Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Watch the full video on our YouTube channel!As we get ready to launch Episode 200, we wanted to do a short thank you video for sticking with us over the past five years - and to let you know of our exciting plans to come!Please check out our newly launched Patreon (you can join for free to get access to our Discord, plus great benefits for higher tiers!): https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Deborah Harkness is the best-selling author of numerous novels. Her debut, A Discovery of Witches, was an immediate best-seller, hitting #2 on the New York Times list, and was also a bestseller in the UK, France and Germany. The initial trilogy in the All Souls series has been translated into 37 languages. Her latest book in the series, The Black Bird Oracle, is just out.We loved chatting with Deb and hearing how she became an author almost by accident thanks to a rainy holiday and a visit to a bookshop. What started as an academic thought experiment about what would happen if witches and vampires are real soon ballooned into a 1100 page draft, leading to her debut novel. We discussed her process, research, and also why you shouldn't chase trends as an author.Links:Buy Deb's books nowFollow Deb on Twitter/XVisit Deb'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

Mark Lawrence is a best-selling fantasy author. His first trilogy, THE BROKEN EMPIRE, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy. Following The Broken Empire is the related RED QUEEN’S WAR trilogy. THE BOOK OF THE ANCESTOR trilogy is set on a different world and is followed by the related BOOK OF THE ICE trilogy. There is also THE IMPOSSIBLE TIMES trilogy, a D&D/sci-fi work set in London in the 80s. All of these trilogies can be read in any order. His latest series is THE LIBRARY trilogy, with the second book, THE BOOK THAT BROKE THE WORLD, out now.It was great having the chance to interview Mark live before an audience at this year's Cymera Festival in Edinburgh. We chatted about his journey to becoming published, and he told us how he hates planning and never does for his books. He also talked about how success in publishing is such a lottery, and why he created the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO) to try and help authors with that lottery.Links:Buy Mark's books nowFollow Mark on Twitter/XVisit Mark's websiteThe SPFBO 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

Dan Malakin is a crime/thriller writer and data security consultant. His short stories have been widely published both in print and online, and he has twice been shortlisted for the Bridport prize. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Brunel University, and his debut novel, THE REGRET, was published by Bloodhound Books in Summer 2019. His next thriller, THE BOX, was published by Viper Books in 2022, and his latest, THE WRECKAGE OF US, is just out.We loved chatting with Dan and hearing how he honed his craft over the years before publishing his first novel (400 short stories!) We also hear how is is constantly revising his writing process to get the most out of his writing time, and why an early start is essential for his writing habits...Links:Buy Dan's books nowFollow Dan on Twitter/XVisit Dan'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

Conn Iggulden is one of the most successful authors of historical fiction writing today, with bestselling series on Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan and the Wars of the Roses, as well as two stand-alone novels: Dunstan, set in the red-blooded world of tenth-century England, and The Falcon of Sparta, in which Iggulden returns to the Ancient World. Both instalments of his Athenian series, ­The Gates of Athens and Protector, and his recent Golden Age series, Lion and Empire, are Sunday Times bestsellers. With his brother, he also wrote the award-winning The Dangerous Book for Boys. His latest book, Nero, is just out.We had a fun chat with Conn, talking about his journey which began with sending manuscripts direct to publishers across a variety of genres before his first novel was picked up. He tells us how his approach to writing historical fiction has changed over time, and why he loves every one of the characters he writes, no matter how despicable they may be.Links:Buy Nero and Conn's other books nowVisit Conn'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

Ilaria Bernardini is one of Italy’s leading novelists, now writing novels in the English language, and an exciting emerging screenwriter. She has film and television projects in development and in production with Lorenzo Mieli's The Apartment, Andy Harries’ Left Bank Pictures, The Russo Brothers/Amazon Studios, Francesco Melzi D’Eril's (SUSPIRIA, BECKETT) MeMo Films. Ilaria helped adapt her own novel CORPO LIBERO for producers Indigo/ALL3MEDIA and Rai & Paramount+. She is also continuing to develop Bernardo Bertolucci’s final script (which Ilaria co-wrote with him) THE ECHO CHAMBER. For Amazon Studios, the Russo Brothers (as directors and creators) & Cattleya she is writing the international science fiction TV series, CITADEL. Her book, WE WILL BE FOREST, is just out in the UK.We enjoyed speaking with Ilaria and hearing about her unusual route into publishing via approaching publishers and then authors directly (not a route that she recommends others follow!) Plus, we hear why she chooses to write some books in Italian and some in English, why she translated her own English novel, The Portrait, into Italian, and what it is like working with the Russo brothers on Amazon's CITADEL series.Links:Follow Ilaria on Twitter/XBuy Ilaria's books nowPage 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

Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channelBob McDevitt is festival director for Scotland's premier crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland, and programmer for Glasgow's Aye Write literature festival. He has also worked in both sales and commissioning roles at Headline.We had a fun chat with Bob, hearing about how he found himself organising two of Scotland's biggest literary festivals and just what goes into their organisation. We also hear why literary festivals are so important for authors and culture in general, and discuss the thorny and topical subject of festival funding as well. Plus, we get a preview of this year's Bloody Scotland programme!Links:Follow Bob on Twitter/XHave a look at Bloody Scotland's 2024 lineup and grab your tickets now!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 BlueskyFollow us on Threads

Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channelGillian Redfearn is deputy publisher at Gollancz, publishing authors from Joe Abercrombie to Brandon Sanderson.We had a great chat with Gillian, hearing how she broke into the publishing industry, what. the day-to-day of an editor involves, and what sort of stories catch her eye when they are submitted by agents. Plus, we find out that she was less than impressed with Joe Abercrombie's first chapter... but fortunately she kept on reading!Links:Follow Gillian on Twitter/XPage 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

Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channelBecky Brown and Norah Perkins are both literary agents with a twist - they founded and head up Curtis Brown's Heritage section, meaning that they represent the estates of authors such as AA Milne, Iris Murdoch and many more. They also recently won Literary Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards 2024 for their pioneering work in this field.We had a fascinating chat with Becky and Norah about how they got started in this field, and learned about the differences (and similarities) with the "normal" world of agenting. We also chatted about why all authors with published works should think about their posthumous rights.Links:Visit Norah's Curtis Brown webpageVisit Becky's Curtis Brown webpageFollow Curtis Brown Heritage on Twitter/XPage 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