This episode is a conversation with award winning science fiction and alternative reality author Gareth L Powell. We talk about how maturing as a writer and a person can inform our work, Gareth’s advice for developing authentic and rich characters, and the inspiration behind his new book Embers of War. Gareth can be reached at his website www.garethlpowell.com and on twitter at @garethlpowell

This episode is a conversation with book coach Jennie Nash. We learn about the difference between wishing you had written a book and actually writing one, the three essential pillars of effective book coaching, and how to work out what your story is really about. Don't just have a good idea, write the book! Jennie can be reached at jennienash.com and authoraccelerator.com/blueprintworkshop

In this episode we explore the unavoidable truth that writing is really hard work. We look at why that is the case and think about ways to acknowledge this truth, and keep writing anyway. We learn the one fundamental truth about writing that everyone from the most obscure writer to the likes of Stephen King will tell you, and we identify three 'tools' for the toolbelt to help us keep going with our writing even when it's tough going.

Want to know how to query an agent? I do, so I decided to talk to talk to one of the best agents in the business right now; someone with international clients, and experience of selling book, TV, and film rights. This episode is a wide-ranging conversation with Juliet Mushens of CaskieMushens literary agency in which we talk about how to approach an agent, what to put in the query letter, and what in a single sentence, the agent is really looking for.

This episode is a spirited and warm conversation with two authors, Jon Wallace and Antonia Honeywell. In this conversation my guests talk about strategies for approaching an agent, decoding responses to submitted work, and what makes a writer, enjoy!

Fake news, and false information generally, are hot topics in the media at the moment. Fake news might offend us personally, but there's also a very good reason for us as writers to identify and avoid it. In this episode we look at fake news and some of its associated phenomena, like click bait, with insights from the International Federation of Library Associations and institutions. Their publication that I reference can be found here: https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174

What can genre writers learn from literary fiction? In this episode we tiptoe across the (false) divide between literary and genre fiction and look at how the best literary fiction can inspire us to create characters with subtle and complex emotions, and settings that are evocative of detail, mood, and emotion. We look at description from the general to the specific and see how an aspect of setting can be used as a metaphor for theme and moral.

This episode is an interview with Jeff Leisawitz (jeffleisawitz.com). Jeff is an award-winning musician/ producer, a critically acclaimed author and internationally distributed filmmaker. In this interview we talk about the healing power of creating something, why creativity is not a luxury item, and Jeff's online creativity workshops where he goes deep with the creative process. You can find out more about these workshops at http://jeffleisawitz.com/nfa-for-screenwrtiers-and-storytellers/

This episode's guest will need no introduction for many of you. Jeff Goins is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur, and the host and organiser of the annual Tribe conference. In this conversation Jeff gives honest, sometimes poignant answers to my hard questions. Also in this episode - The Creative Writer's Toolbelt Handbook is out! Find it at Amazon and www.andrewjchamberlain.com

This episode focuses on the just published Creative Writer's Toolbelt Handbook. Condensing all of the best advice and insight from three and a half years of podcasting over 100 episodes, and with over twenty different writers editors and artists as guests, the Handbook gives you the practical advice you need to be a better writer and produce great work. Also in this episode we feature The Writer's Jump-start conference from Equipped to Write (www.equippedtowrite.co.uk) where I will be speaking with the writer and coach Wendy H Jones. CWT listeners get a 10% discount on the cost of the conference - use the code E2WTEN in the coupon section of the box office page.