Writer's Routine

Milly Johnson is one of the top 10 Female Fiction authors in the UK, with over 3 million sales in the country alone, and many more across the world as she's been published in more than 20 different countries. She's been honoured with the Romantic Novelists' Association's Outstanding Achievement Award, and has just published her 21st novel in 20 years.It took her a long time to finally get published, and we discuss her desperate quest to become a novellist, and how it, at last, happened. Also, you can hear how she spent her time before in an incredibly unique job, and how it hugely helped her aspirations to write novels.Her newest novel is 'The Happiest Ever After', which tells the story of Polly Potter... someone taken for granted by everyone in her life. The only place where things are working is in her evening classes learning to write a novel - there she has created Sabrina Anderson, someone who has their life together. Yet, when Polly suddenly finds herself in a seaside hospital, with no recollection of why she is there... she finds her identity changing. She starts to believe she is not Polly, but Sabrina… her fictional character. It’s a novel about whether she can move on and get the life she's always dreamed of... or will the past catch up with her?You can hear about how Milly keeps herself concentrating, whilst being surrounded by the best things. Also, why she still feels like everything might slip away tomorrow. We talk about the pressure of the 2nd and 3rd books, after finally securing a publishing contract, and why you have to be good at switching train tracks through the year.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Crime writer B.P. Walter has always been around books. From beng submerged in reading growing up, to studying storytelling, to working in bookshops, it makes perfect sense that he's now a full-time author. His newest novel is 'The Garden Party', which tells the story of a wealthy family celebrating the engagement of son, Raphael. Only, his adopted brother chooses this day of celebration to expose what he really thinks of the family that has taken him in... and soon the bodies begin to drop. It's Saltburn meets Agatha Christie, and we discuss the idea, why he enjoys writing rich characters, and how he keeps them real and authentic, without slipping into absolutist ideas of stock stereotypes.Later this year, he's publishing his first horror novel, 'Scuttle'. You can hear how this has happened, why there's a slight name change for it, and what it's been like being immersed in gigantic spiders for a year. We talk about why he loves being distracted, what it's like to work tirelessly on a book and then hand it over to publishers who can hopefully sell it, and how working as a book-seller inspired him to become a book-writer.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Amy Neff's new novel is 'The Days I Loved You Most'. It's taken 10 years to get to shelves. Amy has spent 10 years refining the story, sending it to publishers, even hiring her own editor to help get it into shape. We discuss how she stayed positive through that time and learned to deal with rejection. It tells the story of Joseph and Evelyn, once childhood friends now, 60 years later, married with children. One summer, they reveal the staggering news that Evelyn has received a life-ending diagnosis, and as Joseph cannot bare to live without her, they will both take their own lives. It looks at memories of lives, how decisions impact families, and how they face the prospect of making their plan reality.You can hear how the story is inspired by a long family tradition, what she starts off with, and how the story developed over 10 years.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Julietta Henderson's debut novel, 'The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman', was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and sold around the world. Her second is, 'How to Get a Life'. It tells the story of Danny Mulberry, a man who could do better... better at life, better at being an adult... generally better than everything. When a photo of him accidentally ends up in the papers, people across the country start to think he is actually a man with all the answers... and suddenly Danny becomes the guru who can solve everything.We talk about the north star for this story, and how Julietta pulled everything together whilst writing scattered scenes. Also, how she realised that writing won't get any easier, and whether that knowledge is comfort to her or not.You can hear how much she has learned about how she works best, what she does to get in the writing zone, and whether you really feel improvement when you're trying so hard to get better.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Shaun Bythell runs 'The Bookshop' in Wigtown, it's Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop, and is now incredibly popular. Back in 2017, Shaun published, 'The Diary of a Bookseller', a book filled with his daily experiences running the store. People fell in love with his wry musings, the life of a bookseller, and it became a Sunday Times bestseller. He's followed it up with 'Confessions of a Bookseller', and 'Remainders of the Day', in the 'Bookseller Series'.We talk about why everyone finds the life of a bookseller appealing and whether that's really what it's like. You can hear how a diary becomes published, how an editor works on it, and whether having them published has changed how he writes a diary. This was recorded back in 2022, I have no clue why it's taken so long to be released. Sorry Shaun, and I hope you enjoy the episode!Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Jonny Sweet won the 'Best Newcomer' Prize at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, created a sketch group with 'The Inbetweeners' Simon Bird and Joe Thomas, and appeared in many TV Comedies, including 'Chickens' and 'Him and Her'. He wrote the movie 'Wicked Little Letters' starring Olivia Colman, which was released this year. He has also just published one of the most acclaimed novels of the year. 'The Kellerby Code' tells the story of Edward, living in a world he can't afford and to which he doesn't belong. Getting by doing odd jobs for friends, he falls in love with one of them, and after a little act of kindness in the group takes a sinister turn, it unleashes the unspeakable brutality at Edward's core.We talk about why he's been lying to people about the plot, and how the writing process changes depending on what he's working on. You can hear how much he thinks like a director when writing, and why he prefers not to hear himself think. This novel has been highly recommended by some of the best authors around, and we discuss how he deals with such praise.You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Our special guest this week is Kate Storey. Under the name Lisa Timoney, she's published 3 books, 'Her Daughter's Secret', 'Her Mother's Lies' and 'His Secret Wife'... but a change of genre means a change of name.Kate's back with book club fiction now, and has published, 'The Memory Library'. It's all about Sally Harrison, who has been building a library for 43 years. Every year she adds a new book to it, dedicated to her estranged daughter Ella who has fled to Australia... however, when disaster strikes, Ella must return home and fix their relationship. It's an ex-English teacher's dream novel, a book about books!We discuss outlining, how much she knows what she's doing, without trying to limit the places her characters could take her. Also, we chat through how how she has learned as an author, and what she wants to change about the way she works. You can hear why she finds pictures online to inspire her characters, what it's like to work with an editor, and how far the finished book is from her very first idea.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

After writing around 7 books and getting many rejections or near-misses, Alina Khawaja finally has a published novel. It's called 'Maya's Laws of Love', and tells the story of Maya on her way to Pakistan for an arranged marriage she hopes will end with love. Only, after a disastrous journey, she begins to wonder if Mr. Right might actually be someone else she meets along the way.Alina is well read and decorated, with a degree in English, History and Creative Writing, and a Masters in Literatures of Modernity, and all the time whilst studying, she's been writing. She's been carrying on in the face of rejections, reading to get better, and cracking out stories. You can hear how she dealt with rejections and near-misses, and why she thinks this novel finally got her published. Also, at a time when self-publishing has never been easier or more successful, we talk about why Alina was desperate to follow the traditional route.You can hear about her outlining process and whether that's likely to change, also why she tries to avoid tangents, and how she's trying to make her work stand out in busy bookshelves.Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com

Samuel Burr has worked as a TV executive, creating shows like 'The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds', 'Eight Go Rallying', and 'The Secret Life of Cleaners'. Many years ago he worked on a documentary in a retirement home, now it's given him the basis for his debut novel.'The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers' looks at Clayton Sumper, an enigma who was abandoned at birth on the steps of the puzzlemakers, ending up being raised by some of the sharpest minds in the country. The hope is that he's learned from them, as to discover the secrets of who he is and who he can be, he needs to crack one last puzzle.We talk about the details of writing such a tricksy book, matching chapter names to crossword answers, and how getting deep into those details impacted his ability to be creative. You can hear why he works towards a final sentence, also why he uses the pomodoro technique, and how he gets ideas by spying on strangers.We discuss his time at the Faber Academy, how working in TV has influenced his storytelling in novels, and you can hear about the business of writing - what does an advance mean? What happens if you get a big deal? How do you get paid?Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com