In this episode I chat to SF author Gareth L Powell about his pistol-toting flying ace monkey, ACK-ACK MACAQUE, writing sentient spaceships, winning awards and being nice on the internet. We get into his new novel, EMBERS OF WAR, and he shares his best writing tips for novice authors. This is a great episode to listen to if you want to know: - how much should I plan my story? - how do I get to know my characters? - how do I write from the perspective of unusual / non-human characters? - what's the difference between a story being absurd and funny? - what's it like winning a major award? - how can I write compelling dialogue that flows well? You can find Gareth's website here: https://www.garethlpowell.com/ Here's his Patreon page where you can support him and get all sorts of goodies depending on your supporter level, including feedback on your work: https://www.patreon.com/GarethLPowell Here's his Twitter: https://twitter.com/garethlpowell?lang=en What's that? You want to read his excellent novels? Why not try big SF adventure EMBERS OF WAR: https://wordery.com/embers-of-war-gareth-l-powell-9781785655180#oid=1908_1 Or if you like monkeys liberated from cyber-servitude, smoking cigars and shooting stuff up (and who doesn't), try ACK-ACK MACAQUE: https://wordery.com/ack-ack-macaque-1-gareth-l-powell-9781781080597#oid=1908_1 And of course, if you fancy reading something by me, THE HONOURS is a cosy interbellum yarn with sawn-off shotguns and nameless terrors hidden in the walls of a Norfolk country house: https://wordery.com/the-honours-tim-clare-9781782114765#oid=1908_1 And yo, if you want to drop the podcast a few bucks to cover expenses and keep us on the air, you can do so in a couple of clicks, here: ko-fi.com/timclare