Joanne Harris MBE is the international bestselling author of books such as Chocolat and The Gospel of Loki . A prolific author, she has written nearly twenty books in addition to numerous short stories. Her latest novel is A Narrow Door , a psychological thriller set in an English grammar school. She is also currently Chair of the Society of Authors. We loved chatting with Joanne about all things writing-related, including how finding an agent has (and hasn’t) changed since she broke in, the cur...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 9Ep. 6
Catriona Ward won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel for her debut, Rawblood , and again for Little Eve , making her the first woman to win the prize twice. Little Eve, which also won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, will soon be republished. Her latest novel, The Last House on Needless Street , has received rave reviews and became an instant bestseller. We loved chatting with Catriona and hearing about how she tackles writing about the horror in her novels (clue: make sure ...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 9Ep. 5
Dominic Nolan is the author of the Abigail Boone novels, Past Life and After Dark . His most recent novel, Vine Street , is a historical thriller based on real events in 1930s Soho, and has already been garnering rave reviews. We had a really interesting chat with Dominic about his path to publishing, and talk about why it took some time between his getting an agent and his first book being published. We also talk about how not to pitch a novel, and talk about the research that went into craftin...
Nov 12, 2021•56 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the novel, Dark Matter , for which he is writing the screenplay for Sony Pictures. His international-bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, that was Summer 2015's #1 show. His latest book, Recursion , was a bestseller which is also being adapted by Netflix. We loved talking to Blake and hearing about how it was a decision to stop writing ...
Nov 05, 2021•53 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Stuart Turton is a former journalist and the author of the award-winning, genre-mashing The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle . His second book, The Devil and the Dark Water was released in October 2020 and became an instant smash hit. We had a great time chatting to Stuart about how an early love of Agatha Christie mysteries eventually led to his becoming a writer. He tells us why he would prefer it if his name didn’t appear on the cover of his books, why he never wants to be pigeon-holed into ...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Alan Johnson was an MP for 20 years and served as Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Health for the Labour Governments of Blair and Brown. After leaving the Cabinet, he wrote his first memoir, This Boy , which was an instant success, and followed that up with two more volumes of memoirs, Please, Mister Postman and The Long and Winding Road . This year he has published his first novel, The Late Train to Gipsy Hill. Our fun chat with Alan covers why he always wanted to be a writer (and rock...
Oct 22, 2021•50 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Yes, the tables are turned this week as our very own Tariq Ashkanani joins us as a guest rather than interviewer to tell us about the path to publishing his debut novel, Welcome to Cooper, which currently sits high on Amazon's Kindle Store! Tariq explains his rather convoluted path to becoming a writer, and how the spark for his brilliant debut came after attending a short story writing class. We also talk about the trials and tribulations of finding an agent, hear how he honed his writing voice...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 9
Catherine Quinn is a bestselling fiction author whose books are published in over fifteen countries. She writes contemporary thrillers as Cate Quinn, and her historical thrillers are published under the pen name CS Quinn. Catherine’s was a travel and lifestyle journalist for The Times, The Guardian and The Mirror, alongside many magazines. Prior to journalism and fiction, her background in historic research won prestigious postgraduate funding from the British Art Council. Combining research ski...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 8
Duncan Hamilton is an award-winning non-fiction author and sports journalist. His first book, Provided You Don't Kiss Me:20 Years with Brian Clough , won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, and award he has subsequently won another two times. He has just released his first fiction novel, Injury Time . We had a really interesting chat with Duncan about his route into sports journalism and hear what led him to move into the world of books. We talk about how he picks his subjects for his non-...
Aug 27, 2021•48 min•Season 8Ep. 7
This week we have not one but two great guests! Abir Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj era India. His debut, A Rising Man , won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017. His latest, Death in the East , was nominated for the Theakston Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021. Vaseem Khan is the author of two crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical cri...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Season 8Ep. 6
C. Robert Cargill started out as a film reviewer for one of the internet's first film sites, aintitcool.com, before moving into the world of movies himself, writing films such as Sinister and Dr Strange. Not content with taking the movie world by storm, he has also become a bestselling novelist, and his most recent book, Day Zero , is a prequel to the brilliant Sea of Rust . We loved chatting with Cargill about his varied career, learning about how he used the access he had as a film reviewer as...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Season 8Ep. 5
As well as being a successful novelist, Imran Mahmood is a practising barrister with over 30 years' court experience. His first book, You Don't Know Me , was chosen by Simon Mayo as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017 and longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and for the CWA Gold Dagger award. It's currently being adapted for TV. His latest book, I Know What I Saw , is just out. We loved chatting with Imran about how he got into writing and how his day job as a criminal barrister ...
Aug 06, 2021•58 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Philip Gwynne Jones spent twenty years in the IT industry before realising he was congenitally unsuited to it, and now works as a writer, teacher and translator. He lives in Venice with his wife Caroline. His first novel, “The Venetian Game”, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and a Times Top 5 bestseller. “The Venetian Legacy”, the fifth in the Nathan Sutherland series, was published in April 2021. We loved chatting with Philip and hearing about how he accidentally became a bestselling aut...
Jul 30, 2021•43 min•Season 8Ep. 3
MJ Arlidge is a man of many talents, being a novelist, screenwriter and producer. Having started out as a storyliner for Eastenders on the BBC, he went on to work on celebrated British shows such as Monarch of the Glen and Silent Witness , before creating his own hit shows such as Mistresses and Cape Wrath . He came to the world of novels in his 40s, when Eeny Meeny was released to huge success. Its protagonist, DI Helen Grace has since featured in many more books, with the latest being the rece...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Caroline Hulse is the author of Like a House on Fire and The Adults . All The Fun of the Fair is her latest novel which has just been released. Her books have been published in fourteen languages and optioned for television. We had great fun chatting with Caroline, hearing about how she moved from HR into writing, why she still works in an office (as an author!) and why she abandoned writing suspense novels for humour. We also get great advice about outrunning your fear as a writer, learn why sh...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 1
In this special episode, we talk with all three of the nominees for the 2021 Desmond Elliott Prize, the showcase award for debut authors from the National Centre for Writing. First up, we talk with AK Blakemore, author of The Manningtree Witches , a brilliant literary historical fiction novel set in England in 1643. AK is the author of two full-length collections of poetry: Humbert Summer (Eyewear, 2015) and Fondue (Offord Road Books, 2018), which was awarded the 2019 Ledbury Forte Prize for Bes...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Nina Allan has won the British Science Fiction Award, the Novella Award, the Kitschies Red Tentacle and France’s Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire. Her first published piece of fiction appeared in a magazine called Dark Horizons in 2002. Since then, her stories have featured in numerous magazines and anthologies including The Year’s Best Science Fiction , Best Horror of the Year and The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime . Her latest book, The Good Neighbours , is released on 10 June 2021. We loved tal...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 7Ep. 11
Holly Seddon is the bestselling author of books such as Try Not to Breathe , Don't Close Your Eyes , and her latest, The Hit List . In between writing these great books, she also manages to host a great writing podcast (a great one to listen to alongside this one...!) called Honest Authors, which looks at the realities of life as a published author. We had great fun chatting with Holly, hearing about how she found and was picked up by her agent in the space of a lunchtime (!), how she swapped ag...
May 28, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 7Ep. 10
Nikki Smith studied English Literature at the University of Birmingham and went on to forge a career in finance; working for companies including a city bank and a trampoline park. She’d always wanted to write, and prompted by someone she hadn’t seen since school contacting her to ask if she’d ever done anything with her writing, signed up for a Curtis Brown creative writing course in 2017. She went on to win a short story competition and mentorship by the author Amanda Reynolds before being acce...
May 21, 2021•55 min•Season 7Ep. 9
David Nicholls is the award-winning author of books such as Starter for Ten , Us , One Day and, most recently, Sweet Sorrow . He has also won awards for his screenwriting, from his contributions to Cold Feet to the adaptations of both his own books such as Starter for Ten and One Day and the likes of Patrick Melrose and Great Expectations . We loved chatting with David about how he got his start in his writing career, moving from an actor to a screenwriter to, eventually, a novelist, and then ba...
May 14, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Helen O'Hara is best known for her work at Empire magazine, where she is currently editor-at-large and features regularly on their renowned podcast. She has also been published regularly in newspapers such at The Guardian and The Telegraph, and has written a number of books, the most recent of which is Women vs Hollywood. We had great fun chatting with Helen about her career and hear how she landed the job at Empire, what she learned on the job about writing reviews, and why she wanted to write ...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 7Ep. 7
Miranda Malins is a writer and historian specialising in the history of Oliver Cromwell, his family and the politics of the Interregnum period following the Civil War. She studied at Cambridge University, leaving with a PhD, and continues to speak at conferences and publish journal articles and book reviews. She also enjoys being a Trustee of the Cromwell Association. Given her love of that period of history, it is no surprise that her debut novel, The Puritan Princess , is a beautifully written...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 7Ep. 6
D. V. Bishop is the author of the Cesare Aldo mysteries set in Renaissance Florence, and published by Pan Macmillan. Before his debut as an author, David had a varied career, from journalism to editing some of the UK's biggest comics at Judge Dredd The Megazine and 2000AD, before becoming an award-winning screenwriter and TV dramatist. City of Vengeance won the Pitch Perfect competition at the Bloody Scotland crime fiction festival in 2018, and he was awarded a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship ...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Jeff VanderMeer’s NYT -bestselling Southern Reach trilogy has been translated into over 35 languages. The first novel, Annihilation , won the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award, and was made into a movie by Paramount in 2018. Recent works include Dead Astronauts , Borne (a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award), The Strange Bird . These novels, set in the Borne universe, are being developed for TV by AMC and continue to explore themes related to the environment, animals, and our future. Hi...
Apr 16, 2021•1 hr•Season 7Ep. 4
Charlie Jane Anders is an award-winning author and journalist who was a founding member of the popular site io9 and whose latest novel, Victories Greater Than Death, is out next week and kicks off a new YA trilogy. She's also the author of All the Birds in the Sky , which won the Nebula, Crawford and Locus awards, Choir Boy , which won a Lambda Literary Award, and The City in the Middle of the Night . Her short fiction has appeared in Tor.com, Boston Review , Tin House , Conjunctions , the Magaz...
Apr 09, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Annalee Newitz writes science fiction and nonfiction. They are the author of the book Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age , and the novels The Future of Another Timeline, and Autonomous , which won the Lambda Literary Award. As a science journalist, they are a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times , and have a monthly column in New Scientist. They have published in The Washington Post, Slate , Popular Science, Ars Technica , The New Yorker , and The Atlantic , among ...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Margaux DeRoux comes from a family of painters, and writes historical fiction that centers on art and artists. Before turning to fiction, she was a teacher, a waitress, and a marketer in Silicon Valley. Her debut novel, The Lost Diary of Venice, features two impossible love stories which are fatefully connected by one artistic legacy that leaps between the mysteries of late-Renaissance Venice and the dramas of present-day America. We had a great chat with Margaux about how her discovery of a rea...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Peter Moffat is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter who has written shows such as Silk, Criminal Justice (which was adapted into The Night Of for HBO) and most recently, Your Honor, which stars Bryan Cranston. We had great fun chatting with Peter, learning about how his previous career as a criminal barrister has helped with his writing, and hear how he moved into TV work after writing plays. He tells us all about what it's like to be a showrunner on a US TV show, and how that differs f...
Mar 05, 2021•57 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Robert Dinsdale is the author of novels including The Harrowing , Little Exiles , The Toymakers and most recently, Paris By Starlight . The magic-infused worlds he had created with his last two books have led to comparisons with Erin Morgenstern and Neil Gaiman. We enjoyed chatting to Robert about his writing journey and hearing about his time as a literary agent, before he flipped sides and became an author himself. We also learn about why getting that first novel published isn't always the bre...
Feb 26, 2021•55 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Helen Whitaker is author of the acclaimed comedy, The School Run , and most recently, I Give It A Year . She is also an accomplished journalist, writing for publications such as Glamour, Marie Claire, Women's Fitness and more, and is currently deputy editor of British Airways' in-flight magazine, High Life. We had a fun chat with Helen, learning about how she moved into journalism, and how writing features has helped her as a novelist. We also hear about why she wanted to write I Give It A Year ...
Feb 19, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 10
