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Michelle Worthington is an International award-winning author, scriptwriter, playwright and producer. Michelle has twice taken out the International Book Award and been shortlisted for the Australian Speech Pathology Award. In 2018 she received the AusMumPreneur Gold award for Business Excellence and the Redlands BaR award for Best Start Up Business.

Her scripts have been finalists at the California Women's Film Festival, Kids First Film Festival, Gold Coast International Film Festival and 4th Dimension International Indie Film Festival. In 2021, she won the AFIN International Film Award for Best Screenplay and in 2023, she won the Best Unproduced Screenplay Award at the New York International Film Festival.

Before We Sleep is nominated for Best Short Film at the AACTA Awards 2025.

Michelle is an advocate for creating inclusive and diverse productions to allow people of all abilities the chance to share their story.

She has often been described as a real-life book fairy whose magic powers include turning coffee into award-winning books and coaching aspiring authors and illustrators all over the world to achieve their dreams of publication.

In this episode of Not the Plot she offers a behind the scenes look at surviving as a career creative in challenging times, the need for change in the publishing industry, and the importance of knowing your 'why'.

To find out more about Michelle, visit her website at Home or find her on FB at Michelle Worthington Author | Facebook

Thank you for listening.

Find out more about Not the Plot host Teena Raffa-Mulligan at https://www.teenaraffamulligan.com or follow her FB author page https://www.facebook.com/TeenaRaffaMulligan You can also sign up for her occasional newsletter at http://bit.ly/2gqsJz3

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Award-winning author Dianne Wolfer is a bookworm who reads and writes every day and can’t imagine a world without books. Dianne writes across genres, from picture books for pre-schoolers to fantasy novels for young adults, and historical fiction for all ages.

Her stories are about different cultures, the environment, friendship, being brave, turns in the road and taking chances. She also likes exploring things from different perspectives.

Dianne lives on the south coast of Western Australia with her husband Pete and their dog Harry and has a special interest in animal characters in children’s literature. She is a passionate advocate for children’s literature and presents author talks and workshops at schools and festivals across Australia and Asia.

In this episode of Not the Plot, Dianne chats with Teena Raffa-Mulligan about the changes she's witnessed during her long author career, the challenges of working in the publishing industry, her concerns about AI, and her interest in anthropomorphism.

You can find out more about Dianne at Dianne Wolfer – author and follow her on Facebook at Dianne Wolfer - Author | Facebook

Thank you for listening.

Find out more about Not the Plot host Teena Raffa-Mulligan at https://www.teenaraffamulligan.com or follow her FB author page https://www.facebook.com/TeenaRaffaMulligan You can also sign up for her occasional newsletter at http://bit.ly/2gqsJz3

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Children’s author and poet Renae Hayward was born during a cyclone in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, but grew up by the beaches of Perth’s northern suburbs. Renae now lives near Fremantle with her author/illustrator husband James, their two children and Frankie the Labrador in a house overflowing with books. When she’s not writing, Renae is a passionate advocate for early literacy and a familiar face at story time sessions across Western Australia.

In this conversation with Teena Raffa-Mulligan, Renae shares the challenges of finding creative space while parenting young children and reveals why she switched from writing fantasy to picture books. She reminds aspiring writers not to give up on their author dreams during the tough times and acknowledges the key role her supportive writing community has played in her own author journey.

Find out more about Renae and her books at https://renaehayward.com/

Thank you for listening.

Find out more about Not the Plot host Teena Raffa-Mulligan at https://www.teenaraffamulligan.com or follow her FB author page https://www.facebook.com/TeenaRaffaMulligan You can also sign up for her occasional newsletter at http://bit.ly/2gqsJz3