The Hobcast Book Show

We're constantly drawing inspiration from history here on The Hobcast Book Show, and the same is true for our guest this week, U.S author Mary Kendall. As Mary explains, it was whilst delving into her own family history that she discovered the real life events that inspired her debut novel, the The Spinster's Fortune. Set in Washington D.C, Mary draws on her experiences growing up in the city to bring the setting to life, but she still had to embark of months of research to ensure she captured the events of 1929 correctly.

Also this week, we celebrate another major award nomination for a Hobeck author, and we ask why so many universities are suddenly launching Masters degrees in publishing? 

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The Hobcast Book Show has been on its travels again, this time to the charming Suffolk coastal town of Southwold for its annual crime-writing festival, Slaughter in Southwold. It brought together a host of crime fiction fans and heard from eight leading writers, including our own Hobeck author Lin Le Versha, whose Steph Grant mystery series is largely set in the town. As we hear in this special episode, Lin was joined on stage by Adrian to share insights about writing her novels Blood Notes and Blood Lines. We also hear from two of the most successful UK crime authors, Cara Hunter and William Shaw.

Cara moved from working in the City of London, via PR, to finally a hugely successful novelist. Her DI Adam Fawley series is set in Oxford, but as she explains, she tends to avoid using the university as a setting for her books, preferring to reflect the wider city.

William Shaw has been shortlisted for this year's Golden Dagger at the CWA Dagger Awards, one of the highest honours in UK crime fiction writing for his novel The Trawlerman. He lives in Brighton, UK, and sets many of his books in the unique coastal community of Dungeness in Kent, with it's other-worldly setting that inspired the work of the late film director, Derek Jarman. William began his writing career in the febrile world of pop magazines in the 80s, and frequently spiced up his interviews with the era's biggest stars by asking: "Have you ever seen a dead body?" His fascination with death on the human psyche shines through in his work, and his brilliant talk at the festival.

Settle back for our special from the wonderful Slaughter in Southwold, featuring of course not one, but two amazing examples of Rebecca's random questions.

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100 million copies sold. Two Tom Cruise movies and a wildly successful Amazon Prime TV series. Jack Reacher is one of those fictional characters that everyone has heard about. So what's it like to take responsibility for the future of the character? Our guest this week Andrew Child has done just that, taking over from his brother Lee to write Reacher's 26th adventure, Better Off Dead. The brothers collaborated on the direction of the novel, but as Andrew explains to us, he's now responsible for the words on the page. It's a far-ranging and fascinating interview.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca reflect on more upheaval in UK publishing with the announcement that the Costa Book Award is coming to an end, and the call from a former head of Blackwells for publishers to finally have an honest conversation with retailers about the price of books in the UK given the huge rise in production costs in recent months.

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When it comes to cultural significance, the city of Kingston upon Hull is often overlooked in favour of the likes of London, Edinburgh, Liverpool or Manchester. But that's unfair for a city that was the home of poet Phillip Larkin, David Bowie's most famous backing band The Spiders from Mars, and the setting for Ted Lewis's seminal crime novel Jack's Return Home which was adapted to become Get Carter starring Michael Caine. That reputation changed when Hull became the UK's City of Culture in 2017, attracting an estimated five million visitors. Our guest this week, Nick Quantrill, harnessed the buzz to co-create the Hull Noir crime-writing festival. He's the author of four novels featuring private investigator Joe Geraghty, and has enjoyed spells as a writer-in-residence at a leading rugby league club and the National Railway Museum in York. It's a fascinating interview.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca congratulate former Hobcast guest Ian Rankin on his knighthood, and we ask - just why are male readers reluctant to read books by female authors? 

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There's very little more satisfying in publishing than bringing a great new talent and their debut crime novel to print. We loved Jonathan Peace's submission to Hobeck Books, and we're delighted to be releasing Dirty Little Secret this week. Set in 1987, it's set in Jonathan's home town of Ossett in West Yorkshire, and features WDC Louise Miller, who not only faces a tough investigation into the death of a young girl, but also the challenges of small-town small-mindedness and misogyny from her male colleagues. It's a brilliant debut for a series which will continue with From Sorrow's Hold in July this year. We went to meet Jonathan at his local pub near Nottingham.

Also this week we hear from another Hobeck author, Harry Fisher about his latest novel Yes, I Killed Her, and we discuss the big winners at the National Book Awards this week.

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What do readers want? That's the question we ask ourselves every day at Hobeck Books. The truth is, that changes all the time, but there's no doubt that if a writer can connect emotionally with a reader, you're going to find plenty of readers. Our guest this week, Caron McKinlay published her first novel The Storytellers this week, and already the feedback has been overwhelming, with many readers saying they've been moved to tears by her tale of three women recalling their lives and debating if any of them have experienced real love. Caron draws heavily from her own experiences and those of her family and friends. It's a powerful book, and a great interview.

Also this week, Rebecca reveals her shock at her alma mater, The University of Wolverhampton cutting Fine Art from their prospectus, and Adrian discusses the latest data showing E-book sales have dropped dramatically in the past year in the UK.

And as promised, you can book tickets to meet Hobeck author Malcolm Hollingdrake at an event in Wigan on June 11th 2022 - tickets available from https://www.theoldcourts.com/shows/crime-at-the-old-courts-meet-the-authors/

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Who doesn't enjoy a good festival? The UK crime season is in full swing, and we took The Hobcast Bookshow to Bristol this week for Crimefest '22 - back for the first time in three years following the pandemic. In this special edition of the podcast, we bring you some of the highlights of the event, including an in depth interview with one of the UK's most successful crime writers, Ann Cleeves, best known for her Shetland series that has been adapted for TV as Vera starring Brenda Blethyn.

We also bring you a little taste of our conversation with Andrew Child, who has famously stepped in to fill his brother Lee's boots to continue writing the incredibly successful Jack Reacher series of thrillers. We'll bring that full interview at a later date. And we also had the chance to gather together around a third of our own Hobeck Books author roster at Crimefest, which again proved why it's one of the best crime writing festivals anywhere in the world.

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Some members of the indie publishing community might treat it as a dirty word, but "selling" is all part of the job. Nicola Cook, writing fiction as Isabella Wiles, is one of the most sought after motivational speakers in the UK on the subject of selling and developing great sales teams. She's also the author of two worldwide non-fiction bestsellers, so she felt her next challenge was writing fiction. Following a trip to London Book Fair in 2019 where she met some of the leading lights in the UK indie fiction community, she decided to pursue that dream, and has released a trilogy of modern women's fiction novels, The Three Great Loves of Victoria Turnbull series. As Nicola tells us, the key to success in business is holding your nerve long enough to reap the rewards.

Also this week we hear from Lin Le Versha as she releases her second Hobeck novel Blood Lines, and Adrian and Rebecca look ahead to their trip to Crime Fest in Bristol next week.

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The 2022 UK literary festival season is upon us, and The Hobcast Book Show will be bringing you highlights from all the key crime focused events like Harrogate, Crime Fest and Bloody Scotland. But this week we hit the road to take the stage with actor and Hobeck author Robert Daws at the inaugural Royal Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival in Kent. This week we bring you the Q + A with Bob, chaired by Adrian.

Also this week, we digest the impact of Amazon's first quarterly loss since 2015 and ask, is the party over for the world's biggest online retailer?

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Is there anything more mysterious in publishing than the world of the literary agent? There can't be many aspiring authors who haven't asked themselves - 'how do I get an agent?' There are copious 'how to' guides out there offering advice on how to secure representation, but how relevant is that advice? Euan Thorneycroft is a senior agent with A M Heath, a London-based agency established for more than 100 years. In this revealing and fascinating interview, Euan tells The Hobcast Book Show how he began in the business, how it's changed over the years, and how he deals with the never-ending tide of submissions he and his colleagues receive every week. He also explains the do's and don'ts of submitting your manuscript, and what he's looking for in a potential client and project.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca celebrate two Hobeck authors being long-listed for this year's CWA Daggers - congratulations to Mark Wightman and Antony Dunford.

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