The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience How Award-Winning Author & Journo Elizabeth Arnott Writes
9 snips
Jan 30, 2026 Elizabeth Arnott, award-winning author and journalist known for historical fiction and true crime reportage. She recounts a wild journalism career, writing a rapid six-week first draft, and researching 1960s California for her new period-set mystery about ex-wives of serial killers. Conversation touches on a seven-way auction, cinematic writing, and why she changed her author name.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
From Brothel Flat To Global Freelance
- Elizabeth Arnott moved to London, lived above a brothel, and paid off loans while interning at magazines.
- She climbed from entertainment desks to travel journalism before freelancing on remote adventure stories.
Travel Burnout Led To A First Draft
- Arnott specialized in wildlife and adventure travel and logged about 20 long-haul trips a year.
- Burnout and the pandemic forced her home to her mum's attic where she wrote her first novel draft.
A Secret Novel, A Seven-Way Auction
- Arnott wrote this novel in secret while between contracts and revealed it to her agent later.
- The book ignited interest at London Book Fair and led to frantic publisher calls as she approached childbirth.
