S02E33-071 Season Finale
Finding Elara
We will be back on the 7th of January for Season 3 Contact the Team Finding Elara Facebook Group: Discord: BCP Website: BCP Instagram: BCP facebook: Contact Dianna Website: Facebook: (DL Nix) Instagram: Tiktok: Contact Jules Substack: Facebook Author Page: Facebook Group: Discord: jaduxburyauthor Sponsor Info Shadow Lair: Selva’s Ality: Selina Shapland:
info_outline
S02E32-070 An essential component with Tony James Slater
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Tony James Slater is an unusual combination of science-fiction author and travel-memoir writer. He is a very, very strange man. He believes himself to be indestructible, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. He is often to be found making strange faces whilst pretending to be attacked by inanimate objects. But perhaps his biggest problem is this: he has a mouth so big he is at risk of swallowing his own head. It is for this reason (amongst others) that he chooses to spend his life far from mainstream civilization, tackling ridiculous challenges and subjecting...
info_outline
S02E31-069 The subject is entirely Tony James Slater
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Tony James Slater is an unusual combination of science-fiction author and travel-memoir writer. He is a very, very strange man. He believes himself to be indestructible, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. He is often to be found making strange faces whilst pretending to be attacked by inanimate objects. But perhaps his biggest problem is this: he has a mouth so big he is at risk of swallowing his own head. It is for this reason (amongst others) that he chooses to spend his life far from mainstream civilization, tackling ridiculous challenges and subjecting...
info_outline
S02E30-068 Start with the part you love most with RA Sandpiper
Finding Elara
Episode Description Guest Bio R A Sandpiper (she/her) is a British fantasy author from the south of England. She has a law degree she's never used despite spending five years in government-adjacent roles, loves games of all kinds (the nerdier the better), and will always dance at weddings. She's passionate about creating strong and complex characters in unkind and twisting worlds, but despite what she puts them through, there will always be a heart-pounding romance. Her debut trilogy, Amefyre, commencing with A Pocket of Lies, is out now. Her next duology will launch...
info_outline
S02E29-067 Not Pronunciation Police with RA Sandpiper
Finding Elara
Guest Bio R A Sandpiper (she/her) is a British fantasy author from the south of England. She has a law degree she's never used despite spending five years in government-adjacent roles, loves games of all kinds (the nerdier the better), and will always dance at weddings. She's passionate about creating strong and complex characters in unkind and twisting worlds, but despite what she puts them through, there will always be a heart-pounding romance. Her debut trilogy, Amefyre, commencing with A Pocket of Lies, is out now. Her next duology will launch with To Touch A Silent...
info_outline
S02E28-066 An entire world with Lorna Woulfe
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Lorna Woulfe was born and raised in the state of Ohio. She has lived in such exotic locales as Denver CO, Los Angeles, CA, and Nashville, TN. She is the alter ego of L. Anne Wooley who writes nonfiction under that name. Her pen name was created to honor both sides of her family; Lorna was her maternal grandmother (also a writer ). Woulfe is what Wooley descends from, Ireland is here the clan lived. She's a poet, writer, editor and flutist ; also a jewelry designer. She is a co-admin and co-host of an event called Writer's Night, held via the Facebook group Writer's Night...
info_outline
S02E27-065 When things fall into Place with Lorna Woulfe
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Lorna Woulfe was born and raised in the state of Ohio. She has lived in such exotic locales as Denver CO, Los Angeles, CA, and Nashville, TN. She is the alter ego of L. Anne Wooley who writes nonfiction under that name. Her pen name was created to honor both sides of her family; Lorna was her maternal grandmother (also a writer ). Woulfe is what Wooley descends from, Ireland is here the clan lived. She's a poet, writer, editor and flutist ; also a jewelry designer. She is a co-admin and co-host of an event called Writer's Night, held via the Facebook group Writer's Night...
info_outline
S02E26-064 White is for mourning with Elizabeth Chaffin
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Elizabeth Chaffin is the creator of Bearded Rat Mysteries, through which she has written over 14 digital-download murder mystery games that have been sold around the world. She is also the author of two novels, Dead Man's Swamp and Newfangled Madness, published under the name E. M. Chaffin. Both books feature homeschooled protagonists and explore themes of friendship, courage, and the pursuit of truth. She lives in Oklahoma, USA with her own personal creatures Paisley and Tricki Woo. She enjoys eating mashed potatoes, adventuring to beautiful places,...
info_outline
S02E25-063 The way to it is through it with Elizabeth Chaffin
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Elizabeth Chaffin is the creator of Bearded Rat Mysteries, through which she has written over 14 digital-download murder mystery games that have been sold around the world. She is also the author of two novels, Dead Man's Swamp and Newfangled Madness, published under the name E. M. Chaffin. Both books feature homeschooled protagonists and explore themes of friendship, courage, and the pursuit of truth. She lives in Oklahoma, USA with her own personal creatures Paisley and Tricki Woo. She enjoys eating mashed potatoes, adventuring to beautiful places,...
info_outline
S02E24-062 Pink, Sun and Sleeping Beauty with Poppy Solomon
Finding Elara
Guest Bio Poppy Rose Solomon's novels are inspired by both her coastal childhood in Queensland and her love of escaping into magical worlds. Her debut series is four-book YA fantasy saga Woken Kingdom. She's also a professional editor and loves to help other authors cultivate their voice and tell their story. You'll often find her posting rosy-filtered pictures or yapping about publishing on social media. Find her at Poppy's Pages Editing .com or @PoppysVintageBooks. Links Contact Poppy Website: Instagram: Tiktok: Things you can enter TREASURE...
info_outlineGuest Bio
Elizabeth Chaffin is the creator of Bearded Rat Mysteries, through which she has written over 14 digital-download murder mystery games that have been sold around the world. She is also the author of two novels, Dead Man's Swamp and Newfangled Madness, published under the name E. M. Chaffin. Both books feature homeschooled protagonists and explore themes of friendship, courage, and the pursuit of truth. She lives in Oklahoma, USA with her own personal creatures Paisley and Tricki Woo. She enjoys eating mashed potatoes, adventuring to beautiful places, and taking vitamins. There was this one time she floated on the Yellow River on a raft made of inflated sheepskin, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this podcast.
Links
Contact Elizabeth
Website: https://www.emchaffin.com/
Instagram for EM: https://www.instagram.com/emchaffinwrites/
Instagram for BRM: https://www.instagram.com/beardedratmysteries/
Facebook for EM: https://www.facebook.com/emchaffinwrites
Facebook for BRM: https://www.facebook.com/beardedratmysteries
Etsy: https://beardedratmysteries.etsy.com
Things you can enter
TREASURE CHEST GIVEAWAY
From Poppy: 1 e-copy of Woken Kingdom and d1 e-copy of How to edit your own novel.
From Elizabeth: Winners Choice of any 1 thing from her etsy store/a copy of her book.
From BCP: A copy of one of the BSP Low/Medium Content Journal range
Treasure chest Give-away 3: (open 30/07/2025 closes 8/10/2025)
https://www.bushlandcastleproductions.com/treasure-chest
Contact the Team
Finding Elara Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FindingElara
Discord: https://discord.gg/Ap8EWpPn
BCP Website: www.bcpcreative.com.au
BCP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bcp.creative/
BCP facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577758720164
Contact Dianna
Website: www.dlnix.com
Facebook: (DL Nix) https://www.facebook.com/Faepatriantales
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findingelara/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@findingelarapodcast
Sponsor Info
Shadow Lair: https://ko-fi.com/findingelara
Selva’s Ality: https://www.facebook.com/awakinningality
Selina Shapland: https://empoweredwords.com.au/
Show Notes
- For the Games – She starts with theme + setting followed by murder motivation. Then the characters with the motivation around the victim.
- For the novels – She starts with character, what story she is after first
- Didn’t start out as a plotter but has started plotting more each project. After she started doing that she realised that the more plotting the easier it was for the next steps.
- She always makes sure that the plot is flexible and is kind to herself if things need to change.
- Worldbuilding = Settings are a character
- First novel Dead mans swamp has 3 different timelines.
- New Fangled Madness – has a magic ring to talk to birds.
- Self published both books – was advised that if she had an audience, to stick to the same sort of theme.
- Marian – Character from new fangled Madness went on adventures in Elara. She was very brave.
- Goes on a lot of sidequests when researching games, aske her about circus lore!
Fast Fire Questions
- What’s your favourite Colour? Grey
- Would you rather draw a Sun or a Moon? Sun
- Would you prefer to live near the beach or a river? River
- Dream Holiday Destination? New Zealand
- Favourite Fairy Tale? Beauty and the beast
LINKING TO ELARA
Ryan: How do you get their inspiration for the scenes especially murder scenes? Don’t have a good answer! They either come randomly or it is just the first idea when in her writing headspace. Loves Brainstorming.
Julz: How do you cope with life after some of the murders you have written about? None of them are to serious in the end. Has had to put it away before and move on to something else.
Garry: What originally drew you to irish guacamole and will they be tackling any other river on the sheep raft. Her mum makes the best. Grew up skin off and now has skin on.
Joel: You develop such unique and quirky characters. Do you start with the murderer and their character first? For the books definitely the main character.
When Developing the victim do you want them to be innocent or do you want them to be more of an antihero? In the games the victim tends to be the worst person. In the books it’s a mixture.
Dianna: How do you deal with the emotional resonance in a murder mystery? I like characters each person answer a number of questions. This develops this web of depth.