Writer's Routine

Tom Hindle published his successful debut, 'A Fatal Crossing', in 2022. It drew comparisons to Agatha Christie and propelled him to the list of mystery writers to watch. He's back with a second whodunnit, 'The Murder Game'. It tells the story of nine guests trapped in one house, when a murder mystery night goes wrong. We talk about how his writing life has changed since he packed in the full time job, and how he switches between writing for work and for pleasure. You can hear how he tries to be a plotter... but always ends up pantsing, what it was like meeting a major childhood hero, and how he solved the problem of getting two people in the same room at the same time.Thanks for sending over the best books you've read this year to writersroutine@gmail.com. This week's picks were:'Before You Knew My Name' by Jacqueline Bublitz, 'The Art of the Gathering' by Priya Parker, 'The Mandrake Company' series by Ruby Lionsdrake, and 'Garden of Lamentations' by Deborah Crombie. Thanks to Andrea, Kate and Cynthia for sending those over.You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison Stockham's new book is 'The Cuckoo Sister'. It tells the story of Maggie, who has a seemingly perfect life, only... she's cracking under the strain of it all. One day, when Maggie walks out on everything, her sister Rose is all too willing to step into her life.We talk about why she's half and half between planning and pantsing, also how she overcomes the doubt of good it is, and why every book is brilliant and awful at the same time.Alison works for the Cambridge Literary Festival, and has worked in documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, and we discuss how much this experience set her up for writing novels. You can hear why reading aloud to her kids helped her understand pacing and structure, also what questions she asks herself to begin, and what to do when the computer screen stares back at you.We also run through your best books of the year so far.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Montgomery is a someone who, if he wasn't so darned lovely, you'd probably have to envy quite a lot. He's a practicing clinician, a UK lead on climate change, he's written screen-plays, runs ultramarathons, learns a new skill a year, holds a world-record, and is now releasing his first full-novel.It's called 'Control' - a thriller set in the medical-world (write what you know) all about a bullying, over-bearing Doctor, and the way he treats colleagues, which comes back to haunt him. We talk about brooding over the idea for the story, escaping to France to write it, and where he thinks the story actually came from.As he manages to fit in so much into his day, we talk about where he finds the time and why he rations sleep. Also, we talk about why he learns a new skill every year, and how he believes it to be crucial to make time stop flying by.Also - you can hear a distinguished routine from history with Mason Currey, and grab his new book 'Daily Rituals: Women at Work' here - https://masoncurrey.com/If you can, please do support the show! - patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eleanor Shearer's debut is the acclaimed, 'River Sing Me Home'. It follows Rachel, a slave set free in 1834, and now searching the Caribbean to find her children, stolen from her and sold to other plantations.We talk about why her ancestors look over her writing, also about the exhibition she attended which reminded her of the stories that she'd wanted to write about, and how post-memory affected her storytelling.You can hear why plotting for her is a very emotional thing, also why she likes to be surprised by structure, and how parking downhill is extremely helpful.Share the best book you've read so far this year! Let's start a (small-scale) book club, or more of a story sharing place at writersroutine.comYou can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwriterspod.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cailean Steed began writing short stories and audio dramas. She won the 2020 Pen to Print Audio Play Award, and decided to go back to school to learn how to tackle a full novel. They ended up taking an idea that had been brewing for years, moving it from a grand teenage story of assassins and conspiracy, and turning it into a thrilling tale of sisterly love. Their novel, 'Home', tells the story of Zoe, trying to rescue her sister from a cult they grew up in, and she managed to escape from.We talk about why Cailean had to swap their entire story around and how that affected each chapter. Also, how they get by dedicating just one day a week to writing. You can hear why Cailean is extremely interested in the way other people see the world, and how much they plotted two timelines, with the same characters, both written in the first person.You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rosie Andrews' debut novel, 'The Leviathan' was first published last year to much acclaim. It has just come out in paperback. It tells the story of Thomas Treadwater, a soldier who holds a very deep, dark secret that is about to be let loose. It's set in 1643, and is a beguiling tale of murder, myth and mystery. It combines two of Rosie's loves: history and fantastical fiction.We talk about building her own writing space, but how really all she needs to work is alone time and quiet. You can hear how her process is constantly evolving - she's aware of where she's come from, and where she needs to be. You can hear how the only inspiration she needs is to get out of the house, and how he writing routine needs to be flexible but she has little trouble getting the words out when she needs to.You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Armitage is a very successful actor, appearing in 'The Hobbit' movies, the Harlan Coben Netflix thrillers, and many more besides. He's also one of the most popular narrators for Audible audiobooks. So successful, they invited him to work on his own project for the platform. The finished story is 'Geneva', a psychological thriller which follows scientist Sarah Collier and her husband Daniel at a global conference, when they realise they're in a high stakes game with hidden players and worldwide consequences.We talk about his routine whilst staying in hotels all around the world, also how he managed creative exhuastion, and how acting actually gives you a lot of time to think through plot and to plan. You can hear how Richard's routine was mostly thinking things over before hand and working late into the night, often getting dragged off course by his characters.We learn when he decided to seek out Harlan Coben's advice on psychological thrillers, and how the whole Audible project came about.The connection Richard and I had was terrible, so you can blame the short run time, and slight editing leaps on that.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonathan Whitelaw worked as a journalist in Scotland, covering sport, politics, and everything in between. He's recently moved to the wilderness of Canada, and we talk about the move, and keeping in touch with colleagues and editors half the world away.His newest novel is 'The Bingo Hall Detectives', which tells the story of Jason Brazel, an out of work journalist who tries to solve a local murder with his mother-in-law. We talk about the rise of cosy crime and why he wanted to write in the genre. You can hear how much he thinks through the puzzle aspects of the mystery, why he's too lazy to be a real plotter, and how the characters drag him away from the 2 page synopsis.This episode is sponsored by Marthe Jocelyn's new novel, 'The Seaside Corpse'. It's the fourth in the 'Aggie Morton Mystery Queen Series', inspired by Agatha Christie, and set in 1903 Lyme Regis, when a couple of friends discover a body while looking for Dinosaur bones. It's the perfect present for any kids you want to get engaged in reading. Find out more at marthejocelyn.comSupport the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we chat to Lucy Hooft. She's had an incredible, interesting career travelling the world. She worked in the UK's Foreign Office and for the Department of International Development, going to work for HRH Queen Rania of Jordan. Lucy has taken her experience in geopolitics and written her first spy thriller. It's called 'The King's Pawn' and is the first of the Sarah Black series, that looks at a young, female spy. Lucy has planned 5. We talk about planning so much before you even have a contract - did she feel guilty for devoting time to unpaid work?It's inspired by a real life event no-one has heard of, and takes place around the South Caucus region, which few people know about.We chat about why her genre demands concision, how it started with writing games to fend off baby brain, and why writing flash fiction helps with full-blown novels.You can also hear why she has started to structure her books like a Netflix mini-series, and how that's really helped with the plotting.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Pawlosky worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was an editor for CNBC.com, and is now using that experience of sourcing scoops to write the Nik Byron Investigation series.The first is 'Hack', it looks at Nik Byron getting the story of how top secret US surveillance technology was stolen. He needs to expose the plot and get the story before he, and it, is silenced.We talk about brevity, why it's important to keep things tight and not waste everyone's time. Also you can hear why his process is mostly re-reading and re-writing, and why he thinks good writing is re-writing.And be jealous of Mark's very own, purpose-built, writing room.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.