At age 19, unsure about what to do before starting university, Lara Prior-Palmer absent-mindedly applied for the Mongol Derby, a multi-horse race that rides 1,000 km through Mongolian grassland. She won it.

Her book 'Rough Magic' is a poetic, twisting, wonderful account of the race, and is written unlike many other memoirs. It's been critically acclaimed, sold hugely well and took Lara 5 years to write. We talk about why she felt the need to get the adventure down on paper, how it initially came really easy to her, and why she is still analysing how she wrote even now.

You can hear about poetry, characterisation and being a free-spirit. Also, there's a top writing tip from a British Book Award winning crime-author.

If you can, chuck us a few dollars every month over at patreon.com/writersroutine.

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Louise Candlish's 'Our House' was one of the biggest books of 2018, it's sold more than 200,000 copies, been read all over the world and won 'Best Crime and Thriller Fiction' at the 'British Book Awards'. It so nearly wasn't the case though. A few years ago, disappointed with her success and publisher, Louise almost gave up - until the kernel of a story came to her, something that had never been done before, a thriller centred around property fraud. We talk about that spark during the episode, and how she grew it to become an award-winning novel.

She's back with the brand new book, 'Those People', and we chat about how she plotted to follow up on her success, and why at the moment she's having to think and talk about 3 separate books at the same time. Also you can hear about how her writing routine has changed over time, and how she's managed to switch through genres easily.

You'll get a top writing tip from one of the UK's best children's authors too.

If you can, please support the show on patreon.com/writersroutine xox

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Abi Elphinstone has just started the brand new kids' series 'The Unmapped Chronicles'. The first of which, 'Rumblestar', sees Casper Tock stumbling across a hidden world which magically controls the weather. The idea came from a desire to get kids outside, away from screens and into nature - we talk about having that grand concept, and making it relatable to kids in a few hundred pages.

You can hear why it took her a bunch of rejections to finally realise what was wrong about her writing, also how she works writing days around travelling and being a mum, and we chat mood boards, plotting, planning and where people go wrong writing for children.

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Ahmad Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author, storyteller and LGBTQ-refugee activist. He was forced to flee his home of Syria, and his debut novel 'The Clothesline Swing' is a sprawling, twisting tale trying to make sense of it. It focuses on 2 lovers in Syria, telling stories to work through what life in the country is. It sends the imagination all over the place, with no seeming link - and this is deliberate. Danny wanted his readers to feel detached and without ground to tread, and he explains why during the chat.

Also, we find out why Death plays a huge role as a character, how it was influenced by the classic 'One Thousand and One Nights', and why he was forced to leave Syria and the implications of what it means to be a refugee.

Writing-wise, we chat about intersectionality, the practicalities of plotting and working on multiple outlines for different characters.

If you enjoy the show and want to show your support, please do help us out at patreon.com/writersroutine.

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Mel Sherratt has published 12 books, and written many, many more, across a wide range of genres. She loves writing so much that even now, in the middle of a proper book deal, she's writing other books for herself and to self-publish. Her new novel is called 'Tick Tock', it's a procedural crime novel in her 'DS Grace Allendale' series.

We talk about the different stages of her writing, when she starts to put in clues as to the killer, how she knows how many time her killer needs to strike, and how she can get ideas for a gruesome story anywhere. You can hear how her characters dictate her plot as much as her planning does, also what she thinks a good crime story needs to be and why she needs to switch up the genres she works in, and the characters she works with.

If you love the show, and have had any help from the authors we've chatted to so far, please do give some help back and support the show on patreon.com/writersroutine.

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Not many authors have debut success like Trent Dalton. His book 'Boy Swallows Universe' won the 'Debut Fiction Prize' and 'Book of the Year' at the Australian Indie Awards, and went straight into the top 10, selling over 100,000 copies. It's a semi-autobiographical story about all Eli, in Brisbane in 1983, muddling through family life, trying to not be coaxed into drug-dealing, and having to save his mum from prison.

Trent works as a journalist, so we talk about the challenges of writing features or news-pieces by day, then heading to the rumpus room to tell the story he yearns to write at night. Also, we chat about work/family balance, planning, plotting and writing tight.

You can also get a writing tip from a top crime writer!

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Jeffery Deaver has published over 40 novels. He's a globally renowned author, writing crime and thrillers. To him, they're not lauded works of art, they're intricate puzzles, fun and games for the reader - and we talk about how he builds these. His new book is 'The Never Game', introducing the enigmatic investigator Colter Shaw, and we hear the first idea for the story, and why it went to Colter, not another of his myriad characters.

Jeffery works anywhere he can - any chance he gets to type away, if that's at home, on the plane, perhaps at a dog show, he will. We chat about how he finds time and space to work no matter where he is. There's also talk about research, about genre and some ace tips about timesaving.

Give us a shout!

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'Critical Incidents' is Lucie Whitehouse's 5th book, and it marks something of a departure for her. Her previous novels are mainly focused on psychological thriller, whereas the new one is procedural. This means things need to be spot on, the way the police work, the way the crime is committed and how it's solved. We talk about the move, how she found changing styles liberating and where it takes her next.

You can also hear how Lucie Whitehouse prefers working in an all-women space, why she needs to leave the house to write, and how well she knows her characters and why even sometimes they come to her fully-formed, from thin air.

There's a top writing tip from a rom-com author in there, and we'll get your writing advice too.

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Mhairi McFarlane has published 5 novels, her new first 'You Had Me At Hello' was a huge bestseller, and her new one 'Don't You Forget About Me' looks set to do the same. It tells the story of Georgina, and her new boss at work who turns out to be an old flame... only he seemingly doesn't remember her at all.

We talk about the planning of rom-com novels, how she likes to embrace the contrivances that must happen and focus on ways to build surprises into stories. You can hear how she plans her years worth of writing, and works her routine around that, why 'pub-a-clock' plays a large part in her story-telling, and what she thinks of the term 'chick-lit'.

Also, there's some of your writing tips, and one from an award-winning author too.

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Namwali Serpell had been named one of the best African writers under 40 before she'd even published a novel. She's a student of the craft, and now a teacher of it at the University of Berkeley. Finally, after finishing a book that will forever sit in a drawer, she's publishing her first novel, 'The Old Drift'. It's a huge project, telling the stories of 3 families across generations in the new nation of Zambia.

We chat about how to tell this story she needed a rigid structure of planning and plotting, also how she backed up her thorough characters and huge ideas with plot, and how she wants this book to be remembered in hundreds of years.

There's also a top writing tip in there from one of the most successful crime authors working today, all about making friends. You can send your top tip over to writersroutine.com.

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