Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Ian Rankin is an international superstar of crime writing, with bestsellers across the globe and is the creator of one of the best-known fictional policeman, John Rebus.We are so delighted that Ian was able to come down to our studio to talk about his stellar writing career. We hear how that began, where Rebus came from and talk about the impact of Scottish crime writing on the genre. We also talk about what it was like to co-write a posthumous William McIlvanney novel, The Dark Remains, and lean what he has planned next!This special episode is available as both an audio podcast and as a full video interview on Youtube!COMPETITION!WIN SIGNED BOOKS AND YOUR OWN PAGE ONE NOTEBOOK To celebrate our 100th episode, we are also holding an exciting competition! 3 winners will receive:A copy of The Dark Remains by Ian Rankin and William McIlvanney (signed by Ian Rankin!)A Page One notebook (signed by Ian Rankin!)An assorted bundle of books from some of our previous guests. Please note that some of these books are proof copies and so may differ slightly from retail versions. 2 additional winners will receive a Page One notebook signed by Ian Rankin! Just follow the instructions below to enter – Good luck! WAYS TO ENTER: 1.     Sign up to our newsletter (sign up details at bottom of page here: https://www.writegear.co.uk/podcast)2.     Tag a friend who would like to win a bundle of books and our notebook – Each tag counts as a separate entry!3.     Follow us on at least one of our social media channels:a.     Twitter - @ukPageOneb.     Facebook – www.facebook.com/ukpageonec.     Instagram – @ukPageOne4. Share the competition post on social media on your feed or story (this isn't a necessary step but counts as a bonus entry!)Competition open until 11.59pm GMT on 30 March 2022. Entries received after that date will not be counted. Winners will be announced on episode 104 of Page One – The Writers Podcast which will be released on 1 April 2022. Winners will also be notified by email and announced on our social media.Links:Buy The Dark Remains and Ian's other booksVisit Ian's websiteFollow Ian 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-one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Mazzola is the a writer of historical thrillers and Gothic fiction. Her novels explore the impact of crime and injustice. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, is based on the life of a real woman called Sarah Gale who was convicted of aiding a murder in London in 1837. It won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in the US and was nominated for the Historical Writers’ Association’s Debut Crown in the UK. Her second novel, The Story Keeper, is out now. It follows a folklorist’s assistant as she searches out dark fairytales and stolen girls on the Isle of Skye in 1857. The Story Keeper was nominated for the Highland Book Prize. Her third novel, The Clockwork Girl, set in Paris in 1750 and based partly on the story of the vanishing children of Paris, will be published by Orion in March 2022. She is currently working on her fourth novel, a ghost story set in Fascist Italy.We had a really fun chat with Anna, talking about how she juggles her legal and writing careers, the difficulties of writing stories that span genres and so don't neatly fit into expected categories, why prologues are good and much more! We learn about her next book(s) and talk about why sometimes it is best to get the first draft done and then fix it afterwards.Links:Buy The Clockwork Girl and Anna's other books now!Visit Anna's websiteFollow Anna on TwitterHear about Page One - The Writer's Notebook on The Writing and Marketing ShowPage 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Carver is the acclaimed author of unique, dark crime novels such as Good Samaritans, The Beresford and, most recently, Psychopaths Anonymous.We had great fun chatting with Will, hearing about how he broke into the industry and also how he found himself having to start his writing career again when publishing contracts dried up. We also discuss why his books are either loved or hated (with no in-between) and also learn about the year he saved not one but two lives!Links:Buy Will's books now!Follow Will 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lilja Sigurðardóttir is an Icelandic crime-writer born in 1972. She is the author of novels, stage plays and screenplays. Her latest latest book, White as Snow (Náhvít jörð) is the third in a series of thrillers featuring financial investigator Áróra and police detective Daníel.We had great fun chatting with Lilja about her interesting route into writing (thank you, Dan Brown!), talked about the importance of good translations and discussed the growing appeal of foreign stories in English-speaking countries. We also talk about Iceland's love of Eurovision (the competition and Will Ferrell's film) and learn about the hefty price of books in Iceland!Links:Buy Lilja's books now!Visit Lilja's websiteFollow Lilja on TwitterHear about Page One - The Writer's Notebook on The Writing and Marketing ShowPage 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tasmina Perry is the internationally bestselling author of fourteen novels including Kiss Heaven Goodbye, Private Lives and Guilty Pleasures. Her books have been translated into twenty languages and sold over two million copies worldwide. She is a former lawyer turned award-winning journalist and was editing the UK edition of In Style magazine when her debut novel Daddy's Girls went into the top ten and became one of the biggest selling debuts of the years. She also writes thrillers under the pseudonym JL Butler. Mine - her first novel in that pen name has been optioned by Sony Pictures. Her second JL Butler novel, Unfaithful, is out now.We had great fun chatting with Tasmina about her unusual route into writing (hint - it involves a random interview with one of Britain's biggest boybands) and how she has made such a huge success of her career. We hear about the importance of planning, why pseudonyms can be good and bad, why she's decided to launch her own publishing imprint instead of signing a new trad publishing deal - and what happened when Donald Trump asked her to ghostwrite for him!Links:Buy Unfaithful and Tasmina's other books nowVisit Tasmina's websiteFollow Tasmina 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Hammer is a leading Australian crime fiction novelist, author of international bestsellers Scrublands, Silver and Trust. Scrublands was shortlisted for major writing awards in Australia, the UK and the United States. In the UK it was named the Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year 2019 and won the prestigious UK Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award. His latest, published as Treasure and Dirt in Australia and New Zealand and Opal Country internationally, is out soon.We had great fun chatting with Chris about his writing career, learning how he moved from journalism into writing fiction via a couple of non-fiction books. We also talk about what inspired Scrublands and hear about why he thinks it has taken so long for Australian crime fiction to take off internationally. On top of that, he tells us about his process and talks about why he wanted to leave his previous protagonist, Martin Scarsden, alone for a while to write Opal Country.Links:Buy Opal Country now!Visit Chris' websiteFollow Chris on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Howey is the author of the bestselling sci fi series, Wool, which is now being turned into a show for Apple TV. In addition, he wrote the Molly Fyde and Beacon 23 series, and is currently working on the next installment of the Wool universe.We had a great chat with Hugh about his career, and heard about the brave and ultimately life-changing decision he made to self-publish his own works (which in turn led to him turning down $1m dollars to keep the rights to Wool). He offers a unique and fascinating insight into the world of publishing, talks about why there should be no stigma around self-publishing and why Amazon can be good for writers and readers.Links:Buy Hugh's books nowVisit Hugh's websiteFollow Hugh on TwitterThe Page One 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Ingold is the founder and narrative director of Inkle Studios who have made hugely popular narrative games such as 80 Days, Overboard! and Heaven's Vault. He is also a published author and has just released a two-volume novel set in the Heaven's Vault world.We had a fascinating chat with Jon about the differences between fiction and interactive fiction - and found out that in many ways, they are not all that different after all. We talked about his inspirations for interactive fiction, and how he structures these stories both from a technical and narrative perspective. He tells us why he wanted to revisit the world of Heaven's Vault as a book, and we also find time to talk about the latest film adaptation of Dune...Links:Buy Heaven's Vault the novel now!Follow Jon on TwitterVisit Inkle's websiteThe Page One 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Beckett taught English as a foreign language in Spain, installed cavity wall installation and played in various unsuccessful bands before becoming a freelance journalist and author. Since then, he has become an international bestselling author thanks to his David Hunter crime thrillers. The series has been translated into 29 languages. Simon’s novels have appeared in The Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller list and become No.1 international bestsellers, selling 12 million copies worldwide. As well as the David Hunter series, he is the author of five standalone thrillers: Fine Lines, Animals, Where There’s Smoke, Owning Jacob and most recently The Lost, the first in the Jonah Colley series.We had a great chat with Simon talking about the ups and down of the publishing industry and why you can never sit on your laurels as an author. We hear why he wanted to write about a new character with The Lost and talk about how to push through those difficult moments as a writer.Links:Buy The Lost and Simon's other books!Visit Simon's websiteFollow Simon on TwitterThe Page One 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joanne Harris MBE is the international bestselling author of books such as Chocolat and The Gospel of Loki. A prolific author, she has written nearly twenty books in addition to numerous short stories. Her latest novel is A Narrow Door, a psychological thriller set in an English grammar school. She is also currently Chair of the Society of Authors.We loved chatting with Joanne about all things writing-related, including how finding an agent has (and hasn’t) changed since she broke in, the current state of the publishing industry and how social media isn’t all bad for writers! We also deep-dive into her writing process, talking about planning, revising and why reading your writing aloud is the best tool a writer has.Links:Buy A Narrow Door and Joanne's other books now!Visit Joanne's websiteFollow Joanne on TwitterThe Page One 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: @write_gearFollow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WriteGearUK/Follow us on Instagram: write_gear_uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.