shapes what your characters can and cannot do.
• Epilogues matter: if you are invested in your characters, your readers will be too.

Natter is proudly brought to you in association with Bookstation Ireland & IrishCentral.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.