The Dabblers' Book Club

Maggie Gee's 17th novel, The Red Children, is out this week and Curtis and Hajar will be chatting about it when we kick off our review episodes again! In this guest special, Maggie speaks to Hajar all about the craft of writing, fitting in at Oxford, and why it's so important to have the freedom to figure out what you actually think. The Orange Prize shortlisted author also treats us to readings from The Red Children, a fable about migration and global warming that will restore your belief in the power of human kindness. Listen to the interview and read along with us!

Losing motivation to get that first novel done? This is the episode for you. Hajar talks to the brilliant Lorraine Brown, debut author of The Paris Connection, all about her journey to authordom! We talked about her previous jobs, the struggle artists with day jobs have to call themselves professionals, and why cities are so great to write about. We also can't help but bring up Emily in Paris and the disappointing Sex and the City reboot!

We're back!! Hajar finally read a book! We chat about Women's Prize-winning Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, and enjoy ourselves as we read the countless 'Emperor's New Clothes!!!' one-star reviews. Read the novel? Tweet us what you think... @dabblersbooks

Hajar's still not in the reading swing of things and only managed half of Crome Yellow, so she and Curtis decided to get on with an episode for the hell of it, and talk a bit about the last few months - what they've read, what they haven't read, and why Crome Yellow was a no-go for both of them! This is an apology episode for being SO behind, but we promise we'll be back reading and chatting again!!

Colin Lancaster is a Wall Street professional who's run two of the highest profile global macro businesses for the top-performing hedge funds in the world.... it's an alien world to Haj but Colin's managed to make it that bit more accessible by turning his experiences into a novel.Fed Up! is a fictional take on Colin's life as a macro trader and offers an inside view of the 2020 market crash. He joined Haj to talk about writing the book, wealth inequality and moral dilemmas in a money-driven world.

Hajar met AJ Pearce in 2015 on a writing retreat in North Wales, where they were both tutored by the brilliant Rowan Coleman and Julie Cohen.  In the six years since, AJ didn't just pick up agent, get published, and find herself shortlisted for a British Book Award, she's also about to release her second novel, Yours Cheerfully. Picking up where her debut Dear Mrs Bird left off, Yours Cheerfully follows Emmeline Lake as she manages career, family and friendship in wartime London. Hajar loved Dear Mrs Bird and recommends you load up on cake and tea before devouring the first two books in the Emmeline Lake chronicles. They finally catch up to talk about writing, the pressure of the second book, and AJ shares a brilliant tip for writers needing a little extra inspiration.

Hajar had a whale of a time talking with the brilliant poet Joelle Taylor. Joelle's latest collection C+nto is an exploration of gender and sexuality through the private lives of women from the butch counterculture, telling the inside story of the protests they led in the '90s to reclaim their bodies as their own - their difficult balance between survival and self-expression. We didn't intend this interview to coincide with Pride Month but it's as good a time as any to celebrate Joelle and her work! Enjoy!

Haj dislocated her knee (update - she actually tore her ACL!) and Curtis has been reading all sorts of horrifying things. This episode is just a quick hello to say sorry for the delay and that we haven't forgotten about books altogether! Curtis talks a bit about Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom and we look at a couple of 1-star reviews. REMINDER: please leave your book reviews on the website - head to dabblersbookclub.com/submit-a-guest-post to submit your quick book review or guest post!