Not Too Busy To Write

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

Not Too Busy To Write episodes

November 29, 2023 Katherine May on writer boundaries
Katherine May is the Sunday Times and New York Times best selling author of Enchantment. Today we talk about the challenges of writing a follow up to her phenomenal bestseller Wintering, the importance of writers being open about the constraints they face, especially successful authors and advocating for accessibility while promoting your work. We also do a deep dive into Substack and why Katherine loves it so much and the importance of writers getting paid for their work.
links
Enchantment - Katherine May
Wintering - Katherine May
The Electricity of Every Living Thing - Katherine May
The Clearing - Katherine's Substack
Katherine May's Accessibility and Language Guide
Not Too Busy To Write on Substack
Penny Wincer's book coaching - pennywincerwrites.com
54 min
November 22, 2023 Marisa Bate on writing the political and personal
Marisa Bate is a freelance journalist, women's rights advocate and author of Wild Hope. Part memoir, part reportage and part social history, Wild Hope tells the story of expanding and contracting women's rights in America through two bus journey's across the mid west - one by Marisa's mother in the 70s and the other, by Marisa in 2021. In this episode Marisa talks about finding hope in dark times, keeping faith in action and writing your own story when it so intertwined with the stories of others.
Links
Wild Hope - Marisa Bate
Writing About Women - Marisa Bate's substack
Not Too Busy To Write on Substack
Non-fiction writing coaching with Penny - pennywincerwrites.com
Penny on instagram @pennywincer
1 hr 7 min
November 15, 2023 Laura Bates on the power of storytelling in activism
Laura Bates is a Sunday Times Bestselling author, an activist and speaker. Laura founded the Everyday Sexism Project in 2012 and has gone on to write multiple best selling non-fiction books about gender equality. She has spoken in the United Nations, the Houses of Parliament, is regularly called on to provide evidence for parliamentary reports and has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her work on gender equality.
Laura also writes Young Adult fiction and today we are discussing her latest novel Sisters of Sword and Shadow and why she's so passionate about writing for young people, the incredible power of storytelling and why activism needs fiction as well as non-fiction.
Links
Sisters of Sword and Shadow - Laura Bates
Fix the System, Not the Women - Laura Bates
Men Who Hate Women - Laura Bates
Everyday Sexism - Laura Bates
The Burning - Laura Bates
Glitch Charity - Promoting Online Safety for women and girls

Not Too Busy To Write on Substack
Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
42 min
November 08, 2023 Huma Qureshi on fiction and borrowing from life
Award winning writer Huma Qureshi returns to the podcast to discuss her debut novel Playing Games, a story about two sisters, their very different ways of processing grief and the question over whether it's ok for a writer to take from real life. We talk about the challenges of moving from short to long form fiction, the pluses (and minuses) of having a two book deal and the pleasures of writing about a writer.
Huma is also a brilliant creative writing teacher and we discuss her style as a teacher and some of her favourite book recommendations for writers.
Playing Games is out Nov 9th
Links
Playing Games - Huma Qureshi
Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love - Huma Qureshi
How We Met - Huma Qureshi
Huma's creative writing classes
Sign Up to Dear Huma newsletter
Huma Qureshi on Not Too Busy To Write in 2021

Recommended Books
American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld
Help Yourself - Curtis Sittenfeld
Writers and Lovers - Lily King
Dear Life - Alice Monroe
Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri

1 hr 13 min
November 01, 2023 Karen Haller on publishing non-fiction as an expert
What's it like to publish a book as an expert in your field? Karen Haller is a behavioural colour and design psychology expert and is the author of The Little Book of Colour. Karen and I talk about some of the highs and lows of traditional publishing, some of the particular challenges she faced, as well as the many opportunities it opened up for her when her book became a huge success and was published in 14 languages. We also dive into what colour psychology is and how the book fits into Karen's aim to help people be less afraid of using colour.
Links
The Little Book of Colour - Karen Haller
Karen Haller's website and newsletter
Download a free ebook on Colour Myths
Karen Haller on Instagram @karen_haller_colour

Penny's Cornish Writing Retreat Feb 2024 - pennywincerwrites.com/retreat
You can sign up to Penny's Substack Not Too Busy To Write

50 min
October 25, 2023 Kate Sawyer on second novels and career changes
Kate Sawyer is novelist and podcaster with a background in theatre producing and acting. Her first novel The Stranding was shortlisted for the Costa first novel award in 2021 and today we are talking about her second novel This Family. We talk about how her career in theatre has fed into her work as a novelist, genre expectations and how being a solo mother by choice made her rethink how she was going to earn a living and flex her creative muscles.
Kate is the host of the wonderful podcast Novel Experience - if you are a fan of Not Too Busy To Write, then this is right up your street. Available on all your favourite podcast feeds.
links
This Family - Kate Sawyer
The Stranding - Kate Sawyer
Novel Experience podcast with Kate Sawyer
Follow Kate on Instagram - @mskatesawyer
Follow Penny on Instagram - @pennywincer

Sign up to Not Too Busy To Write on Substack
44 min
October 18, 2023 Marchelle Farrell on memoir and belonging
Marchelle Farrell's debut memoir Uprooting is about a year of tremendous upheaval and Marchelle's attempt to find home in a garden. In this conversation, we talk about vulnerability in the garden and on the page, identity in medicine and as a writer and how Marchelle's garden gave her a new perspective on colonialism. Uprooting is out now.
Links
Uprooting - Marchelle Farrell
Marchelle on Instagram @afroliage
Marchelle on Substack - Afroliage
Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
Penny's Newsletter
49 min
August 16, 2023 REPLAY: Beth Kempton on being a fearless writer
Summer REPLAY series
Beth Kempton is a Japanologist, a best selling author and a writing mentor whose books have been translated into 24 languages. Her Latest book The Way of the Fearless Writer challenges the assumption that writing must be a struggle and filled with suffering. We talk about why it's important to know why we write, learning to let go in our writing, when to share our work (and when not to) and learning to trust in writing as a practice.
Links
The Way of the Fearless Writer - Beth Kempton
Freedom Seeker - Beth Kempton
Wabi Sabi - Beth Kempton

Do What You Love For Life - Writing classes with Beth Kempton
The Fearless Writer Podcast
Instagram @bethkempton

You can sign up to Penny's weekly newsletter about all things writing and finding time to write here
Instagram @pennywincer
1 hr 5 min
August 09, 2023 REPLAY: Evie Wyld on writing about male violence
You can sign up to the waitlist for Penny's next Non-Fiction Book Proposal Group at pennywincerwrites.com
Summer REPLAY series
Evie Wyld is an award winning author of three novels, the latest of which, The Bass Rock, won the Stella Prize 2021. We discuss writing a novel about male violence against a backdrop of #MeToo, and speaking about the subjects in the book in a year of highly publicised violence against women. We also talk about how motherhood, and the nature of writing with young children, led to some of the structural elements of The Bass Rock and how an award like the Stella Prize can create change in a writing career.
Links
The Bass Rock - Evie Wyld
Review Book Shop Peckham
Devotion - Hannah Kent
The Interestings - Meg Wolitzer
You can sign up to Penny's weekly newsletter at pennywincerwrites.com
Instagram @pennywincer

39 min
August 02, 2023 REPLAY: Abigail Bergstrom - literary agent and novelist
To sign up to the waitlist for Penny's next Non-Fiction Book Proposal Group Program visit pennywincerwrites.com
Summer REPLAY series
Abigail Bergstrom is a literary agent and consultant, former editor, and now debut novelist. What A Shame is a darkly funny novel about grief, friendship and dabbling in the occult. Abigail talks about the challenges of having a lot of knowledge of the industry whilst writing and having to take her agent hat off in order to write, removing the constraints that made writing feel like 'work' and being conscious of the exchange that happens when we give up other things in order to write on the side of a demanding full time job.
Bergstrom Studio is a 360 degree literary consultancy, offering editorial consultancy and representation. As an agent Abigail represents multiple best selling authors and has some excellent advice for those who are going out on submission.
Links
Bergstrom Studio
What A Shame - Abigail Bergstrom
Wet Paint - Chloe Ashby
Beautiful Country - Xian Julie Wang
You can find Abigail on Instagram @abigailbergstrom and @bergstrom.studio

You can sign up to Penny's newsletter at pennywincerwrites.com
instagram @pennywincer

44 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.