Shelf Healing

The wonderful Elise Valmorbida joins me this week to talk all about her new book The Happy Writing Book and the positive power of creative writing for our mental wellbeing.

We chat Lord of the Rings, Flaubert, Shakespeare, philosophy and more in this fun and informative episode that winds its way through the worlds of creative writing.

Elise's website
The Happy Writing Book by Elise Valmorbida

Things mentioned in the episode:
Virginia Woolf
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Why I Write by George Orwell
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida
The Happy Writing Book by Elise Valmorbida
Discourses of Epictetus by Epictetus
Epicurus
Joan Didion
The TV President by Elise Valmorbida
Shakespeare
Samuel Becket
TS Elliot
Toni Morrison
Michael Ondaatje
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
How to Change the World by John-Paul Flintoff

We welcome Gyles back to the Shelf Healing podcast, this time to talk all about his new Memoir Odd Boy Out and how he found writing memoir. We talk about how he chose what to write in his memoir, and how different it is to writing any other type of book, especially for someone who has written prolifically and many biographies.

Gyles also talks about the relationships between sons and fathers, why diary writing is important, and how he's crammed as much wisdom and gossip as possible in his new book!

Also a big shoutout to libraries!

Find Gyles on Twitter
Find Gyles' new book Odd Boy Out here

This week I chat with Associate Publisher for Angry Robot, Eleanor Teasdale, all about her comfort reads, what books she chooses for the Angry Robot list, how she rereads outside of the genre she works in for a solid mind reset, and Angry Robot's passion and promotion of diverse fiction. We also talk about how she named her cat (and how I named mine!).

Eleanor's Twitter
Angry Robot's website
Angry Robot's Twitter

Things mentioned in the episode:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Old Kingdom series (Sabriel & Lirael mentioned) by Garth Nix
Broken Harbour by Tana French
Just William Audiobooks
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Marc Gascoigne
Midsommar (film)
Get Out (film)
Gemma Amor
The Cabinet by Un-Su Kim
Tower by Bae Myung-hoon published by Honford Star
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
Educated by Tara Westover

I chat with the lovely Lisa Edwards, former publisher, now author and yoga teacher, all about her memoir Cheat, Play, Live and her thoughts on the theraprutic effects of reading and writing. We have a wonderful dive into travel writing too.

Links to Lisa's book
Link to Lisa's blog Because I Can
Link to Lisa's Twitter

Things mentioned in the podcast:
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Paul Theroux
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

TW: Horror and gore

Horror writer extraordinaire Cassandra Khaw joins me on the podcast this week chatting all about researching for their visceral horror writing, the impact and inclusion of Malaysian mythos and folklore in their work, and how the pandemic has affected not only their daily life, but also their writing. We chat about how horror can be a comforting experience for the reader and how the writing process can be cathartic. Also haggis and the boob ghost Hantu Tetek.

Cassandra has two new books coming out this year which are linked below.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth available 17th October
The All-Consuming World available 21st September 2021
Cassandra's website
Cassandra's Twitter

Things mentioned in the episode:
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Rupert Wong: Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw
Butcher Bird by Richard Kadrey
Sophie Kinsella
Frances Hardinge
Holly Black
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Bloodtide by Melvyn Burgess
Travelogues: Vignettes from Trains in Motion by Kathleen Jennings
Saint Death's Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney
Desdemona and the Deep by C. S. E. Cooney
These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw (link to audio)
Don't Turn On The Lights by Cassandra Khaw (link to audio)

I chat with the marvellous Professor Gloria Mark and Tyler Shores all about the idea of digital wellbeing. We take a dive into the world of digital shorthand, how emotions can be contagious over digital media and the effects that task switching has on the brain. Tyler chats about how multitasking and busyness can be seen as a sort of badge of honour and why that is problematic, and we end up with a fun discussion on the value of boredom and what we all do with our browser tabs.

Gloria's website
Tyler's website

Things mentioned in the episode:
The Zeigarnik Effect (handy little article on this)
Browser tab parking (handy little study)
BBC values based wellbeing framework
The Now Habit by Neil Fiore
Tabs by Ohm-I

I conclude my chat with Daniel about comics and we chat and laugh about tie-ins, keeping fans on side, character design, the brilliant rise of creator owned IP, and the expressive art found in comics. This episode has plenty of laughs, me chatting horses in comics, and Daniel struggling to pick his favourite IP.

Things mentioned in the episode:
Deadpool
Black Widow
Rob Liefeld
Louise Simonson
Paper Girls
Miss Marvel
Marvel Assembly - Preeti Chibber
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
The Inhumans
Marvel Knights
BlackSad
Blade Runner
Snowpiercer
Thor
The Avengers
The Walking Dead
The Flash
Flashpoint
Wolverine
Dr Strange
Savage Avengers
Batman
The Joker
The Riddler
Catwoman
Jim Lee
Frank Miller
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
Dune
Shirow Masamune
Ghost in the Shell
Kieran Gillan's The Wicked and the Divine

I chat with fabulous publisher and author Jordi Nadal all about bibliotherapy and his new book, Book Therapy. Jordi is incredibly eloquent on the subject and if you aren't quite sure what bibliotherapy is this really does strike right at its core. A beautiful, thoughtful episode I hope you love as much as I do.

Jordi's new book, Book Therapy

Authors and books mentioned in the episode:
F Scott Fitzgerald
James Salter
Elena Ferrante
The First Man by Albert Camus
Man in the Search of Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Chekhov
Natalia Ginzburg
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Octavio Paz
Groucho Marx
Virginia Woolf

I chat with Dr Daniel Boswell about comics research, the way comics can help learn new languages, how they are therapeutic, and how different styles mean that pretty much everyone is covered if they would like a comfort comic book!

Mentioned in this episode are:
Tintin
Asterix and Obelix
2000AD
Superman
X-Men
Alan Moore
Garth Ennis
Patrick Zircher
Inkblot
Jimmy Palmiotti
Archie

In this second part of my interview with Liam we go into detail about Liam's struggles with mental health, how writing and reading helped him and how carefully he worked on Wonder Woman knowing how important a character she is to so many people.
We also chat about the huge success of Liam's kickstarter campaign and how unexpected and life changing it will be for him. To have readers so visibly show their love and support has been incredible.

Liam's website
Liam's Twitter

More comics and creators mentioned here!
Wonder Woman
Greg Rucka
Arkham Asylum
Dave McKean