Alex Hay's new novel is 'The Housekeepers'. It won the Caledonia Novel Award 2022. It's all about Mrs King, a housekeeper from a world of con artists and thieves. She's dismissed from her position running the grandest home in Mayfair, and gets her revenge by recruiting an eclectic group of women to try and rob the house of its every position, right under the owner's nose.We discuss how he organises his writing around his day job, and how he manages to shift gears through different work. Also how he manages sharing his working space, why he thinks so much about his writing routine, and how he is planning the tweak it.You can hear how much he thinks about the first sentence, deep chats on fonts, and why his most listened to songs are always rain sounds.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Wiggs has written more than 50 books and sold more than 25 million copies in more than 20 languages.Her new one is 'Welcome to Beach Town'. It's a warm, summer read, about the idyllic beach town of Alara Cove. On graduation day, class valedictorian Nikki Graziola veers off script to reveal secrets that will break down the whole community, and have repercussions which never leave Nikki's life.We talk about the sweet spot of classics, how they blend literary language and an unputdownable plot. Also, how to find your voice and how to know where your work sits on shelves. You can hear why she gave a school student the most boring time of their life, and how it feels being in the early days of a new project.You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sara Ochs is an attorney, law professor, and now author. Her debut is 'The Dive'. It's inspired by her own time travelling through Thailand, and hearing about a grisly murder near her hotel.We discuss why being an impatient person affects her drafting, also why getting an agent doesn't mean everything suddenly falls into place, and how she made characters feel genuine when they could so easily become stereotype.You can hear how splitting her time between the US and Sweden helped her write a novel which travels across the world, also why she's thinking rationally about the future, and how much she knew of the story at the start.This week's episode is sponsored by 'The Return of King Arthur', a historical fantasy series by Jacob Sannox. There are 3 in the series, 'The Ravenmaster's Revenge', 'Agravain's Escape' and 'Tristan's Regret'. It's dual-timeline, flashing between modern day and the 5th century. If you enjoy fantasy like Tolkien and George RR Martin, crime like Lee Child, and a touch of historical fiction like Bernard Cornwell, you'll love these. Get a copy on Amazon or at jacobsannox.comSupport the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Thorogood's newest novel is 'Death Comes to Marlow'. It's the 2nd in the 'Marlow Murder Club Mysteries', about a group of amateur sleuths who solve crimes in a quintessentially British town. We talk about his love of cosy crime, why he is inspired by Agatha Christie's need to keep things fun, and why he wanted to write a mystery about where he lives.Robert created 'Death in Paradise', a tv series that has become a BBC institution, and is just wrapping it's 13th series. You can hear the story behind that, and why a fear of failure still drives him even after a triumphant TV show, and a bestselling book series.We chat through why he starts early, as early time is bonus time, also why you should always serve dessert first, and why you need to stop tricking yourself that the day isn't right to write.This week's episode is sponsored by 'The Return of King Arthur', a historical fantasy series by Jacob Sannox. There are 3 in the series, 'The Ravenmaster's Revenge', 'Agravain's Escape' and 'Tristan's Regret'. It's dual-timeline, flashing between modern day and the 5th century. If you enjoy fantasy like Tolkien and George RR Martin, crime like Lee Child, and a touch of historical fiction like Bernard Cornwell, you'll love these. Get a copy on Amazon or at jacobsannox.comSupport the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Jordan's 7th novel is 'Conviction'. It tells the story of Neve Harper, a barrister who must make a terrifyingly tough choice: betray every principle she has and put an innocent man in prison, or put those she loves in mortal danger.Last summer, his novel, 'Do No Harm', was a runaway success and became a Waterstones 'Thriller of the Month'. We discuss the moment he knew that was becoming big, and how he dealt with the pressure of that when writing new stuff.You can hear how much he has changed across 13 years of writing, how light works for his dark writing, how he divides his writing time between spaces, and why his quiff is very important.We chat about why he likes to put his characters in tough situations, why he enjoys the business side of writing, and why he would pay to get lost in his work.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fiona Valpy is a historical fiction author who has sold millions of books, her work has been translated into more than 30 languages, and she's always up for a challenge.Her new novel, 'The Cypress Maze', is inspired by the true story of Iris Origo. An English-born woman in Italy, she sheltered refugee children and helped prisoners of war escape during World War II. It's a dual timeline novel, set across 1943 and 2015. We chat about the extensive research that goes into historical fiction, how she keeps track of it all, and why that's led to a filing system overhaul.Fiona writes for different publishers, doing different things, and we chat about the added pressure that heaps on her writing, and why she's always peering into her compost bin to see which ideas are ready to go.You can hear how she balances fictional plot with factual history, and how much her visual style utterly absorbs her while she's writing.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we're chatting to Nick Bradley. He's an author, a creative writing teacher, a translator, and his new novel is, 'Four Seasons in Japan'. It's about about Flo, a translator in Tokyo. She finds a book on the subway and tries to track down the author and translate it.We discuss his previous novel, 'The Cat and the City', which was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick. Also, how his time living in Japan transformed how he thought of novels, and how he spoke to his characters. You can hear how he's inspired by sitcoms when plotting, and why he takes it easy on himself.Nick discusses his 5000 word limit across the week, why seeing things from a different perspective can really help, and how life experience makes a writer.You can get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine.Support the show at Patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we're chatting to Jenna Clake. Her new novel is 'Disturbance', it tells the story of a young woman who, with the help of her strange, witchy neighbour, seems to bring her boyfriends presence back to haunt her. It's eery, creepy, razor sharp and beautifully written.Jenna began writing with poetry. Her first collection 'Fortune Cookie' won many awards, and she teaches creative writing. We discuss how writing poetry influenced her storytelling, and how much it affects the way she writes novels. You can hear why this story needed to be a book, rather than a poem, but why she still kept it at a tight 200 pages.Jenna discusses her different writing spaces, how she began unpacking characters, and her very strong font opinions.You can get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kerry Chaput is an award-winning historical fiction author. Her 'Defying the Crown' series has had much success, and her new book is 'Chasing Eleanor'. Set in 1935, it's all about Magnolia Parker, who must protect her sick brothers who get put in an Orphanage. She sets out to find Eleanor Roosevelt, the most famous woman in America, to help bring them home.We discuss how she researches novels set hundreds of years ago. Also, why she started writing again after putting her pen down, suffering from burnout. You can hear why she wants to be a plotter, but always ends up pantsing, and we chat about why she had to bin 80,000 words.You can get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we're joined by JP Rieger, whose brand new novel, 'Clonk!' is out now.Paul worked as an attorney, and now spends his time as an amateur musician, and writing novels. We talk about how his work as an attorney has affected how much he plans out novels, and why he's quite casual about where and when he writes.'Clonk!' is about the Baltimore City Police Detective Kev Dixit, seeking the murder of a local artist, and the unique characters that he meets along the way. We run through how he managed to write a detective novel mixed in with his love of absurd, dark humour. Also you can hear why it started as a novel about a London cop, before he took it back to basics and decided to write what he knows.Paul discusses why he doesn't write in order, why he's happy for anyone to read his books, and how to differentiate protagonists in a world of grisly coppers.You can get 10% off the software Plottr at go.plottr.com/routineSupport the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.