In the last of the mini series on Writing Neurodiverse Characters, I chat with Sarah Zeigel who has lived experience as a mother of 4 boys with autism and other ND traits. Sarah has written and self-published 2 books, her latest of which won her an award. This is a memoir called Marching to a Different Beat, and is an invaluable book for understand…

Natali Simmonds is a multi-genre fiction author. Her thriller,Good Girls Die Last,is being adapted for TV, and the last book of her fantasy trilogy,Children of Shadows,was shortlisted for an RNA Fantasy Award. She also co-writes paranormal romance as Caedis Knight. Originally from London, she now divides her time between the UK, Spain, and the Neth…

In the third in the series on Writing Neurodiverse Characters we dive into being authentic, bringing together what ND is, and what the most obvious traits are. This episode explores a series of questions that help to write an ND character with authenticity, and it ends with 3 short exercises that will help you write your ND characters. If you would…

Rebecca Thorne is the author of the Tomes & Tea cozy fantasy series, as well as several self-published novels. She loves fantasy, romance, and dragons. Rebecca's latest book is Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, which is cozy fantasy (and you can find out more about this on the podcast), and it is out on 7th May (US) & 9th May (UK). This book follows…

In the second of the mini series on writing neurodivergent characters we dive into a high level overview of ND traits - this is not a definitive list, but gives you a sense of how to go beyond the stereotypes of describing a neurodiverse character. Next week we delve into how to bring the ND context into character building and characterisation. If …

Emma-Claire Wilson is an author of emotional commercial and book club fiction. She writes ‘to make sense of the world’, and loves nothing more than tackling tough subjects and issues that affect her readers on a daily basis. When she is not writing fiction, she enjoys exercising her brain muscles with freelance copywriting, coaching other writers o…

Neurodiversity is becoming more of a thing in character development since Eleanor Oliphant appeared in May 2017. Since then I've read a few books that have handled neurodivergent characters well - and many that have not. Even with my level of expertise I would still say that I don't fully know neurodiversity - because the reality is, there are many…

Alexandra Potter is the bestselling author of numerous romantic comedy fiction novels in the UK, including One Good Thing and Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up, one of the bestselling books of 2022 and the basis of a major TV series. These titles have sold in twenty-five territories and achieved worldwide sales of more than one million copie…

What is an author's voice? And is it the same as a character's voice? In this episode I describe both types of voice, and I offer some tips on how to help develop your voice - one important thing to remember, though, our voice evolves over time. It can't be forced, and once we've found it, it's unlikely to be fixed. If you would like to show your l…

Triona Campbell is a two-time Emmy-nominated TV producer. Triona has a Master’s in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Dublin, and is the writer of the award-winning podcast drama Adventures of a Young Pirate Queen. She is an award winning writer and her new book The Traitor In The Game is out now. She is passionate about creating teen content (…

Part of the reality of being rejected - or not hearing anything from agents - is that we compare ourselves to others. It's natural to do that. We might also find ourselves getting a little envious of others and their successes. In this episode we delve into this very real, and yet seldom talked about, topic of the rejection experience. As you'd exp…

Laura Ramnarace lives in rural southwestern New Mexico, USA, in the traditional territory of the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache people, where she works as a mediator, facilitator and educator. She holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution. Her other creative endeavours include beadwork, tile mosaics, crochet, soap making and cooking. Other…

In the third of The Rejection Series we get into what to do when you get rejections, with combination of tips that you can try to find what works best for you. It might be that all of the tips are worth doing, or you might find a favourite and stick with that. If you would like to show your love for the podcast, please consider buying me a coffee t…

Nicola Gill lives in London with her husband and two sons. At the age of five, when all of the other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers, she decided she wanted to be an author. Her ballet teacher was very relieved. Nicola has written three published novels, the latest of which is Swimming For Beginners. This tells the story of Loretta who has…

In the second of The Rejection Series we delve into four reasons why a novel might be rejected by agents. It's not great being rejected by agents, and it can feel very disheartening, but you'll hear that one of the first things to do is to accept the it's not personal. If you would like to show your love for the podcast, please consider buying me a…

B.P. Walter is the Sunday Times bestselling author of six thrillers including The Dinner Guest, The Locked Attic and Notes on a Murder. He was born and raised in Essex, worked in bookshops during his teens, then went to the University of Southampton to study Film and English. He is also an alumnus of the Faber Academy. Since then he has previously …

Over the next few weeks, the Friday episodes will be devoted to rejections - something that the world of trad publishing requires us to become quickly acquainted with. In this first in the series, I talk about expectations, with practical tips on what you can do to set your expectations in a way that works for you. I also share some figures that he…

Originally from Yorkshire, Lisa now lives in London with her husband and two teenage daughters. She started her career teaching English and Drama and has written three family drama novels under her own name, filled with devastating secrets and explosive revelations. In February, she published her first Book Club novel, The Memory Library, under the…

Do you ever find yourself thinking negatively about your writing? In this episode I share an approach for catching yourself out, understanding your limiting believes, and how to play with an alternative way of thinking to turn things around for yourself. I mention a book that I believe it worth reading - The Big Leap by Gaye Hendricks. It's a book …

Louise Morrish is a historical fiction writer and librarian from Hampshire. She writes stories inspired by the lives of women in the past, who achieved extraordinary things, but whom history has forgotten. Her debut novel, Operation Moonlight, won the Penguin Random House First Novel competition in 2019, and was published by Penguin Michael Joseph …

First up, I'm not an expert on social media, so please do seek advice from someone with much more expertise in this area than me. Having said that, I do know a fair bit about how to use social media and how to make it work for you at a lower scale than most experts push. In this bonus episode of Putting Yourself Out There As An Author, I take you t…

Louise writes historical fiction, focussed around unheard voices or from unusual perspectives. Her internationally bestselling debut novel, People Like Us (Daughter of the Reich in the US edition) published 2020, was translated into 12 languages and is set in 1930’s Leipzig. Her second novel, The Hidden Child, about the eugenics movement in 1920’s …

This is the longest 'short' episode I've done, but believe me, it's worth it! I've invited my dear friend, Emma-Claire Wilson to join me, but not as an author, rather as a journalist. She shares her expertise with us about how to be featured, and there are real nuggets in this episode. So forgive me a long 'short' on this occasion, but I know you'l…

Jennie Godfrey was raised in West Yorkshire and her debut novel, The List of Suspicious Things, is inspired by her childhood there in the 1970s. Jennie is from a mill-working family, but as the first of the generation born after the mills closed, she went to university and built a career in the corporate world. In 2020 she left and began to write. …

Apparently the greatest fear we have is not spiders - or in my case, daddy long legs (crane flies). It's public speaking, so it's no wonder that people get nervous when it comes to putting ourselves out there as an author. This episode is all about being nervous - and no, that's not a typo. It is all about BEING nervous. The truth is, you will be n…

The Valentine's episode! Charlotte Stein is the RT and DABWAHA nominated author of over fifty short stories, novellas and novels, including the Library Journal starred When Grumpy Met Sunshine. When not writing deeply emotional and intensely sexy books, she can be found eating jelly turtles, getting way too excited over a million movies and TV show…

This week is part 2 of the series all about putting yourself out there as an author, and in this episode I share a load of tips I picked up from experience over the last 35 years, including on stage, on radio, doing the podcast, being on panels (though not author ones), and more. These are actionable steps for the new and the experienced authors wh…

W.A. Kelly is an author, filmmaker and musician. His debut crime novel, Safe Hands was released in November 2023 with its sequel due for release later this year. SAFE HANDS is a gritty British thriller about Mickey Blake, a safe cracker forced out of retirement to protect his estranged son and Hazel, a mother driven to kill to stop her teenage boy …

Are you an author who has an agent, maybe a publishing deal - and maybe you're already published ... but you hate putting yourself out there? This is the first in a series of 4 episodes that teach you how to be ready for any situation such as recording a podcast, a radio interview, or being on a panel. In the first of this series, we look at a set …

Heather J Fitt was born in Scotland and raised across Europe. An avid reader as a child, her dreams came true when her debut novel,Open Your Eyes,was published in 2022. Described as,Agatha Christie on a plane, The Flightfollowed a few months later and her third book,The Boat Trip,was published in June 2023. When she isn’t writing, Heather is the Ge…

This week is all about kindness and caring, and getting your writing done. Listen in for 3 simple ways you can be kind to yourself and care for you, and 3 simple ways to get the writing done. If you would like to show your love for the podcast, please consider buying me a coffee through BuyMeACoffee.com. This gives you an opportunity to make a smal…

Helen Parasel is a Londoner who has lived in Hamburg, Germany over 25 years. She is married, has an adult daughter and rescue dog. Her debut novel, A Mother's War, set in Norway, came out in May 2023, and her second novel, The Austrian Bride, set in the town where her grandparents lived, came out in January 2024. Helen in an alumni of the Jericho W…

Continuing with the Writing Reboot, this week is steps 3 and 4, all about habits, triggers and responses. You might also find it useful to listen in to Episode 41, which is about Habit Stacking, to go along with this week's episode. The book I mention at the end of this episode is Atomic Habits by James Clear which is a great read if you're interes…

Araminta Hall has worked as a writer, journalist and teacher. Her first novel, Everything & Nothing, was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. Her second, Dot, was published in 2013. She teaches creative writing and currently has guestslots on the Goldsborough Writing Academy. She lives with her husband and three children in…

Ever sabotaged something that in your heart you really want? If you answered no to that question, you're a very rare beast! Because sabotage is something we all do. It's a form of protection for us. Listen in to this episode if you want to feel like you're in amongst the majority, and if you want some tips on how you can manage your sabotage. If yo…

Debi Alper is an author with 5 novels published in the Nirvana series, a freelance editor, creative writing tutor and fearless slayer of Doubt Demons. She runs Jericho Writers’ Self-Edit Your Novel course, which has 6 bursaries available in 2024 for underrepresented writers. She is also interested in mudlarking, singing with my choir, micro gardeni…

Every now and again we could all do with a writing reboot, and over the next 4 weeks I will take you through a series of episodes that introduce you to the Write, Damn It! writing mindset formula that I've used for myself, and that I've taken others through when coaching them - the results are publication deals and wins or shortlisting in competiti…

Much of the inspiration for Neil Alexander's debut novel, 'The Vanishing of Margaret Small', came directly from the voices of people with a learning disability, and the incredibly moving first person accounts of living in long stay institutions, which he heard while working for the UK charity Mencap. Neil, who has a Masters degree in English Litera…

We end 2023 with a reboot that will help your writing - rebooting your writing reboot. In this episode I give you a couple of simple techniques to help you change the way you think about your writing through a mini reboot of your mindset around writing. If you're ready to make a difference to your writing in 2024, then this episode will get your st…

This is my first conversation with 2 authors at the same time, and it's fascinating - we get to hear a comparison between 2 people's approaches to their writing, which is really interesting. Harriet Tyce was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She graduated in English from Oxford University in 1994, and after gaining legal qualifications worked as a cri…

In this episode I reflect on the last year and share the 5 things that made a huge difference to my writing - and one of the 5 things is my writing mindset system, Write, Damn It! which is what gave birth to the name of my podcast. I mention the episode about the 150 Rule - Ep2 of the podcast, which you can listen to here And if you would like to h…

After forty-one years at the chalkface, Gill retired from English teaching to write full time and is now the author of four historical fiction novels, all set in and around World War Two. She has recently been appointed Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Chichester. Gill lives with her family in West Sussex. Gill on Social Media Facebo…

I have a set of questions I use that help me think about my editing process, and in this episode I share them with you. Because I want to publish a few novels, I'm keen to have systems I can replicate from one novel to the next to help me with the process of writing and editing. The questions I share here is one of those systems I use to help mysel…

Saz Vora is an author of East African Asian origin who migrated with her family to England in the ‘60s to Coventry, West Midlands, where she grew up straddling British and Gujarati culture. Before she started writing South Asian melodrama, she had a successful career in Television Production and Teaching specialising in Film and Media Studies to A …

The results are in - if we want our books to sell, we have to get involved in the marketing of them. Even when we have a publicist. In this episode I take you through the mini campaign I did for my cover reveal, and how that fits with a wider campaign to help get sales in the future. And if you've seen the cover, I'd love hear what you think about …

Alison Irving lives in a village in Northern Ireland with her husband, 2 children and a spoiled cat called Hamish. She works as a physiotherapist in a hospice in Belfast and Casual Cruelties is her first novel. Casual Cruelties iss published by Bloodhound Books and came out on 3rd November 2023. It is a psychological suspense novel about a middle a…

We each have a motivation preference - some of us are motivate towards something, others are motivated away from something. And what motivates us (to or from) can change depending on our circumstances. In this episode I take you through the way our motivation works, and how you can use this with your writing. If you would like to show your love for…

Laura Pearson lives in Leicestershire with her husband and their two children. She is the author of four novels, the most recent of which are The Last List of Mabel Beaumont and I Wanted You To Know. The Last List of Mabel Beaumont is a Kindle UK number one bestseller and a Kindle US top ten bestseller. Missing Pieces will be republished in Februar…

This week's update on my publishing journey is a reality check - things are not all wonderful and hunky dory, and this final part of my edit is really tough. Listen in to find out what I think the nub of the issue is, and why things have got tough at this late stage in the process. If you would like to show your love for the podcast, please conside…

This is a fascinating conversation with Sarah around the inspiration and background to her novel, The Treatment. We got into talking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and psychopathy, amongst other things. Sarah writes speculative crime/thriller novels, and can be seen on Twitter/X in the early hours, as part of the #5amwritersclub Sarah's books ar…