Cassie McCullough

Now, Jane, I remember a few years back you wrote this book that was an unlikely thriller.

It was a history of double entry accounting.

Yes.

And it was just a ripping read.

It was called, to be precise, Double Entry, How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance.

Being about the roots of evil.

Well, I can tell you it's changed the way we score Scrabble at my place.

So thank you very much for that.

Kate Mildenhall is a novelist and podcaster.

Her first book, Skylarking, was published in 2016.

And maybe that's what prompted her podcast, which is called The First Time, which is all about, no, the first time you publish a book.

so off and running then she does leave town completely confused all the time you know so yeah she has no idea what's going on pretty much till the end really so clearly her husband's microchip isn't activated so they can't find him because he hasn't got a chip on him or it's been stopped somehow

So best life slash Hotel California where you can't ever get out of them.

So is the idea to keep the rest of Australia in this novel, the Australia of this novel, kind of pure and not tainted by those who may be needy?

Oh, she's got kids with her.

Right.

Okay.

And are they chipped as well?

Yeah, right.

Okay.