Writer's Routine

Orlando Murrin has had many careers. In the early 90's he appeared on 'Masterchef', reaching the semi-final on a show watched by 12 million people. From then, he's worked as a chef and hotelier, written cookbooks, edited magazines, made podcasts, and now has a novel out.

'Knife Skills for Beginners' sees Paul Delamare investigating murders at a high-end cookery school in Belgravia, London. We talk about why the kitchen has the perfect recipe for crime. You can hear why his protagonist very rarely did what he was supposed to, how he researched the novel while writing, and what made he keep going on tangents.

We discuss why Orlando is extremely particular about his keyboard, whether magazine writing influences story-telling, where his drive to do comes from, and why a little bit of wine sometimes helps alot.

This week's episode is sponsored by 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', a new true crime podcast putting you in the heart of one of the UK's most famous unsolved murders. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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Freya Berry's debut, 'The Dictator's Wife', was a bestselling, critically acclaimed hit, and was a BBC 2 'Between the Covers' pick. She's back with 'The Birdcage Library'.

It tells the story of Emily Blackwood, a young adventuress tasked by an exotic animal hunter to track down a lost treasure hidden in a castle... it becomes a deeper, darker hunt into secrets best left untold.

We talk about the article that gave her the inspiration for the novel, also the research around Scottish Castles she called work. You can hear about why it's the themes of a story that keep her going, how much she knows about the road ahead of her as she writes it down, and why she likes to leave herself space to seize ideas.

ALSO hear why listening to the same song works, how to change things if lockdown is still affecting your work day, and how things change through the second novel.

Get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine

Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine

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Gareth Rubin is back with one of the few Sherlock Holmes books officially authorised and certified by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle estate. It's called 'Holmes and Moriarty', and tells the story of two of fiction's greatest adversaries being forced to form an alliance, to face a threat bigger than anything that's gone before.

It's Gareth's 4th published novel, coming after 'Liberation Square', 'The Winter Agent', and 'The Turnglass'. They're high-concept historical thrillers that twist the way stories are told.

We talk about the pressure of writing a Holmes story, and how concerned he was with getting the small details correct. You can hear how he went about planning the clues, the tricks and the mystery, and why he has to escape to somewhere incredibly dull to write.

Also we discuss how, surprisingly, for a published author... Gareth doesn't enjoy writing. He likes being published... but not the act of getting words down.

It's your last chance to get 10% off Writer's Rising 2024, one of the biggest writing retreats of the year. Use the code 'wr10' at writersrising.com.

Support your local independent bookshop, and get a copy of Gareth's book in the dedicated Writer's Routine shop at Bookshop.org - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

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Amanda Prowse has written over 30 books. Her newest is 'All Good Things', which tells the story of life-long neighbours, the Kelleways and the Harrops, who couldn’t be further apart. However, when they celebrate a big anniversary, huge secrets are revealed and change everything.

She has written fiction, non-fiction, novellas, short stories, and memoir. Her novel 'A Mother's Story' was Sainsbury's eBook of the Year. Her work, 'The Boy Between' is a compelling memoir written with her son, detailing his experience with depression. Amanda often explores trauma through her writing, and we discuss how she researches these experiences...but only ever writes what she knows.

We discuss how she has created an 'Amanda Prowse universe' in her mind, picking characters out that she wants to focus on, yet even through all this, she doesn't ever plan or plot, but simply knows everything that will happen, and exactly what her characters are thinking.

You can hear why everything she was told about writing, turned out to not be not true, also how much she has learned about her characters over the last 30 books, and whether success has changed anything about her life and how she works.

You can get 10% off Plottr at go.plottr.com/routine

Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine

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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 of book selling, so he can concentrate on book writing.

We talk about whether that puts pressure on his writing, knowing he has staff relying on him for a salary. Also, what his writing routine of a year looks like, and why his outline is the most important thing he works on.

Ken's made a career publishing thick historical novels, 'The Pillars of the Earth' from the 'Kingsbridge' series sold bucket-loads, got him critical acclaim, and spawned a TV series. His new novel is 'Never', about events that could lead to WW3.

We talk about research, planning, sentences, keeping things simple and how he starts.

You can support the show on patreon.com/writersroutine

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writersroutine

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