Winner of the HarperCollins Australia Banjo Prize and AWC alumni Dinuka McKenzie needs no introduction – both because her growing body of work has found such acclaim, and also because we have chatted with her twice before on the podcast! In this episode, she is back to share the experience of creating her latest psychological suspense novel, She Lied First – with insights into her process as well as her thoughts on using social media in the author space. Listen now:

00:00 Welcome
15:51 Writing tip: Get a supportive inner coach
18:21 WIN: Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson
19:33 Word of the week: “Aptronym”
20:30 Interview with Dinuka McKenzie
21:51 Explaining She Lied First
23:10 Sisterhood origins
25:13 Writing toward the twist
27:39 Subverting South Asian stereotypes
29:04 Timelines without confusion
34:05 Developing the distinct POV voices 
37:08 Career longevity through feedback
41:40 Dinuka’s experience building her platform
46:15 The course tools that helped her
48:42 Final thoughts

Read the show notes

Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook
Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com

Winner of the HarperCollins Australia Banjo Prize and AWC alumni Dinuka McKenzie needs no introduction &ndash; both because her growing body of work has found such acclaim, and also because we have chatted with her twice before on the podcast! In this episode, she is back to share the experience of creating her latest psychological suspense novel, She Lied First &ndash; with insights into her process as well as her thoughts on using social media in the author space. Listen now:
00:00 Welcome 15:51 Writing tip: Get a supportive inner coach 18:21 WIN: Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson 19:33 Word of the week: &ldquo;Aptronym&rdquo; 20:30 Interview with Dinuka McKenzie 21:51 Explaining She Lied First 23:10 Sisterhood origins 25:13 Writing toward the twist 27:39 Subverting South Asian stereotypes 29:04 Timelines without confusion 34:05 Developing the distinct POV voices 37:08 Career longevity through feedback 41:40 Dinuka&rsquo;s experience building her platform 46:15 The course tools that helped her 48:42 Final thoughts
<a href="https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/ep-742/">Read the show notes</a>
Connect with Valerie and listeners in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2346749828883788/">the podcast community on Facebook</a> Visit <a href="https://www.writerscentre.com.au/">WritersCentre.com.au</a> |&nbsp;<a href="http://valeriekhoo.com/">ValerieKhoo.com</a>

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about succeeding in the world of writing and publishing. Learn practical writing techniques, go behind-the-scenes and discover how real-life authors got their big break. Uncover the creative processes of writers who have made it. Your host is Valerie Khoo – author, journalist, creative and CEO of the Australian Writers’ Centre. 

Everything you&rsquo;ve always wanted to know about succeeding in the world of writing and publishing. Learn practical writing techniques, go behind-the-scenes and discover how real-life authors got their big break. Uncover the creative processes of writers who have made it. Your host is Valerie Khoo &ndash;&nbsp;author, journalist, creative and CEO of the Australian Writers&rsquo; Centre.&nbsp;