Jo Thomas has carved out a fantastic niche in fiction. She writes escapist romance set in idyllic locations across the world. To accurately tell these stories, she takes amazing research trips all over the globe, diving straight into it, getting a feel of the food and drink, before dreaming up a love story that fits everything.She's told stories about Galway, Puglia, Sicily, and her new book is set in Provence. 'Escape to the French Farmhouse' is about Del starting a new life in France, happy and alone, after her husband moves back to England.Jo worked for many years as a reporter and producer, first for BBC Radio 5, before moving on to Radio 4's Woman's Hour and Radio 2's The Steve Wright Show. In 2013 Jo won the RNA Katie Fforde Bursary. Her debut novel 'The Oyster Catcher' was a runaway bestseller in ebook. It was awarded the 2014 RNA Joan Hessayon Award and the 2014 Festival of Romance Best Ebook AwardWe talk about being a morning person, her hectic writing routine of a year, the detailed synopsis she writes before she starts, and how she's managed to wangle one of the best writing lives ever.If you enjoy the episode, please do support the show on patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher Fowler writes everything - novels, screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and he's back with his 19th 'Bryant and May' book. It's called 'Oranges and Lemons' and sees the Peculiar Crimes Unit investigate a bizarre accident involving the Speaker of the House of Commons, and a truck full of citrus fruit. We talk about how he got the idea from a strangely gruesome nursery rhyme.He is the author of more than forty novels and many short story collections. A multiple award-winner, including the coveted CWA ‘Dagger in the Library’, Chris has also written screenplays, video games, graphic novels, audio plays and two acclaimed memoirs, Paperboy and Film Freak. His most recent non-fiction book is The Book of Forgotten Authors.You can also hear about the art of the perfect crime novel, and how Christopher thinks that has been lost recently. Also, we discuss his chaotic, unplanned plots, how he keeps himself engaged to write a series of 19 stories, and how he knows what he'll write at the start of every day.If you are going to buy the book, please think about using this link - https://amzn.to/30BCbVLPlease do think about supporting the show over at patreon.com/writersroutine, follow us on Twitter and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, if you can.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophia Money-Coutts is a journalist and author who writes for 'The Sunday Telegraph' and the 'Evening Standard'. Her 3rd novel is 'The Wish List', about Florence who writes down her ideal man, and is then shocked when he wanders into her bookshop.You can hear how she got the idea at an...adult party, and how her family then influenced how she wrote the story. We talk about genre, about the conventions of rom-com and whether she's bothered about sticking to them, and when ideas tend to pop into her head. Sophia, like me, is a morning person. We chat about why that is, and if the labelling is useful at all, or pointlessly self-fulfilling.'The Wish List' comes out on August 6th. If you'd like to pre-order/ buy a copy, please have a look here - https://amzn.to/318HjzXAlso, please support us on patreon.com/writersroutine!@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sabine Durrant has just published a brand new psychological thriller, it's called 'Finders, Keepers' and it tells the story of Verity who becomes obsessed with her new neighbour. You can find out how the story was inspired by a mission Sabine and her kids undertook to rescue a lost rabbit.We talk about the convention of genre and how much Sabine plays with it, how much she needs to know before she starts a story, and how her routine has changed over time. As this show is a show about process, there's a lot about that, there's also a lot about the pre-process-process, and what Sabine needs to do before she even starts writing.Sabine is a journalist and the author of the best-selling 'Having It and Eating It' and the 'Connie Pickles' series of children's books.Her four psychological thrillers so far have been sold all around the world, made it to the 'Richard and Judy Book Club' and been translated into many languages. She has also written for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph.If you'd like to buy a copy, please do it through this link - https://amzn.to/3eVvAcP - sorry I know it's evil Amazon, but we need money from Bezos.Also, please do support us at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the second Writer's Routine Roundtable! We're back with 4 of the best uplit/ rom-com authors around to talk us through how they do it.Laura Jane Williams - She took us through her writer's routine last year, ahead of 'Our Stop'. She talks about how writing that book made her a believer, as her second 'The Love Square' has just been published - https://amzn.to/39bd4M6Nicola Gill - Joined us earlier in 2020, to talk us through a day writing her debut, 'The Neighbours'. She's been busy and has a second book, 'We Are Family' - https://amzn.to/30xcgNXHannah Sunderland - New to the show, her debut 'Very Nearly Normal' is out now - https://amzn.to/2ZMBEQBCharlene Allcott - from 'The Moderate Mum' blog, she's just published her new novel, 'More Than a Mum' - https://amzn.to/2ZMBEQBWe talk about the conventions of the genre, how they create brooding heroes, how they flip the stereotype, and how to create a happy ending. You can hear how much they think about their reader, and why they're writing to answer their own questions, and how much lockdown has affected their writing day.Please do support us at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melanie Blake is one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs, running a global talent agency, she's been a music manager, worked behind the scenes in TV, and has published a new book! 'The Thunder Girls' is the story of an 80s girl group reunion show, mixed with a hint of murder.We talk about what drives her as a creative and in business, and why she feels the need to tell stories in between all her other work. To do this she needs to get away to make sure she can't be bothered, we talk about how that works and how it affects later edits.You can hear how ghostwriting influences how she tells her own stories, and how she plotted this novel around her own experience of getting a classic band back together.If you want to buy the book, please do get it here - https://amzn.to/30fNNMH - so we get a little kickback.Also, please support the show over at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jasper Fforde is a sublime storyteller, who has the rare gift of using words in a sequence many people would never think of. He's known for the 'Thursday Next' series, 'The Last Dragonslayer' YA books, and many other unique looks at the world. His new novel is 'The Constant Rabbit' which sees a group of anthropomorphised rabbits being kicked out of Britain by the United Kingdom Anti-Rabbit Party. It's a bizarre but brilliant take on the politics of the last 5 years. We talk about how he had the idea, about getting the tone and pace right, and about how he's unsure if he managed it.Also you can hear about the narrative dares he sets himself to tell stories, which led to a crime novel about Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall, and about the creative sandboxes that he first-drafts in.This week's show is sponsored by 'Skin Deep', the new novel by Sung J Woo.Please do pledge to support us at patreon.com/writersroutine, and leave us a review on Apple if you can.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter James has sold over 20 million books, publishing across 37 languages. Many of them star DS Roy Grace, who is back in the new one 'Find Them Dead'. We talk about how Peter's writing routine and style has changed through the years, and what he now needs to know before he starts work.You can hear how he charts the flow and beats of the story before he starts writing, and how ruthless editing helps him keep things tight, and keep the listener wanting more. 'Find Them Dead' sees Roy Grace on secondment with the Met Police, confronting a wave of drug gang violence and county lines crimes, and Peter tells us about the very first idea he got for the story, and how he expanded it before getting started.Peter has some brilliant tips and advice for writers, and has pulled them together on his website peterjames.com, where he runs a great YouTube channel, so is the perfect guest for this show.If you like what you hear, and want to help us out, please support us over at patreon.com/writersroutine.WARNING - a couple of fruity words in here, so don't listen with kids.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Whittaker seems like one of the busiest people in the world. He works as a City Trader, volunteers at his local library, is renovating a house, looking after his family, and has had the time to write his 3rd crime thriller. 'We Begin at the End' is Duchess Radley, out for revenge against the murderer who killed her Aunt. It's American Noir. We talk about what that is, and how he does justice to such an evocative genre with words on a page.We also chat about why he devotes such attention to character, how they spawn the plot, and why he needs the help of a good editor. It follows up on the success of 'All the Wicked Girls' and his debut, 'Tall Oaks, which won the 'New Blood Dagger' Award. You can hear how the prize has changed the way he writes, and why he wants to put as much detail into the story as possible.There is a little bit of a tech issue in the recording, please do push on through, Chris has some fantastic tips.YOUR BOOK CAN SPONSOR THE SHOW - find out more at patreon.com/writersroutine.Also, please leave a review on Apple, if you can.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's something brand new! A kind of bonus, hopefully semi-regular thing!This is the first Writer's Routine Roundtable, where we get authors together to chat about how they do what they do. How they plan, plot and then publish.In this episode, we have 3 fantastic crime authors, who all used to work for the Police... they say write what you know.Merilyn Davies published her first 'Carla Brown and Nell Jackson' thriller last year, called 'When I Lost You'. The sequel 'If I Fall' is out next year. She used to be a crime analyst, and now works as a Councillor in Oxfordshire as well as writing. Find out more about her here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Lost-You-Merilyn-Davies/dp/1787461556Rebecca Bradley has published many books across the 'DI Hannah Robbins' series, and standalone ones too. Her new book is 'A Deeper Song'. She used to work as a Police Detective, and now has writing 'murder down to a tea' - https://www.rebeccabradleycrime.com/Neil Lancaster told us his writing routine earlier on in the year. He's published 2 'Tom Novak' thrillers, there's a third being released soon, and he's got another series in the works too. He worked in the Met Police before moving to the Scottish Highlands to write - https://neillancastercrime.co.uk/We discuss how much editing defines what a story is, and how editors often get it write... but also what hill authors are willing to die on with their story. You can hear about how they have initial ideas and begin to plot them, and how they plan a series of stories around 1 character.Please do support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine, follow us on Twitter, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.