Forthwrite

This week Anna and Sam have the pleasure of talking to Carla Montemayor about her fascinating process when researching for her book, Islands of Forgotten Daughters. When Carla Montemayor discovers that her great-great grandmother was a binukot – a girl sequestered from her family and community, trained to memorise and sing the myths of her people – this sets her on her own epic journey to uncover...

This week we speak with novelist Kathleen Whyman. Our conversation covers fitting writing into the juggle of everything else, creating characters who are very unlike her family members and injecting humour into her writing. Plus a reading from her latest The Mother of all Comebacks. Follow Kathleen Kathleen Whyman is a bestselling author of relatable, humorous women's fiction. Her books have b...

This week we chat with author Mel Pennant about her brilliant Miss Hortense books, including her inspiration, her process and the surreal situation of finding herself in a publishing auction. Plus a reading from her latest novel Miss Hortense and the Last Rites. Follow Mel Mel Pennant is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She graduated in 2014 with an MA in Screenwriting from the London Coll...

This week we talk to Mona Dash about writing in different genres, managing the work/ life balance and the importance of being part of a writing community. Follow Mona Mona Dash is an award-winning author based in London. Her work includes the memoir A Roll of the Dice , the short story collection Let Us Look Elsewhere , the novel Untamed Heart , and the poetry collections, Map of The Self, A Certa...

This week we chat with author Lisa Brace about the benefits of self publishing vs traditional, writing historical and contemporary fiction. We find out what to do when Simon Cowell visits you in a dream plus a reading from Lisa's novel Swim. Follow Lisa Lisa Brace is an award-winning writer, who multitasks writing novels with running her own business in the beautiful surroundings of West Sussex. ...

In this episode* we talk all things novel writing with fab author Ivy Ngeow. We hear how Ivy likens the process of writing novels to the process of building houses, that its OK when things go wrong its how you adapt. Plus a reading from Ivy's latest In Safe Hands. *Apologies, we had some technical issues during this recording so you may need to adjust your sound. Follow Ivy Ivy Ngeow was born...

Welcome back to the brand new series of the Forthwrite podcast! This week we chat with brilliant author and all round wonderful woman, Yvvette Edwards, all about her writing inspiration and process, including how to write a novel backwards and not taking the easy road. Plus we hear an extract from her latest novel Good Good Loving. Follow Yvvette YVVETTE EDWARDS is a British writer of Montserratia...

We chat with author Amita Murray about her process for writing Regency novels, getting to know your characters and the importance of filling her creative cup. Follow Amita Amita Murray's Unladylike series of Regency novels are published with Harper Collins. She has won the Exeter Novel Prize and the SI Leeds Literary Prize, been a writer-in-residence with Leverhulme, Literature Works, Spread t...

In this episode we speak with novelist Roisin Maguire about being kind to yourself, filling your well as a source of creativity and the inspiration for her wonderful book Night Swimmers. Also includes a reading from the novel. You can connect with Roisin through her publisher Serpent's Tail Roisin is an award-winning short story writer who lives by the sea in rural County Down. A former bounce...

We chat to Orlaine Mcdonald about protecting herself as a writer, her process and what it's like to be shortlisted for an award as a debut novelist. Plus a reading from her book No Small Thing. Please note this episode comes with a trigger warning for discussion of suicide. Follow Orlaine Orlaine is a writer of mixed Jamaican & Irish heritage. She lives in London. No Small Thing won the 2024 K...

This week we speak with YA author Marisa Linton about writing fiction as a means of refuge, bringing a wealth of academic knowledge to a creative outlet and we hear a reading from her novel The Binding Spell. Follow Marisa Marisa Linton is an author, historian and professor emerita. She is one of the world's leading experts on the French Revolution, and taught history for many years at Kingston Un...

We chat with prize-winning author Fiona Williams about her creative process, how it felt winning the Bridport first novel prize and giving herself time to play with different writing styles. Plus a reading from her beautiful novel The House of Broken Bricks. Follow Fiona. Fiona Williams is a writer of literary fiction. Her debut novel The House of Broken Bricks was the winner of the 2021 Bridport...

We chat to Kate Lord Brown about what it takes to write a book a year around the challenges of life, her process and honouring historic women through literature. Follow Kate Kate Lord Brown was a finalist in ITV's The People's Author contest, and her novel The Perfume Garden , which has been published in nine languages, was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year 2014. Her books have been t...

We speak to author Diana Anyakwo about her fascinating route into writing, where her inspiration comes from and how she balances writing with everything in life. Plus we hear a reading from her fab YA novel My Life as a Chameleon. Follow Diana Diana Anyakwo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. She is of mixed Irish and Nigerian heritage. She moved to the UK when she was a teenager and later graduated from t...

We spend a joyful half hour talking to Frances Quinn about writing historical novels, finding out what a Titanorack is and discovering that Francis hides Abba song titles in her novels! Follow Frances Frances Quinn is the author of historical novels The Smallest Man, That Bonesetter Woman and The Lost Passenger.  She grew up in Forest Gate, East London and studied English at King’s College, Cambri...

In this episode we speak to the brilliant award-winning author and activist Monique Roffey. We hear a reading from her brilliant latest novel Passiontide, as well as discussing her creative writing process and gleaning some gems of advice for would-be writers. Follow Monique Monique Roffey, FRSL, is an award-winning Trinidadian born British writer of novels, essays, literary journalism and a memoi...

This week we speak with the absolute force of nature that is author Marcia Hutchinson. From Zumba, yoga and spin to writing brilliant books. We hear a reading from her new novel The Mercy Step, plus talk about the process of co-authoring The Blackbirds of St Giles - plus an absolute lightbulb moment tip for hitting your daily word count! Follow Marcia Marcia Hutchinson was born to Windrush generat...

We hope you enjoy our conversation with author, podcast host and psychotherapist Jennifer Cox. We hear a reading from her phenomenal book Women Are Angry and get the lowdown on how the book came about and how she writes. Follow Jennifer Jennifer Cox is a UK psychotherapist and author of Women Are Angry, The Times and Sunday Times Best Self-Help Book of the Year. She co-hosts the hit global podcast...

We speak to the wonderful Kia Abdullah about how to write a page turner, being a travel writer and the threat of AI. Follow Kia Kia Abdullah is a bestselling author and travel writer. Her novels include Take It Back , a Guardian and Telegraph thriller of the year; Truth Be Told , which was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards; and Next of Kin , which won the Adult Fiction Diverse Book Award, an...

Listen to this bonus festive episode with Jo Middleton author of Happy Bloody Christmas! We talk about her incredibly speedy novel writing process, challenges going from blog to book, and her brilliant advice to just get cracking! Follow Jo @jomiddletonauthor Jo Middleton is a writer, bookshop manager, creative writing teacher and mum of two daughters. She lives in Somerset with her three cats, al...

This week we are in conversation with brilliant Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, on all aspects of her creative writing process, watching reality TV as research and fitting the writing in around everything else. Follow Lizzie @lizziedamiblackburn Lizzie Damilola Blackburn is a British-Nigerian charity worker turned author who grew up in south London and now lives with her husband and young son in Milton...

This week Anna and Sam chat creative writing with wonderful author Rosanna Amaka. Tune in for our conversation about writing to a deadline (or not), finding inspiration in unexpected places and writing your way out of a creative block. Follow Rosanna @rosannaamaka Rosanna Amaka is a writer from London, and is of African and Caribbean heritage. Her debut novel ‘The Book of Echoes’, was shortlisted...

In this episode Anna and Sam chat with fabulour author Reshma Ruia. We talk about her writing from poetry, to short stories to novels and not forgetting her PhD. Reshma shares her wisdom on the writing process.   Follow Reshma @reshma_ruia_writer Dr. Reshma Ruia is a Manchester based British writer of Indian origin.  She has a PhD and Master’s in Creative Writing from Manchester University. Her fi...

In this episode Anna and Sam chat with the lovely Kate Morrison about researching her novel it before and after the dawn of the internet, having a slow process and the different experience of writing historical vs 1990s fiction. Follow Kate @katecmorri Kate Morrison's debut historical novel A Book of Secrets was published in 2019 by Jacaranda Books and longlisted for the Historical Writers Associa...

This week Anna and Sam speak with fabulous author Disha Bose. We talk about writing with a young baby, finding inspiration in parenting forums and when to follow the shiny new idea. Follow Disha @dishabossy Disha Bose was born and raised in India. She worked in the tech industry for a few years before deciding to pursue her dream of writing a novel. She lives in Ireland now, her first novel Dirty...