In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Georgia Summers about her fantasy novel The City of Stardust. We discuss how she was inspired by stories from her childhood describing portals to another world, using real places to inspire her fantastical world building and her insight as a former editor and whether she writes with commercial decisions in mind.

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy The City of Stardust: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9781399714204

Follow Georgia: @ge_summers

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Fiona Williams about her contemporary novel The House of Broken Bricks. We discuss discuss using nature writing to reflect the story's mood, reading work aloud to find rhythm and melody in a sentence, and how exposing the publishing process is for introverts.

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy The House of Broken Bricks: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9780571379552

Follow Fiona: @FeeWilliams75

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Hester Musson about her historical novel The Beholders. We discuss the challenges of writing in a diary form, how to transform one dimensional characters and the crushing story of how Hester thought she was going to be published with a different novel, but it sold only to Italian publishers, then was dropped completely. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy The Beholders: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9780008558611

Follow Hester: @HesterMusson

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Lottie Hazell about her contemporary novel Piglet. We discuss how Lottie does what she calls “playful method writing” by cooking along with Piglet to connect with her character’s headspace, why food is a great way for writers to explore characters and after working in marketing at a publisher, her advice for new authors. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy Piglet: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9780857529565

Follow Lottie: @LDHazell

https://www.lottiehazell.co.uk

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Emma-Claire Wilson about her commercial novel This Child of Mine. We discuss why she uses first person perspective to help readers live through her character’s light and dark, how she chose to transform her novel into a commercial style and building a writing platform before she had a book deal. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy This Child of Mine: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9780008608088

Follow Emma-Claire: @ECWilsonWriter

https://linktr.ee/ecwilsonauthor

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Lizzie Huxley-Jones about their festive rom-com Make You Mine This Christmas. We discuss character creation with mood boards and playlists, writing a disabled love interest and what ‘write for hire is’ and how this gave Lizzie their route into publishing. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy Make You Mine This Christmas: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9781399700801

Follow Lizzie: @littlehux

https://linktr.ee/littlehux

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Lucy Barker about her historical novel The Other Side of Mrs Wood. We discuss her interest in Victorian seances and the true story that inspired her novel, how she created a warm and witty voice and how Lucy’s lack of faith in herself meant things didn’t work out with an agent in her 20s, but becoming a runner up in a competition gave her confidence later in life. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy The Other Side of Mrs Wood: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9780008597207

Follow Lucy: @lucysmallbark

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Stacey Thomas about her historical novel The Revels. We discuss adding a touch of fantasy to historical fiction, her advice for making a historical setting feel lived in and what happens when other books come out that sound similar to yours? 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy The Revels: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9780008566654

Follow Stacey: @Staceyv_Thomas

Stacey's Instagram, for posts on her journey

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Mira V Shah about her psychological suspense novel Her. We discuss subverting stereotypes of British Asian women in fiction, how she added pace to her novel and after Mira’s blog on the realities of being a debut gained traction online, she talks about how to manage expectations and look after yourself. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy Her:

Follow Mira:

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Lynsey May about her contemporary novel Weak Teeth. We discuss why Lynsey wanted to write about teeth, how her inspiration began with just one striking sentence and why she chose to write an open ending. 

Confessions of a Debut Novelist Bookshop*

Buy Weak Teeth: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10990/9781846976308

Follow Lynsey: @LynseyMay

Follow Chloe on Twitter: @clotimms

Buy Chloe's debut novel The Seawomen: https://linktr.ee/chloetimms

chloetimms.co.uk 

*affiliate link - if you buy books linked to the Bookshop.org site, I may earn a commission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.