In this episode I chat to author Emma Healey, about her bestselling Costa-winning debut ELIZABETH IS MISSING, and her new novel WHISTLE IN THE DARK. We have a wide-ranging, frank and occasionally funny chat about finding the voice of your protagonist, transmuting research into living characters and stories, and how to start again from scratch … Read more

In this episode I chat to author V C Lancaster about her work and the world of self-publishing. If you’ve ever considered publishing your own work, or you’re interested in how it all works, this is the episode for you. This is a great episode to listen to if you want to know: – how … Read more

Writing a novel? Finding it too easy? This episode isn’t for you. In this episode, author Tim Clare (that’s me) packs your 10-piece first draft survival kit. It has everything you need to get you through the first draft of your novel – the tools, the mindset, and proven strategies. The 10 Tools in your … Read more

In this episode, I had a chat with author Nikesh Shukla. You may have heard him in Season 1 where the two of us looked at a listener’s first page. If you’re not familiar with his work he’s written three novels so far: Coconut Unlimited which was nominated for the Costa, Meatspace and his latest, … Read more

In today’s episode I answer a listener’s question about character motivation and stakes. How do you know whether the stakes in your story are enough to carry a whole novel? How do you stress test your protagonist’s motivation before writing the entire book? Why do some character goals seem to matter more than others? This … Read more

In this episode, author Tim Clare (that’s me) talks about what’s been going on in fiction writing this week. I discuss the dangers of writers’ semi-jokey fixation on productivity and ‘laziness’, and why I think it makes us sad while creating the very problem it claims to tackle. Then I dive into a topic I’ve … Read more