One Christmas, Eve Makis went home-made for her Dad's present. She bought a notebook and along with her friend Anthony, a fellow creative-writing teacher, she filled it with prompts and exercises to encourage her Father to write down the stories of his life that he was unable to express with words. When that went well, they took it to a publisher, and a few years later 'The Accidental Memoir' is out!Today, we hear the story of how they wrote it. How they would meet for 3 hours a day in a local library, bounce ideas around and gradually whittle down their collective creative-writing knowledge, into a book full of prompts and tips that will steer you towards your own memoir.We talk about why it took 3 attempts of drafting to get it perfect, what it's like working as a duo for a project like this, and how Eve's dad took a starring role in the book's launch.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thriller author Jacqui Rose talks us through the story of how her brand new urban gangland story, 'Toxic' got written!Jacqui has written many books in a huge range of genres, and she's back with new thrillers to add to the 6 already published, that have sold over 100,000 copies. She plans almost nothing. Jacqui simply has a tiny idea, a little flicker of a character, and she'll sit down to write. We talk about this slightly casual way of novel-writing during the show. Also, you can find out why she wanders around the house many times an hour when she's deep into writing. And, you can hear about how she deals with the expectations of a fan-base who know EXACTLY what they want from a Jacqui Rose novel, and why she listens to their reviews the most.Chuck us a review on iTunes if you fancy.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mindfulness coach, teacher, writer and warrior in spirit, Jay Tepley brings us this week's 'Writer's Routine'!For Jay, everything in the world is energy, and because of this, everything is interconnected and the realisation of this can give humans the closest thing to superpowers. It allows her to see through time, talk to the dead, interact with the inanimate, and she teaches these tricks of extended perception in her 'Ariya Mind Training' programme.Her book 'The Lightwatch Chronicles: The Guardians', is a book designed to awaken these powers within those who have them. It's a fantasy epic, in line with The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, about a group of 'Stars' searching for a lost member of their team and becoming stranded on Earth in the chase. We talk about how the story just appeared to her and be commanded to be put down on paper. Also you can hear the mental blueprint that she made to get it published, and how she packed such grand ideas about the Universe into a 200-odd page fantasy novel.And, we get a top writing tip from Garrard Conley about how the secret to telling a good story, is reading more of them.NB - Levels are a bit off during the actual interview, can't be helped I'm afraid, the recording was a bit too quiet. MY BAD.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we take a skim through the daily diary of Garrard Conley!Garrard's memoir 'Boy Erased' has just been released in the UK, it's critically acclaimed in the USA and will be released as a film starring Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe later in 2018. It tells the story of how he escaped gay conversion therapy, after being outed to his Baptist parents and given an ultimatum to change, or to leave.It's an incredible conversation as Garrard, thankfully, completely gets and is fascinated by the whole point of the show! We talk about how he relived those harrowing experiences to write it down in memoir, how he knew which parts of his past to exploit for the audience, and the curious focusing tasks he uses to get in the 'writing zone'.We've done something different with this show too. Normally I will, quite forensically, edit our chats with authors, but it just seemed wrong for this. Who was I to decide which part of Garrard's story we should hear? It's all mind-blowing, shocking and - most importantly for us - full of top tips to help you get writing.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thirty Four, let's get some more.This week, we're hearing Marianne Kavanagh's Writer's Routine! She has just published her 3rd novel, 'Should You Ask Me', which is a story of mystery, of murder and of history. In this episode I describe it as 'villainous Countryfile' - which in the best way, tells you everything you need to know.Marianne has worked around words for a long time, writing novels, columns and working as a journalist, and she thinks very careful about the words on her page. We talk a lot about language, about the tone of the time she's set the story in, and how much research went into it.'Should You Ask Me', tells the story of 86 year old Mary, who in the early 1940's in the midst of World War II, commits to a decades-old crime. It's about her finally revealing story, taking great pride in doing it, and how it affects the young Policeman that hears it, that will keep you turning the page.If you fancy, leave us a review on the iTunes Podcast Store PLEASE.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thirty Three, have a look see.This week's author, sharing the intricacies and eccentricities of her working day, is Natasha Scripture. Natasha has worked as a journalist, a humanitarian worker, and she's been on a lot of dates too. Finally, after being sick of hearing her Mum say she needed to find a man, Natasha decided to go on an international adventure to find out if that was true. What was originally meant to be a sassy, fun guide to the dating detox, turned into a globe-trotting transformational memoir, which asks what love is and whether we really need it at all?We talk about how you plan and plot a memoir, what it's like to open up your life to such emotional scrutiny, and why she always has the best ideas in the most annoying places. Also, how she worked was influenced by, and stands apart from, the classic 'Eat Pray Love', and what she learned from her adventure of self-discovery.Our top writing tip that may change the way you work forever is from one of the UK's most successful crime authors, who wants to put you in the most comfortable pair of pyjamas you can imagine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thirty-Two, this is an incredible treat for you.This week's guest is one of the UK's bestselling crime-authors, Mark Billingham. In June 2018, Mark will publish his 18th novel, his 15th in the incredibly successful 'Thorne' series. This time copper Tom Thorne gets involved in a case that takes much inspiration from a real-life crime and mystery that still hasn't been solved today.We talk about how Mark's writing style and method has changed in the 17-or-so years since he published his first novel 'Sleepyhead', which was later made into a TV show starring David Morrissey, and we find out if seeing his hero on the screen affected his view of story-telling too. You can find out how being a obsessive crime-fiction fan turned him into one of the genre's best, and why the name of this fine podcast gives him the shivers.Also, we'll get a top writing tip from a debut romantic-comedy author who wants you to put down your pen, rest your fingers, and just tell your story.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WE'RE AN AWARD WINNING PODCAST! On Saturday, in a ceremony alongside BBC Radio 2, Radio 4, Radio X and countless other titans of broadcasting, we managed to bag SILVER in 'Best Culture' at the British Podcast Awards. Thank you. Thank every single one of you. Even if you were going to download this but have been put off by this sycophantic blurb - THANK YOU.Sophie Jenkins is our guest this week, sharing the Writer's Routine which helped get her debut novel published! It's a romantic comedy, 'The Forgotten Guide to Happiness', which stars Lara and the unusual living situation which a lonely 80 year old writer who helps find her love.It's not the sole work of a debutant though, Sophie has been around words most of her life: working as a journalist, as a writer-in-residence, and even studying it as a Masters - so she knows how to tell a good story. Although, it was almost a completely different story. Sophie wrote a whole other draft, handed it to her agent and was told, 'to get it sold, you're going to need to make changes'... those changes ended up being about 90% of the book. Sophie was fine with that though, and you can hear why in the show.Also, you can find out how she gets to know her characters, whether they could exist independently of the story or indeed, each other. And we talk about why comedian and worrier Jon Richardson helped her imagine the perfect hero for the story.We get a top writing tip that may change the way you work forever from a thriller author who wants to COMPLETELY DISAGREE with every romantic notion of novel writing EVER.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dirty Thirty! (no swearing in the pod though)It's the Pearl Anniversary of our very first podcast! Debut thriller writer James Buckler brings us the details, crevices and crannies of his working day, with his Writer's Routine.James' debut 'Last Stop Tokyo' tells the story of Alex, an Englishman on the run in Japan, and his adventure with the the alluring and illusive Naoko, as we discover the who, what and why of his chasers. It's a thriller without anything not of the ordinary. You'll find no gadgets, no car-chases and no secret agents, but James hopes you'll turn the pages quicker than ever before.Working in film and TV has taken James all around the world, from the US to Canada, before finally settling in Japan for a year. A situation whilst heading through customs in Tokyo Airport became the first chapter of his story, and a conversation with a Japanese student while he was there sparked an idea that became the rest of the plot.We talk about how he splits his time between writing and freelance film production, the three things he needs to know before he starts work, and what he's learned penning his first book and how he may change things moving to his second.Our top writing tip that may change the way you work forever is from a mystery author and could massively affect your mindset starting work each day.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29, feeling fine...ish. Ok, we're barely keeping it together. This book isn't what I thought it would be and so far my writing process is changing the cork-board colour on Scrivener. If this is you, you've in the right place.Mystery-writer Barbara Nadel brings us this week Writer's Routine. This year, 2018, she will publish her 29th and 30th novels. She's only been putting them out there for 19 years - we'll try and get to the bottom of that incredibly prolific work-rate in the next 30 minutes. Barbara is best known for her 'Inspector Ikmen Mysteries', set in Istanbul which blends the geography, politics and romance of Turkey with one victim's grisly end - 'no matter where you are in the world, there's always a murder-mystery to be solved'. She has also published crime and thriller mysteries around the East End of London, we talk about the differences in writing her different settings.Also, we talk about the 3 things she needs to know before she starts typing, what she thinks about 'guilty pleasures', and the twist of fate that helped her first book get published. Our writing tip that may change the way you work forever is all about names, and the creative ways you can find them for your characters.If this show has helped you finally get a story down, I'd love to hear the story of that. Let me know in the comment box of the iTunes Podcast Store Review section, and tell me which author from the series has given you the inspiration to get things done.Finally, we're up for a British Podcast Award! We're one of 6 up for 'Best Culture' at the end of May, which you can't help us win. BUT, you can vote for us in the 'Listener's Choice' Category over at britishpodcastawards.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.