Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Dave Cook is the writer and creator of indie comics such as Bust, Vessels and the hugely successful cyberpunk comic, Killtopia. We had a great chat with Dave about how he began writing comics and then turn them into a reality. We talked about teaming up with artists, the importance of conventions and how welcoming the comics community can be if you are wanting to be part of it. We also discussed t...

Sarah Pinborough is the Sunday Times and New York Times number one bestselling author of over 20 books, including her smash hit, Behind Her Eyes and the just released Dead To Her . She’s also written for TV, and adaptations of her books 13 Minutes and Behind Her Eyes will soon be appearing on Netflix. We had great fun talking to Sarah about how she became an author, why she enjoys writing across g...

Richard Morgan is the author of ground-breaking sci fi and fantasy novels. His debut novel,  Altered Carbon , was the first to feature the infamous antihero, Takeshi Kovacs, and was recently adapted into a successful Netflix series. Since then, he has added to the Kovacs series with  Broken Angels  and  Woken Furies , written the fantasy series,  A Land Fit For Heroes , an...

Richard Morgan is the author of ground-breaking sci fi and fantasy novels. His debut novel, Altered Carbon , was the first to feature the infamous antihero, Takeshi Kovacs, and was recently adapted into a successful Netflix series. Since then, he has added to the Kovacs series with Broken Angels and Woken Furies , written the fantasy series, A Land Fit For Heroes , and much more. His most recent n...

Claire Askew is the award-winning author of the DI Helen Birch crime series. The first book in the series, All the Hidden Truths , deals with the aftermath of a college shooting in Edinburgh and won the McIlvanney Debut Prize at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival. The next book in the DI Birch series, What You Pay For , is a blistering follow-up which has also been shortlisted for the McIl...

Stuart Heritage is a writer and columnist for The Guardian, The Times, Esquire and many other publications. His columns on TV programmes are always both informative and hilarious, a tradition that carried on when he wrote his first book: a biography of his brother entitled Don’t be a dick, Pete (which we think is genuinely one of the funniest books we have read in years!) His follow-up is a satiri...

Ian Dallas is the creative director of Giant Sparrow, an indie game studio responsible for some of the most mind-provoking games of recent years. Their first game, The Unfinished Swan , won Best Debut Game at the 2013 Video Game BAFTAs, as well as awards for innovation. The follow-up, What Remains of Edith Finch , won Game of the Year at the BAFTAs, and is a remarkable study of grief and family, t...

Andy McNab was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier when he finally left the SAS. Since then Andy has become one of the world’s bestselling writers, drawing on his insider knowledge and experience. His debut book, Bravo Two Zero, was a huge success worldwide and told the true account of a mission in the Gulf War that went awry. As well as three nonfiction bestsellers including...

Jim Zub is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, animator and teacher who has worked on comics such as Marvel's Avengers: No Surrender , IDW's Dungeons & Dragons , and his own creator-owned comics including Skullkickers and Wayward with Image Comics. He also teaches animation at Seneca College in Toronto, and still finds time to offer advice to people wanting to work in the comics industry via...

Christopher Golden is the award-winning, bestselling author of novels such as The Myth Hunters, Of Saints and Shadows, Ararat and many more. He is also a fan of the team-up, collaborating with authors such as (previous Page One Podcast guest) Tim Lebbon on novels such as Blood of the Four and The Map of Moments. He has also worked with comics legend Mike Mignola on Hellboy novels, and frequently w...

Abby-Lynn Knorr is a bestselling author of urban fantasy young adult novels. Her bestselling Elemental Origins series of novels follow a group of friends over one summer as they discover they have secret powers that they will need to use together to help save the world. We had a really interesting chat with Abby about how she has made a massive success of self-publishing (19 novels in 3 years!) Sh...

Craig Robertson spent 20 years as a journalist for Scottish Sunday newspaper reporting on stories such as 9/11, the Omagh Bombings and the Dunblane shootings before changing career to become a bestselling crime writer. His books, featuring police photographer Tony Winter and his wife DI Narey, have become firm favourites for crime lovers everywhere. We had a great chat with Craig about how he brok...

Welcome to a new season of The Page One Podcast! We kick off this season in great style with a chat with world-renowned and bestselling thriller writer, David Baldacci. Since releasing his first book, Absolute Power, in 1997, David has gone on to create iconic characters like King & Maxwell, Amos Decker and Will Robie. With 130 million books sold, David is still at the top of his game and earl...

Peter James is a UK No. 1 bestselling author, best known for writing crime and thriller novels, and the creator of the much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. He has sold over 19 million copies to date, and has been translated into 37 languages. His latest book in the Roy Grace series, Dead at First Sight, went straight in at No. 1. We had a great chat with Peter about his career and how a...

Tim Lebbon is a New York Times-bestselling horror, thriller, sci-fi and fantasy writer. He has written over 30 novels, including several in collaboration with Christopher Golden, as well as dozens of novellas and many short stories. One of his books, The Silence, was recently adapted as a Netflix movie. We had a great chat with Tim, learning how he managed to escape the world of work to become a f...

One of the UK's most acclaimed and successful crime novelists, Mark Billingham has seen each of his novels feature in the top ten of The Sunday Times bestseller list. Sales of his novels featuring London-based detective Tom Thorne have topped over 4.5 million in over 25 countries, and he is the first author to win the Theakstons Old Peculier Award for Crime Novel Of The Year twice, for his novels...

Helen Fitzgerald is the author of books including The Cry, recently adapted to acclaim on the BBC, and Worst Case Scenario, her latest novel featuring a darkly comic tale involving criminal social justice, murder and the #metoo movement! We had a great time chatting to Helen, hearing about her writing process, and how the adaptation of The Cry came to be. We also chat about Worst Case Scenario (ou...

Mike Carey is a writer of many talents! His work on comics like Lucifer, Hellblazer, X-Men and The Unwritten is legendary, and he has also received acclaim for his novels, such as The Girl With All The Gifts, Fellside and Someone Like Me. He is also a screenwriter, having written the screenplay for The Girl With All The Gifts. We had a really fun chat with Mike, learning about how he broke into co...

Ed James is the prolific author of many crime novels, including the DS Scott Cullen Mysteries and the DI Fenchurch series. His latest book, Kill the Messenger, is the sixth entry in the Fenchurch series. We had a great chat with Ed about how he manages to write four (yes, four!) books a year, including the in-depth planning that goes into each novel, and also discuss how he made a success of self-...

Adrian J Walker is the author of speculative fiction novels, including the highly (and deservedly!) praised The End of the World Running Club, which featured on the Radio 2 Book Club. Adrian has just announced the sequel, The End of the World Survivors Club, will be out later this year! We had a great time chatting to Adrian, learning about his path from self-published author to appearing on Radio...

Sergio Casci is a screenwriter whose credits include American Cousins (2003), which saw him nominated for BAFTA Best Newcomer, The Caller (2011) and The Lodge (2019), which has been getting rave reviews at Sundance and other film festivals. His diverse portfolio also includes writing for Scottish soap opera (or "continuing series", as Sergio tells us) River City and children's TV programme, Katie...

Shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger Award, Roz Watkins is the author of the DI Meg Dalton series of novels, The Devil’s Dice, and the about-to-be released Dead Man’s Daughter. In this week's podcast, we chat about what led Roz to give up her career as a patent attorney and turn to writing fiction, how her previous career helped her pen her first novel, explore the themes...

Welcome to the very first episode of The Page One Podcast! Each episode we talk to writers of all kinds (authors, screenwriters, comics writers and more) to learn about how they go about creating their stories. Each new episode is a deep dive into that guest's writing history, including how they broke into the industry and what their writing process is. We also explore their work, and try and eke...