Not Too Busy To Write

By Penny WincerSociety & Culture Education Arts Books Personal Journals How To

Not Too Busy To Write episodes

April 29 Ilona Bannister on the humanity and pleasure of thrillers
Ilona Bannister, long time friend of Not Too Busy To Write is on the podcast talking about her new novel and her move from literary fiction to thriller. FIVE is set on a train platform, 5 minutes before a train will arrive and one of the five characters will die. The reader is asked who they think deserves to die.
Ilona talks with me about breaking the forth wall, unlikeabe characters and how readers are reacting to confronting their own prejudices, why law school is great training for a writer and the pleasures and humanity of the thriller genre.
FIVE is out May 5th
Links
FIVE - Ilona Bannister
Little Prisons - Ilona Bannister
When I Ran Away - Ilona Bannister
THE FOLD membership for writers - join the 21 Day Writing Challenge!
Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
41 min
April 22 Jane Harper on beginning at the end
Jane Harper is the Gold Dagger award winning, bestselling author who defined a new sub genre - Australian Noir - with her breakout debut The Dry in 2016. Today we're talking about her 6th novel Last One Out, a brilliantly dark and twisty novel about a missing son and a dying rural town. Jane talks with me about her extensive outlining process (which begins at the end), what motivated her through the writing of her first novel when she was a full time journalist and why isolated communities make such fantastic settings.
Links
Last One Out - Jane Harper
Aaron Falk Series
The Dry - Jane Harper
Forces of Nature - Jane Harper
Exiles - Jane Harper
Jane Harper's Ted Talk
Darling Girls - Sally Hepworth
Mad Mabel - Sally Hepworth
The Mother Fault - Kate Mildenhall
THE FOLD membership for writers - 21 Day Writing Challenge begins May 1st!
46 min
April 15 Catherine Newman on the tragicomedy of midlife
New York Times bestselling author Catherine Newman is back on the podcast talking about her hilarious new novel about midlife anxiety Wreck. Catherine talks with me about writing superstitions, hilariously terrible reviews, what success as a novelist has really meant to her and the joy she has found in owning her own publication on Substack after a lifetime writing for other people.
Links
Wreck by Catherine Newman
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
We All Want Impossibly Things by Catherine Newman
Crone Sandwich - Catherine's Substack
THE FOLD membership for writers
52 min
April 01 Helen Thorn on total honesty on the page
6 years ago comedian Helen Thorn's life was turned upside down when she discovered her then husband was having a years long affair. Within two years she had written a Sunday Times Best Seller about the experience and it's immediate aftermath - fags, dating and all - but especially about the women who hold us up when life gets us down. Now, she's written a new book reflecting on the strength gained from facing unexpected loss. Helen and I talk about just what there is to be gained from total honesty on the page, some of the women that inspired her to write this book and the calm that has descended after the chaos.
Links
How To Face Change and Come Back Stronger by Helen Thorn
Get Divorced, Be Happy by Helen Thorn
Helen Thorn on Instagram
Scummy Mummies
THE FOLD membership for writers
1 hr 6 min
March 25 Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett on exploring how women are seen through fiction
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is an author and journalist, and today we talking about her new novel Female, Nude, a sexy sultry book about seeing and being seen, which weaves visual art into a story of womanhood, motherhood and disability.
We also talk about The Republic of Parenthood, a book made up of the collected columns Rhiannon wrote for the Guardian, weaving in the personal, the political and cultural as she became a mother herself.
Links
Female, Nude by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
The Republic of Parenthood by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Year of the Cat by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
49 min
March 18 James Hunt on writing what can't be said out loud
James Hunt's debut memoir Love Needs No Words is the story of a unique fatherhood, caring for his two sons, both of whom are non-speaking and autistic. James talks with me about the decision to write the things he didn't feel he could say out loud to friends and family, and how those words began to reach families all over the world with a shared reality. He talks about needing that connection so much early in his journey, how he came to be able to speak about his own mental health so much more openly and how he hopes this book will reach the many Dads who struggle to be open about their experiences.
Links
Love Needs No Words by James Hunt
SAA Clothing
Stories about Autism on Instagram
59 min
March 11 Lauren Currie on the new rules of confidence
Lauren Currie OBE is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker and founder of Upfront, an organisation on a mission to change the confidence of 1 million women. In her new book Be Upfront: 24 Rules of life changing confidence, Lauren picks apart the old rules of confidence that don't serve women and introduces the reader to new rules to live by.
We talk about how Lauren's confidence as a writer has grown, why she thinks self doubt is no bad thing (and some men could use a little more of it) and her different experiences of self publishing and traditional publishing.
We are giving away copies of Be Upfront on Instagram! To be grab one - follow @_laurencurrie_ and @pennywincer and comment on the competition post to enter.
Links
Be Upfront by Lauren Currie
Taylor Meets The Trick by Lauren Currie
Upfront
Lauren Currie's newsletter
1 hr 1 min
March 04 Jodi Wilson on breathing space for creativity
Jodi Wilson is a health journalist and author of A Brain That Breathes: Essential habits for an overwhelming world. Jodi talks with me today about how after her third book was published and she was feeling depleted, she became curious about what our brains need to be creative and productive. This book is the result.
In the conversation we talk about the uncertainty, magic and hard work of writing books and how tiny pockets of breathing space can transform our creativity and lives.
It's lovely to be back for series 12!
Links
A Brain That Breathes by Jodi Wilson
Jodi Wilson on Substack - Practicing Simplicity
Jodi Wilson on Instagram
The Fold Membership for writers
Penny Wincer on Instagram
1 hr 2 min
December 10, 2025 Francesca Segal on creating hope in fictional worlds
Francesca Segal is the author of Welcome to Glorious Tuga and Island Calling, the first two novels in a trilogy about the delightful fictional island of Tuga De Oro in the South Atlantic. Francesca talks with me about fictional world building, the deliberate choice to create a refuge and a community, not without challenges but incredibly hopeful as well as the influence of 19th century literature on the novels, and the joys and challenges of writing interconnected books. We also talk about Francesca's 2019 memoir Mothership, still one of the most incredible accounts of early motherhood I have ever read.
links
Welcome to Glorious Tuga - Francesca Segal
Island Calling - Francesca Segal
Mothership - Francesca Segal
The Fold membership for writers
This series of the podcast is sponsored by award winning audio book app xigxag
Listeners of Not Too Busy To Write can receive their second book FREE
To redeem, download the xigxag app from the App Store or Google Play.
Go to My xigxag/Settings, then click on Account.
Under Vouchers, click on the ‘Enter code’ button and add your voucher code TOOBUSY to your account.
After your first purchase, your second title will be free!
43 min
December 03, 2025 Literary agent Ciara Finan, Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin and Alice Trew on the Women's Prize Discoveries
Today I am in conversation with not one but three guests! We're talking about the incredible impact of the Women's Prize Discoveries from three perspectives - 2026 Judge and Curtis Brown literary agent Ciara Finan, 2022 shortlistee and author of the extraordinary debut novel Ordinary Saints, Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin and Alice Trew, 2024 shortlistee who has just secured a 2 book deal, the first of which The Hungry Dark, will be out in 2027.
Ciara talks us through her work as a literary agent and what she'll be looking for amongst entries in the 2026 prize, and Niamh and Alice talk about their experiences as shortlistees and the incredible impact it has had on their careers and their community as writers.
The Women's Prize Discoveries is open to all women aged over 18 who are unagented and unpublished, resident in the UK and Ireland, and writing in English, in any adult fiction genre. The deadline for the 2026 prize is January 12th. Submission is free and requires 10k words and a synopsis. See the link below for more details.
Links
Women's Prize Discoveries
Ordinary Saints - Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin
Curtis Brown Creative
Ciara Finan at Curtis Brown
Alice on Instagram
Niamh on Instagram

This series of the podcast is sponsored by award winning audio book app xigxag
Listeners of Not Too Busy To Write can receive their second book FREE
To redeem, download the xigxag app from the App Store or Google Play.
Go to My xigxag/Settings, then click on Account.
Under Vouchers, click on the ‘Enter code’ button and add your voucher code TOOBUSY to your account.
After your first purchase, your second title will be free!
42 min

About Not Too Busy To Write

From the publisher's feed

Penny Wincer is not too busy to write. Except of course, sometimes she is too busy to write as much as she would like. Join Penny as she has conversations with other writers about writing, publishing and creativity whilst juggling all the demands on them such as motherhood, caring and other paid work.