EP321: Damien Lewis — History Isn’t Static
A narrative non-fiction treat this week as bestselling historian Damien Lewis tell us about the extraordinary heroes of his new book SAS Great Escapes. We also discuss research methods, using primary and secondary sources, how to earn the trust of interviewees, adapting history for the screen and why history is not static. In this episode […]
Continue readingEP320: Nadine Matheson — A Little Bit of Dismemberment
Nadine Matheson’s debut thriller The Jigsaw Man has been hailed as one of the event debuts of the year. But this was far from an overnight success. Nadine’s writing journey is one from competition wins, to NanoWriMo, to self-publishing, to a six-publisher auction and the publication of her bestselling debut The Jigsaw Man and a […]
Continue readingEP319: Sarah Moorhead and Stuart Turton — Teacher, Student & Metempsychosis
Do you have a favourite teacher? One who encouraged you to write, maybe? This special episode is for all the teachers and students out there who have inspired one another over the years, and we have two of them on the show. Sarah Moorhead is the author of Witness X and started out as a […]
Continue readingEP317: Dean Wesley Smith — Plug in to your Creative Voice and Play
Dean Wesley Smith is one of the most prolific writers working today, with over 200 novels, and countless short stories published. He reveals how he has learned how to stop listening to his critical voice, and to stop thinking of the story as a “product”, and how that has unleashed his creativity. In this episode […]
Continue readingEP316: Josie Lloyd — Make ‘em laugh, Make ‘em cry
Josie Lloyd tells us why The Cancer Ladies Running Club is the most important and personal book she’s written, and how she balanced a story that is brutally honest about cancer and is still brimming with hope and positivity. She also takes us through her extraordinary career, including co-writing with her husband Emlyn Rees, and […]
Continue readingEP315: Andrew Hunter Murray — Terror Leads to Productivity
When Andrew Hunter Murray decided to end the world with his novel The Last Day he had no idea how hard it would be. His research involved astrophysics, climate migration, geopolitics, sleep cycles and much more. Andrew tells us how he achieved a balance of storytelling and worldbuilding to write what became one of the […]
Continue readingEP314: Eric Maikranz — Infinite Reward
The dream for many authors is to see their novel made into a big-budget Hollywood movie. Debut author D. Eric Maikranz decided that he would make his dream a reality. His novel, The Reincarnationist Papers, has been adapted into a Paramount movie starring Mark Wahlberg, and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Taking a tip from his day job […]
Continue readingEP313: Ellie Barker — Dreams Come True… Eventually
Ellie Barker had always dreamed of becoming an author, and her debut novel The Pink Coffee Shop was ten years in the making. Ellie talks honestly about rejection, dusting herself off, finding the right editor, rolling with the punches, and discovering that dreams do come true… but might look a little different to how you […]
Continue readingEP312: Adele Geras — Be Whoever You Want
Adele Geras is one of Britain’s most acclaimed writers, and has written over 100 books for both children and adults. With her latest novel Dangerous Women she’s written her first historical thriller under the pseudonym Hope Adams. We talk about writing under a pseudonym, taking liberties with history, the challenges of writing a thriller for the first time, […]
Continue readingEP311: Catriona Ward — Nerve Shredder
Catriona Ward’s first two novels Rawblood and Little Eve won awards and critical acclaim, but her new novel The Last House on Needless Street got the kind of pre-publication buzz that comes along very rarely. We spoke to Catriona about the changes she made to her career and her writing that led to her writing what Stephen King called “a true […]
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