WHAT I'VE LEARNT

Author Ella Ward  What does the world feel like when it’s ending for you, and no one else? What does life feel like when you are running away from it? This is a story that begins in a way you expect and ends very far from there. It is a story of creaking English hallways and vast Australian skies. Of hands that feel like warm sandpaper. Cicadas that sing so loudly they drown out the grief. Of white wine and an old piano and children who want their parents back from the dead. It is a magical tale of travel and mystery. And a very human tale of sex and loss and seawater and the primal joy of coming home. This is The Cicada House. She has worked in advertising for many years. This means she has a proclivity for profanity and needs help with punctuation. Her words have been published in places like Frankie, Marie Claire and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her memoir, 27 Letters to My Daughter, was published in Australia in 2022 and the US in 2023. Ella lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband, child, pets and neuroses. The Cicada House is her first novel. A Melbourne girl who moved to London and came home with a penchant for pork pies, Percy Pigs and a husband. In 2018 she was hit with the cancer stick, which apart from being rather frightening also encouraged a foray into oversharing on insta. Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/ [https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/] Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/ [https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/] Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id1535563304] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk [https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk] Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850]

Maggie Alderson is the author of ten novels and four collections of her columns fromGood Weekendmagazine. Her children’s book Evangeline, the Wish Keeper’s Helper was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Before becoming a full-time author she worked as a journalist and columnist in the UK and Australia, editing several magazines, including Mode and British ELLE. She writes a Substack called Style Notes and is on Instagram at @maggialderson. She is married and has one daughter.   Would You Rather, the new novel from bestselling author Maggie Alderson. It’s a heart-warming story about second chances and starting over and a great summer read. Food stylist Sophie Crommelin has a beautiful life. Now that their two boys are grown up, she and her husband, Matt – an acclaimed artist – are leaving London for a new start on England’s fashionably boho south coast. But the day after the house is sold, a series of shocks leaves Sophie reeling – and suddenly she’s heading off to Hastings on her own. Beau Crommelin has always been very much his father’s son. Charming, beautiful and creative, he gets on with everyone and is building a name as a jewellery designer. But after Matt’s sudden death, Beau finds himself on the wrong end of a scandal and everything he thought he knew about himself is called into question. Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/ [https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/] Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/ [https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/] Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id1535563304] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk [https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk] Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850]

Andy Kay  In his role as CEO of the World Literacy Foundation, Andy spearheads a powerful literacy organisation - he has the wonderful opportunity to meet likeminded amazing people and organizations around the world. With more than 750 million people globally struggling with literacy this is an epidemic It affects all aspects social health educational parts of their lives. Sometimes, l wear different hats. One of those highlights over the past 20 years was running with the Olympic torch when my home country was the host. Sydney 2000. Pictured is much younger and more native person who was early in his journey in a leadership role. Today, our world is so much different. The numbers of children without  basic foundational literacy skills is greater yet the passion still remains deep to serve others and deliver successful outcomes. We discuss the literacy revolution and the exciting  world Literacy Summit in Oxford London in April next year  Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/ [https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/] Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/ [https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/] Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id1535563304] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk [https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk] Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850]

Collette Dinnigan 🌺 Her style is one of simple yet sophisticated beauty. Bellissima: An Australian–Italian Affair takes you into Collette’s world of beauty – interiors, gardens, food, friends, curiosities, art and travel – in Italy and Australia. It shows us Collette’s remarkable eye for detail, vignettes, texture and colour. She shares her design inspiration and reveals stunning photos never before published of her homes in Bowral and Darling Point, along with a Rome apartment and holiday house in Puglia.  Collette and her photographer, Earl Carter, travelled the length of Italy, from Naples to Turin, to capture the essence of what inspires Collette that she then brings home to Australia, the ‘great Southern light’ . Collette not only takes us into her own private worlds but also those of her friends such as Mimi Thorisson in Turin, Neil Perry in Sydney, and Louise Olsen and Luke Sciberras in country NSW, where they share their recipes and art. This is a book of inspiration and delight, a joyous journey of creativity with one of Australia’s foremost fashion designers. Full of glorious imagery, it is a must-have book for those who love travel and interiors. BELLISSIMA: AN AUSTRALIAN– ITALIAN AFFAIR Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/ [https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/] Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/ [https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/] Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id1535563304] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk [https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk] Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850]

THE POWER OF TWO LISA MESSENGER & SARAH MEGGINSON A life-changing story of friendship, surrogacy and true connection Fourteen years of friendship. Eight years of ‘trying’. Eighteen rounds of IVF and now, one beautiful baby boy. The Power of Two is a remarkable true story that shows how together, we can do more than we ever thought possible. Lisa and Sarah’s journey begins with a working relationship and transforms with a life-changing act of love and friendship, but this book is about so much more – a powerful ode to community, resilience, and the power summoned when we support each other. From the outside, Lisa Messenger was the consummate success story, a highly respected publishing professional, a shooting star in the entrepreneurial space. But privately, Lisa was struggling with the one thing she could not achieve through hard work and a positive attitude. She had almost given up on having a child, when her dear friend, Sarah Megginson, came to her with an extraordinary offer. A deeply personal exploration of grief, hope and rebirth, this book is proof that together we are stronger, more resilient and infinitely more powerful. This is the power of two. The essence of your relationship is huge trust .. how hard was it to trust each other and the process … Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/ [https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/] Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/ [https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/] Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id1535563304] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk [https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk] Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850]