Beyond The Plot Podcast

About Beyond The Plot Podcast

Ever wonder about the person behind your favourite book? I'm diving deep with authors to uncover the real personal stories behind their work. If you love reading, writing or you're simply interested in learning more about your favourite authors, this podcast is for you!

Publisher

Lisa El-Behnaihy

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Sept 2025

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

61 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Other People Are Like the Weather | Vicki Anstey on Resilience, Self-Trust, Ocean Rowing & Finding Your True Self

   What happens when you stop trying to control other people's reactions and start focusing on your own choices? In this episode, Lisa speaks with adventurer, keynote speaker, stress and resilience coach, and author Vicki Anstey about her powerful memoir Other People Are Like the Weather. Vicki shares the deeply personal journey behind the book, from leaving a long-term relationship and rebuilding self-trust to overcoming fear, navigating difficult relationships, and finding the courage to create a life that truly felt like her own. Vicki reflects on her transition from a career in advertising to becoming an endurance adventurer, including her appearance on SAS: Who Dares Wins and her experiences rowing across the Pacific Ocean. Together, Lisa and Vicki explore emotional regulation, resilience, psychological safety, stress, self-belief, and why the most transformative adventures often happen within ourselves. In this episode: • The story behind Other People Are Like the Weather • Rebuilding confidence after a life-changing breakup • Lessons from SAS: Who Dares Wins • Overcoming a lifelong fear of water • Rowing across the Pacific Ocean and managing extreme stress • Difficult team dynamics and emotional resilience • Why we can't control other people's behaviour • The importance of psychological safety and self-trust • How small, intentional steps can create lasting change Memorable Quotes "Other people are like the weather." "The most radical thing that any of us can do is not to row oceans or climb peaks or cycle across continents. It's literally just to be intentional in our lives." "We spend half our lives becoming who we're told to be. And then maybe the rest of our life is trying to unravel that and find out who we really are."

2. 

   22 Sept 2026

   Building a Spicy Romance Career: Jade May on Escapism, Indie Publishing, and Landing a Penguin Deal

   Lisa sits down with Jade May, contemporary spicy romance author and creator of the completed Eden Series, including her newest release Unleash for Eden. Jade shares how she began writing during COVID after a lifetime of reading—especially as books helped her escape long hospital stays growing up. She walks through the entire arc of her publishing career: her first 10,000 words, an early bad contract, raising money to buy back her rights, self‑publishing, building a loyal readership, and eventually landing a traditional deal with Penguin. Along the way, Jade breaks down the business side of authorship, the marketing grind behind her success, and why she prioritizes themes like escapism, feminism, sexuality, therapy, and body autonomy in her work. This episode is a deep dive into the realities of modern romance publishing, the craft of writing emotionally rich spicy romance, and the discipline required to build a sustainable author career. What You’ll Learn Romance world‑building rooted in escapism, feminism, and emotional depth Indie vs trad publishing from someone who has done both How Jade bought back her rights and rebuilt her career from scratch Why author marketing matters more than viral moments How chronic illness, motherhood, and a film‑industry job shape her writing routine The craft behind writing authentic, emotionally driven spicy scenes How Unleash for Eden explores addiction, trauma, and second‑chance love Practical advice for new authors on contracts, agents, and self‑publishing If you enjoyed this conversation, make sure to follow the show, leave a rating, and share this episode with a romance‑loving friend. Your support helps more listeners discover powerful author stories like Jade’s — and keeps these deep‑dive conversations coming. Want more interviews like this? Hit subscribe and never miss an episode.

3. 

   17 Sept 2026

   Katherine Kovacic: The Long Road to Crime Fiction & No Good Deed

   Melbourne-based crime writer Katherine Kovacic joins Lisa to talk about the long and unexpected road to becoming a published author. Katherine began her career in veterinary science before moving through family business, art history and academia. A Faber Academy writing course helped her reconnect with her creative voice, eventually leading to a pitch event, a publishing deal and a career in crime fiction. In this conversation, Katherine reflects on the realities of publishing and sustaining a writing career — from finding ideas and researching crimes to managing deadlines, social media, AI concerns and the challenge of protecting time for the writing itself. They also explore Katherine’s latest novel, No Good Deed, featuring retired geologist Rena Novak, whose solo journey through the Kimberley takes a sinister turn when she discovers a burnt-out car and a dead body. Katherine discusses the inspiration behind Rena, researching the Kimberley, the role of landscape in the novel, and some of the wonderfully strange questions that come with researching crime fiction. A conversation about crime writing, publishing, creativity, research and what it really means to build a life around writing. Topics Covered Katherine Kovacic’s journey from vet to crime writer Childhood reading and early influences Art history and the rediscovery of writing Faber Academy and developing a creative voice Landing a publishing deal Finding an agent Life after publication Writing routines and research The pressures facing authors today Social media and AI No Good Deed and Rena Novak The Kimberley as a setting Researching crime, diamonds and crocodiles Why writers need to protect their creative time

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Contact Beyond The Plot Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  The Word Count

• 

  Talking Aussie Books

• 

  Writes4Women

• 

  The Book Deal

• 

  The Bookshelf

• 

  Writer's Routine