Writer's Routine
How do the best writers get to work?
In every episode, we'll chat to an author about what they do through a day. Where do they work? What time do they start? How do they plan their time and maximise their creativity, in order to plot and publish a bestseller?
Some are frantic night-owls, others roll out of bed into their desks, and a few lock themselves away in the woods - but none have a regular 9 to 5, and we'll find out how they've managed it.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 43 minutes
- Episodes
- 371
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Luca Veste, author of 'You Never Said Goodbye' - The pressure of full-time writing, sitting on an idea, and a year in the life of a writer
Luca Veste is fully immersed in the fantastic writing community. He's blogged, he podcasts with 'Two Crime Writers and a Microphone', plays in the 'Fun Lovin' Crime Writers', co-founded the 'Locked I…
Claire Frost, author of 'The One' - Dedicating a day to write, learning from reviewing and when do you feel like a writer?
Until very recently, Claire Frost worked full-time as a book reviewer for 'Fabulous'. After years reading and chatting to authors, she chose to work 4 days a week, and dedicate a whole day to writing…
Stacy Willingham, author of 'A Flicker in the Dark' - Crime writer talks about switching spaces, learning from work, and being optioned for TV
Stacy Willingham has just published her debut novel, 'A Flicker in the Dark'. The novel follows Chloe Davis, whose world was torn apart at 12 years old when her father confessed to the murder of six …
Nadine Matheson, author of 'The Jigsaw Man' - Balancing work and writing, writing about your home town, and accidentally going back to school
Nadine Matheson is busy. Busy, busy, busy. She works as a criminal lawyer, has found time to go back to school, and publish her debut novel, 'The Jigsaw Man'.
The book is a police procedural about Ins…
Rudy Ruiz, author of 'The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez' - Social activism, language and structure, and classic Mexican songs
This week we chat to Rudy Ruiz, about his new novel, 'The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez'. Rudy has been a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards, and has written extensively about the …
Ellen Alpsten, author of 'The Tsarina's Daughter' - Blending fact with fiction, what to research next, and writing extravagantly
Ellen Alpsten has worked in TV, as a producer and presenter, she's won short story competitions, teaches creative writing, and has just published her second book, 'The Tsarina's Daughter'. It's based…
Harriet Kline, author of 'This Shining Life' - Using work as inspiration, the monster that gets her started and the meaning of life
Harriet Kline is an award-winning short story writer. 'Ghost' won the Hissac short story competition, 'Chest of Drawers', the London Magazine short story competition. Her work has been published onli…
Paul Bradley Carr, author of '1414 Degrees' - Journalist, novelist and memoir writer discusses debut novels, leaving things late, and the dark side of Silicon Valley
Paul Bradley Carr has spent his career as a journalist uncovering the dark side of Silicon Valley. He's reported on it for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Private Eye, and many more. He founded NS…
Anna Kent, author of 'The House of Whispers' - Domestic Noir writer talks about the 3 act structure, pseudonyms, and learning to write genre
This week, we're joined by Anna Kent, with her sort-of-debut novel, 'The House of Whispers'.
See Anna Kent, is also Annabel Kantaria, who has already published 4 books. This is her first as Anna Kent.…
Sarah Alderson, writer of 'The Stalker' - Author and screenwriter talks about writing for TV, strategic thinking, and the 10-day drafts
Sarah Alderson is busy. Busy, busy, busy. So busy, she takes a break from her writing job to write the novels she loves. Sarah works as a screenwriter in LA for S.W.A.T on CBS, and finds tiny slither…
Rosanna Amaka, author of 'The Book of Echoes' - Debut writer talks creative places, plotting, and a novel 2 decades in the making
Our first guest of 2022 is Rosanna Amaka. Her debut novel is 'The Book of Echoes', which tells the story of 16 year old Michael, always in trouble, who falls in love with Ngozi, a young Nigerian immi…
Alice Hunter, author of 'The Serial Killer's Wife' - Psychological Thriller writer talks about working in a prison, genre tricks, and a chaotic work space.
For our last episode of the year, we chat to psychological thriller debutant Alice Hunter. Her book is 'The Serial Killer's Wife', and tells the story of Beth Hardcastle, whose perfect marriage is ob…
Joanne Harris MBE, author of 'A Narrow Door' - Hugely successful author discusses genre, rebooting your brain, and the pressure of success
This week, we're joined by Joanne Harris MBE. She became phenomenally successful over 20 years ago for her novel 'Chocolat', which became an Oscar nominated movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Bi…
Ken Follett, author of 'Never' - Multi-million selling writer talks about the pressure of success, keeping things simple, and the important outline
This week, Ken Follett shares his writer's routine. He's one of the UK's most successful authors, selling over 170 million books across 80 countries. He has a staff of over 20 working on all aspects …
Helen Paris, author of 'The Lost Property' - Debut author discusses book club fiction, memories and escaping the routine
This week's guest is Helen Paris. She's worked in performing arts, writing, performing and directing, for 2 decades, and has just published her debut novel, 'The Lost Property'. It's all about Dot, w…
Steve Cavanagh, author of 'The Devil's Advocate' - Award-winning author discusses ideal routines, writing America, and why he's always learning
This week we're chatting to Steve Cavanagh. He's won the CWA Gold Dagger Award, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, has published many Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers, and his new boo…
Random Routine - Thriller author Lucy Foley discusses decadent writing days
Lucy Foley joined us back at the start of 2020... pre-pandemic!
She spoke about her 2nd mystery thriller, 'The Guest List'. It's set at a dream wedding, on a remote island, where someone gets killed a…
Xanthi Barker, author of 'Will This House Last Forever' - Memoir writer talks about poetry, art as a world view, and her father, Sebastian.
Xanthi Barker has published novelettes and short stories, penned columns and articles, and has just released her debut book, 'Will This House Last Forever'.
It's a memoir of her time with her dying fa…
Random Routine - Dystopian Thriller writer Rob Hart runs us through months of work
For this week's Random Routine, we chat to Rob Hart, who came on back in 2019 to talk about 'The Warehouse'.
'The Warehouse' is in the mold of 'Farenheit 451' and '1984', and focuses on one big busine…
Joe Thomas, author of 'Brazilian Psycho' - Award-winning writer talks about routine changes, escaping to write, and social awareness.
This week we're joined by Joe Thomas. He's just released the 4th in his 'Sao Paulo Quartet', with 'Paradise City', 'Gringa', 'Playboy' and the new one 'Brazilian Psycho'.
He grew up in Hackney, before…