The Failing Writers Podcast

Are you incredibly sad you missed out on seeing us live at the Alton Arts Festival? Well, don't worry! Here's the next best thing - a recording of that legendary night.And even better, we've edited out all the boring bits - like the interval and Tommy's literary quiz. (Although that is available on the full video we've posted on YouTube, if you fancy)Video of our live podcast with Claire FullerWe had a lovely time with multi-award-winning author Claire Fuller, discussing her newest book, Hunger and Thirst, as well as discovery writing, character detail, coming up with titles, eavesdropping, writing awards, a whole load of other writingy things.Claire's websiteThen there was our live Hypewriter feature, starring the amazing Madelyn Postman. Check out her book, Staring Into The Sun, here!Thanks to everyone who came, to the organisers of Alton Festival, and a HUGGGGGE thanks to Gary and the team at Goldfinch Books. They were the bestest hosts anyone could wish for. Goldfinch Books

Should you quit your job to write?Seems like an obvious answer to an obvious question.(No! No is the correct answer!)But hang on.It's the dream isn't it?Writing full time.Quitting the day job and having time and energy to write the great novel you've thinking about for ages.Well let's have a closer look at some writers who've done exactly that - and it ain't worked out too badly for 'em.People like...Children's author, Stuart Reid.Thriller author, Jessica Payne.and author of Bright I Burn - Molly Aitken, shortlisted for Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award.All very different stories. All very fascinating and inspiring.So come and find out what you need to do to become a full-time author.

Welcome to our cheeky little bonus episode! The poetry competition has landed. What started off as a crazy little idea from Jon, has turned into a crazy BIG idea. We’ve got prizes (quite a few actually - huge thanks in particular to https://writershq.co.uk/ and https://libro.fm/)We’ve got a judge (the amazing Rowan McCabe https://rowanthepoet.com/)All we need now… are your poems!!!Less than 250 words - FREE to enter - up to two entries per person. Any subject, any style. Send them to failingwriterspodcast@gmail.comGood luck!!!

It's been a while since we had a little poetry splurge. So to rectify that terrible neglect of our duty, Tom and I had a lovely natter with Hollie McNish. We meandered through where her love of poetry began, how it helps her assimilate ideas, writing essays, and the Olympic Breakfast at Little Chef, Chieveley Services. Oh... and we also discuss her brilliant new book, Virgin.Buy it now... in fact, heck, buy all her books! ... right hereWe also bring you our regular feature Hypewriter, where we celebrate one of our listener's glorious bits of work.And what better to round off an episode about poetry, than a lovely, crisp little villanelle from Nichole Johnson.Nichole's Insta: @nichole_johnson_poetry

Writing competitions. Clearly they’re not all made the same.Some are free, some are costly, some are actually impossible for mere mortals to enter due to their criteria.The prizes vary too. From small cash prizes, to publishing deals.Today, we’re asking the question… on the whole, if you’re serious about being a writer… are they actually worth it? Are they worth the money, the - let’s face it – likely disappointment, the effort and most importantly of all… the time?And the biggest question of all - are there any quantifiable things you can do to help nudge your entry to the top of the pile?We consider such things as:Where’s the best place to send your piece? Maybe a competition isn’t the right destination? Maybe it’s a literary journal instead?We get some top notch insider insight, from Bath Flash Fiction Award past winner and judge - Kathryn Aldridge-Morris to get the skinny on what works and what doesn’t. What will wow the judges, what will make them spit their tea out and what will make them slide you into their shortlist.https://www.kamwords.com Plus we hear from fabulous literary agent Joanna Swainson from Hardman & Swainson, for an agent’s eye-view.https://www.hardmanswainson.com Finally, the winner of a competition who we suspect is quite glad she entered DFB & Arvon Search for a Storyteller prize, because it won her a publishing deal with David Fickling Books – Miranda Moore.I can personally recommend her excellent YA book, A Beautiful Terrible Thing.Yes, devastating & emotional, but also joyful & redemptive.https://www.mirandamooreauthor.com And speaking of competitions… look out next week for our BRAND NEW POETRY COMPETITION! We’re too good to you.  Seriously. We are.Lovely episode art by Katie Rand.

Hang on... before we start... let us just fill you in on a very exciting evening happening on Monday the 6th of July, in Alton, Hampshire.At 8pm in the lovely Goldfinch Books on Alton High Street, we are doing our first ever proper LIVE podcast.Our guest will be the fabulous Costa-Novel-Prize-Winning Claire Fuller. We'll be talking about her brilliantly unsettling new book Hunger & Thirst and asking her all the questions you want to know the answers to but don't want to sound stupid. Whereas - we don't mind. We're used to it.So come and join us in the flesh! I promise it's gonna be a reet proper laugh, as well, obviously, as being incredibly, edifyingly educational!GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!Right... on with the show...Do you love sci-fi?We love sci-fi.Sometimes I think we forget how much we love sci-fi.Why do we like sci-fi?well let's explore that for a moment.Hmmmmmm.I think it's because sci-fi is all about human possibility. About the extrapolation of all our greatest qualities.And yes, of course, our absolute worst.Sci-fi gives us a glimpse into the future of the human race.And none more so than Joseph Eckert's brilliant new book The Traveler.A sort of family drama / sci-fi mashup that brings some big emotional hits and meanwhile taps into our deep curiosity about where this strange and wonderful species we call Homo Sapiens are heading.We talk to Joseph about time travel, about where the stunning concept for his novel came from, about movie options, spending years trying to get a publishing deal, and about how you fit in writing when you have a full time job!Buy The Traveler HEREJoseph Eckert's websiteThen we check out another sci-fi novel! In our HYPEWRITER feature, we're celebrating David Deane Haskell's latest work of science fiction: Solarian Deep.A first contact, distant-future, flooded-planet, techno-mermaid story, which sounds great. In fact we strongly advise you to take the plunge and buy a copy!Buy Solarian Deep HERERight... I think's that's all the admin done.... now... on with the show...Do you love sci-fi?We love sci-fi.Sometimes I think we forget how much we love sci-fi.Why do we like sci-fi?well let's explore that for a moment.Hmmmmmm.I think it's because sci-fi is all about human possibility. About the extrapolation of all our greatest qualities.And yes, of course, our absolute worst.Sci-fi gives us a glimpse into the future of the human race.And none more so than Joseph Eckert's brilliant new book The Traveler.A sort of family drama / sci-fi mashup that brings some big emotional hits and meanwhile taps into our deep curiosity about where this strange and wonderful species we call Homo Sapiens are heading.We talk to Joseph about time travel, about where the stunning concept for his novel came from, about movie options, about spending years trying to get a publishing deal, and about how you fit in writing when you have a full time job.Buy The Traveler HEREJoseph Eckert's websiteThen we check out another sci-fi novel! In our HYPEWRITER feature, we're celebrating David Deane Haskell's latest work of science fiction: Solarian Deep.A first contact, distant-future, flooded-planet, techno-mermaid story, which sounds great. In fact we strongly advise you to take the plunge and buy a copy!Buy Solarian Deep HEREWait a minute...

Come and see us LIVE!We'll be at Alton Arts Festival on July the 6th, at Goldfinch Books, doing our thing in full colour, 4K, Ultra HD, real life.There will be laughter. There will be genuine writing tips and insight from Costa Novel Prize Winner Claire Fuller. There will be a ditty or two. There will be give-aways, impromptu poetry and even Tom’s very-very-serious-wordy-writery-quiz-thing!Get yer tickets hereLittle warning, by the way. There are a couple of sweary-type words in this episode. So get ready to clap your hands around your children's ears! (unless you're driving… then maybe just listen on your headphones, eh?)Our guest writer this week is the brilliant, funny and whip-smart writer & actor Ashley Storrie. We talk about performing stand up at the age of 11, writing fan fiction, her Mum - Janey Godley, autism, writing sitcoms & guest writing on projects, serendipity in art, and giving your characters a tough time. And I don't know if you can tell... but we really blummin enjoyed it.And when you've heard Ashley, you'll also want to see her sitcom.Because it's excellent.Watch 'Dinosaur' hereAnd just when you thought all the glorious chatterage was over, Geoffrey G.N. Harrison goes and sends us a lovely little sci-fi story about DUST, for our Hypewriter feature.Check out more of Geoff's stuff hereAnd if you've got some work you think should be celebrated in HYPEWRITER don't be shy! Send it to failingwriterspodcast@gmail.com and we'll bring it to glorious audio life and tell you why WE like it too!Go on do it.Do it now.Well that's no excuse.OK, but don't leave it too long, OK?

We're doing a live podcast at Goldfinch Books in Alton on Monday the 6th of July, with the brilliant Claire Fuller.Come and join us!CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO SEE US LIVE AT ALTON ARTS FESTIVAL!!!So what do we have in today's episode?An absolute treat, that's what.Philippa Perry, agony aunt, psychotherapist, artist, self-help-book writer and now cosy crime author.How the heck does she do it all? She must be either:A) Some sort of magic fairy-person.or B) An amazing human being.Have a listen and I'll let you decide.We talk about:Failing and rejection.How to develop meaningful relationships with your family and friends.Writing for fun.Cats.Making your main character a sorta-kinda-loosely-based-but-actually-quite-similar version of yourself.and of course Philippa's excellent new cosy crime novel, Shrink Solves Murder.You can buy that here:Buy Shrink Solves MurderBut also don't forget to buy the book that has changed Jon's life the most (in a good way!) :)The Book You Wish Your Parents Had ReadHell... buy 'em all... they're all great!All the books!OK. Is that it?No!It's HYPEWRITER, Silly. And this week we've got the opening of a hardboiled detective novel called No Saints Only Killers by Luke Deckard. (Released on the 10th of June)Details below!Luke's podcast Cinema SleuthsWebsite: lukedeckard.com & FacebookPhoto of Philippa by Pal Hansen

OK, so you've written something.Well done. *light applause*That's nice.But the next stage - getting it out into the world... that's a really tricky bit.However... one sure fire way of doing that, if you can't persuade some other mug to do it for you, is to blummin'-well slap on some grease paint, don some tights and perform it yourself, on what we call...... the stage.Well that's what Jon and his wife Katie did with their play How to be The Perfect Couple.A project you may remember from earlier episodes (Such as S1 Ep10 - 30mins in - where Jon first reveals the logline of the show.)And now....Will you look at that!Years later, the play has finally come to fruition and a tour is in progress.If you like the sound of it, you can catch Jon & Katie at:Alton Arts festival 10th July:https://wegottickets.com/event/696218Also at Buxton Fringe on the 14th 15th & 16th of July:https://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/descriptions2026.htmlAnd at Seven Arts in Leeds on the 12th of September:https://www.sevenleeds.co.uk/event/how-to-be-the-perfect-couple-2/Have a listen to the episode and learn how it all went down, including the rather meta reveal of how Jon & Katie managed to stay a couple during the process.And while we're on the subject of relationships..... we should mention Relate. If anyone's struggling with a relationship… and a massive amount of people do…  there are amazing resources available.Relate offer relationship counselling at a reduced rates depending on household income. As well as other things like… sex therapy, family counseling, online courses and toolkits… all sorts. Life’s hard enough!  Don't just muddle on - Relate might be able to help.https://www.relate.org.ukAnd here are the books Jon & Katie recommend: (We promise you won't regret reading these!)Getting the Love you WantThe 7 Principles for Making Marriage WorkPhilippa Perry's The Book You Want Everyone You Love to Read:Also a massive THANK YOU! to Aaron Courts! Steve Salisbury & May King! David Lucas! and of course Kristof Mikes-Liu. We love you all.