This week, we're joined by JP Rieger, whose brand new novel, 'Clonk!' is out now. Paul worked as an attorney, and now spends his time as an amateur musician, and writing novels. We talk about how his work as an attorney has affected how much he plans out novels, and why he's quite casual about where and when he writes. 'Clonk!' is about the Baltimore City Police Detective Kev Dixit, seeking the murder of a local artist, and the unique characters that he meets along the way. We run through how he...
Jun 29, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 270
Rebecca McKanna has published short stories in anthologies and quarterlies. Something about one idea made her want to write a full novel. 'Don't Forget the Girl' is about Bree and Chelsea, trying to discover what really happened to their best friend Abby Hartmann. Her presumed murderer, the serial killer Jon Allan Blue, is about to be executed when a flurry of interest in the case makes them turn to a true-crime podcaster to tell Abby's story before it's too late. We discuss the balance of why p...
Jun 22, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 269
Over Tim Lott's 10 novels, he's won the Whitbread First Novel Award, been shortlisted for The Guardian Kids Book Award and the Costa Award. He's been published in 16 countries, works as a screenwriter, and has taught creative writing for over 10 years. He's got a brilliant Substack page, filled with tips and advice at timlott.substack.com. His new book is a writing guide, 'Yes! No! But Wait! - The One Thing You Need to Know to Write a Novel'. It takes you through much of the process in getting a...
Jun 16, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 268
Corie Adjmi's debut novel, 'Life and Other Shortcomings' won a whole bunch of prizes, and has steamrollered her towards the new novel, 'The Marriage Box'. It's all about Casey Cohen, a 16 year old in New Orleans, and in the 70s, her parents decide to return to their roots and move to the orthodox Syrian jewish community in Brooklyn. In time, Casey meets Michael and marries him at 18 thinking she can adjust to his Syrian ways, but starts to question things when Michael says he doesn’t want her to...
Jun 08, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 267
John Wray is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, he was named as one of the Best Young American Novelists in 2007. He's just published his 6th novel, 'Gone to the Wolves'. It’s the story of high school outcasts, making their pilgrimage from their small town in Florida, to the famed Hollywood Strip, and off to Norway (enter blackened death metal). Along their vision quest, these teens experience mystery, loss and love, all in the name of music, littered with feelings that f...
Jun 01, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 266
J.D. Kirk is a prolific writer. He's written comics and screenplays, under the name Barry Hutchison he's published over 170 children's books, and is back with a new crime novel, 'The One That Got Away'. It's the first in the DI Heather Filson series, about a 15 year old girl who doesn’t make it home so is suspected as another teenage runaway. However, when her grandfather, a notorious Glasgow gangster, disagrees, it takes Heather Filson into a battle of underworld enemies, and her own past. We t...
May 25, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 265
Senta Rich is busy. She has the energy to keep up with everything. She has worked in philosophy, psychology, written radio plays, has a film and TV series in the works, and her new novel, 'Hotel 21' is out now. It tells the story of Noelle, a kleptomaniac hotel cleaner, and the stories she uncovers. We talk about why, when she had the idea on holiday, she had to drop everything and get it down immediately. You can hear why she still writes in notebooks, how she spreads energy and time between pa...
May 18, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 264
Jude Yawson edits '14 Magazine', writes film and music reviews, and has co-authored 'Rise Up - The #Merky Story So Far' with Stormzy. It looks behind the scenes at Stormzy's life, the story of his team, and details everything that led to the release of 'Gang Signs and Prayer', Stormzy's debut album that sold millions of copies and won many awards. We talk about inspiration that comes from working with a team, how important it was to capture the truth of where they grew up and why it's vital to s...
May 04, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 263
Becky Hunter's debut novel is 'One Moment'. It looks at best friends Scarlet and Evie, incredibly close until a tragic accident changes everything. It talks about why just one moment makes a huge difference. It's already been sold across the world, and we talk about how this has finally happened. It took Becky a while to get published, and it was only when she stopped thinking about what was on trend and what might sell, that she found the space to write something personal that got her published...
Apr 20, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 262
Tim Weaver is a Sunday Times million copy bestseller, he's been nominated for a National Book Award, is a Richard and Judy Book Club Pick, and has been shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award. He's just published his 12th David Raker book, 'The Blackbird'. It follows the story of Cate and Aidan Gascoigne, whose car plunges into a ravine, but the couple vanish. We talk about the challenges writing disappearing persons thrillers, how do you have new ideas about what's happening, and who might be next. ...
Apr 13, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 261
This week, we chat to Danya Kukafka. Her first debut, 'Girl in the Snow', was released in 2017 and was extremely successful. It was a national bestseller, translated in many languages, and then the pressure came. The pressure of that difficult second book... how do you follow up on success? Danya started to write furiously, and along came 'Notes on an Execution'. It tells the story of Ansel Packer, who is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he's done, and now awaits execution, the sa...
Apr 06, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 260
LC North's new book is 'The Ugly Truth'. It tells the story of Melanie, trapped and convinced she's kidnapped... meanwhile her father says she is in danger and thinking of her own safety. It's inspired by documentaries about similar real-life cases, featuring members of Royalty and even the most famous of celebrities. We talk about why her writing life is organised, but the other stuff in regular life isn't, also hear why her planning process is like colour by numbers, and how much she analyses ...
Mar 30, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 259
Abdulrazak Gurnah was forced to flee Zanzibar when he was 18. He draws on that experience to write stories that address colonialism from different angles. His book 'Paradise' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His book 'By The Sea' was longlisted for the Booker Prize. He's Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent, and was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. He only had 9 minutes warning about that, by the way! The new book tells the story o...
Mar 24, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 258
Eva Rice has returned with a new novel, 'This Could Be Everything', after a little while away. Her book, 'The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets', was a runner up in the Richard and Judy Book of the Year Prize 2006. The new one is about February, who has lost everyone and is rudderless, but when a small yellow bird flies into her life, it seems to offer a glimmer of hope. We talk about the frustration of writing words you know will be cut. Also, why she doesn't like the first bits of plotting, how the ...
Mar 17, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 257
Sally Page's debut is 'The Keeper of Stories'. It's been extremely successful, tapping into book clubs across the country. It's about Janice, who is used to hearing other people's stories, until the elusive, mysterious Mrs B wants her to tell her own. Sally has done a lot, worked in a flower shop, started a fountain pen business, and hopes that a successful debut will let her write full-time forever. We talk about how prepared she is to write in this genre for a while, and how old manuscripts ha...
Mar 09, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 256
Ava Glass has worked with spies and understands the mechanics of their job. She has taken all that experience and written 'The Chase'. It's the first in the 'Alias Emma' series, and tells the story of a brand new spy, tasked with transporting a wanted Russian target across London in less than a day. The book has already been Amazon's Book of the Month, and is optioned for TV. We talk about how the logistics of travelling quickly through a big city without being noticed became much clearer as she...
Mar 03, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 255
This week, we chat to multi-million New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Gregg Hurwitz. He's written many screenplays, comic books, took charge of Batman, and is known for the 'Orphan X' series. The newest one, 'The Last Orphan', sees Evan Smoak, the Nowhere Man, on one last mission after he was taken from a group home as an orphan and trained as an assassin. We discuss how he made a plan at the start of his career, in order to make writing a regular job so it could last as long as possib...
Feb 24, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 254
Georgina Moore has worked in PR and publishing throughout her career. She understands how books are sold, where they are place and what makes them commercial. She has just published her first novel, 'The Garnett Girls'. It tells the story of Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, struggling to escape their alienated family. It's set across the wild beaches of the Isle of Wight and the glamour of luxurious London. It asks whether children can ever escape the mistakes of their family. We discuss how to make si...
Feb 17, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 253
Tom Hindle published his successful debut, 'A Fatal Crossing', in 2022. It drew comparisons to Agatha Christie and propelled him to the list of mystery writers to watch. He's back with a second whodunnit, 'The Murder Game'. It tells the story of nine guests trapped in one house, when a murder mystery night goes wrong. We talk about how his writing life has changed since he packed in the full time job, and how he switches between writing for work and for pleasure. You can hear how he tries to be ...
Feb 10, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 252
Alison Stockham's new book is 'The Cuckoo Sister'. It tells the story of Maggie, who has a seemingly perfect life, only... she's cracking under the strain of it all. One day, when Maggie walks out on everything, her sister Rose is all too willing to step into her life. We talk about why she's half and half between planning and pantsing, also how she overcomes the doubt of good it is, and why every book is brilliant and awful at the same time. Alison works for the Cambridge Literary Festival, and...
Feb 01, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 251
Hugh Montgomery is a someone who, if he wasn't so darned lovely, you'd probably have to envy quite a lot. He's a practicing clinician, a UK lead on climate change, he's written screen-plays, runs ultramarathons, learns a new skill a year, holds a world-record, and is now releasing his first full-novel. It's called 'Control' - a thriller set in the medical-world (write what you know) all about a bullying, over-bearing Doctor, and the way he treats colleagues, which comes back to haunt him. We tal...
Jan 27, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 250
Eleanor Shearer's debut is the acclaimed, 'River Sing Me Home'. It follows Rachel, a slave set free in 1834, and now searching the Caribbean to find her children, stolen from her and sold to other plantations. We talk about why her ancestors look over her writing, also about the exhibition she attended which reminded her of the stories that she'd wanted to write about, and how post-memory affected her storytelling. You can hear why plotting for her is a very emotional thing, also why she likes t...
Jan 20, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 249
Cailean Steed began writing short stories and audio dramas. She won the 2020 Pen to Print Audio Play Award, and decided to go back to school to learn how to tackle a full novel. They ended up taking an idea that had been brewing for years, moving it from a grand teenage story of assassins and conspiracy, and turning it into a thrilling tale of sisterly love. Their novel, 'Home', tells the story of Zoe, trying to rescue her sister from a cult they grew up in, and she managed to escape from. We ta...
Jan 13, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 248
Rosie Andrews' debut novel, 'The Leviathan' was first published last year to much acclaim. It has just come out in paperback. It tells the story of Thomas Treadwater, a soldier who holds a very deep, dark secret that is about to be let loose. It's set in 1643, and is a beguiling tale of murder, myth and mystery. It combines two of Rosie's loves: history and fantastical fiction. We talk about building her own writing space, but how really all she needs to work is alone time and quiet. You can hea...
Jan 06, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 247
Richard Armitage is a very successful actor, appearing in 'The Hobbit' movies, the Harlan Coben Netflix thrillers, and many more besides. He's also one of the most popular narrators for Audible audiobooks. So successful, they invited him to work on his own project for the platform. The finished story is 'Geneva', a psychological thriller which follows scientist Sarah Collier and her husband Daniel at a global conference, when they realise they're in a high stakes game with hidden players and wor...
Dec 22, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 246
Jonathan Whitelaw worked as a journalist in Scotland, covering sport, politics, and everything in between. He's recently moved to the wilderness of Canada, and we talk about the move, and keeping in touch with colleagues and editors half the world away. His newest novel is 'The Bingo Hall Detectives', which tells the story of Jason Brazel, an out of work journalist who tries to solve a local murder with his mother-in-law. We talk about the rise of cosy crime and why he wanted to write in the gen...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 245
This week we chat to Lucy Hooft. She's had an incredible, interesting career travelling the world. She worked in the UK's Foreign Office and for the Department of International Development, going to work for HRH Queen Rania of Jordan. Lucy has taken her experience in geopolitics and written her first spy thriller. It's called 'The King's Pawn' and is the first of the Sarah Black series, that looks at a young, female spy. Lucy has planned 5. We talk about planning so much before you even have a c...
Dec 02, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 244
Mark Pawlosky worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was an editor for CNBC.com, and is now using that experience of sourcing scoops to write the Nik Byron Investigation series. The first is 'Hack', it looks at Nik Byron getting the story of how top secret US surveillance technology was stolen. He needs to expose the plot and get the story before he, and it, is silenced. We talk about brevity, why it's important to keep things tight and not waste everyone's time. Also you can hear why...
Nov 25, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 243
Melvin Burgess had critical acclaim with his novel, 'Junk'. It looks at heroin use among teens in Bristol. It's a hard-hitting novel for teenagers, and won the Carnegie Medal, a prestigious award for Children's and YA writing. We talk about why he chose such a divisive subject, and what he thinks is the secret to writing for teens. His new novel is 'Loki', it tells the story of the politics of ancient Asgard, and is a heartfelt plea to overthrow the gods of authority. We discuss the idea for the...
Nov 18, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 242
This week, we're chatting to S.K. Tremayne. He's a travel writer and novelist, whose new novel is 'The Drowning Hour'. Sean has written many books, under many different names. He had success during the Da Vinci Code book of the mid 2000's, under the name Tom Knox, with his book, 'The Genesis Secret' and its sequels. His new novel follows Hannah, a publicist for The Stanhope, a once grand hotel in Essex. On it's re-opening, some drunken guests disappear into the ocean, and Hannah has to figure ou...
Nov 11, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 241
