Not Too Busy To Write

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

Not Too Busy To Write episodes

July 26, 2023 REPLAY: Chloe Ashby on writing art in fiction
Summer Replay Series
Chloe Ashby is an arts journalist and author based in London. Her debut novel Wet Paint is about a young woman struggling to move forward after the traumatic death of her best friend, who finds solace in a painting and a life of routine, until a sudden change of circumstances has her undressing for strangers as a life model. We talk about ways of finding your way in to a story as a writer, writing about visual art and exploring ideas of control in characters. We also talk about having an 'affair' with novel writing on the side of other paid writing work and Chloe's life as a freelance arts writer working on non-fiction art books and reviewing exhibitions.
links
Second Self - Chloe Ashby
Wet Paint - Chloe Ashby
Look at this if you love great art - Chloe Ashby
Colours of Art: The story of art in 80 palletes - Chloe Ashby
You can find Chloe Ashby at chloeashby.com
Instagram - @chloeashby
Twitter - @chloeashby

You can find sign up to Penny's Newsletter at pennywincerwrites.com
Instagram @pennywincer
42 min
June 09, 2023 Marina Benjamin and Caro Giles on writing and caring
It's Carers Week in the UK so I have recorded a bonus episode of teh podcast with two fellow writer carers. Marina Benjamin is the author of many books, the latest of which is A little Give: the unsung, unseen, undone work of women. She also cares for her elderly mother. Caro Giles is the author of Twelve Moons; A year under a share sky and is a single parent to four daughters, two of whom have complex needs.
This is a slightly different format to usual, with the three of us discussing our caring roles, the challenges of writing about the topic and the time we 'steal' away from our caring responsibilities to write.
This was such a wonderful and honest conversation and I'm so grateful for Marina and Caro for taking the time and being so open about the challenges.
Links
A Little Give - Marina Benjamin
Twelve Moons - Caro Giles
Tender - Penny Wincer
44 min
March 15, 2023 Daisy Buchanan: from journalist to novelist
Daisy Buchanan is an award winning journalist, author and broadcaster who has had a varied writing career beginning in teen magazines, and now as a novelist. She's also the host of the chart topping podcast You're Booked - one of my favourite podcasts of all time.
We talk about Daisy's move from journalist and non-fiction author to fiction, and how terrifying that was, the joys and challenges of writing about sex and the importance of reading for pleasure when you're a writer. Daisy is also very open about the highs and lows of her publishing career and how not everything has been smooth sailing.
Links
Careering - Daisy Buchanan
Insatiable - Daisy Buchanan
Limelight - Daisy Buchanan (pre-order)
You're Booked Podcast
Peter Hujar's Day - Linda Rosenkrantz
Kick The Latch - Kathryn Scanlan
Daisy Buchanan on Instagram @thedaisybee
Penny Wincer on Instagram @pennywincer

1 hr 14 min
March 08, 2023 Nicola Washington on social media for writers
Are you tearing your hair out about social media? Do you want to use it to grow your profile as a writer or shout about your book but it makes you uncomfortable? Nicola Washington is a social media marketer and she is passionate about helping writers get their work out into the world. As she says in this episode, after the immense hard work of writing a book, what a huge waste if nobody hears about it!
This is a hugely practical episode looking at strategy, building genuine relationships and creating community to help you spread your ideas, share your work and create meaningful change through the power of social media.
Links
Nicola on instagram @toomuch_social
Nicola's personal account on instagram @toomuchmotheringinformation
Instagram with Impact Workshop
Work with Nicola

Instagram accounts mentioned
@joanna_wolfarth
@emilyhenrywrites

Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
Penny's weekly writing newsletter pennywincerwrites.com
Non-fiction Retreat with Penny Wincer - easeretreats.com
1 hr 6 min
March 01, 2023 Suzy Reading on rest
Suzy Reading is a chartered psychologist, yoga teacher and coach whose work all centres around giving people the skills to nourish themselves. Her latest book is Rest to Reset: The busy persons guide to pausing with purpose. As well as talking about Suzy's journey from expert to author of 8 books, we talk about what rest actually looks like, the problem with the current conversations around burnout and moving towards the idea of rest as rebalancing, and that is going to look different for everyone. We also talk about relationship building in publishing, saying yes to opportunities and growing your authority as an expert in your field.
Links:
Rest To Reset - Suzy Reading
Self-care Revolution - Suzy Reading
This Book Will (Help) Make You Happy - Suzy Reading

You can find Suzy on Instagram @suzyreading
You can find Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
Sign up to penny's newsletter here - pennywincerwrites.com
47 min
February 22, 2023 Joanna Wolfarth on non-fiction and writing intimate cultural history
Joanna Wolfarth is a cultural historian with a PhD in Southeast Asian art history. Her first book Milk: An intimate history of breastfeeding is a fascinating look at the social, historical and cultural contexts for this very personal of experiences, through art, philosophy, folk wisdom and interviews.
Joanna talks about how needing to make sense of the experience of new motherhood, led to a furious dive into the research between feeds and in tiny snatches of time when her baby slept, how motherhood made her fearless when it came to writing and non-fiction that seeks to ask questions, rather than provide all of the answers.
Links
Milk: An intimate history of breastfeeding
Joanna Wolfarth on Instagram @joanna_wolfarth
Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
Sign up for Penny's weekly writing newsletter here pennywincerwrites.com

46 min
February 08, 2023 Lucy Werner on how to promote your book
Lucy Werner is a PR expert and founder of The Wern, an agency specialising in PR and branding for creative small businesses. Lucy is not only an expert at book PR but also a published author herself and in this episode Lucy shares what she has learned about book PR and marketing from both sides.
From building your authority and your brand before you publish, to promoting a book that already exists in the world, Lucy is a goldmine of information on how best to spread the word and get people buying your books.
Her infectious enthusiasm and fun approach to an area that many writers find daunting, will have you dipping your toes in the PR waters.
Links
Hype Yourself: A no-nonsense PR toolkit for small businesses - Lucy Werner
Brand Yourself - A non-nonsense brand toolkit for small businesses - Lucy Werner and Hadrian Chatelet
The Wern Agency
Lucy Werner on Instagram @lucywernerpr

Penny on instagram @pennywincer
Penny's weekly writing newsletter - pennywincerwrites.com
1 hr 1 min
February 01, 2023 Catherine Newman on laughter, death and embracing your voice
Catherine Newman is a writer with a varied career including two parenting memoirs and a middle grade novel. She had written for the New York Times, O Magazine, The Boston Globe and was a columnist for Real Simple Magazine. Her debut novel We All Want Impossible Things is the story of Ash, whose best friend Edi is dying of cancer. Set over a few weeks in a hospice, this book is filled with laughter and heartbreak. Catherine and I talk about the relief of laughing in the face of death, learning to embrace your natural writing voice and the how years of having to make a living from writing has had a positive impact on Catherine's daily writing habit. We All Want Impossible Things is out now.
Ease Retreat - Non-fiction with Penny Wincer, Wales, April 20-23 2023
We All Want Impossible Things - Catherine Newman
#AmWriting Podcast
Love, Nina - Nina Stibbe
Catherine Newman on instagram - @catherinenewman
Catherine's website - catherinenewmanwriter.com
Penny on instagram - @pennywincer
Penny's newsletter
50 min
January 25, 2023 Caro Giles on memoir, nature and putting yourself in the foreground
Caro Giles is a writer based in the north east of England, whose first book Twelve Moons tells the story, across a year, of raising her 4 daughters alone in a wild and isolated part of the country. It's an incredible memoir about caring, isolation, and joy found in tiny pockets of time. We talk about how the pandemic totally changed how she the structure of the book, the challenges of writing and caring and this beautiful idea of writing as a way to put yourself in the foreground, when you have been in the background for so long.
Links
Twelve Moons - Caro Giles
An Evening with Caro Giles - Waterstones Newcastle 26th January
Alnwick Story Festival 25th February
Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng
Empireland - Sathnam Sanghera
This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub

Caro Giles on instagram @carogileswrites
Penny on instagram @pennywincer
You can sign up to Penny's weekly newsletter about writing and making time for creativity here pennywincerwrites.com

41 min
January 18, 2023 Janice Hallett on turning crime fiction on it's head
After a varied writing career including speech writing, journalism and screen writing, Janice Hallett turned to crime fiction and became a best-selling author that completely turned the genre on its head. Using transcripts, messages, emails, letters and articles, Janice's novels weave intricate, humourous and clever tales of murder and mystery. It was such a delight to take a deep dive with her into her writing process and how her varied experience as a writer informs how she approaches novels.
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels is out January 19th
Links
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels - Janice Hallett
The Twyford Code - Janice Hallett
The Appeal - Janice Hallett

You can find Janice Hallett on Twitter @JaniceHallett
You can find Penny on Instagram @pennywincer
You can sign up to Penny's weekly writing newsletter here - pennywincerwrites.com
48 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.