Today on the podcast is the New York Bestselling writer and essayist Christie Tate. She has written for the New York Times (Modern Love), The Rumpus, The Washington Post, among others. Now she has an incredible memoir out called Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life which was picked by Reese Witherspoon's book club. We discuss writing memoir, the grief that follows publishing a book that took 5 years and how the kindness of strangers really can save us. I really loved this conversation, hope you do too.

Order your copy of GROUP here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781471197871

- My books:.https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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

This episode is a replay of the virtual launch event I did to release my debut novel OLIVE in America in March 2021! OLIVE is my debut novel about a group of four friends, with different ideas and expectations of motherhood. The novel begins with Olive having just broken up with her boyfriend of almost a decade in which he decides he’s ready for kids, and she is not. Her decision to be child-free impacts her friendships too as they navigate their 30s. The wonderful Strand Book Store put on this virtual event for me (one of my absolute favourite bookstores in New York) and one of my favourite multi-hyphenate writers Ann Friedman interviewed me! Ann is a previous Ctrl Alt Delete guest (number #271 if you’re interested).

In this conversation we discuss why I wrote OLIVE, why I wanted to write about child-free-by-choice character, my writing process, some of the challenges and my writing inspirations. Hope you enjoy this episode and thanks to everyone who tuned into the event and bought a copy of OLIVE, your support has been incredible. If you’re in the UK, Olive is out in paperback in June. So here is the conversation between Ann and I - all about Olive.

PRE-ORDER the OLIVE paperback here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9780008382735

Purchase the American version here: https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/olive/

- My books:.https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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

Today's guest is Penny Wincer, a Melbourne born, London dwelling author, speaker, podcaster and freelance photographer. In this episode we discuss her experience as a mother and carer, her writing about work life and creativity, and raising a neurodiverse family. Penny’s first book Tender published is out now. She has also just launched a new podcast called Not Too Busy To Writ‪e‬, alongside author Ali Millar. Listen in as they navigate the world of writing, publishing and creativity whilst juggling the demands of motherhood, caring and other paid work, without losing themselves in the process. Hope you enjoy this episode!

You can order a copy of Tender here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781529331226

Listen to Not Too Busy To Writ‪e here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/not-too-busy-to-write/id1550576952

- My books:.https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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

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

This is a replay of a previous episode with Dawn O’Porter. Dawn has actually come on this podcast 3 times, but this is a replay of the latest conversation we had in 2019, about her brilliant novel So Lucky. She is the author of 6 books including the award-winning YA books Paper Aeroplanes and Goose, her first adult novel The Cows was a Sunday Times Bestseller and her latest book "SO LUCKY" is also a Sunday Times bestseller. The novel is about three women and how life really isn't as perfect as it looks. Ruby is feeling like she's failing as a mother, Beth is in a sexless marriage and online influencer Lauren is not telling the truth on Instagram. We talk about writing fiction, finding inspiration and the power of saying no. Also wanted to take this opportunity to mention that since this interview Dawn has launched a Patreon page where she says writing, videos, competitions, it’s really fun and a great place to hang out if you’re a fan of Dawn’s work. Hope you enjoy this episode re-run!

- My books:.https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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

Today's guest is the amazing Julia Cameron - a return Ctrl Alt Delete guest! Her brand new book The Listening Path is out now. If you are a fan of The Artist's Way, you will LOVE it. It was so great getting to chat to Julia all about the power of listening. Over six weeks, readers will be given the tools to become better listeners: to their environment, the people around them, and themselves. Award-winning writer Julia Cameron is the author of twenty-four books, fiction and nonfiction, including The Artist's Way, Walking in This World, The Vein of Gold, The Right to Write and The Sound of Paper. A novelist, playwright, songwriter and poet, she has extensive credits in theatre, film and television. I hope you enjoy this episode!

Order The Listening Path on Bookshop here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9781788167796

- My books:.https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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

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

Today's guest is Julia Quinn, the No.1 New York Times bestselling author of eighteen consecutive NYT bestsellers including Bridgerton. Last week The Duke and I was number 8 in the paperback Sunday Times bestseller list in the U.K. This was the first time any of Julia’s books have been in the Sunday Times bestseller list, partly due to the fact that on December 25, 2020, Netflix premiered Bridgerton, based on her popular series of novels about the Bridgerton family, adapted by Shonda Rhimes and Chris Van Dusen. We spoke about writing novels, believing in your abilities and the moment she got the phone call from her agent about Bridgerton being optioned.

You can buy Bridgerton here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9780349429212

- My books: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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

My guest today is the excellent Abigail Dean, author of Girl A. Formerly a Waterstones bookseller, she spent five years as a lawyer in London, and then took the summer of 2018 off to work on her debut novel, Girl A, ahead of her thirtieth birthday, which is now a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller. She now works as a lawyer for Google, and is currently writing her second novel called The Conspiracies. Hope you enjoy this episode! (This was recorded as a live event with Waterstones to celebrate the launch of Abbie's book, so very pleased to re-post it here for you all to enjoy. Thanks for organising, Waterstones!)

You can buy GIRL A here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9780008389055

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My guest today is the wonderful Priyanka Chopra Jonas, multi-award-winning actor and producer. A former Miss World, she made her movie debut in 2002 and has appeared in more than sixty films produced in India and the United States. For all the work in association with UNICEF, she was awarded the prestigious Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award in 2019. In February 2021, Priyanka published her first book, a memoir called Unfinished which she wrote during the 2020 lockdown and we discuss the book in this episode: her reflections, her multi-hyphenate life, stories about her family and career, how she met her husband, how her relationship with social media has changed, and how she became the person she is today. I really enjoyed chatting to her and if you liked this episode, please do consider leaving a review somewhere, very much appreciated!

You can order Priyanka's memoir here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/153/9780241512845

- My books: https://uk.bookshop.org/contributors/emma-gannon

- My favourite 2020 books: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-favourite-reads-of-2020-9bf19342-f535-4856-ab1a-d523f5ecd98a

- My 2021 picks: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/2021-books-i-m-excited-about-619ab32f-f22e-4282-a0e7-71732055e3c7

- Twitter: Twitter.com/emmagannon

- Instagram: Instagram.com/emmagannonuk

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