Writer's Routine

• Frances Quinn, author of 'The Lost Passenger' - Historical Fiction author discusses advice from ABBA, what other markets want, and the privilege of an editor

  Frances Quinn is a journalist, copywriter and bestselling author. Her new novel, 'The Lost Passenger', tells the story of Elinor Coombes, who boards the Titanic trapped in an unhappy marriage to a controlling husband. When it starts to go down, she sees an opportunity to escape for a new life.Frances began writing after winning a place on the Curtis Brown Creative Novel Writing Course, which led through a meandering path toward publication in 2021. Her debut was 'The Smallest Man'. She followed that up with 'That Bonesetter Woman', which both sold well, yet didn't manage to secure international rights. You can hear what Frances did to learn about foreign markets, in order to get her newest novel sold overseas.As a journalist and copywriter, Frances has written for 'Good Housekeeping', 'Woman's Weekly', and 'Ideal Home', also producing words for Waitrose and Easyjet. We discuss how this has influenced the novels she writes, and why she's forever thankful to her editor.We discuss genre, research, and how Frances learns about her character while having decided exactly what they're up to.You can hear why she's a moany writer, why she likes to exercise early, and why she still keeps office hours.Support the show at - patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/writersroutineGet a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineIf you have science-mad kids, come and see my science-mad show this summer - funkidslive.com/tourSubscribe to the newsletter - [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Mike Gayle, author of 'The One That Got Away' - Romance award-winner discusses starting loose, being pigeon-holed, and novellas

  Mike Gayle is a prolific author. He's published 20 novels, many of which land on the Sunday Times Bestseller List, and has been translated in over 30 countries. He was the first male writer, and writer of colour, to win the Romantic Novelist Association's Outstanding Achievement Award. He's back with a new novella called 'The One That Got Away'.It tells the story of Reuben and the love of his life who is getting married... only to someone else. He has a day full of activities planned to take his mind of the wedding, only when a phone call changes everything, he must face the truth about what he's trying to outrun. It's a novella written for Amazon's 'Original Stories' imprint, and was the perfect place to put this small seed of a story he was mulling over. You can get a copy here - https://shorturl.at/khaDIMike's career started as an Agony Uncle, and writing for teen magazines during the 90s and 00s, in their pomp. We discuss how writing for such a specific audience made him learn key secrets for writing novels. You can hear what else he has learned in a 26 year long writing career, why his chair tells a lot of stories, how his collection habit distracts him, and what he thinks about being pigeon-holed as a 'romance writer'.Find more of Mike's stuff here - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineSupport the show - patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/writersroutinewritersroutine.com@writerspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Barnaby Martin, author of 'The Quiet' - Writer, composer and YouTuber discusses influences, why it's all in the edit, and being anxious to get things done

  Barnaby Martin is a busy man. He works as a teacher, runs a successful YouTube channel with over 10 million views, as a composer he's had pieces performed across the world, and now he's released his first novel, 'The Quiet.It tells the story of a dystopian world covered by the Soundfield. A domer which surrounds the Earth and changes everyone's life. It brings deadly heat, ravages food and water supplies, and everyone lives with its constant background hum. When scientist Hannah learns her son Isaac has a gift which could threaten the Soundfield, she must battle to keep him safe.We talk about why his influences across science and music have all led to this story, and how everything affected the other. You can hear why he was surprised about one key difference between writing and composing, and why he's always anxious to get new ideas done. Barnaby's YouTube channel, 'Listening In', dissects how music is used throughout our lives and the role it plays in other entertainment, and it's got more than 10 million views with over 200k subscribers. How does he divide his creative energy between all these projects?You can hear about who is novel is influenced by and how heavily he can wear those in the narrative. We discuss his quest to make things new and exciting every time, and what questions he asked when given a brilliant initial hook of an idea.Get a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineSupport the show - patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Caitlin Davies, author of 'Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths' - Narrative Nonfiction author discusses remembering how tough novels are, one book inspiring the next, and strange writing advice

  Caitlin Davies has always wanted to be a writer. It took her a long time to admit it to herself, let alone voice it aloud. She started writing as a journalist, covering stories across Europe and Africa, and now, finally, is a published author. She writes widely, switching genres and styles, releasing 6 novels and 8 narrative nonfiction books along the way. Caitlin tends to be inspired by forgotten women from history, and water. Her most recent book is 'Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths'. It was partly inspired by 'Queens of the Underworld' and 'Bad Girls', two books that told a history of crime from the other side of the coin - from the crooks. Caitlin has also published books about swimming in the Thames River, the Ponds on Hampstead Heath, and the history of Camden Lock. To make time to write, Caitlin has fingers in many different creative earning pies - occasionally teaching, designing and decorating sea shells for local businesses. We discuss how all this feeds into inspiration for her books. You can hear whether, as her writing seems so varied and eclectic, there is any grand plan for where it'll take her, also why she wnet back to school for reserach, and why she forgets how tricky it is writing fiction after a time away.You can get a copy of the book here - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineSupport the show - patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Heidi Perks, author of 'Someone is Lying' - Thriller Bestseller discusses underwriting drafts, throwing words away and starting over again

  Heidi Perks is the bestselling author of 7 novels, 'Now You See Her', 'Come Back for Me', 'Three Perfect Liars', 'The Whispers', 'The Other Guest', 'The Next Girl', and her new one, 'Someone is Lying'It tells the story of Jess and her daughter, Issie. They have an unbreakable bond and for years it's just been the two of them. However, when a new boyfriend, Dylan, takes Issie travelling... and contact dries up, Jess needs to figure out who is lying.The story is told through mixed media, merging true crime, podcasts and traditional prose, and we talk about the inspiration for that, and the practicalities of getting it done.You can why she writes things over and over in a notebook, and why she always underwrites her first draft. Also, we chat about why, before writing, she went back to school and enrolled on the Curtis Brown Online Novel Writing Course, and you can hear why picking yourself up and going again really matters.Get a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutineSupport the show -patreon.com/writersroutineko-fi.com/[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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