Writer's Routine

This week we chat to Maura Cheeks, who has written pieces and columns all over the place, being featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic and the Harvard Business Review. Her debut novel is called 'Acts of Forgiveness', and is out on the 13th February. It tells the story of Willie Revel who gives up a career as journalist in New York to help run her family's struggling company in Philadelphia....

This week, we're joined by Sarah Marsh. Her debut is 'A Sign of Her Own'. It tells the story of Ellen Lark, who discovers a side to Alexander Graham Bell, one of history's most famous figures, that few other people know. Sarah was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavenish Prize in 2019, selected for the London Library Emerging Writer's Programme, and has a Masters in Creative Writing. She is also deaf, as...

Rebecca Thorne's new novel is 'The Grief House', it's about the ex-tarot reader Blue, who escapes to a grief retreat on a beautiful country estate. Only, when the weather closes in, and someone disappears in the night, Blue wonders whose grief might hide a deeper secret. Rebecca published 2 psychological thriller books under the name Rebecca Tinnelly, and we discuss why she swapped names and how i...

Helen Fisher's debut, 'Space Hopper' was acclaimed as one of the most unique debuts of 2021, recommended by Cosmopolitan, Woman's Weekly', Marian Keyes, and many more, it looked set to launch her to a glittering career. Things weren't that simple for Helen. In the following 2 years, she wrote 3 novels which were all turned down and rejected. At an incredibly low point, she almost gave up. It was o...

Professor Emma Smith teaches Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford. She has published some academic non-fiction works before, but this is her first work of real commercial non-fiction. 'Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers', looks at why books are so importantly culturally - why can't we throw them away? What is it about a physical copy that means more than a digital file...

Happy New Year! Let's start 2024 with a bumper episode from a fantastic historical fiction author. D.V Bishop has published 3 'Cesare Aldo' novels, and the 4th is on the way. He's won the CWA Historical Dagger Award, and his novels are highly commended across the board. His newest novel is 'Ritual of Fire'. It takes you to 1538 Florence, where a rich merchant is found hanged and set ablaze in the...

In our last episode of 2023, we chat to Jane L. Rosen, whose new boook 'On Fire Island' is out now. It’s all about Julia, a book lover that lives on Fire Island in New York, who… dies, and then we follow the different lives of those she loves, and how her life affects theirs. Julia is also a screenplay and columnist, and we chat through how she turned a screenplay which didn't quite make it, into...

Amanda Prowse has written over 30 books. Her newest is 'All Good Things', which tells the story of life-long neighbours, the Kelleways and the Harrops, who couldn’t be further apart. However, when they celebrate a big anniversary, huge secrets are revealed and change everything. She has written fiction, non-fiction, novellas, short stories, and memoir. Her novel 'A Mother's Story' was Sainsbury's...

Femi Kayode's debut 'Lightseekers' was a book of the month in many national newspapers, it was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award, and was a commercial success. His follow up is 'Gaslight', it's the second in the Phillip Taiwo 'Whydunnit' series. Following the investigative psychologist who has been urgently called in to investigate the disappearance of the 'First Lady' of a Nigerian mega-ch...

This week, we're chatting to Katie Marsh. Katie has published 5 romantic fiction novels, ‘Unbreak your Heart’, ‘The Rest of Me’, ‘The Beautiful Life’, ‘A Life Without You’ and ‘My Everything’, and has now completely switched genre. You can find out why in the podcast. Her new novel is 'How Not To Murder Your Ex', and tells the story of Clio, who opens the door to find her hated ex Gary dead on the...

Terry Hayes started his career as a journalist before heading to Hollywood. He found real success there, writing on 'Flight Plan', 'Payback', and penning, 'Mad Max II'. In 2013, he published 'I Am Pilgrim' to international acclaim and success. 10 years later, he's written his second novel, 'The Year of the Locust'. It tells the story of Kane, a CIA spy who can go where other's can't. We discuss th...

Freya Berry's debut, 'The Dictator's Wife', was a bestselling, critically acclaimed hit, and was a BBC 2 'Between the Covers' pick. She's back with 'The Birdcage Library'. It tells the story of Emily Blackwood, a young adventuress tasked by an exotic animal hunter to track down a lost treasure hidden in a castle... it becomes a deeper, darker hunt into secrets best left untold. We talk about the a...

Denzil Meyrick has published 11 bestselling DCI Daley books, many standalones, and is back with, 'Murder at Holly House'. Set in 1952, it takes Inspector Frank Grasby despatched to investigate a strange body discovered at historic Holly House. When snow strands him there, and another body is found, we find ourselves in a locked room mystery. We talk about why Denzil doesn't like being limited by g...

Dann McDorman is an Emmy-nominated news producer, working for MSNBC in New York. His debut novel is 'West Heart Kill', which is something particularly unique. It places the reader at the heart of the mystery. Dann invites you in to an exclusive country club to be an active guest over a holiday weekend... when the bodies start dropping. We discuss the decision to put a singular twist on the crime m...

This week, we're chatting to D.L. Douglas and Donna Hay at the same time. For D.L. see Donna, and Donna see D.L. Donna Hay has published many saga novels, and worked as a journalist across magazines. She's now dipping her ink into historical crime mystery, as D.L. Douglas and her novel, 'Dr. Spilsbury and the Camden Town Killer'. It features the real life 1920's forensic pathologist Sir Bernard Sp...

This week we're chatting to Claire Daverley. Her new novel is 'Talking at Night', which tells the story of Will and Rosie, two polar opposites who fall in love and are destined to be together forever, until a tragedy shatters their future. We discuss how much Claire thought about genre, and how she learned from working in the industry. Also, you can hear how she dealt with rejections and went to a...

Sarah Moorhead is busy. She's a doer who wants to achieve. She's been a teacher, a Chaplain, started youth-groups, has a black-belt in kickboxing, and writes novels. She published 'Witness X' in 2020, and is back with 'The Treatment'. The novel is all about the future of law enforcement. It looks at how ground-breaking technology could alter what we think of criminals... only psychiatrist Grace Gu...

This week, we're joined by Nick Hunt. He's worked as a journalist and travel writer, publishing 'Outlandish', 'Where the Wild Winds Are', and 'Walking the Woods and the Water'. We discuss how he fell into becoming a travel writer, and how in reality it got in the way of his novel writing. He's published 'Red Smoking Mirror', an alternate history set in 1521, in the Mexican City of Tenochtitlan, in...

Diana Janney is busy. She is a doer. She's worked as a barrister, a model, published two successful novels through the last 20 years, and has a new one out. 'A Man of Understanding' was named runner up for The People's Book Prize 2023. It tells the story of Horatio Hennessy, his orphaned grandson, and their journey together. It explores trauma which Diana has experienced, and she's used it as a wa...

Alex Hay's new novel is 'The Housekeepers'. It won the Caledonia Novel Award 2022. It's all about Mrs King, a housekeeper from a world of con artists and thieves. She's dismissed from her position running the grandest home in Mayfair, and gets her revenge by recruiting an eclectic group of women to try and rob the house of its every position, right under the owner's nose. We discuss how he organis...

Susan Wiggs has written more than 50 books and sold more than 25 million copies in more than 20 languages. Her new one is 'Welcome to Beach Town'. It's a warm, summer read, about the idyllic beach town of Alara Cove. On graduation day, class valedictorian Nikki Graziola veers off script to reveal secrets that will break down the whole community, and have repercussions which never leave Nikki's lif...

Sara Ochs is an attorney, law professor, and now author. Her debut is 'The Dive'. It's inspired by her own time travelling through Thailand, and hearing about a grisly murder near her hotel. We discuss why being an impatient person affects her drafting, also why getting an agent doesn't mean everything suddenly falls into place, and how she made characters feel genuine when they could so easily be...

Robert Thorogood's newest novel is 'Death Comes to Marlow'. It's the 2nd in the 'Marlow Murder Club Mysteries', about a group of amateur sleuths who solve crimes in a quintessentially British town. We talk about his love of cosy crime, why he is inspired by Agatha Christie's need to keep things fun, and why he wanted to write a mystery about where he lives. Robert created 'Death in Paradise', a tv...

Jack Jordan's 7th novel is 'Conviction'. It tells the story of Neve Harper, a barrister who must make a terrifyingly tough choice: betray every principle she has and put an innocent man in prison, or put those she loves in mortal danger. Last summer, his novel, 'Do No Harm', was a runaway success and became a Waterstones 'Thriller of the Month'. We discuss the moment he knew that was becoming big,...

Fiona Valpy is a historical fiction author who has sold millions of books, her work has been translated into more than 30 languages, and she's always up for a challenge. Her new novel, 'The Cypress Maze', is inspired by the true story of Iris Origo. An English-born woman in Italy, she sheltered refugee children and helped prisoners of war escape during World War II. It's a dual timeline novel, set...