
Page One - The Writer's Podcast
New episodes every Friday!On Page One - The Writer's Podcast, we talk to writers of all descriptions (authors, screenwriters, comic writers and more) about their writing process and how they craft their next great works. We also explore their career, including how their first big break happened, and discuss the ups and downs along the way. We learn something new every episode, and we hope you do as well.Page One is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/shop. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes

Aug 9, 2022 • 22min
Ep. 119 - Jessica Fostekew tells us about how she writes her brilliant stand-up shows
This is one of a special series of short episodes speaking to some of the best comedians appearing at this year's Edinburgh Fringe! These episodes will be released daily during the week of 8 August 2022.Jessica Fostekew is a comedian, actor and writer. Star of Motherland BBC and Cuckoo BBC/ Netflix, host of The Hoovering Podcast and regular co-host of the behemoth The Guilty Feminist. The Guardian say she “wears her smarts on her sleeve, great stuff” and Fest called her “consistently hilarious.”We had great fun chatting with Jessica about how she got into comedy, hear about how she prepares her shows and chat about writing for comedy panel shows on TV.Links:Buy tickets for Jessica's show, Wench, on at the Monkey Barrell at the Edinburgh Fringe FestivalFollow Jessica on TwitterVisit Jessica's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aug 9, 2022 • 29min
Ep. 118 - Jacob Hawley talks about how he crafts his stand-up shows
This is the first of a special series of short episodes speaking to some of the best comedians appearing at this year's Edinburgh Fringe! These episodes will be released daily during the week of 8 August 2022.Jacob Hawley is a stand-up comedian, podcaster and the presenter and creator of BBC Sounds’s Jacob Hawley: On Drugs and Jacob Hawley On Love. Jacob has rapidly generated interest as one of the boldest new voices on the circuit with his astute observations and political passion. His live shows have sold out at both The Edinburgh Fringe and at London’s Soho Theatre.We had great fun chatting with Jacob about how he got into stand-up, hearing about how he hones his shows and he also tells us about the best heckle he has received...Links:Buy tickets for Jacob's show, Bump, at the Monkey Barrell at the Edinburgh Fringe FestivalFollow Jacob on TwitterVisit Jacob's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aug 5, 2022 • 1h
Ep. 117 - Adrian Tchaikovsky talks about his brilliant books, telling us all about his planning, worldbuilding and much more!
Adrian Tchaikovsky is the multi-award winning bestselling author of sci-fi and fantasy books such as the Children of Time series, Shadows of the Apt series and much more. He primarily explores deep themes, such as artificial intelligence and alien awareness within epic galactic and fantastical settings. He has a deep interest in the animal world specifically insects from his studies in Zoology and has a particular penchant for spiders. We loved chatting with Adrian for our first ever live episode in front of an audience at the Cymera Festival back in June. We talked about how persistence helped him break into his dream job of writing, why he is such a detailed planner (normally!) and deep dive into his worldbuilding and writing techniques.Links:Buy Adrian's books now!Visit Adrian's websiteFollow Adrian on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 28, 2022 • 53min
Ep. 116 - Lorraine Wilson talks about the distinction between literary and commercial fiction and whether it matters, the importance of setting and more!
Lorraine Wilson is the author of the BFS and Kavya-nominated speculative fantasy novel, This is Our Undoing. She has also written short fiction (also award-shortlisted!) and her latest novel, The Way The Light Bends is just out.We had a fascinating chat with Lorraine, hearing about her previous life as a field scientist (including catching the bubonic plague!) and why she turned to writing when she had to give that previous career up. We talked about the importance of setting, and had a good moan about the old “literary v commercial” distinction that is made in some quarters! Links:Buy Lorraine’s books here!Follow Lorraine on TwitterRead Lorraine’s blog hereRewriting the margins mentorship schemePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 21, 2022 • 53min
Ep. 115 - Victoria Selman talks changing agents, why she is a planner rather than a pantser, and hitting the bestseller lists with her fourth novel
Victoria Selman is the bestselling author of four crime novels and co-host of the crime writers’ podcast, CrimeTime.fm. Her latest book, Truly Darkly Deeply, has only been out for a couple of weeks and is already a bestseller and has had the film rights optioned.We had a great time chatting with Victoria, hearing about how she rediscovered writing after a near 30-year hiatus, chatting about changing agents (and why that can sometimes be what an author needs) and hearing all about her planning process. We also talk about why she thinks Truly Darkly Deeply has hit so well with so many readers, and talk about the opportunities that some crime-writing festivals can give to new and aspiring authors.*Victoria had a problem with her mic during the recording and near the end she switched to just using her laptop microphone, just in case you wondered why the audio changes!Links:Buy Truly Darkly Deeply and Victoria's other books now!Follow Victoria on TwitterVisit Victoria's websiteListen to Victoria on CrimeTime.FMPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 15, 2022 • 52min
Ep. 114 - Janice Hallett talks about moving from screenwriting to novel writing with the smash-hit novel, The Appeal
A former magazine editor and award-winning journalist, Janice Hallett has written screenplays and novels. Janice's first feature film Retreat was released by Sony Pictures (co-written and directed by Carl Tibbetts) which starred Cillian Murphy, Thandiwe Newton and Jamie Bell, and was selected for the Triforce Creative Network year-long mentoring scheme and featured on the BBC New Talent Hotlist. She won Best New Screenplay in the 2014 British Independent Film Festival. Her debut novel, The Appeal, was a smash-hit and won the CWA Debut Dagger award. We had a great chat with Janice, hearing about how she made the move from screenwriting to novel writing, and hearing about the unusual style of her novels (The Appeal is written in the form of emails and text messages, while her latest book, The Twyford Code, is told via a series of audio transcripts). We also find out if she is a planner or a pantser, and hear about how she deals with notes in the two different writing disciplines.Links:Buy Janice's books now!Follow Janice on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 8, 2022 • 1h 1min
Ep. 113 - Chris Whitaker talks about writing We Begin At The End, how he took a very unusual route into writing and why he starts his books in the middle
Chris Whitaker is a bestselling crime writer whose debut, Tall Oaks, won the CWA debut dagger award. His latest crime novel, We Begin At The End, has been an international bestseller and has been optioned to Disney. Most recently, he wrote the brilliant YA novel, The Forevers.We had great fun chatting with Chris, hearing about how he found writing after a very traumatic period in his life and how it helped him deal with that trauma. We also talked about planning, why he starts in the middle of his novels, how he gets such authentic US settings even though he is based in the UK and more! Plus, we hear the latest on the upcoming TV adaptation of We Begin At The End and get some info on his next book!Links:Buy Chris's books now!Visit Chris's websiteFollow Chris on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 1, 2022 • 56min
Ep. 112 - Martha Wells talks about writing The Murderbot Diaries, how they saved her writing career, and more!
Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, The Death of the Necromancer, the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, The Murderbot Diaries series, media tie-in fiction for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, and Locus Awards, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the BSFA Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. Her books have been published in twenty-two languages.We loved chatting with Martha about her writing career, hearing how she first broke in, and how she coped when she suddenly found it difficult to get published. We hear how The Murderbot Diaries helped her come back from that, chat to her about writing novellas, hear how she wrote for Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars, Stargate and more! Plus - we get an update on the Murderbot TV series!Links:Buy Martha's books now!Visit Martha's websiteFollow Martha on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 24, 2022 • 1h 10min
Ep. 111 - Ed McDonald talks writing dark fantasy, why writers need to deal with rejection and more!
Ed McDonald’s debut novel BLACKWING began the The Raven’s Mark trilogy, which continues with RAVENCRY and concludes with CROWFALL. Ed has been writing stories since he was a child, and studied history for his BA and MA degrees. He is a practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), and his love of history has helped to inspire the books that he writes. His latest book, Daughter of Redwinter, is out next week (30 June 2022).We had a great chat with Ed about how he broke into writing (including rewriting a whole chunk of his debut over a weekend before his agent sent it to publishers), talking about planning vs pantsing, and hearing about his brilliant new novel, Daughter of Redwinter. We also talk about the advice he regularly gives writers on social media, and whether social media is a help or a hinderance to writers.Links:Buy Daughter of Redwinter and Ed's other booksFollow Ed on TwitterVisit Ed's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 17, 2022 • 54min
Ep. 110 - Jane Shemilt chats about swapping medicine for writing, whether writing courses help and more!
Jane Shemilt is an internationally-acclaimed, best-selling author of psychological suspense novels. Her debut novel Daughter was a Richard and Judy pick, shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish award and nominated for an Edgar award. It became the fastest selling debut of 2014. Her third novel, How Far We Fall, has been optioned for production as a TV drama by Twelve Town. Jane’s stories are inspired by her background in psychology and medicine. She studied Psychology at London University before qualifying with honours from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. She began writing while working as a GP, undertaking a diploma in Creative Writing then an M.A. also in Creative Writing, at Bath Spa University, gaining both with distinction.We had a really interesting chat with Jane about how and why she made the move from medicine to writing, talking about the difficulties and opportunities with such a move. We also talked about how writing courses can assist aspiring authors and discuss whether everyone should try them. Plus we chat about her latest book, The Patient.Links:Buy The Patient and Jane's other books nowFollow Jane on TwitterVisit Jane's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: @ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: @ukPageOne Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.