Sarah Penner’s debut novel The Lost Apothecary shot to the top of the New York Times best seller lists in its first week, and overnight became one of the most anticipated books of 2021, with everyone from CNN to Oprah giving it favorable mentions. Her lead character, Nella, is a skilled healer who uses poison for dark purposes.br /

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Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in Binge Reading today Sarah talks about writing a book that stands out from all the others, how Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic got her started, and the challenges of making a female serial killer a sympathetic lead.br /

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Support Binge Reading on Patreon for as little as a cup of coffee a month and receive regular exclusive bonus content on featured authors and the making of the podcast.br /

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Bonuses include regular weekly Getting To Know You Five Quickfire Questions with authors including Sarah, giving a fund candid snapshot of their likes and dislikes, as well as an exclusive monthly Behind the Scenes newsletter giving previews of upcoming books.br /

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You can join and get this bonus content and having the satisfaction of knowing you are helping pay some of the hosting and production costs for the show. The time I give to the show in sourcing guests and researching their books is still free. Become a Patreon supporter today by going to https://www.patreon.com/thejoysofbingereading/br /

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SUPPORT BINGE READING ON PATREONbr /

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Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

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Sarah's key to writing a best seller while working fulltimeLooking for things not done beforeExploring ambiguity in fictionThe role Elizabeth Gilbert played in Sarah's creative lifeThe real life Roman poisonerWhere to find Sarah onlinebr /

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Where to find Sarah Penner: br /

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_penner_author/br /

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahPennerAuthor/br /

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/sl_pennerbr /

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53288434-the-lost- apothecarybr /

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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/sarahpennerbr /

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 YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsKcEnxV6GS0C0XQL-te9xAbr /

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What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

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But now, here’s Sarah.Jenny Wheeler: Hello there, Sarah and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.br /

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Sarah Penner: Thank you so much, Jenny, for having me. I'm thrilled to be here talking with you today.br /

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Introducing author Sarah Pennerbr /

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Jenny Wheeler: The Lost Apothecary has had remarkable success as a debut novel, and it's surprising in one sense in that your protagonist is not necessarily a person people might automatically warm to, because she's a female serial killer. Did you feel you were taking a risk by choosing this sort of central character?br /

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Sarah Penner authorbr /

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Sarah Penner: You make a good point. When I began writing the story, I knew that I wanted Nella the apothecary to be somewhat morally gray. br /

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The book opens with her in her hidden apothecary shop and it's very dark and has a sinister feeling, and the reader quickly learns on page one that the apothecary is pulling together a poison. She's planning to poison someone for the purpose of killing them.br /

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I knew from the very early pages of the book that I was going to have to help the reader understand why she was doing this, and also show a softer side to the apothecary.