Ed McDonald’s debut novel BLACKWING began the The Raven’s Mark trilogy, which continues with RAVENCRY and concludes with CROWFALL. Ed has been writing stories since he was a child, and studied history for his BA and MA degrees. He is a practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), and his love of history has helped to inspire the books that he writes. His latest book, Daughter of Redwinter, is out next week (30 June 2022).

We had a great chat with Ed about how he broke into writing (including rewriting a whole chunk of his debut over a weekend before his agent sent it to publishers), talking about planning vs pantsing, and hearing about his brilliant new novel, Daughter of Redwinter. We also talk about the advice he regularly gives writers on social media, and whether social media is a help or a hinderance to writers.

Links:

Buy Daughter of Redwinter and Ed's other books

Follow Ed on Twitter

Visit Ed's website

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Jane Shemilt is an internationally-acclaimed, best-selling author of psychological suspense novels. Her debut novel Daughter was a Richard and Judy pick, shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish award and nominated for an Edgar award. It became the fastest selling debut of 2014. Her third novel, How Far We Fall, has been optioned for production as a TV drama by Twelve Town. Jane’s stories are inspired by her background in psychology and medicine. She studied Psychology at London University before qualifying with honours from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. She began writing while working as a GP, undertaking a diploma in Creative Writing then an M.A. also in Creative Writing, at Bath Spa University, gaining both with distinction.

We had a really interesting chat with Jane about how and why she made the move from medicine to writing, talking about the difficulties and opportunities with such a move. We also talked about how writing courses can assist aspiring authors and discuss whether everyone should try them. Plus we chat about her latest book, The Patient.

Links:

Buy The Patient and Jane's other books now

Follow Jane on Twitter

Visit Jane's website

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Nicholas Meyer is an American writer and director, known for his best-selling Sherlock Holmes novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature films, including Wrath of Khan, and the 1983 television film The Day After. Meyer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), where he adapted his own novel into a screenplay. He has also been nominated for a Satellite Award, three Emmy Awards, and has won four Saturn Awards. 

It was an honour to speak with a true Hollywood legend such as Nick (Tariq in particular was very excited!) and we had great fun talking to him about how he broke into the industry, hearing about his lifelong obsession with Sherlock Holmes, and talking all things Star Trek with him. We also spoke about how to handle notes from producers and editors and talked about how it is very hard for a writer to describe his own process accurately. Plus, there is even an exclusive about a Trek-related project that Nick is currently working on...

Links:

Buy The Return of the Pharaoh

Follow Nick on Twitter

Stream Wrath of Khan

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Rob Hart is the author of six novels, including The Paradox Hotel and The Warehouse, as well as the short story collection Take-Out, Scott Free with James Patterson, and a Star Wars short story. The Warehouse sold in more than 20 countries and was optioned for film by Ron Howard.

We really enjoyed talking to Rob about his move from journalism to writing novels, finding out why he shifted from crime to sci fi, and hearing why he wanted to write an "issues" novel with The Warehouse. We also chat about his editing process and the importance of diversity in popular fiction.

Links:

Buy The Warehouse now!

Buy The Paradox Hotel in the US

Follow Rob on Twitter

Visit Rob's website

We're recording a live show with the brilliant Adrian Tchiakovsky at Cymera Festival on 4 June 2022! It's free but you need a ticket, which you can grab here: https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/cymera2022-events/2022/5/16/page-one.

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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A self-confessed serial killer nerd, Sam Holland studied psychology at university then spent the next few years working in HR, before quitting for a full-time career in writing. Her debut novel, The Echo Man, is out now.

We had great fun chatting with Sam, hearing about how she crafted her debut novel while working in HR, and talking about coming up with one of those ideas that seems so brilliant, you're sure someone must have done it before. We talk about her research into serial killers, how she uses image boards for getting into her characters' heads and much more!

Links:

Buy The Echo Man now

Follow Sam on Twitter

We're recording a live show with the brilliant Adrian Tchiakovsky at Cymera Festival on 4 June 2022! It's free but you need a ticket, which you can grab here: https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/cymera2022-events/2022/5/16/page-one.

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Mary Kenney is a brilliant writer of video games and comic books from The Walking Dead to the recent smash hit PS5 game, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. She is currently working on a new Wolverine game for Marvel and Sony. She also has Gamer Girls, a YA non-fiction novel about the women who built the video games industry, coming out in July 2022.

We loved chatting with Mary, hearing how she broke into writing for video games, talking about the unique opportunities and challenges that writing in that field covers, hearing about what it’s like writing such iconic characters - and also getting some fun and interesting insight into the steps needed for all that voice-acting you hear in your favourite games!

Links:

Pre-order Gamer Girls now!

Buy Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Visit Mary's website

Follow Mary on Twitter

We're recording a live show with the brilliant Adrian Tchiakovsky at Cymera Festival on 4 June 2022! It's free but you need a ticket, which you can grab here: https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/cymera2022-events/2022/5/16/page-one.

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Twitter: @ukPageOne

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Leroy Kincaide is a former professional wrestler who moved from the world of the squared circle to creating stories from behind the camera as a writer/director. His first feature, The Last Rite, is available to stream now.

We had a really interesting chat with Leroy, learning how he largely taught himself how to create his own feature film, from writing to directing and editing. We talk about how he visualises stories in his mind's eye first before committing them to paper, and find out what inspired The Last Rite.

Links:

Watch The Last Rite now!

Follow Leroy on Twitter

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Ben Aaronovitch is the bestselling author of the Rivers of London series, the latest of which, Amongst Our Weapons, is just out! Before becoming a successful author, Ben worked in screenwriting, writing episodes of Doctor Who, Casualty and more - but it was only when he was working as a bookseller in Waterstones that the idea of writing novels struck him.

It was great fun chatting with Ben about his career, hearing about the highs and lows, where the idea for Rivers of London came from and why he thinks it has become such a massive success. On top of that, we talk about the buying habits of different genre readers, structure of stories and why he can't choose between real books, ebooks and audiobooks...

Links:

Buy Amongst Our Weapons and Ben's other books now!

Visit Ben's website

Follow Ben on Twitter

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Fonda Lee is the author of the epic fantasy Green Bone Saga, beginning with Jade City, continuing in Jade War, and concluding in Jade Legacy. She is also the author of the science fiction novels Zeroboxer, Exo and Cross Fire. Fonda is a winner of the World Fantasy Award, as well as a three-time winner of the Aurora Award (Canada’s national science fiction and fantasy award), and a multiple finalist for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Oregon Book Award. A new novella set in the Green Bone Saga universe, The Jade Setter of Janloon, is out soon

We had a great chat with Fonda, talking about writing fantasy novels that eschew the usual medieval European setting and the importance of authenticity when writing about different cultures. She also tells us why authors should be okay with waiting for that breakthrough novel, and talks about what inspired her to write the Green Bone Saga.

Links:

Buy the Green Bone Saga and Fonda's other books now!

Visit Fonda's website

Follow Fonda on Twitter

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James Oswald is the author of the bestselling Inspector Maclean series of novels, as well as the fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro, and more. His latest book, All That Lives, is the twelfth in the Inspector Maclean series.

It was really interesting hearing how James made his breakthrough via self-publishing and how his success there led to traditional publishers bidding to try and get the rights to his novels. We also talked about how he juggles being a farmer with his writing, why publishers always say they want something new, even if that's not always the case, and hear about his latest book, All That Lives. On top of that, we talk about his love of comics and what he has planned in the future.

Links:

Buy All That Lives and James's other books now

Visit James's website

Follow James on Twitter

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Twitter: @ukPageOne

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