Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Back in the summer of 2020, we recorded this episode of the Page One Sessions with Laura Lam and Adrian J Walker. We discussed all manner of things, including whether living through a real-life pandemic would alter the way they tell their future-set stories, how they had been writing during the COVID-19 lockdown, heard about their latest projects, got reading recommendations and much more!This episode is also available as a video podcast on our YouTube site: https://youtu.be/F1kPGk37DJABe sure to tune in to The Page One Podcast every week for in depth discussions with writers about their writing process and how they got into the industry.Links:Buy Laura's latest books, Goldilocks and Seven DevilsBuy Adrian's latest books latest book, The End of the World Survivor's Club and The Human SonListen to your favourite writers every week on The Page One Podcast: https://www.writegear.co.uk/podcast.The Page One Sessions are 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.Follow 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.

Earlier this year, we chatted with friends of the podcast Sarah Pinborough and Tim Lebbon about how they have been writing during the COVID-19 lockdown, heard about their latest projects, got reading recommendations and much more!This episode is also available as a video podcast on our YouTube site: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-s.Be sure to tune in to The Page One Podcast every week for in depth discussions with writers about their writing process and how they got into the industry.Links:Buy Sarah's books, including her latest, Dead to HerBuy Tim's books, including his latest, EdenThe 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.

Jennie Fields received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the author of the novels Lily Beach, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, The Middle Ages, and The Age of Desire. A Chicago native, Jennie was inspired by her own mother’s work as a University of Chicago-trained biochemist in the 1950s for her latest novel, Atomic Love. We had a great chat with Jennie about juggling a day job with being a writer (she was previously a highly successful creative director at various New York ad agencies) and hear about the type of research that she does for her historical fiction novels. We also explore the real-life inspirations behind Atomic Love, and of course find out whether she prefers real books or ebooks (clue: Tariq was very happy with her answer!)Links:Buy Atomic Love and Jennie's other booksVisit Jennie's websiteWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Matt Ruff is the author of books such as  Fool on The Hill, The Mirage, and Lovecraft Country, which has just been turned into a successful TV show on HBO and Sky Atlantic. His latest novel is 88 names, a cyberpunk/romance mashup set in a virtual world.We had a really interesting chat with Matt, hearing about how he was always destined to be a writer, and why doing creative writing at Cornell helped kickstart his career (but not for the reasons you think!) We also chat about the controversies that can come from writing diverse characters from a different background from yourself, and learn that there may be more Lovecraft Country on the way!Links:Buy Lovecraft Country and Matt's other booksVisit Matt's websiteWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Alex Garland is the critically acclaimed writer and director of movies such as Ex Machina, Annihilation and, most recently, the TV series Devs. His career began with the bestselling novel, The Beach, before he moved on to writing screenplays for films such as 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go and Dredd.We had a really enjoyable and fascinating chat with Alex about why he ended up returning his advance for more novels to turn to screenplays instead, and why he felt he had to move on to directing his own screenplays. We also had a deep dive into the craft of writing (and reading!) and even find time to chat about video game writing as well!Links:Watch Devs on BBC iPlayerWatch Annihilation on NetflixWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Daniel Abraham is a bestselling science fiction and fantasy author who has written books including the bestselling The Expanse series of books (along with Ty Franck, under the joint name of James SA Corey), which is now a smash hit series on Amazon Prime. He has also written screenplays for The Expanse, written graphic novel adaptations of George R R Martin's Game of Thrones books.We had great fun chatting with Daniel, hearing about how he moved into the writing world, how The Expanse came about from playing a role playing game and chat about the differences between writing for TV, novels and comics. We also get some great advice on how to deal with confrontational social media users, chat about why there is a snobbery against some genre fiction and hear whether or not there will be any more Expanse after next year's novel, Leviathan Falls...Links:Buy Daniel's books (and James SA Corey's books)Visit Daniel's websiteFollow Daniel on TwitterFollow James SA Corey on TwitterWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Joe Abercrombie's debut fantasy novel, The Blade Itself, was a huge hit when it was published in 2006, and was swiftly followed by the other books in what became The First Law Trilogy. Since then, he's never really stopped writing, with a series of acclaimed standalone and young adult novels. Most recently, he has returned the the world of the First Law with the first two books of the Age of Madness trilogy, A Little Hatred and The Trouble with Peace. The final book in the trilogy, The Wisdom of Crowds, is out in 2021.We had great fun chatting with Joe as he told us how he transitioned from working as TV editor to writing novels, and how he reworked a far-too-pompous fantasy novel into the darkly humourous The Blade Itself. We also hear how he manages to keep completing these epic fantasy stories when others in the same genre seem to struggle, find out how he crafts these imaginary worlds, and talk about whether The First Law will ever come to TV or film...Links:Buy Joe's books now!Visit Joe's websiteFollow Joe on TwitterWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Peng Shepherd was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where she rode horses and trained in classical ballet, and has lived in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, London, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Las Vegas. Her first novel, The Book of M, won the 2019 Neukom Institute for Literary Arts Award for Debut Speculative Fiction, and was chosen as a best book of the year by Amazon, Elle, Refinery29, and The Verge, as well as a best book of the summer by the Today Show and NPR On Point. A graduate of the NYU MFA program, Peng is the recipient of a 2020 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Elizabeth George Foundation’s emerging writers 2016 grant. Her next novel, The Cartographers, comes out in 2021.We had a great chat with Peng about her route to publication, and hear about her amazingly quick path to picking up an agent and a publisher. We also hear about her writing process (no planning!) and find out that she may be the only person in the world who doesn't know the ending to Game of Thrones...Links:Buy The Book of M nowFollow Peng on TwitterVisit Peng's websiteWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Benjamin Dreyer is vice president, executive managing editor and copy chief of Random House US. He has overseen books by writers including Michael Chabon, Edmund Morris, Suzan-Lori Parks, Michael Pollan, Peter Straub, and Calvin Trillin. He has copyedited books by authors including EL Doctorow, David Ebershoff, Frank Rich and Elizabeth Strout. He has also recently written Dreyer's English, a brilliant and highly amusing grammar and style guide. He has also created the related card game Stet! in which players test their copyediting skills.We had great fun chatting to Benjamin as we find out how he stumbled into the publishing world, learn about the differences between a copy editor and "editor editor" (as he calls them) and hear about what happens when authors don't take kindly to copy editing suggestions! We also get a sneak preview of his next book, and, of course, find out whether he prefers real books or ebooks (hint: Tariq wasn't happy...!)Links:Buy Dreyer's English and Stet!Follow Benjamin on TwitterWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.

Cathy Bramley is the Sunday Times Top Ten best-selling author of THE LEMON TREE CAFE. Her other romantic comedies include Ivy Lane, Appleby Farm, Wickham Hall, Conditional Love, The Plumberry School of Comfort Food and White Lies and Wishes. Cathy turned to writing after spending eighteen years running her own marketing agency. Her latest book is My Kind of Happy.We had a great chat with Cathy, hearing about why she decided to start writing books, and how she planned (and made a huge success of) self-publishing her first book - a story which includes The Guinness Book of World Records! We also talk about her unusual but successful approach of serialising her novels, and also get lots of great hints and tips on writing. And, of course, she tells us whether she prefers ebooks or real books...Links:Buy My Kind of Happy and Cathy's other booksVisit Cathy's websiteWatch our video panel Page One Sessions as we discuss writing with great authors: https://youtu.be/gmE6iCDYn-sThe 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.