Rebecca Thorne's new novel is 'The Grief House', it's about the ex-tarot reader Blue, who escapes to a grief retreat on a beautiful country estate. Only, when the weather closes in, and someone disappears in the night, Blue wonders whose grief might hide a deeper secret.

Rebecca published 2 psychological thriller books under the name Rebecca Tinnelly, and we discuss why she swapped names and how it helped her break up her day, and switch between tasks.

You can hear why her date is structured pretty thoroughly, why she likes to be as cosy as possible for the first draft, and how mentoring at the Faber Academy changes the way she thinks about her own writing.

We also get very deep into why Rebecca is very passionate about verb placement.

This week's pod is sponsored by 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', take a listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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Helen Fisher's debut, 'Space Hopper' was acclaimed as one of the most unique debuts of 2021, recommended by Cosmopolitan, Woman's Weekly', Marian Keyes, and many more, it looked set to launch her to a glittering career.

Things weren't that simple for Helen. In the following 2 years, she wrote 3 novels which were all turned down and rejected. At an incredibly low point, she almost gave up. It was only the story of Joe, along with her editor, that gave her enough strength to carry on for one last go.

'Joe Nuthin's Guide to Life' tells the story of Joe, who likes everything predictable, consistent and in order, yet he soon finds an adventure pushes him well outside of his comfort zone, where sometimes joy lies.

We discuss how Helen overcame her tricky 2 years, what she's learned from it, and how that is affecting how she approaches publication now. Also, you can hear why she's always writing, even when she isn't writing, why it wasn't the plot that drew her into the story, and how she made characters authentic, not cliched or predictable.

This week's episode is sponsored by true-crime podcast, 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', find it wherever you're listening to this!

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Professor Emma Smith teaches Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford. She has published some academic non-fiction works before, but this is her first work of real commercial non-fiction. 'Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers', looks at why books are so importantly culturally - why can't we throw them away? What is it about a physical copy that means more than a digital file? What is the history of this phenomenon?

We discuss the idea for the book, how she began to research it, and what inspired her when thinking commercially. You can hear why she labours over the introduction, making it perfect, also how much a non-fiction author knows before starting to write, and the questions she asks herself to get the tone right.

As Emma is a professor of Shakespeare Studies, we discuss why his work is still relevant 400 years after it was first written, whether he could have written it all alone, and why scepticism of its authorship could be classist. 

This week's episode is sponsored by 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', a brand new true-crime podcast you can listen to wherever you get your shows.

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Happy New Year! Let's start 2024 with a bumper episode from a fantastic historical fiction author. D.V Bishop has published 3 'Cesare Aldo' novels, and the 4th is on the way. He's won the CWA Historical Dagger Award, and his novels are highly commended across the board.

His newest novel is 'Ritual of Fire'. It takes you to 1538 Florence, where a rich merchant is found hanged and set ablaze in the centre of the city, as a warning to put the fear of God into Florence... only Cesare Aldo can discover what's happening.

We talk through the process of planning historical fiction, how much he's strict on sticking to the facts of the day, and what happens when he's got something wrong. You can hear how he overcomes the challenges of using language approriate for the 1500s, why word-count isn't the end of the world, and what writing tie-in fiction is really like... how does it feel to be responsible for some of the most famous characters in the world.

This week's episode is sponsored by 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', a true-crime podcast about Scotland's most gruesome unsolved murder... which is being solved at this moment. Take a listen wherever you get your shows.

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In our last episode of 2023, we chat to Jane L. Rosen, whose new boook 'On Fire Island' is out now. It’s all about Julia, a book lover that lives on Fire Island in New York, who… dies, and then we follow the different lives of those she loves, and how her life affects theirs.

Julia is also a screenplay and columnist, and we chat through how she turned a screenplay which didn't quite make it, into a novel. Also, you can hear how Jane captures a perfect sense of place in her writing, and how she balances writing novels with being in the tricky, but lucky, position of being responsible for promoting it.

Get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine

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Amanda Prowse has written over 30 books. Her newest is 'All Good Things', which tells the story of life-long neighbours, the Kelleways and the Harrops, who couldn’t be further apart. However, when they celebrate a big anniversary, huge secrets are revealed and change everything.

She has written fiction, non-fiction, novellas, short stories, and memoir. Her novel 'A Mother's Story' was Sainsbury's eBook of the Year. Her work, 'The Boy Between' is a compelling memoir written with her son, detailing his experience with depression. Amanda often explores trauma through her writing, and we discuss how she researches these experiences...but only ever writes what she knows.

We discuss how she has created an 'Amanda Prowse universe' in her mind, picking characters out that she wants to focus on, yet even through all this, she doesn't ever plan or plot, but simply knows everything that will happen, and exactly what her characters are thinking.

You can hear why everything she was told about writing, turned out to not be not true, also how much she has learned about her characters over the last 30 books, and whether success has changed anything about her life and how she works.

You can get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine

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Femi Kayode's debut 'Lightseekers' was a book of the month in many national newspapers, it was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award, and was a commercial success.

His follow up is 'Gaslight', it's the second in the Phillip Taiwo 'Whydunnit' series. Following the investigative psychologist who has been urgently called in to investigate the disappearance of the 'First Lady' of a Nigerian mega-church.

We discuss why he's interested in the why, rather than the who or what, also what he's learned from a varied life of work and studies all around the world. You can hear how his family take him leaving the home to write alone, also what he tells himself when he's struggling getting the draft done, and the boring fonts that keep him focused.

We chat about chapter titles, why he's perfectly happy with where he is right now, and what a Nigerian spin on crime fiction really means.

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This week, we're chatting to Katie Marsh. Katie has published 5 romantic fiction novels, ‘Unbreak your Heart’, ‘The Rest of Me’, ‘The Beautiful Life’, ‘A Life Without You’ and ‘My Everything’, and has now completely switched genre. You can find out why in the podcast.

Her new novel is 'How Not To Murder Your Ex', and tells the story of Clio, who opens the door to find her hated ex Gary dead on the lawn in front of her. It's no accident, and the eyes of blame quickly fall on her.

We discuss why she holds herself back for 2 months before starting to write, also why she strives to be distraction free above all things, and why the genre switch really needs to work out for her.

DISCLAIMER - sorry if your name is Gary.

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Terry Hayes started his career as a journalist before heading to Hollywood. He found real success there, writing on 'Flight Plan', 'Payback', and penning, 'Mad Max II'. In 2013, he published 'I Am Pilgrim' to international acclaim and success.

10 years later, he's written his second novel, 'The Year of the Locust'. It tells the story of Kane, a CIA spy who can go where other's can't. We discuss the pressure of following huge success, why he's taken 10 years to publish a new book, and why that combination of thoughts made him chuck out hundreds of thousands of words.

You can hear what Hollywood is really like for a writer, why writing novels is more validating than penning screenplays, and why the easiest way to stave off boredom... is to create challenges.

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Freya Berry's debut, 'The Dictator's Wife', was a bestselling, critically acclaimed hit, and was a BBC 2 'Between the Covers' pick. She's back with 'The Birdcage Library'.

It tells the story of Emily Blackwood, a young adventuress tasked by an exotic animal hunter to track down a lost treasure hidden in a castle... it becomes a deeper, darker hunt into secrets best left untold.

We talk about the article that gave her the inspiration for the novel, also the research around Scottish Castles she called work. You can hear about why it's the themes of a story that keep her going, how much she knows about the road ahead of her as she writes it down, and why she likes to leave herself space to seize ideas.

ALSO hear why listening to the same song works, how to change things if lockdown is still affecting your work day, and how things change through the second novel.

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