This week's guest taking us inside their working day is Jamie O'Connell. He's published short stories before, runs an editing and mentoring site called 'Blackwater Writing', and his debut novel, 'Diving for Pearls', is out now. It's a story set in Dubai, a mystical, alluring, divisive and controversial place. It's about a woman's death which influences a whole cast of strange and inter-connected characters. The most important character is Dubai itself, we talk about how he brought the place to l...
Aug 20, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 180
This week's Random Routine comes from Mark Billingham. His new book is 'Rabbit Hole', his 4th standalone thriller, which comes after his 15th Tom Thorne novel, the series he's best known for. Mark joined us back in 2018 to take us through his writing day. Where we chatted about how Mark's writing style and method has changed in the 17-or-so years since he published his first novel 'Sleepyhead', which was later made into a TV show starring David Morrissey. Also, we found out if seeing his hero on...
Aug 16, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 179
Claire McGowan goes by two names. Claire for crime thrillers, Eva Woods for women's fiction. We talk about how she switches between the two, and how thoroughly she thinks through style and different readerships when she writes different genre. Her new work is an audiobook series exclusive to Audible, called 'The Vanishing Triangle'. It shines a light on the unsolved disappearance of at least eight women from mid-nineties Dublin; their bodies were never found, and no suspect was ever charged. To ...
Aug 12, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 178
This week's Random Routine comes from bestselling Tim Marshall. He came on the show back in November 2018. Tim Marshall worked for some years as the Diplomatic Editor for Sky News, travelling and living all over the world to get the stories. His book 'Shadowplay: The Overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic' is widely regarded as one of the best accounts of life in the former Yugoslavia. Tim reported in the field from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, and has since found hug...
Aug 09, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 177
Michael Arditti is an award-winning author of 11 novels, he's written short stories, and worked as a theatre critic and book reviewer for national newspapers. His new novel is 'The Anointed'. It's a retelling of the biblical King David, as told through his 3 wives, Michal, Abigail and Bathsheba. We talk about how he put his own spin on history, and why he chose to write about such a specific time, and retell a famous story. His novel, 'Easter', won the first Waterstones Mardi Gras Award, he's al...
Aug 05, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 176
Liz Nugent is an Irish Book Award Winner, whose 4th Novel is 'Our Little Cruelties', which is out right now. She came on the show back in 2018 to take us through a day writing her 3rd novel 'Skin Deep'. After working as a stage manager, running all over the place in a theatre, then being shackled to the desk writing for soap operas, Liz Nugent became bored with dull, desk-driven office work, and became an author. Well... became an author over 6 years of writing her first book 'Unravelling Oliver...
Aug 02, 2021•9 min•Season 1Ep. 175
There was a time when Joy Ellis couldn't get her books anywhere near a shelf, one sale, anywhere. She was living in her car, she managed a bookshop, she had many almosts with publishers. She carried on, kept writing, self-published, and was finally tracked down by a publisher who stumbled across her in a newspaper. Now, she's sold over 2 million books, is an Amazon bestseller, and was nominated for 'Crime/ Thriller Book of the Year' at the Nibbies a few months ago. She's published over 20 books ...
Jul 30, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 174
This week's Random Routine is with Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a Carnegie Medal Award winning author - his 2004 novel 'Millions' is incredibly successful, and was turned into a film by Danny Boyle, for which Frank wrote the script. It was even Danny's idea that Frank should write the novel in the first place. He's published 10 novels, brought back 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', and wrote the Opening Ceremony to the 2012 Olympic Games. We chat quite a bit about scriptwriting - along...
Jul 27, 2021•7 min•Season 1Ep. 173
This week we're chatting to Hayley Doyle! She's an actor who has starred in the West End, appearing in Mamma Mia and others. Recently, she's turned her hand to writing, publishing two novels, 'Never Saw You Coming' and her newest one, 'Love, Almost'. It tells the story of Chloe, whose boyfriend of just 5 months dies, so to come to terms with things, she does all the many things they had planned to do together, alone. We talk about when she first had the idea for the story, how it came to her qui...
Jul 22, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 172
This week's bonus bite comes from crime writing behemoth Jeffery Deaver! Jeffery Deaver has published over 40 novels. He's a globally renowned author, writing crime and thrillers. To him, they're not lauded works of art, they're intricate puzzles, fun and games for the reader - and we talk about how he builds these. Jeffery works anywhere he can - any chance he gets to type away, if that's at home, on the plane, perhaps at a dog show, he will. We chat about how he finds time and space to work no...
Jul 20, 2021•9 min•Season 1Ep. 171
Alexis Landau's new book 'Those Who Are Saved' builds on the true story of Los Angeles during World War II. It was a safe haven for artists, and was home to many exiled Europeans. It tells the tale of Vera, who is forced to leave her daughter and flee, and explores her path to find the girl she left behind. We discuss how Alexis writes around family time, how it all starts in a flurry of ideas and research, and how she blends factual history with her own creativity. We also chat about why moving...
Jul 18, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 170
This week's Random Routine comes from the 'Queen of Crime' Val McDermid. She appeared on the show back in April 2019 to run us through her working day. Val McDermid is one of the most successful crime authors in the world. Her novels have been translated into 40 languages, they've sold over 15 million copies and show no sign of letting up. She has written procedural crime, cold-case crime, and even penned the first ever 'cynical, socialist, lesbian, feminist journalist'. We talk about how her me...
Jul 13, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 169
Nigel Farndale is an award-winning journalist whose interviewing prowess has seen him chat to the Dalai Lama, Prince Charles, Henry Kissenger, Hilary Clinton, and many more. He's written for The Observer, the FT, The Sunday Times and many more. His last book, 'The Blasphemer' was nominated for a Costa Book Award back in 2010, and he's just released 'The Dictator's Muse'. It tells the story of 1930's Europe, as Hitler's grip tightens and his power grows. We follow a film-maker, an athlete and a W...
Jul 09, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 168
Ian Rankin came on the show in 2018 to discuss his 22nd Detective John Rebus book, 'In a House of Lies'. Since then he's published the 23rd, 'A Song for the Dark Times'. Here is just his routine, it's full of procrastination and puzzles. You can hear why he doesn't know what the story is until he's finished it, also why a good writing day can start at 8pm, and why he's writing all over the place. Support the show on patreon.com/writersroutine. @writerspod writersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See ...
Jul 05, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Janet Skeslien-Charles new novel is 'The Paris Library', inspired by the true stories of the librarians who risked their lives during the Nazi's war on words. We talk about when she heard that tale, how she knew there was a book in it, and she'd be the one to write it. It comes off the back of her stunning debut, 'Moonlight in Odessa', which took 10 years to write. We discuss why she brooded over the idea for such a time, and how place and environment have given her the inspiration for her stori...
Jul 01, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 166
Shari Lapena shared her writer's routine with us back in 2019, when she came on to chat about her 4th novel 'Someone We Know'. Shari's first book, 'The Couple Next Door', was the number 1 adult fiction title for the UK back in 2017. 'Someone We Know', a twisting tale of a teenager so desperate for wi-fi he breaks into homes, and then strange things start happening all over the neighbourhood. She has published two more since then, her newest is 'Not A Happy Family' which is out in August. In this...
Jun 29, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Greg Buchanan's debut 'Sixteen Horses' has been lauded as one of the best books of the year, and there's already a major TV series of it in the works. However, the stunning hook of the plot only came to him as a device to explore the characters. Here's the blurb - 'Near the dying English seaside town of Ilmarsh, local police detective Alec Nichols discovers sixteen horses' heads on a farm, each buried with a single eye facing the low winter sun. After forensic veterinarian Cooper Allen travels t...
Jun 24, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 164
Louise Candlish shared her writer's routine with us in 2019. Louise Candlish's 'Our House' was one of the biggest books of 2018, it's sold more than 200,000 copies, been read all over the world and won 'Best Crime and Thriller Fiction' at the 'British Book Awards'. It so nearly wasn't the case though. A few years ago, disappointed with her success and publisher, Louise almost gave up - until the kernel of a story came to her, something that had never been done before, a thriller centred around p...
Jun 21, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 163
Niamh Campbell has always been around words, studying them, teaching them, constantly writing them. Her short story 'Love Many' won an Irish Times writing prize, and from that success she's published her debut novel, 'This Happy'. It tells the story of Allanah, who falls in love with an older man, and it unpacks the way that impacts her life. It's a novel of exploration, of description and words. We discuss how she worked through the plot from that, and how she works around her focus on language...
Jun 18, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 162
BONUS EPISODE! Here's something new I'm trying, hopefully every week. Taking a look back at some fantastic authors from our archive, and remembering just the routine, hopefully injecting a bitesize chunk of inspiration that might help you plan your day. Anthony Horowitz joined us back in 2018, as he was in the process of writing some Alex Rider short-stories. The teenage spy launched him to national attention in the early 00s, with school kids across the world being transfixed by the reluctant a...
Jun 15, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 161
Lesley Kara's debut, 'The Rumour', was the bestselling crime thriller debut of 2019. She's back with her third novel, 'The Dare', it tells the story of Lizzie, who is suspected of being involved in the death of a friend years earlier, and someone is out to get revenge. We discuss her writing routine, and how it's a waiting game, and a process of discovery. Also you can hear why she likes to read aloud, what she likes to know before starting, and how precise she is with her words. We chat about w...
Jun 10, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 160
Tim Adler has always been around words. He's a journalist who has written for The Times and the FT, been a commissioning editor at The Daily Telegraph, and edited magazines. His fourth novel is 'Dead Already', it's a psychological thriller that crosses both the gangster and ghost-story genres. 'Dead Already' is the story of an East End Gangster who becomes haunted by the ghost of his dead daughter. We talk about where the idea came from, how he got on crossing genres, and why writing for him... ...
Jun 03, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 159
Rosie Wilby is a comedian, writer and podcaster. Her new book, 'The Breakup Monologues', is based on the podcast of the same name. It's non-fiction and looks at sexuality, stories, dating....breaking up. We talk about why the idea for the story changed as she worked on it, why she used ideas from fiction to plot and plan it, and how it's now affected her podcasting. You can hear why pets keep her going, how exercise helped her ideas, and as a comic, why lockdown was actually sweet relief to get ...
May 27, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Bryan Christy was the Head of Special Operations for National Geographic. He'd travel around the world uncovering crimes and reporting on the underworld. He's now an author. They say write what you know. Bryan's debut fiction is called 'In the Company of Killers', and it tells the story of Tom Klay, a spy undercover as a wildlife reporter. We talk about Bryan re-inventing real life into stories, and how he got to know Tom enough to tell his tale. Also, the criminal investigation style mindmaps t...
May 20, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 157
Bethany Clift's debut has come out at JUST the write time. 'Last One at the Party' tells the story of a woman alone on Earth, after humanity has been wiped out by a virus. We talk about how the idea came on a long, lonely journey, and how she got to know the character that readers would be spending so much time with. It's one of the publisher's lead titles this year, and the film rights have already been sold, so it's set for success. We discuss how her background in film production helped her v...
May 13, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Lisa Gardner is a prolific author. She's published 11 'DD Warren' novels, 2 'Tessa Leoni' books, and is back with her first standalone in 20 years. 'Before She Disappeared' tells the story of Frankie Elkin who spends her life doing what no one else will, searching for missing people the world has forgotten about. We talking about why she likes to get things done in the morning, and how she figured out how she works best. Also, how the characters figure themselves out in her down time which drive...
May 06, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Ericka Waller's published debut is 'Dog Days', which tells the story of George, Dan, Lizzie and the dogs that bind their lives and emotions together. The word-play in the title gets to the heart of the book. It's a joyous and uplifting story about the heartbreak of mental illness, and it's about the small changing moments that occur when we let the light in. We talk about the times of tragedy that prompted Ericka to write the book, and how her favourite band helped her with the initial idea. You...
Apr 29, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 154
Abigail Mann has just released her second novel, very quickly after publishing her first. 'The Sister Surprise' tells us the story of Ava who discovers she has an unknown sister, and decides to pay her a secret visit. We talk about how she remembers how to write a book, when she between projects. We chat about public accountability with work, and how she's managed that through lockdown. Also, you can hear why she switches between writing softwares and word processors between drafts to keep on he...
Apr 22, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 153
Chloe James debut novel is so perfectly timed it must have been expertly planned. It was. Chloe James is also Fiona Woodifield, author of 'The Jane Austen Dating Agency' which received critical acclaim recently. Due to the success of that, she was asked by a publisher to write a book based on an idea they'd heard on the radio... what if two neighbours found love in lockdown? Chloe talks about the pressure of getting this done quickly, and being the first to get such an idea out. We chat about ho...
Apr 15, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 152
Naomi Ishiguro's debut novel is something quite special. 'Common Ground' tells the story of Stan and Charlie, unlikely friends who meet during a turbulent time and change each others lives. Naomi had the idea during 2016, after the Brexit referendum changed how she saw the world, and the people in it. We discuss how she moved the idea along, how she gets through the difficult final third of the book, and why she likes her writing space to be completely neutral and lack any personality. Writing i...
Apr 08, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 1515
