As we start 2025's run of shows, we thought we'd catch up with one of UK crime fiction's biggest champions, Donna Morfett, who returns to the show for the third time. Donna is a prolific blogger, the founder of The Dark Side of Brighton weekend crime festival, and an author in her own right. In recent weeks though, she's revealed how she's become embroiled in a dispute with a well-known fiction editor who she offered to help by lending her PayPal account. The act, made in good faith, left Donna owing a debt recovery company £1000. Encouraged by many members of the UK Crime Fiction community, Donna launched a Go Fund Me campaign and raised enough money to cover the debt in less than three days. As she tells us, the generosity of the donors has been extraordinary, and she remains determined to ensure that others don't face the issues she has.

Also this week, we pay tribute to former guest Amer Anwar (episode 118) who very sadly passed away this week. And we ask, will the potential sale of the WH Smith UK high shops change the publishing landscape?

Donna Morfett - Author

Select tickets – The Darkside of Brighton 2025 – Old Ship Hotel

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As we return for 2025, the new year has already proved one thing - nothing in publishing ever stands still. It's an industry that is constantly evolving and adapting and facing new challenges. Our guest this week, author and editor Joel Hames, in many ways reflects this. As he tells us, when he released his first novel in 2014 he assumed the world would be ready to embrace it. Now, as an editor of dozens of books and a much more experienced author, he views his craft very differently. It's his close working relationship with bestselling author Rachel McLean that has made the biggest difference, Joel says. The fifth novel in their co-authored Cumbria Crime Series, The Lake, is released this week. With three books scheduled to be released each year, with reader magnets in between, Joel has had to become far more prolific and adapt his craft. In this fascinating interview he shares how he's adapted and changed as an author over the past decade.

Also this week, does the brief TikTok shutdown in the U.S herald more upheaval in the marketing sphere, and we discuss the issues facing innovative crowd-sourced publisher, Unbound.

Joel Hames – Author – Books that make you want to read

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lake-Cumbria-Crime-Book-ebook/dp/B0DGYN1DFT

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We're delighted to be joined this week by crime author Claire Sheldon, author of the Jen Garner series. Published by Choc Lit, an imprint of Joffe Books, Claire has laced her main character's life with a host of secrets and contradictions that threaten her perfect life. With four books published to date, the series offers a mix of psychological fiction and police procedural, and has built a loyal fan base.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca ask if The Bookseller's attempt to rank commissioning editors using data science misses the whole point and art of discovering new talent, and they reflect on another busy year as we approach Christmas. NOTE - The Hobcast Book Show will return in the New Year.

Claire Sheldon - Author | Facebook

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Lie-addictive-thriller-Detective-ebook/dp/B0DJDG4L1F

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We've delved into poetry on a few rare occasions on The Hobcast Book Show, so it feels right we explore it again with our guest, Maria Cohut. Maria's most recent published collection is Spatter Pattern, in which she takes inspiration from her love of classic crime fiction to give her poetry a narrative theme and power. As Maria tells us, she wants to explore challenging themes, particularly around gender-related violence, and leaning into crime fiction themes and metaphors gave her greater freedom creatively. This is a fascinating and thought-provoking interview.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca react to the news that next year's Crimefest will be the last, and ask with that platform gone, how will up-and-coming crime authors get their voices heard?

Maria Cohut (@mariac_phd) • Instagram photos and videos

Spatter Pattern - Maria Cohut

CrimeFest - Bristol's Annual Crime Fiction Convention

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We're delighted to be joined this week by multi-award winning author and screenwriter Georgia Jeffries from her home in Pasadena, California. Georgia's career in Hollywood began in the early 80s when she was invited to join the team behind a new cop drama, Cagney and Lacey, after she sent in a script on spec. With countless Writers Guild Awards and Golden Globes to her name, Georgia has recently released her most personal project to date - The Younger Girl - a historical thriller based on the tragedy that befell her aunt Aldine Younger in 1933 just outside Chicago. Georgia explains how the novel emerged from a journey that she and her father took shortly before he died to uncover the true story of Aldine's fate. Now a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Georgia explains how she has drawn on her extensive career in TV and film to bring this family story to life.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca discuss the claim by new publishing startup Spines they'll be able to publish 8000 books next year by leaning heavily into AI publishing technology. Is it a threat to the existing publishing model, or is it vanity publishing in a different guise?

About | Author Georgia Jeffries

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Younger-Girl-Historical-Thriller-Based-ebook/dp/B0DFRC4YD3

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The great American novelist, Sinclair Lewis, was once asked by another writer how to approach flashbacks in fiction. The answer was simple and blunt. "Don't." So what do you do if your story demands time jumps? How do you deal with the complex narrative threads and keep your readers on board? It's one of the issues that our guest, Ben Hawken, faced with his debut novel Chandelier. His solution came in his editing process. He revised his manuscript repeatedly and read it out loud to spot any inconsistencies or issues. Ben says he hopes the result is a thrilling and expansive story, "both breathtaking in its scope and intensely intimate in its approach." This is a fascinating interview delving deep into how Ben realised his ambitious vision for the novel.

Also this week, we ask if Elon Musk's reach and power is really scaring publishers off from releasing biographies of him, and we delve into the new phenomenon of low-cost re-releases of classic works that have gone out of copyright. Is it really ok to add AI generated analysis of Dickens in the preface and call it scholarship?

https://www.benhawken.com/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chandelier-Ben-Hawken-ebook/dp/B0DFP6R3B8

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We've done it! 200 episodes of The Hobcast Book Show! To celebrate this landmark, we're joined by bestselling crime author Michael Wood, creator of the DCI Matilda Darke series. His twelfth novel in the series, Last One Left Alive, was published by Harper Collins imprint One More Chapter last month. In this fascinating interview, Michael explains how he moved from being an avowed crime fiction fan to successful author, and his secrets for keeping the novels fresh and inventive, as well as taking his principal character into unexplored challenges and difficulties. He also shares with us the challenges he's faced creating a new psychological thriller series, starring Dr Olivia Winter.

Also this week. we discuss the implications of a major takeover in the UK crime fiction publishing scene, and we're delighted to hear that 50 year old book tokens can still be used to buy books!

Amazon.co.uk: Michael Wood: books, biography, latest update

DCI Matilda Darke (13 book series) Kindle edition

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CV4YPDST

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Never has "truth" been under greater scrutiny than in the past months leading up to Donald Trump's re-election to the Presidency last week. It seems that every side of every debate claims to be speaking the truth, and accuses their opponents of spreading disinformation or downright lying. No matter what the issue, not everyone can be right, can they? So how do you discern what you can believe and what you can't. Our guest this week, Lindley Gooden, has written The Future of Truth: And How to Get There. Drawing on his many years as a journalist, Lindley offers some tips and techniques anyone can apply to check the veracity of what they read, are told and what they see. As Lindley tells us, these techniques have never been more needed.

Also this week, we discuss why Jamie Oliver has been forced to withdraw his latest children's book from sale worldwide, and we run through the shortlist for the world's weirdest book titles this year.

Lindley Gooden

The Future of Truth (and How to Get There)

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Every so often an interview will take a truly unexpected direction. That's the case this week as we speak to prolific author Gillian Jackson in her first ever podcast appearance. Gillian principally writes psychological fiction, which to some extent draws on her professional experiences as a therapeutic counsellor working with Victim Support. But as she reveals in this startling interview, she also draws on some difficult experiences of her own. He most recent novel, Ask Laura, marks a departure for Gillian into women's fiction, but all her work is imbued with humanity and empathy.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca discuss the results of the Written Word Media Survey of independent authors which reveals a growing antipathy towards paid advertising platforms like Facebook and Amazon Ads. So what's the alternative?

Gillian Jackson – Fiction, Non-fiction and Short Stories

https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2024-indie-author-survey-results-insights-into-self-publishing-for-authors/

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We're delighted to be speaking to Hobeck Books author Tony Gartland, writing as AJ Aberford, in this episode, to mark the release of The Car Horn Revolution - the sixth and potentially final novel in the George Zammit series. It's perhaps the most personal adventure for our accidental Maltese police hero, as the book is set firmly in Malta, and his whole family face danger as geopolitical intrigue and outside forces threaten the island. It's been a remarkable journey for author and character alike - originally Tony wrote Bodies in the Water as a standalone thriller, but three years and five books further, George has risen through the ranks of the Maltese police. We discuss the cultural impact that George has made on Malta, and Tony also shares plans for a change of direction in his writing career.

Also this week, will a letter signed by over ten thousand famous creators really make the AI companies pause for thought? And we hear how Bob Dylan lost sleep thanks to the night time antics of hordes of publishers.

Home | AJ Aberford

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Car-Horn-Revolution-action-packed-Inspector-ebook/dp/B0DDHSWZKL

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