The Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis

I’ve wanted to interview Sarra Manning since I started this podcast - for many reasons. She’s a fab writer, a huge supporter of other authors, has tonnes of brilliant writing and publishing advice (seriously, this episode features some of the most original, no-nonsense and practical tips I’ve ever had). But also: she was the brains behind J-17’s legendary Diary of a Crush. Growing up in South Africa, I was given a subscription to the seminal, feisty, feminist teen mag and I can honestly say that I don’t think I’d have been a journalist if it wasn’t for that. I was obsessed - and I loved the Diary of a Crush column and novellas. Anyway, that was a long time ago, and Sarra has had a hugely successful career in both magazines and books since then. Currently the literary editor of Red magazine, she has written over twenty five novels, both YA and adult - including, most recently, the absolutely charming rom com Rescue Me. I hope you find her as inspiring and wise as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/rescue-me/sarra-manning/9781529336542

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Lockdown and drinking go together like wine and cheese...or do they? Given the unusual situation we find ourselves in, perhaps it’s not surprising that booze sales have rocketed. However Millie Gooch knows the problems with using alcohol as a coping mechanism only too well. After finding that her binge drinking was leaving her poleaxed by anxiety she gave it up, and started the Sober Girl Society, an online community of other teetotal women. I loved talking to her about that - as well as how she managed to write a book in lockdown, sober dating, peer pressure, anxiety management and more. She has some really great, practical advice - I hope you find it as interesting (and useful) as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-sober-girl-society-handbook/millie-gooch/9781787634121

Edited by Chelsey Moore

Brita Fernandez Schmidt is a phenomenon. The Executive Director of Women for Women International UK, she has spent her adult life fighting for women’s rights around the world. The charity specialises in working with women in conflict zones, offering a year-long training programme to build support networks and develop skills that will help earn money. Naturally, the pandemic has affected Women for Women International’s fund-raising techniques, and massively complicated their fieldwork. I’m so grateful to Brita for telling me about the issues they face, how people can help, and how they have adapted - as well as about her new book, Fears to Fierce, which recounts her experiences working in the human rights sector, how she deals with the emotional fallout of her job - and offers advice for professional women across the board.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/fears-to-fierce/brita-fernandez-schmidt/gillian-anderson/9781846046513

More information: https://womenforwomen.org.uk/

Edited by Chelsey Moore

This is not a Valentine's special - but it is a love story, in its own way. Or at least, a story of how someone left behind the hate they'd grown up with. Ok, this is all getting a bit cryptic, so let me explain: Megan Phelps-Roper is a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church. Growing up in Kansas, she lived in a compound with other members and took part in their notorious protests - including those against homosexuality, and including picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then something changed. After joining Twitter, others began engaging her in conversations that cast doubt on her beliefs and she slowly started to question everything she had grown up thinking to be true. In 2012, she left the church and became a vocal critic of it. Eventually, one of those early Twitter interventionists became her husband. Her memoir Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope, leaving the Westboro Baptist Church, documents her incredible journey - and as you imagine, I found her utterly fascinating to speak to.

A bidding war, a screen adaptation by the director who made “Chernobyl” - and now, a place on the bestseller lists. What a whirlwind few months it has been for Abigail Dean and her debut novel, Girl A, which documents the aftermath of the horrific abuse the narrator, Lex (aka ‘Girl A’) endured at the hand of her father. Obviously, I was thrilled to interview her - the book is unbelievably gripping, and Abigail herself has a fascinating story, having worked as a lawyer for her 20s before deciding to pursue her literary ambitions. She’s now back to working in law again, while also writing, and I loved hearing about how doing those two different things helps her process - as well as how she cures writer’s block and how on earth she went from unknown to wildly successful author so quickly. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Buy the book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/girl-a/abigail-dean/2928377050276

Twitter: @aliceazania / @abigailsdean

Edited by Chelsey Moore

What a fascinating life Carys has led. Brought up in a strict Mormon family in Southport, she was married by 20, and had five children within seven years before deciding to leave behind her faith and study creative writing. Her first novel, 2014’s A Song for Issy Bradley, won widespread acclaim and was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel. Since then, she has published two other novels - including the recently published When the Lights Go Out. Its timing is uncanny, as a couple grapple with stockpiling, mortality, family and more. I loved talking to her about this, and am so grateful for her openness discussing her upbringing and how the tragic death of her daughter shaped her desire to examine grief in fiction. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/when-the-lights-go-out/carys-bray/9781786332349

Twitter: @carysbray / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

This was SUCH a fun, funny and fascinating conversation. Jessica Fellowes is a journalist and the author of books ranging from Mud and the City: Dos and Don'ts for Townies in the Country to her wildly successful series of Mitford Murders books, which fuse historical fact and fiction. Our conversation was as varied and quirky as that output suggests. I loved hearing about her most recent novel, the Mitford Trial, as well as how her deafness has informed her writing (and how she managed as a gossip columnist with it), working with her uncle Julian Fellowes on the Downton companion books (and touring the world as a result), how lockdown has affected her creativity, why she always interviews her characters - and why writing tips are (mostly) useless.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-mitford-trial/jessica-fellowes/9780751573954

Twitter: @jessicafellowes/ @aliceazania

Instagram: @author_jessicafellowes / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

I absolutely loved Cecily von Ziegesar’s Cobble Hill. It’s really funny and quirky and smart without being heavy-going; full of subtle social satire and astute observation. It was particularly pleasing as Cecily is best known for writing the Gossip Girl books, which in turn launched the hugely successful TV show - and I was a mega Gossip Girl fan when I was younger. I loved our interview, which took place late last year the day after Joe Biden was announced as the President Elect - we chatted about everything from her background as a trainee ballerina, how running helps her writing, what it was like having her books become such a small-screen juggernaut and why it took so long to finish Cobble Hill.

By the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/cobble-hill/cecily-von-ziegesar/9781398704350

Twitter: @cesvonz / @aliceazania

Instagram: @CecilyvonZiegesar / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

There was no way I could turn down the chance to interview the editor in chief of Hello! - apart from anything else, I knew she’d have brilliant anecdotes. And Rosie Nixon didn’t disappoint - I loved hearing how she and her staff put together their iconic Royal Wedding issues, as well as what it was like to attend Robbie Williams’ wedding to Ayda Field (she was one of just a handful of people who knew it was happening in advance). And I loved hearing how she managed to fit in a successful career as an author (clue: it involves hotels and candles) and why she was keen to explore the uncomfortable elements of pregnancy and motherhood in her new book Just Between Friends. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: hyperurl.co/BetweenFriends

Twitter: @Rosie_Nixon / @aliceazania

Instagram: @rosiejnixon / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore

I took Emma Rowley’s You Can Trust Me away on holiday to Wales and I gulped it down in one sitting. It’s a really smart, grabby thriller about a ghostwriter who spends a week at the luxurious home of an influencer whose autobiography she is meant to be writing - only for things to take a very dark turn. It’s a great read, and I knew I had to speak to Emma about it - not least as she herself has been a ghostwriter. We chatted late last year and I loved hearing about that experience, her move into fiction, how she combined journalism with publishing - and how our lockdown living has affected her creativity. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

By the book here: amzn.to/2FqHteD

Twitter: @emma_rowley / @aliceazania

Instagram: @emmacharlotterowley / @aliceazania