The Hobcast Book Show

112: Making words work - with Sam and Barry Hall

Our guests on The Hobcast Bookshow this week have inspired thousands of people to become writers. Sam and Barry Hall combine their day jobs with running Wordsmithery, an independent literary arts organisation and publisher in the Medway area of Kent. Wordsmithery was founded with the aim of encouraging more people to get into writing and reading, and to work on interesting literary projects with individuals and community groups. As you'll hear - Sam and Barry are incredibly inventive and creative in their approach to their mission. It's an inspiring interview for anyone who loves writing and the pleasures of literature.
Also this week, Adrian shares his views on the dominant media story of the week in the UK, and Rebecca reveals a hidden talent...
​Wordsmithery | Live Literature and Publishing | Kent

111: What book coaching can bring to your writing - with Nicole Johnston

Just ten minutes a day could make a huge difference to your writing productivity. That's the message from our guest this week, author, ghost-writer and book coach Nicole Johnston. Using that time to write, without self-editing, can help authors through writer's block she says, with the added benefit of increasing your overall creativity. Nicole has coached dozens of authors to overcome their writing roadblocks, drawing on her experience as an author, and her career in politics as an advisor to some of the biggest names in Australian and UK politics, including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It's a fascinating interview.
Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca discuss efforts by Bookshop.org to build a new ebook platform to rival Amazon, and reflect on the recent IPG Spring conference where the issue of the future impact of AI in publishing dominated discussions.
Ghostwriter, Author & Writing Coach Nicole Johnston - The Writing Tribe

110: Poetic inspiration - with Susan Darlington

This week is a departure for The Hobcast Book Show, as we focus on poetry with our guest Susan Darlington. Speaking to us from her home in Leeds, we learn how nature inspires her poetry, and Susan shares her love of the challenge verse demands, especially choosing the optimum words to express the themes she wants to explore. Susan has published three collections of her work to date, and is a regular contributor and reviewer for a range of publications and websites.
Also this week, as Adrian and Rebecca enjoy a week away in Rye in East Sussex, they debate the recent sensitivity changes made to Roald Dahl's childrens books and the furor that's created in the publishing world.
Under the Devil's Moon: Amazon.co.uk: Darlington, Susan: 9781326187583: Books

109: Taking ’pantsing’ to the next level - with Abigail Osborne

Are you a plotter or a pantser? It's arguably the question we ask most often on The Hobcast Book Show of our guests. This week we speak to an author who takes pantsing, or if you're being more politically correct, discovery writing to new levels. Abigail Osborne says the only way she can approach her craft is to write as her mood dictates, and jumps around the timeline of her stories as a result. She relies on the editing process to make sense of the raw material she create, and while unconventional, her method has brought success with three superb psychological thrillers published to date. Abbie says it's her way of harnessing her ADHD superpower, and shows no matter how unconventionally your mind works, there is always a way to bring your writing to the world successfully. It's a brilliant and inspiring interview.
Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca reflect on the disappointment of not securing a nomination for the Nibbies (National Book Awards) this year, and ask if the new trend of big publishers trawling TikTok for potential authors is a welcome development or not?
Abigail Osborne – Author
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Abigail-Osborne/e/B01JN1G4CY

108: Celebrating Clapham - London’s literary powerhouse - with Julie Anderson

There are few cities, if any, that rival London for their literary impact, and whilst the grime of Dicken's London, or the elegant squares of Bloomsbury are celebrated as literary locations, there's one borough that can justifiably claim to match all others - Clapham. As our guest this week, author Julie Anderson explains, Clapham has been home to some of the most celebrated British authors, such as Samuel Pepys, Graham Greene, Roald Dahl, Noel Coward and Angela Carter. There's a healthy community of writers in Clapham now too, and for the past few years, Clapham Writers have organised the Clapham Literary Festival, attracting leading authors from all genres of fiction and non-fiction to speak there, and while other festivals have found times difficult since the pandemic, it seems that Clapham's is going from strength-to-strength.
Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca express their dismay at the revelation that Hobeck Audiobook productions have potentially been used to feed the development of A.I narration systems, and they support moves announced this week to raise freelance pay rates in the UK publishing industry after years of stagnation.
claphamwriters | Living & writing in Clapham (wordpress.com)
Julie Anderson – Writer and author (julieandersonwriter.com)

107: Creating a ’cult’ book - with Cailean Steed

We're delighted to focus on another debut author this week on The Hobcast Book Show. Caileen Steed's first novel, Home, a dark tale of a woman escaping the pernicious grip of a cult, has been showered with critical praise. Heat magazine calls it "highly engrossing," and The Scots Magazine says Home is "masterfully written, both enthralling and disturbing in equal terms." Praise indeed. So how does Cailean find the time to write between teaching in a secondary school and busy family life? We speak to them from their home on the banks of the Clyde, in Helensburgh, Scotland.
Also this week, we get excited about the prospect of watching Hobeck's own Robert Daws on stage in his latest one-man show, and Rebecca has a go at replacing Adrian as an audiobook narrator - with interesting results... 
Cailean Steed Author

106: How Plottr might ease your writing pain - with Troy Lambert

The Hobcast Book Show team would happily describe themselves as 'pantsers' when it comes to writing. Perhaps the politer and more politically correct term would be 'discovery writers,' exploring our muse and seeing where the story goes. That's not to say we don't envy authors who have the ability to map out their plots and story beats before they commit to a first draft. Perhaps a recently developed piece of software called Plottr could help? It promises to make plotting a breeze, with popular story structures already set up for every conceivable fiction genre, and a suite of features to aid the series author to manage the details of the worlds they create. We're joined by one of the team behind Plottr, author and educator Troy Lambert to explain more.
Also this week, we discuss how hardback sales are dropping as the cost of living crisis bits, and how we had a shock at Hobeck Books when we received a quote for a reprint of one our titles - a 25% increase in costs in just 15 months!
https://plottr.com/
Telling Stories, Changing the World - Troy Lambert (troylambertwrites.com)

105: From firefighter to thriller author - with David Beckler

It's no surprise to us at The Hobcast Book Show that thrillers remain one of the most enduring and successful genres in fiction. Sharing the danger with our heroes is one of the key elements that attract readers, especially when the author is writing from experience to back up their creative imagination. Our guest this week, David Beckler, knows all about the courage and camaraderie that helps people face extreme situations. A firefighter for almost twenty years, mostly in Manchester, he draws on his experiences to inspire his novels. He has two series to his name: His Sterling and Mason series features two ex-Royal Marines, one of whom is now a firefighter, and his Antonia Conti series features a journalist uncovering corruption in a dystopian near-future setting. 
Also this week, we tot up the sales of Spare as Prince Harry's memoir smashes sales records, and we look ahead to the launch of our latest Hobeck book - Cut and Shut by Jonathan Peace.
DAVID BECKLER AUTHOR – DISCOVER MY WRITING

104: Drawing on life to inspire your writing - with Anne Coates

One of the joys of writing is using every experience you have to feed your creativity. That's certainly the belief of our guest this week, journalist and crime-author Anne Coates. She has vast experience to draw on too from her career as a journalist in some of the UK's most popular magazine titles, and as an editor for Reader's Digest. As she tells us, that's armed her with some valuable knowledge of how to structure a story, and perhaps most importantly, what to leave out as much as what to leave in. Anne is the author of the Hannah Weybridge series of novels published by Red Dog Press, and her most recent title, Stage Call, is inspired by her lifelong passion for attending the Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo, London.
Also this week, Rebecca challenges Adrian to name the UK's Top 5 cosy crime authors in 2022, and they also discuss what job cuts at Amazon might signify.
Anne Coates – Author, editor (annecoatesauthor.com)

103: Creating a sense of place - with J M Simpson

Happy New Year! We start 2023 with our guest, UK drama and suspense author J M Simpson, whose Castleby series of suspense novels has built a loyal following recently. Castleby is loosely based on the Pembrokeshire resort of Tenby, but Jo draws widely on her upbringing in Devon and Cornwall to embellish the seaside setting. As she admits, the fictional town has taken on a life of its own. 
Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca reflect on the most popular UK books of 2022, and they critique Apple's latest venture into audiobook narration using AI technology.
J.M. Simpson | Author of drama and suspense novels (jmsimpsonauthor.co.uk)