The Hobcast Book Show

Episode 32: The road to full-time indie author - with J M Dalgleish

Our guest this week on The Hobcast Book Show will cheerfully admit that he's had a varied career, before finally settling on the life of a hugely successful crime author. Writing under his pen name J.M Dalgleish, Jason Dalgleish has successfully launched not one but two crime series: The Dark Yorkshire novels and The Hidden Norfolk series. Three years after his first book was published, Jason has now sold over a million copies of his novels. So what's the secret of his success? Adrian and Rebecca were keen to find out. Also this week, to mark the 50th anniversary of Get Carter, the show is back on the road in Newcastle exploring what makes the film starring Michael Caine such an enduring classic.

Episode 31: Supporting authors through Facebook - with Donna Morfett

The UK Crime writing scene is the envy of the world. No other country can boast the range of talented crime authors that the UK does, and that's not least down to the incredible support the reading community offers them. Donna Morfett is at the vanguard of this support. Her Facebook group, Donna's Interviews, Reviews and Giveaways has grown in recent months to become one of the most influential pages on the UK crime scene. Featuring almost daily in-depth interviews with authors, from the big names to first-time indie writers, Donna's group is recognised as one of the best places to discover new authors. What makes her give up her time? Donna tells The Hobcast Book Show from Hobeck Books that she simply wants to offer as much support as she can. 
Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca, newly released from self-isolation, are on their travels again, to a certain city in the North West of England ...
 

Episode 30: Living the author dream - with Lesley McEvoy

Once a writer, always a writer - someone wise once said. Becoming a published author though is a different matter altogether. That's been the 40-year-long dream of this week's Hobcast Book Show guest, Lesley McEvoy. Like so many writers, life, family and work combined to prevent her from pursuing a literary career. Instead, she built a successful freelance career as a psychologist and profiler, working in the corporate world, as well as some of the UK's most notorious prisons. But as she approached a 'significant' birthday, she decided the writing itch could not be ignored, and following a year away from the day job she secured her first book deal, with a little help from a certain Ian Rankin. Now signed up to a three-book deal with Bonnier's imprint Zaffre, Lesley tells us that determination was the biggest factor in achieving her dreams. Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca reflect on a tough week when COVID struck the Hobeck family, leaving a dream of their own in tatters ...

Episode 29: Climbing the indie publishing mountain - with Simon McCleave

Snowdonia is one of Britain's most popular National Parks, beloved for it's ruggedly beautiful mountains and forests, and provides the inspired location for Simon McCleave's crime novels. His DI Ruth Hunter series only launched in January 2020, but Simon has already sold 800,000 books. Drawing on the skills he sharpened as a script editor on some of the UK's most popular TV shows, Simon writes quickly and cleanly, publishing a staggering 13 novels in the past 18 months alone. It's an astonishing achievement - and he shares some of the secrets of success with The Hobcast Book Show. Adrian and Rebecca also discuss huge developments at one of their fellow UK Crime publishers, Bloodhound Books, and they reveal the winner of their '#notatharrogate competition.
 

Episode 28: Harrogate Festival special - featuring Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham and S J Parris

It's back! The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival survived months of uncertainty to return to Harrogate in spectacular fashion, and the Hobcast was there to join in the fun. In this week's bumper episode, we speak to the godfather of British crime fiction Ian Rankin about the challenge of finishing another writer's work. S J Parris reflects on how the pandemic has affected her creative process, and Mark Billingham reveals some of the secrets of what happens when the UK's leading crime authors meet at the bar. Plus Adrian and Rebecca speak to the inspirational Martyn Waites about his work in prisons helping inmates to find their voice. It's Hobeck Books on tour, Harrogate-style!
 

Episode 27: The secrets of a series - with Leigh Russell

Twelve years since her first novel was published, Leigh Russell has established herself as one of the UK's leading crime authors, selling almost two million books. She's published fourteen novels in her Geraldine Steel series, and successfully launched two spin-off series too. As Leigh admits in her inspirational interview with Adrian and Rebecca, she's probably made every mistake there is to make, but her passion for writing is undimmed. 

Episode 26: Bloody Scotland - ten years of criminally fine fiction - with Bob McDevitt

In the past few years Tartan Noir has become one of the dominant forces in UK crime fiction, with Ian Rankin and Val McDiarmid leading the charge up the charts. At the core of this movement is the Bloody Scotland festival, now entering its tenth year. With its two major awards, the McIlvaney Prize and the Debut award, Bloody Scotland has helped launch the careers of some of the most innovative and successful authors in the world. Bob McDevitt is the festival director, and he joins Rebecca and Adrian to explain the challenges of keeping the festival alive during the pandemic, whilst continuing to expand the influence of the Bloody Scotland organisation. 
 
 
 

Episode 25: From family sagas to crime. Switching genres with Terri Nixon

How difficult is it to master a new genre when you've built your writing career around another? That's the challenge that faced our guest on The Hobcast Book Show this week, Terri Nixon. She publishes Crossfire with Hobeck Books this week, after establishing herself as one of the leading authors in the UK of family sagas. She's also a leading fantasy writer. So what made her add crime to her portfolio of genres? 
Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca reflect on some key issues making waves in publishing, including an apology from the Old Peculier Crime Writing festival in Harrogate for failing to include any female authors of colour on their festival programme. There's further good news for Hobeck author Mark Wightman, and Adrian reveals how Martina Navratilova once shared details about her love life while they commentated together at Wimbledon for the BBC. All that and more in the Hobcast.

Episode 24: The future of publishing - with Jenny Parrott (part 2)

In this week's episode, we hear again from Jenny Parrott in the second part of an interview first featured in episode 17 of The Hobcast Book Show from Hobeck Books, and discuss the impact of technology on the publishing industry, and what it means for authors. Adrian and Rebecca reflect on the growing campaign from literary agents for a fairer deal for their clients from audiobook royalties, and they discuss how losing the internet for 24 hours had some unexpected benefits.

Episode 23: Second time around - with Alison Morgan

This week, The Hobcast Book Show speaks to Alison Morgan on the eve of the publication of the second of her Quirk Files Series novel, Throttled. What are the challenges to overcome second time around? How has she avoided the pitfalls of sequel syndrome? And what obstacles has Alison faced narrating the first novel in the series, Over Her Dead Body? Adrian and Rebecca also discuss the exciting news that Mark Wightman's debut Hobeck novel Waking The Tiger has been long-listed for the prestigious McIlvaney prize for best Scottish Crime novel, and reveal the challenges and opportunities that accolade has brought Hobeck Books this week.