The Hidden Lives of Writers

The massively popular author of 'A Year in the Wild' and most recently 'Return to the Wild' James Hendry joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to explain why the first suggestion that pops up when you Google his name happens to be, "is James Hendry married?".

James takes us through his evolution as a writer of strong female characters and

credits several ex-girlfriends for helping to mature his ability to write complex women. He tells Fiona that wildlife novels that preach a strong conservation message are destined to languish unread, and stresses the importance of emphasising story and humour.

James explains to Gail the difference between rangers and guides and describes

how he ended up creating a series of YouTube wildlife videos during Covid. He also accidentally turned his art into a highly successful merchandise store.

James' dry and self-deprecating humour shines through in this delightful interview

that emphasizes the many different ways to monetise one’s creativity.

Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Join the conversation on our socials or send us a mail [email protected] Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here

2020 Goethe Medalist and 2023 Einstein Forum Fellow, Zukiswa Wanner, joins Fiona

Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about her roles as a writer, publisher, curator, and speaker. Zukiswa describes how she often walks around with an idea in her mind for a long time before finally sitting down and producing a first draft at speed – frequently writing many thousands of words a day. She describes mining a shebeen in Thembisa for inspiration for a character in her forthcoming novel.

Zukiswa takes us all the way back to her first novel, The Madams, and spills the news

that it is currently being translated into Portuguese for the Angolan, Mozambican, and Brazilian markets. Fiona tells Zuki that she has always regarded her as a super-connecter, especially across the African continent, and they reminisce about the early days of their careers.

Gail and Zukiswa discuss how to raise good men in the current era of toxic masculinity and how Zuki’s book Men of the South was prophetic in many ways.

Zukiswa describes how she came to curate the Artistic Encounters exhibition in

Zurich, as well as the Afrolit online literary festivals. After the interview, Fiona and Gail are inspired to try to get their work into African countries, rather than just the Anglo-American markets.

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Award-winning author, Yewande Omotoso, joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she has recently got back into writing now that her twins are two-and-a-half years old. She talks about guarding her precious Fridays because that is the time she has to devote to writing.

Yewande wonders whether writing emerges from having an idea or an idea emerges from the act of writing. She talks about how Bom Boy arose from her fascination with characters who exist on the margins of society.

A trained architect, Yewande tells us about layering multiple versions of a manuscript over each other - like working with tracing paper, until the final form emerges. 

Fiona talks about turning a surprise ending into a sequel, and Gail discusses how to get over the doubt that tends to strike at the 15,000-word mark.

The ladies agree that keeping a running record of your ideas is a good way to slot back into writing when you finally have the time.

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Pamela Power is a television scriptwriter and script editor currently working on several South African TV shows. She is the author or co-author of four well-received novels and the sober-curious memoir My Year of Not Getting Sh*tfaced.

Pam joins fellow authors Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how she got her start in television and what the path might look like for a young person who wanted to pursue a career in writing for the small screen.

Fiona tells Pam that she has never forgotten a masterclass she once gave on using cliffhangers to build tension in one's writing and how soap operas have a lot to teach us as writers.

Gail coaxes Pam to describe the process of a busy script editor working on several projects at once and how one has to become an expert in troubleshooting.

Pam and Gail reminisce about their time as co-authors of the novel Chasing Marian.

Pam describes the experiences that led her to write her sober-curious memoir.

Gail talks us through her experiments with large language model AIs after interviewing Gus Silber.

Fiona recommends White Lotus as an excellent example of storytelling, and Gail tells us about putting on her big-girl panties to read Celeste Ng.

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South Africa's favourite non-fiction writer Gus Silber joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about his distinguished career as a journalist, columnist, reviewer, screenwriter, and speechwriter.

Gus takes us all the way back to his earliest days as a reporter for a local newspaper in Krugersdorp and talks about how that was the best possible training for a journalist. He shares advice for anyone wanting to embark on a career in the media and discusses whether its better to be a generalist or a specialist.

Fiona and Gus reminisce about the old days of Style magazine and how Gus gave Fiona a piece of writing advice that she remembers to this day. Gail tells us why she refuses to write a bad review of South African fiction, and she and Gus wonder whether it is possible to have a robust culture of reviewing in South Africa.

Fiona and Gail ask Gus why recent developments in AI have proved to be so triggering for writers and artists alike, and why experimenting with the chatbots felt, for Gus, like listening to the Beatles for the first time.

We know you will be inspired and energized by Gus's tech utopianism.

Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Join the conversation on our socials. Follow Gus Silber on Twitter · Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here

Multi-award-winning and much-translated writer Niq Mhlongo is in the studio to talk about his long and varied career. He describes how he got his start as a writer by flunking out of law school and how his early novels foreshadowed the Fees Must Fall movement.

Niq tells us what to do when a character refuses to die and how his inspiration comes from living close to a popular shebeen in Soweto. Niq and Gail break down how they know whether a new idea needs to be a novel or a short story. Niq describes how he once refused to change a book to make it more 'accessible' to an overseas audience and has never regretted that decision.

Gail talks about the process of brewing a new book, while Fiona puts her latest book to bed by checking the page proofs. Gail has been reading 'We Want Impossible Things' by Catherine Newman and speculates whether it is possible to write a book in which all the characters are nice. Fiona listens to a podcast interview with 51-year-old world champion surfer Kelly Slater and wonders whether age really is just a number.

Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you! Join the conversation on our socials. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here

Acclaimed and award-winning author Sue Nyathi joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how life has gone since she left the corporate world to become a full-time writer. Spoiler alert – it's gone really well!

Sue breaks down how she got started as a writer, going back to the early days when her handwritten books were passed around the class in her Bulawayo high school. Sue admits that she writes two kinds of books – fun and scandalous vs deep and literary. Listen in to find out how her fans react to this dichotomy.

Fiona and Gail ask Sue about her new masterwork An Angel’s Demise, which Gail was afraid to read. Fiona explains why one of the characters gives her actual goosebumps, and not the nice kind.

Gail explains the meaning behind the term ‘structural edits’, and Fiona talks about the

‘flashlight method’ of constructing a novel. Fiona recommends the book The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, while Gail talks about her love for the show The Santa Clarita Diet with Drew Barrymore.

Since this episode was recorded, An Angel’s Demise was awarded the prestigious NIHSS Humanities Award for Best Fiction: Novel. Congratulations, Sue!

Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you. Join the conversation on our socials. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here

Fiona and Gail are joined by the brilliant and hilarious Angela Makholwa, author of Critical, But Stable, The Blessed Girl, Black Widow Society, and more. Angela tells us about her close encounters with serial killer Moses Sithole and how she needed a break from the darkness after Red Ink came out. Fiona and Angela talk about how turning thirty hits differently when you're a woman, and Gail asks Angela to describe her writing process (hint: it involves luxury hotels and tow-thousand word days).

Angela spills the beans on what changes she had to make to The Blessed Girl when it was published in the UK, and what it was like to be shortlisted for a major comedy award. The ladies talk about Bontle as a strong character in charge of her own destiny but agree that they wouldn't want their daughters going down the blessed girl route.

Angela gives some delicious details about her upcoming book. It's going to be a thriller and not to be missed!

Fiona tells Gail about her favourite time of the day to get writing done and Gail suggests ways of not getting distracted by social media. They discuss the awesome new midlife podcast The Shift with Sam Baker and why Fiona was epically unimpressed with Hugh Grant in the romantic comedy Two Weeks' Notice.

Angela tells us why she finds Bill Bryson's The Body so helpful as a writer, and recommends Save the Cat by Blake Snyder to Gail.

Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you. Join the conversation on socials! Angela on Instagram · More about Angela Makholwa · Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here

Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel are working writers - and their favourite people are writers. Join them as they dive deep into HOW and WHY successful writers write. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube · Join our newsletter · Ask your writing-related questions here