188: Submarines and sci-fi - with Valeriya Salt

08/26/24 • 79 min

One half of The Hobcast Book Show team is a submarine obsessive. So imagine Adrian's delight when he learned that our guest this week, Russian author Valeriya Salt, shares that passion. Her debut novel, Dive Beyond Eternity, is a sci-fi adventure partly set on a German wartime Type 23 U-Boat which is discovered undamaged on the floor of the North Sea fifty years after the war ends. It's an intriguing premise, as the sub contains secret Nazi technology that threatens the future of the world. As Valeriya explains, her interest in submarines runs in the family - her mother served in Russia's Black Sea fleet. But how has Valeriya dealt with the challenges of writing a novel in English, her second language?

Also this week, we report on more efforts by the Society of Authors to hold the mega-tech companies to account over the use of copyrighted material in AI systems, and we celebrate the success of fellow UK indie publishers, Blue Moose Books.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dive-Beyond-Eternity-Sci-fi-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0CB78M7NM

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dive-Beyond-Eternity-Sci-fi-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0CB78M7NM

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Previous Episode

187: The secrets within; exploring domestic noir - with Alison Irving

Just long would you be prepared to endure a difficult marriage? How many years of mind games could you take? That's the dilemma facing Laura in Alison Irving's debut novel, Casual Cruelties, which was published by Bloodhound Books last year. As Alison is keen to stress to us from her home near Belfast, she is not writing from personal experience, but she did conduct extensive research in creating the world of her characters. Her second novel, Her Best Friend's Husband has just been published, and again it delves into the hidden darkness that can be masked by the outward trappings of a happy marriage and family life. As Alison tells us, she's so fulfilled by her writing experiences that she's chosen to change direction in her life - from a physiotherapist working in palliative care in a hospice - to writing full time.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca discuss the revelations within a chart celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Sunday Times bestseller list. Which books spent most time in the top 10? The answers are quite surprising, and for fiction fans, not that encouraging!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Casual-Cruelties-nail-biting-domestic-suspense-breathtaking-ebook/dp/B0CHMNHBRL

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Best-Friends-Husband-nail-biting-ebook/dp/B0D6RMNLP6

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Next Episode

189: Born to teach - and write - with James Murphy

We're heading back to Belfast for the second time in three episodes of The Hobcast Book Show to meet author James Murphy. James is the author of the Terror Trilogy crime series which follow the adventures of Mark Shaw, who inherits Farset Investigations based in the Falls Road. As James tells us, he draws heavily on his memories of growing up in the West Belfast area. His new series will be published by Spellbound next year. James is also a creative writing tutor, both in Belfast and at Liverpool's Edge Hill University. Remarkably, he became a head teacher at the age of just 28, and as he tells us, that challenging role has given him plenty of insights that feed his fiction. James has also presented his own crime podcast, as well as a weekly radio show, Crime Scene. This is a fascinating conversation.

Also this week, we answer a question posed by listener Hannah Bainbridge - should authors aid AI narration systems by offering clearer emotional prompts in their fiction? You perhaps won't be surprised by Adrian and Rebecca's reaction...

https://www.jamesmurphywriter.org/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/James-Murphy/author/B07W5JBWGK

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