Page One - The Writer's Podcast

James Logan (also known as James Long) has worked for years in the publishing industry, currently as Senior Commissioning Editor for Orbit. But for years, he harboured a secret - he really wanted to write his own fantasy epics instead of just editing them - and he has achieved that dream with his debut novel, THE SILVERBLOOD PROMISE, which is out in April 2024, and has already received rave reviews, including from the likes of Scott Lynch.We really enjoyed chatting with James and hearing about his work on the publishing side of the fence, editing authors such as Richard Swan, as well as his desires to become an author. We hear how it too years for that writing to pay off, including what seemed like a doomed submission process with other editors only for it to be picked up just as he was considering self-publishing. Plus, we reminisce about our favourite Fighting Fantasy books.Links:Buy The Silverblood PromiseFollow James on Twitter/XVisit James'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/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is also available as a full video interview on our YouTube channelFelicity Blunt has been a literary agent with Curtis Brown since 2005, and represents authors that span the literary to commercial spectrum, including Booker Prize shortlisted Claire Keegan, Women's Prize shortlisted Meg Mason, Rosamund Lupton, Renée Knight and Gillian McAllister in addition to NYT bestselling debut authors Abi Daré and Bonnie Garmus.Gráinne Fox is a literary agent with UTA and represents award-winning novelists, New York Times bestselling journalists and academics. Her clients have been shortlisted for, or won, various awards including The William Hill Sports Book of The Year, The Booker Prize, The Women’s Prize, The Irish Book Awards, The British Book Awards, The Orwell Prize, The Plutarch Award, the RTÉ Short Story Competition, and the NBCC.We were delighted to have the chance to catch up with both of them just ahead of the start of this year's London Book Fair to hear why that and other literary book fairs are so important, and to talk about what really happens at these events!Page 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/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We know - we've been away far longer than we said. This is a very short explanation/apology for that and a teaser of our imminent return! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is also available as a full video episode on our YouTube channel!A slightly different - but bumper-length - episode this time as we are joined by authors Nick Binge and Dave Goodman for our review of 2023!Nick is a previous podcast guest and is an internationally bestselling author of speculative fiction, sci-fi, and horror. His novels include Ascension and Professor Everywhere.Dave is a thriller and SFF novelist and short story author with stories in Clarkesworld and Analog. His debut novel is coming from a major publisher in 2024.We loved finishing off the year chatting with Dave and Nick about their writing highlights and hearing about what they have planned for 2024. Plus, we discuss each others' highlights on the reading and viewing front, as well as finding out about everyone's favourite Christmas movie...Links:Buy Nick's books nowRead Dave's latest novelette in AnalogFollow Nick on Twitter/XFollow Dave on Twitter/XVisit Nick's websiteVisit Dave's website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cassandra Khaw is an award-winning game writer, and USA Today bestseller. Khaw's work can be found in places like Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, and Tor.com. Khaw's first original novella, Hammers on Bone, was a British Fantasy award and Locus award finalist.Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir series. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film. Some of Kadrey’s other books include King Bullet, The Grand Dark, Butcher Bird, and The Dead Take the A Train (with Cassandra Khaw). He’s written for film and comics, including Heavy Metal, Lucifer, and Hellblazer. Kadrey also makes music with his band, A Demon in Fun City.It was great having the chance to speak to both of them and hear about their very different routes into the writing world, and how they came to collaborate on The Dead Take The A Train. We also discuss why authors shouldn't be shy about asking for proper payment for their work and why it's always good to have more than one project on the go.Links:Buy The Dead Take The A Train nowFollow Cassandra on Twitter/XFollow Richard on Twitter/XVisit Cassandra's websiteVisit Richard'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/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gareth Rubin writes about social affairs, travel and the arts for British newspapers. In 2013 he directed a documentary about therapeutic art at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London ('Bedlam'). His books include Liberation Square, set in Soviet-occupied London; The Winter Agent, about British agents in Paris on the eve of D-Day and The Turnglass, two entwined mysteries that take place in Essex in 1881 and Los Angeles in 1939.We loved chatting with Gareth and hearing how he moved into writing fiction from journalism, why he thinks you should never give your book to friends to read, and what made him want to write a tête-bêche novel. Plus, we discuss why research can be both helpful and a waste of time, and why he loathes the writing process!Links:Buy The Turnglass and Gareth's other booksFollow Gareth on Twitter/XVisit Gareth'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/XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Lewis is the internationally bestselling author of fifty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense and crime. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol during the 1960s. Following periods of living in Los Angeles and the South of France, she currently lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, James, and her dog, Mimi. Her latest book is I Know It's You.We enjoyed chatting with Susan about how she got her start in TV and why it was advice from a producer that led her to become a novelist. We ask how she keeps coming up with ideas, talk about what makes a compelling protagonist, and hear some stories of her times in Hollywood...Links:Buy Susan's booksFollow Susan on FacebookVisit Susan'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 TwitterFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Moore is a leading stand-up comedian, known for his sharp, entertaining punditry, who regularly headlines at London’s world-famous Comedy Store. A TV/radio regular, he stars in Dave’s satirical TV show Unspun and Channel 5’s topical comedy Big Mouths. Ian lives in rural France and commutes back to the UK every week. However, he has recently moved into the world of novel writing, with Death and Croissants being released to great reviews as the first in a new cosy crime series. His latest book, The Man Who Didn't Burn, sees Ian turn to a more serious side of his thriller writing.We had a great time talking with Ian and hearing why he wrote his standup while actually standing up, why a desire never to leave the house again turned him into a novelist, and how doing so has allowed him to fulfil his dreams he had as an 18-year-old.Links:Buy Ian's books nowFollow Ian on Twitter/XVisit Ian'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 TwitterFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caimh McDonnell is the internationally bestselling author of the Dublin Trilogy which is set in his hometown. His debut novel A Man with One of Those Faces – a darkly comedic crime thriller – was published in 2016. It went on to spawn the increasingly uncountable Dublin Trilogy (seven and a half books and counting) and the McGarry Stateside series. The books have been ranked #1 in their Amazon categories in the UK, Ireland and the USA, have been translated into several languages and optioned for television. He also writes the critically acclaimed The Stranger Times series under the name of C.K. McDonnell. These books combine his distinctive dark wit with his love of the weird and wonderful to deliver a celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction.We had great fun chatting with Caimh and hearing about why he left stand-up comedy for novel writing. He gave some great tips on how to be successful in self-publishing and also explains why he enjoys being both self-published and trad published, and why he went down that route.Links:Buy Caimh's books now!Follow Caimh on Twitter/XVisit Caimh'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 TwitterFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RJ Barker is a critically acclaimed and award-winning author of fantasy fiction. He won the 2020 British Fantasy Society (BFS) Robert Holdstock award for Best Novel for his fourth novel, The Bone Ships. His debut trilogy The Wounded Kingdom (Age of Assassins, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins) was nominated for the David Gemmel Award, the Kitschie Golden Tentacle, The Compton Crook and the BFS Best Debut and Best Novel awards. He followed this with the award-winning Tide Child Trilogy: The Bone Ships, Call of the Bone Ships and The Bone Ships Wake. His latest book is Gods of the Wyrdwood.This episode was recorded live at Cymera Festival in Edinburgh in July 2023, and we had a great time chatting with RJ about all things writing, Skyrim and dinosaurs... We also got an insight into his brilliant imagination as he gave us some hints about his next books, and heard about how he is such a prolific writer.Links:Buy RJ's books now!Follow RJ on Twitter/XVisit RJ'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 TwitterFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on MastodonFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.