Writing Podcast Episode 712: Penny Tangey asks the cosy-crime question, 'What Rhymes with Murder?'

Two questions: Where do new mothers meet new people? And 'What Rhymes with Murder?' – the latter being the title of author Penny Tangey's cosy crime novel, inspired by her own experiences as a new mother at her local library's story time! In this episode, Penny shares insights on making the switch from YA to adult stories, her writing routine and whether you need to know who did it before writing the end of the book! 00:00 Welcome 04:26 Writing tip: Listen to your characters 08:00 WIN!: The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke 10:37 Word of the week: 'Weltschmerz' 11:30 Writer in residence: Penny Tangey 12:07 Penny describes the book What Rhymes with Murder? 12:52 Real-life inspirations for the book 14:39 The quirky title 15:32 The decision to write her first adult book 17:36 The writing process and plotting 18:38 Librarian life in the novel 20:31 Building a cosy cast 21:07 The timeline of writing the book 21:50 Penny's writing routine 22:30 The biggest challenge 23:41 Having for researching the book 24:16 Finding an agent and new publisher 27:58 Editing and sprinkling clues 29:39 The overall themes of the book 31:29 Next projects ahead 32:02 Genre switching advice 33:33 Cosy crime specific advice 34:28 Librarian book pick 35:58 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com

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Writing Podcast Episode 712: Penny Tangey asks the cosy-crime question, 'What Rhymes with Murder?' is an episode from So You Want To Be A Writer with Valerie Khoo and Allison Tait: Australian Writers' Centre podcast by Australian Writers' Centre.

This episode is 38:31 long.

This episode was published on Apr 13, 2026.

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