Elizabeth Knox is one of the country’s most esteemed authors, known best for her novels ‘Vintner’s Luck’ and ‘The Absolute Book’.

She’s also a dab hand at essay collections and young adult stories, though it had been over a decade since she last wrote for a younger audience.

That changed with the release of ‘Kings of this World’, a young adult novel focused on the sole survivor of a cult massacre.

The book is a long time coming, Knox having written it over the span of several years.

“I had the bad habit of writing several books at the same time,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame.

“I developed the strategy when I had a lot of distractions in my life, and I decided to distract myself, so I had some power over that.”

“And then I came out of it and thought I'd solved the problem and could always keep doing that, but no,” she told Tame.

“Bad habit.”

Writing young adult fiction is not dissimilar to writing for adults, but there is one central principle Knox abides by when writing for younger audiences.

“You can’t deprive the readers of hope,” she explained.

“With that in mind, I was able to write a, you know, pretty scary thriller, and I don’t think that young readers need to be defended from suspense and fear and things like that.”

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Ed Sheeran has released his eighth studio album: ‘Play’. It’s the first of a new series of themed albums, with titles based on electronic media buttons – ‘Pause’, ‘Fast Forward’, ‘Rewind’, and ‘Stop’ set to follow.

Although there’s plenty of new influences and stylistic changes, with traditional Indian percussion, Hindi and Punjabi vocals, and a guest appearance from Bengali singer Arijit Singh, the core of Ed Sheeran’s musical style is clear.

Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to give her thoughts on the album.

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Having arrived home from holiday a short few weeks ago, Kevin Milne's recent travel experiences are still fresh in his mind.

Every time you travel, you learn something new, and this time around he learned that there’s a better way to book your flights.

He joined Jack Tame to pass on the tips and tricks he learned.

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