Confessions of a Debut Novelist

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Eleanor Shearer about her historical novel River Sing Me Home. In this episode we discuss how she was inspired by the strength of Black women in her family, starting her research by interviewing families in the Caribbean to focus on the emotional thread of the novel and her strict writing routine of writing 500 words every day...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ about her speculative novel Dazzling. In this episode we discuss how she used old forms of storytelling in this coming of age tale, layering deeper meaning within fiction and her writing routine which involves scrapping everything she’s written and starting again!   Confessions of a Debut Novelist...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I'm talking to Amita Parikh about her historical novel The Circus Train. In this episode we discuss how her fascination in magic and love of science inspired The Circus Train, how raising the stakes in her novel transformed it into a manuscript agents were interested in and why she adopts a healthy approach in describing writing as something...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I'm talking to Jon Barton about his crime novel Dive. In this episode we discuss the challenges involved in turning his screenplay into a novel, how to approach writing an authentic voice from a woman’s perspective when you’re a male writer, and how to cope with the aspects of publishing that are out of your control.  Confessions of a D...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I'm talking to Emilia Hart about her historical novel Weyward. In this episode we discuss adding a touch of magic to an otherwise grounded story, using themes and motifs to link multiple timelines, and Emilia shares her top tips for querying your dream agent.  Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop * Buy Weyward: https://uk.bookshop.o...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Emma Denny about her romance novel One Night in Hartswood. This is a really fascinating episode, not only because Emma got her book deal by successfully pitching it to Mills and Boon for their Twitter based competition, but also because she doesn’t have an agent. We also discuss building a connection in a slow burn romance, how fan...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Fran Littlewood about her contemporary novel Amazing Grace Adams. In this episode we discuss how Fran wanted to counteract lazy stereotypes about middle aged women and tackle the peri menopause authentically, her method of keeping chapters interesting by “throwing a bomb into the room” and how her first two novels lacked that...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Jyoti Patel about her contemporary novel The Things That We Lost. In this episode we talk about how Jyoti’s Merky Books prize win lead to publication, the importance of taking yourself seriously as a writer and how small tweaks to dialogue and using slang gave authenticity to her teenage protagonist.  Confessions of a Deb...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Georgina Moore about her contemporary novel The Garnett Girls. Georgina speaks about what it’s like to be on the other side of book publicity and how authors can best support their publishing team. And also, why writing dialogue was the aspect she found hardest.  Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop * Buy The Garnett Girls...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Anindita Ghose about her contemporary novel The Illuminated. The Illuminated was published in India in 2021 but Head of Zeus acquired it for publication in 2023. So of course, I wanted to hear how that happened. We also discuss, the difficulty of moving past a very polished, beloved first chapter, a brilliant technique involvi...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Victoria MacKenzie about her historical novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain. Having heard about Victoria’s achievements, you’d assume getting an agent and a book deal would be easy but in this episode, Victoria explains why it wasn’t that straight-forward. We also discuss how she was inspired by a woman from...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Cailean Steed about their thriller Home. In this episode we discuss creating a fictional cult, how an agency open day led to Cailean signing with an agent and how they beat the difficulties of trying to write something completely new. But first, here’s Cailean with an excerpt from Home. Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop...

Welcome to Season 2 of Confessions of a Debut Novelist! This week, I’m talking to Heather Darwent about her psychological suspense novel The Things We Do To Our Friends, which has just become a Sunday Times Bestseller. In this episode we discuss what it’s like to be a debut novelist with the added pressure of your book being compared to big, famous novels, her long journey to find an agent in...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Louise Finch about her YA novel, The Eternal Return of Clara Hart. This is the last episode of season one of the podcast before a new season next week and what a book to end it on. Louise’s book is a really great novel tackling tough subject matter. We talk about writing about toxic masculinity and rape culture for teens, look...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Ella King about her literary novel Bad Fruit. In this episode we discuss how boredom during chemotherapy inspired Ella to write again, exploring toxic family relationships and generational trauma, and how competition success gave her confidence to query agents.  Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop * Buy Bad Fruit: ht...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Shauna Lawless about her historical fantasy The Children of Gods and Fighting Men. I really wanted to talk to Shauna about her route to publication because I knew originally she was writing purely for fun when her husband was doing the kids’ bedtime routine every other night and she used that hour to pursue her passion. Her bo...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Margaux Vialleron about her literary novel The Yellow Kitchen. In this episode we talk about the freedom and pleasure of writing in a second language, how she used her own diaries to write about the political landscape of 2019 and the unusual way she inhabits her characters – by texting herself in character!  Confessions of a...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Kenny Boyle about his contemporary novel The Tick and the Tock of the Crocodile Clock. Kenny’s debut novel was published by an indie press and Kenny’s done so much work himself to promote it so we talk about his advice for writers nervous about publicity and spreading the word about your book. We also talk about how his novel...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Heather Parry about her gothic horror Orpheus Builds a Girl. Heather has been involved in the literary scene for years but has had quite a meandering and frustrating route to getting her first novel published which we talk about in this episode, also how she took inspiration from a true story and made it her own, and how she t...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Natalie aka N.A. Cooper about her thriller Ripple Effect. I was so inspired hearing Natalie’s journey to publication. She’s done no courses or creative writing classes, encouragement came solely from her family and her own passion to keep going. She researched indie publishers herself online and ended up with a three book deal...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Kasim Ali about his contemporary novel Good Intentions. This episode really is a must-listen. Being an editor, Kasim talks openly about what it’s like on the other side of the process and gives some surprising advice as to why he thinks writers shouldn’t be on Twitter and shouldn’t follow editors or read The Bookseller. Intrigued?...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Natasha Hastings about her middle grade novel The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair. In this episode we discuss disability representation in fiction, writing about grief for a younger audience and how she has learnt to become a “chaotic planner”.  Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop * Buy The Miraculous Sweetmak...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Laura Lexx about her commercial novel Pivot. In this episode we discuss why she chose not to describe her characters’ appearances, how stand-up comedy makes a good partner to writing funny books and how her writing career began with a tweet that went viral. Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop * Buy Pivot: https://uk.books...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Sean Lusk about his historical novel The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley. In this episode we talk about pushing further on emotions to find the real story in an idea, choosing language carefully to make historical fiction immersive and how it took Sean until he was on his third agent to get a book deal.  Confessions of...

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Emma Styles about her thriller No Country for Girls. In this episode we discuss how this novel started out as an experiment, why Emma thinks it’s important to trust your own process when working out characterisation and trying not to worry that you don’t have all of your story worked out when you start.  Confessions of a...