EP306: Linwood Barclay “Chapter Breaks Are Commercial Breaks”
Linwood Barclay is the international bestselling author of over twenty novels, and his latest thriller Find You First is a fast-paced, high-concept, page-turner. In this jam-packed chat we discuss head-hopping, point-of-view, flashbacks, fan fiction, deadlines, writer’s block, self-doubt and more! In this episode you will discover: How breaking the rules can work for you How fan fiction […]
Continue readingEP304: DV Bishop “History Is Really Badly Structured”
DV Bishop’s historical thriller debut City of Vengeance vividly takes the reader to 1530s Renaissance Florence. Writing historical fiction creates all kinds of challenges and DV Bishop tells us how it’s okay to not know everything about your chosen historical period, and why it might be a good idea to resist writing straight away… In […]
Continue readingEP303: Mark Stay and The Crow Folk
Some chancer called Mark Stay hijacks the podcast to shamelessly plug his new novel The Crow Folk. He gets all evasive about listener questions, refuses to discuss his murky past and almost storms out of the show… three times. Nevertheless, Mark Desvaux manages to pin him down and gets the answers we all want, not […]
Continue readingEP301: Caimh McDonnell — Stranger Fiction
Bestselling indie author Caimh McDonnell makes a triumphant return to the podcast as Transworld author CK McDonnell with his new novel Stranger Times. Caimh tells us how he took everything he learned as an indie author to pitch this book to traditional publishers. We discuss launching a book during lockdown, inventive book marketing ideas, why […]
Continue readingEP300: Rich Leder — Write Anyway
Rich Leder is a screenwriter and novelist who tells us why our brains are always lying to us, why he writes with the door open (even with young kids running around), why finishing is so important, and why — despite all that’s going on in our lives — we should write anyway. And he reassures […]
Continue readingEP299: Michele Campbell — Making Writing A Priority
International bestselling author Michele Campbell’s new novel The Wife Who Knew Too Much combines thrills and glamour. Michele talks to us about the balance between plot and character, the importance of editors, breaks in writing, and making writing one of your top priorities in life. Author Photo by Nina Subin. PODCAST Here are some of […]
Continue readingEP298: Mark Victor Hansen — Pick A Target, Set Goals!
Mark Victor Hansen is co-writer of Chicken Soup For The Soul, the mega-selling phenomenon that has sold over half a billion copies worldwide. He takes us through his extraordinary story to publication and beyond. PODCAST Here are some of the links we talked about in the show… THE BESTSELLER ACADEMY: bestsellerexperiment.com/academy Sign up to the […]
Continue readingEP296: You Are Not Alone
The Two Marks talks about isolation, loneliness, the voices in our head and all the other stuff that can make a writer feel like they are alone. We discuss what we can do to build a healthy community around us, even in lockdown. And we share the good news stories from our communities on Patreon, […]
Continue readingEP294: B.J. Fogg — Tiny Habits
BJ Fogg, PhD, founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University and created the Tiny Habits Academy to help people around the world. He tells us how the smallest changes can make a huge difference to your productivity as a writer. PODCAST In this episode you will discover: Why emotions and not repetition create a […]
Continue readingEP292: Rowan Coleman — Writing is Well Hard
We welcome bestselling author Rowan Coleman back to the podcast, but this time she’s wearing a Brontë bonnet. Writing as Bella Ellis she is two books into the Brontë Mysteries, which imagines the famous sisters as mystery-solving sleuths. Rowan takes us through her process of research and strategies for writing around history and real people. […]
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