Author's Afterword

Charlie and Maggie Stiefvater (The Listeners) discuss the lesser-known history of the US hosting Axis diplomats in luxury hotels, the arrangements made to swap diplomats one for one, including disability and mental illness in such a story, Maggie's main character's dachshunds and their relationship to the man they never let pet them, the era-aligned game that Maggie created, and much more. General references: Shiver (film adaptation) Charlie's conversation with Elaine Chiew is episode 111 Amelie Big Fish Books mentioned by name or extensively: Maggie Stiefvater: Shiver Maggie Stiefvater: The Scorpio Races Maggie Stiefvater: The Raven Cycle Maggie Stiefvater: The Listeners Release details: recorded 1st May 2025; published 8th September 2025 Where to find Maggie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || TikTok Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 00:01:41 How the book started 00:08:01 The history and hotels in terms of Maggie's interest. Lots of info here! 00:13:08 How Maggie created the characters; whether there's been a change in her process of 'thieving' 00:16:30 Creating June and her role as 'Hoss' 00:20:51 June and Tucker together and in the context of the sweetwater 00:25:43 Are the sweetwater or Avalon hotel characters? 00:28:57 The letters Maggie bookends the story with, and then we move on to Pennybacker and the dachshunds and Edgar 00:38:12 411 00:41:18 Disability and labels in the book, including Sandy and Maggie's decisions in regards to his story thread 00:50:04 Edgar beyond the pages 00:51:55 The arrangements during WW2 where diplomats were exchanged between the powers 00:57:49 What did Pennybacker have to say about the Swiss that he said he'd tell June? 00:59:11 The game of Winnet! 01:03:46 Present news about the Shiver film adaptation 01:04:39 Brief info on what Maggie's next adult novel Photo credit: Stephen Voss

Charlie and Emily Slapper (Everyone I Know Is Dying) discuss her phenomenal book that looks at a young woman spiralling from mental illness. This involves discussing romantic relationships when one is depressed, the affect of parents, the affect of society, and not using labels. General references: I spoke to Samantha Sotto Yambao in episode 122 Books mentioned by name or extensively: Emily Slapper: Everyone I Know Is Dying Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar Release details: recorded 16th April 2025; published 25th August 2025 Where to find Emily online: Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:25 The inspiration, films that only scratched the surface 03:25 Emily's surprising answer to the question of what research she did 04:14 Talking of the nod to The Bell Jar 04:41 And to the question as to Emily's books in a drawer, and about Emily's original career plan 07:02 The first line and responses to Iris as a character 10:01 On not labelling Iris 11:10 The importance of writing fiction about mental illness 12:39 Including discussion on how society affects us 14:48 George and his role 18:00 Patrick and his role 20:24 The impact of Iris' parents and upbringing on her 24:44 Emily's choices as to the ending 28:30 How should we feel about Sara? 31:50 On privilege or the lack of it 33:05 Patrick's life beyond the book 34:58 The way Emily incorporates the passing of seasons 38:28 Emily's second book

Charlie and Michael Stewart (Black Wood Women) discuss the persecution of Irish people in the 17th century, the loss of and possible reintroduction of wolves in Britain, and 17th century hippies. Please note that there is discussion of drugs in this episode. General references: The Bronte Writing Centre Books mentioned by name or extensively: Elizabeth Fremantle: Honey And The Sting Ian D Rotherham: Yorkshire's Forgotten Fenlands Michael Stewart: King Crow Michael Stewart: Walking The Invisible Michael Stewart: Black Wood Women Michael Stewart: Surrounded By My Enemy Stacey Thomas: The Revels Release details: recorded 14th April 2025; published 11th August 2025 Where to find Michael online: Website || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:25 The inspiration for Black Wood Women. We continue on the subject of wolves and their loss and reintroduction 06:50 What having three narratives allowed Michael to explore 08:29 The persecution of Irish people in the 1600s 11:08 Michael talks about the 1600s communities that we might today call hippy 16:14 World building, making it all so real 19:19 The language of the novel - a mix, Charlie found, of old and new 21:54 On Michael's witches taking substances 23:52 Michael's interest in ravens 29:14 The men, particularly Johanne the Swedish wolf hunter who Charlie reckons is more witch than anything else 34:53 Was the questioning in Black Wood Women of what was going on with witch accusers drawn from the history? 39:31 More about Alice 42:16 About the ecology in the book and how this relates to our present day 45:28 Is it difficult writing such a dark book? 50:19 What Michael's writing now, Surrounded By My Enemies

Charlie and Paul McVeigh (I Hear You) discuss Paul's time writing stories for the BBC, being an emotional writer, and a traumatic medical experience that has had a big effect on some of his work. Please note there are two incredibly mild swear words in this episode. General references: BBC Writers Room, now BBC Writers Paul's play is called Big Man Paul's blog post about tips from Heather Larmour Books mentioned by name or extensively: Kit de Waal: My Name Is Leon Kit de Waal (ed.): Common People Paul McVeigh: The Good Son Paul McVeigh: I Hear You Paul McVeigh (ed.) The 32 Paul McVeigh (ed.) Queer Love Sarah Butler: Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love Sinéad Gleeson (ed.) The Art Of The Glimpse Wendy Erskine: Sweet Home Wendy Erskine: Dance Move Release details: recorded 7th April 2025; published 28th July 2025 Where to find Paul online: Website || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:28 Paul talks about being commissioned by the BBC to write the short stories now featured in I Hear You, as well as his success in doing so 07:03 Why publish these short stories in a collection now? 13:01 Did Paul's working class background have an affect on the resilience he's discussed? 16:37 The first story, Tickles. We also talk about Paul being an emotional writer 26:01 The second story, Cuckoo, which is heavily influenced by an operation Paul had 32:45 About the 10 linked stories, The Circus 38:23 Paul tells us about the short story collection he's currently writing

Charlie and Sophie Jo (Red Flags) discuss healthy relationships particularly in the context of young people and in terms of values and hobbies. They also delve into popular media from the '90s and 2000s as included in Sophie's book. General references: Love Respect 10 Things I Hate About You How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days The OC Girls Normal People TV adaptation Books mentioned by name or extensively: Sally Rooney: Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney: Normal People Sophie Jo: Red Flags Release details: recorded 17th March 2025; published 14th July 2025 Where to find Sophie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || TikTok Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:35 The inspiration for Red Flags 04:10 More about Stephanie 08:34 Is there a sequel for Stephanie in Sophie's future? 10:54 Creating Poppy and Cam, who Charlie found were extremely well written 13:56 Sophie tells us about her work helping teens know what about healthy love looks like 17:58 The popular media references in the book from the 1990s and 2000s 20:39 The scene in the bookstore, the meta aspect to Red Flags 23:12 Talking more about relationships where people might not have interests in common 25:08 Cam's parents and their affects on his views of relationships and so on 28:55 Talking about the characters we haven't yet talked about 31:13 Cam's granddad 33:01 Where might Poppy and Cam end up in the future? 35:59 What the response has been from teen readers 37:23 Some details about Sophie's next book

Charlie and Carmel Harrington (The Stolen Child) discuss her stunning thriller wherein the reveal is given at the start and we have to find out the how and the why, a boy stolen as a child and now he's found his way home... Please note we mention abuse, kidnapping, and prostitution. Books mentioned by name or extensively: Carmel Harrington: The Stolen Child Carmel Harrington: The Nowhere Girls J R R Tolkien: The Lord Of The Rings Release details: recorded 17th February 2025; published 23rd June 2025 Where to find Carmel online: Website || Instagram || Facebook Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:33 The inspiration for The Stolen Child 04:43 Carmel's research 06:18 Planning and plotting 10:37 On giving the answers up front and working with everything else after doing that 13:00 Exploring DNA tests 14:13 Creating the characters 21:02 More about Kimberley's father-in-law, Kevin 23:08 The locations - why them and why have four? 25:55 The prostitution storylines 28:47 On Sally not going back to the orphanage but being able to talk to Sister Jones 31:28 Ian, the exploitative abuser 44:37 On not dobbing Kimberley to the police 50:49 Was it difficult getting these characters out of your head after you'd finished the book? 52:11 Watering plants with pasta water?! 53:02 What Carmel is working on now Photo credit: Patrick Browne Photography

Charlie and Samantha Sotto Yambao (Water Moon) discuss her UK debut - yay! - exploring the concepts of fate and choice, the process of evolving the romance, and, we catch up on the lives of Sam's dogs. A transcript is available on my site General references: Ticket link for the podcast live events Sam joined me to discuss The Beginning of Always in episode 50 Sam joined me to discuss Before Ever After, Love and Gravity, and A Dream of Trees in episode 5 Books mentioned by name or extensively: David and Leigh Eddings: The Belgariad J R R Tolkien: Return Of The King Samantha Sotto: Before Ever After Samantha Sotto: Love And Gravity Samantha Sotto: A Dream Of Trees Samantha Sotto Yambao: Water Moon Release details: recorded 11th February 2025; published 9th June 2025 Where to find Sam online: Website || Facebook || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 03:38 This being Sam's UK debut; how it came about 07:32 The inspirations - Ninenzaka in Kyoto 10:28 Expanding on the pawnshop concept in terms of Water Moon's look at fate and choice 12:56 Sam's interest in putting science and fantasy and magical realism together 15:07 Neutrinos! 17:24 When in the process do you research? 19:01 Creating Hana 23:05 Writing about the loss of mothers 25:40 The romance in terms of when Keishin was included 31:19 The bad guys of the book 34:05 All about the ending and Sam's choices 37:17 Charlie brings in Death of the Author 41:06 Doctor Who references 42:19 What's next? 43:03 Asking about Sam's dogs who have made appearances in our previous episodes

Charlie and Amy Jordan (The Dark Hours) discuss the Irish police force, the Garda, in the 1990s, particularly where it involves sexism. They also discuss the effects on a relationship of being a member of the police, and the way trauma can influence extreme actions. A transcript is available on my site General references: The New York Times review (paywall) Books mentioned by name or extensively: Amy Jordan: The Dark Hours Release details: recorded 14th January 2025; published 12th May 2025 Where to find Amy online: Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:31 The inspiration 03:19 Writing Julia and exploring the effects of what she's been through 09:21 Exploring trauma and its effects 14:22 The pacing 18:49 More about how Amy included Julia's husband and what he goes through as a result of her career, which includes talking about people Amy knows 23:26 Where Julia says, "Call me Julia" 25:22 The misogyny and the Garda in general in the 1990s 32:36 Brendon and his Morse Code 35:08 Creating the fictional villages, and Amy's spooky story of a real house 38:33 Minor details of book 2, including where Amy will take Julia and Philip's relationship

Charlie and Amy Engel (I Did It For You) discuss her literary thriller wherein the killer did it but it isn't that simple, wherein both the victim's and killer's families are given empathy, and wherein the sister of the victim and the brother of the killer start a romance. Please note that whilst there are no references to detailed violence, this episode looks at various issues surrounding murder cases. A transcript is available on my site General references: It was indeed Elmore Leonard who said, "You take out the parts that people skip when they're reading". This link has more information. Books mentioned by name or extensively: Amy Engel: The Familiar Dark Amy Engel: I Did It For You Release details: recorded 17th December 2024; published 28th April 2025 Where to find Amy online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || Facebook Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:15 The inspiration - location and character 02:37 Creating Greer 04:50 Creating Ludlow and the well-drawn townspeople 07:53 How Amy works with secrets and reveals 09:24 How was it writing Greer in terms of her being an unreliable narrator? 11:10 The different extra narratives 12:33 Roy, the killer's, difference, his potential neurodivergence, and the importance of looking at this 15:41 Did you ever consider not having Roy 'do' it? 17:33 The grief in the book, including a look at the different sets of parents 19:46 Including Dean and humanising the family of the murderer 22:30 Amy tells us more about how her career in law influenced her writing 24:35 The slower pacing, which isn't so usual for a thriller, and how Amy categorises her novels. We then move on to what Amy added to the novel in editing 27:59 Amy's thought process and planning in regards to the bad guy (different person to the killer) 34:03 Amy deciding to end Greer and Dean's romance 36:29 Where Greer and Dean may end up, separately, beyond the pages of the book. We then move on to Greer's parents in the same vein 39:03 What Amy is writing and planning now

Charlie and Nydia Hetherington (Sycorax) discuss the witch Shakespeare's Prospero hates so much and Nydia's reimagining slash prequel to The Tempest. This involves conversation about chronic illness, attitudes to women in regards to the occult, and on a seemingly unrelated subject, the tendency of pirates to leave problematic people on isolated islands. A transcript is available on my site General references: W H Auden: The Sea And The Mirror Books mentioned by name or extensively: Libby Colman: Trixie - The Childhood Of Sycorax, Witch Of Algiers Margaret Atwood: Hag-Seed Marina Warner: Indigo Nydia Hetherington: A Girl Made Of Air Nydia Hetherington: Sycorax Tad Williams: Caliban's Hour William Shakespeare: The Tempest Release details: recorded 4th December 2024; published 14th April 2025 Where to find Nydia online: Website || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:20 The initial inspirations - theatre and Nydia's chronic condition 10:23 Research and inspirations in regards to other adaptations 12:58 More on Nydia's dedication to Shakespearean writing 13:58 Disability and women being witches put together 20:01 The good women in the book, Yemma and Zari 24:11 Including Barbarossa the pirate and the way pirates left criminals isolated 28:26 Afalkey the Beautiful and charming men 30:05 The role the Crow plays 32:48 What Nydia is writing at the moment 34:30 Nydia's William Blake novel she mentioned earlier

Charlie and Gill Paul (Scandalous Women) discuss Jackie Collins, Jacqueline Susann, and the way the 1960s publishing industry treated women. A transcript is available on my site General references: My other episodes with Gill are 42 and 86 The Love Machine (movie) Some of Richard Osman's words on the subject can be found here Once Upon A Time In America Lady Boss trailer Mad Men Feud: Capote Vs His Swans Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders I spoke to Èric Chacour in episode 115 The three books with a Mira in them were Eliza Chan's Fathomfolk, Èric Chacour's What I Know About You, and Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing Books mentioned by name or extensively: Dale Carnegie: How To Win Friends And Influence People Gill Paul: Another Woman's Husband Gill Paul: The Second Marriage (Jackie And Maria) Gill Paul: A Beautiful Rival Gill Paul: Scandalous Women Helen Gurley Brown: Sex And The Single Girl Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach Jackie Collins: The World Is Full Of Married Men Jacqueline Susann: Valley Of The Dolls Jacqueline Susann: The Love Machine Letty Cottin Pogrebin: How To Make It In A Man's World Truman Capote: In Cold Blood Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 11th October 2024; published 24th March 2025 Where to find Gill online: Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram || TikTok Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:23 Why these women and why now? 03:02 More about Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins 04:15 Jacqueline Susann's screen work 05:58 On Gill's having Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins meet and support each other 09:06 The murder of Sharon Tate 10:29 Jacqueline's illness and bargaining with God 14:22 About Jackie Collins' marriages 17:28 Creating the fictional character, Nancy 20:55 More on Nancy in regards to the historical misogyny 26:19 Gill's fictional Truman Capote interview and the real stories including the facts behind Capote's In Cold Blood 31:06 Jacqueline Susann's keeping up to date with booksellers' lives 33:31 Nancy's relationships with Stephen and George 35:52 The Cousin, Louise, the drugs and trafficking 37:18 Gill's writing style and how it aligns with Scandalous Women 39:28 Including a small nod to A Beautiful Rival and how Gill includes these in her books in general 41:45 What Gill is writing now Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Charlie and C J Wray (The Excitements) discuss the WW2 women her book about fun-loving nonagenarians is based on and her views on modern and historical adoption as an adoptee herself. We also discuss the Peter Jones (John Lewis) department store, using Morse Code, and Diamond Doris, a jewel-thief who got away with quite a bit. Please note there are a couple of mild swear words in this episode. Please also note we talk of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry which is commonly shortened to FANY. A transcript is available on my site Tickets to my live show of Friday 4th April can be bought here Sign up to the Author's Afterword newsletter here General references: William Ernest Henley's Invictus poem Long Lost Family The Yoga teacher Chris mentions is Dorothea Barron. It isn't the same lady Charlie mentions, and unfortunately Charlie has been unable to find out who that was. Books mentioned by name or extensively: C J Wray: The Excitements C J Wray: Bad Influence Christian Lamb (with Chris): Beyond The Sea, A Wren At War Don Marquis: Archy and Mehitabel Pam and Jean Owtram (with Chris): Codebreaking Sisters Stella Knightley: The Girl Behind The Mask Stella Knightley: The Girl Behind The Fan Stella Knightley: The Girl Behind The Curtain W E Fairbairn's book: Hands Off! Self Defense For Women And Girls Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 26th September 2024; published 10th March 2025 Where to find Chris online: Website (as C J Wray) || Website (Chrissie Manby) || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 02:05 About Pat and Jean Owtram, the two sisters who inspired The Excitements 04:04 About the inspiration for Penny's stealing, Diamond Doris 07:25 Using the Peter Jones department store 09:05 All about Archie 10:20 Toujours gai! 11:43 How Chris went about the writing itself 14:13 The Invictus poem and Fairbairn book 16:53 Chris' use of Morse Code 19:16 Davinia and Sister Eugenia, and we then move on to Arlene 22:52 Chris talks about adoptions both historical and modern and her views on it as an adoptee herself 28:20 Did Chris consider having Penny and Josephine defeat the gunman? 29:03 Frank's choice not to send Penny back to into the field 31:59 About Chris' next book, Bad Influence 34:51 Chris once wrote a 90,000 page book in 2 months! Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Charlie is joined by Alex Hay, Lucy Barker, Stacey Thomas, and a wonderful audience at Goldfinch Books in Alton. You want a writing deep dive? You've got it! Please note that this episode has a whispered swear word in it - we were all adults! The next live event will be at P&G Wells in Winchester on Friday 4th April. Tickets are available here If you can't click the link, go to pgwells.co.uk Full show notes and a transcript to follow shortly. The video of the main conversation is on YouTube here

Charlie and Maggie Brookes (The Prisoner's Wife) discuss her stunning story which was inspired by a real happening - a woman who hid in plain sight as a British soldier in a prisoner of war camp. A transcript is available on my site General references: Maggie's previous episode with me is episode 92 Now The War Is Over Time Watch All Our Working Lives The Sphinx, Maggie's poem version of The Prisoner's Wife Colditz The party episode with Maggie is Milestone 01 (also with Elizabeth Fremantle, Gill Paul, and Amanda Geard) Books mentioned by name or extensively: Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre Maggie Brookes: The Prisoner's Wife Maggie Brookes-Butt: Wish John Nichol and Tony Rennell: The Last Escape Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 23rd September 2024; published 24th February 2025 Where to find Maggie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:29 The inspiration - a woman who hid as a man in a Nazi prisoner of war camp and how real it might be 09:49 How Maggie's work as a BBC producer helped her write The Prisoner's Wife 11:49 How the book started as a poem and then Maggie's journey to Czechia to do research into the Long March 20:19 The inspiration of Maggie's father, a prisoner of war who never spoke about his experience 26:58 What Maggie cut from the novel 28:52 Izzy's character development, language progression, and 'Algernon Cousins' 34:38 Adding in Bill's chapters later 36:53 Ralph and his fate being left open 41:24 Scotty's character and his sacrifice 43:28 The real Rosa Rauchbach and her lover 44:32 What are you writing now? Photo credit: Lyn Gregory Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Charlie and Éric Chacour (What I Know About You) discuss Egypt in the 1970s for the Levantine community and LGBT people, the famous French-Egyptian singer Dalida, Romeo and Juliet, Éric's use of the second person, and author and translator working together on writing that had been in place for 15 years. A transcript is available on my site General references: Dalida's Helwa ya Baladi Books mentioned by name or extensively: Éric Chacour: What I Know About You Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 20th September 2024; published 10th February 2025 Where to find Éric online: Facebook || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 02:09 Éric's initial inspiration, Romeo and Juliet, for What I Know About You (he'd been writing the book for years) 05:18 The writing itself, including the use of the second person (Charlie has pointed out Éric's dedication to syllables and language) and the translation 10:31 The political backdrop, the use of it, and the decades chosen 13:29 The time period in terms of the LGBT community and Tarek's choices in that context 14:55 Entangled protons and love 16:25 Could Tarek have stayed with his family? 18:24 More on reader's interpretations and reactions 20:53 Nesrine and Mira and their importance 26:35 The servant, Fatheya 29:16 Talking of the impossibility of another point of view and the ending 31:20 Éric tells us why he included Vivienne 33:11 More about theatrical inspirations, and then we get on to how Éric wanted to be a songwriter 37:44 Dalida 39:22 Should we blame the grandmother? 41:54 Reality and fiction in terms of Rafik's narrative owing much to imagination and interpretation 45:41 What's next? Photo credit: Justine Latour Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Charlie and Edward Carey (Edith Holler) talk at length about the arts and the theatre in the context of his book and in general. They also talk about Norwich as Edward's book is his love letter to the city. Please note there is a mild swear word in this episode. A transcript is available on my site General references: Edward's previous episode on this podcast is number 52 Wikipedia's article on Norwich Robert Louis Stevenson's essay on toy theatres is called A Penny Plain And Twopence Coloured and is available on Project Gutenberg The downloadable theatre on Edward's website (scroll down, on the left) Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters In Search Of An Author My episode with Melissa Fu is number 59 Books mentioned by name or extensively: Edward Carey: Edith Holler Gaston Le Roux: The Phantom Of The Opera Jeanette Winterson: The Passion Julian Of Norwich: Revelations Of Divine Love Robert Louis Stevenson: Memories And Portraits Xavier de Maistre: Voyage Around My Room Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 2nd September 2024; published 27th January 2025 Where to find Edward online: Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:29 The starting point of Edith Holler - lockdown, not being able to go to the theatre, and Brexit. We then move on to the fictional missing children in the book 05:22 Norwich as both a location and inspiration 12:01 Further notes on creating Edith herself, and then we discuss interpretations 18:41 More on the drawings and card theatre 21:05 The other characters 25:10 The Iron Curtain that separates theatre crew and theatre goers 29:01 The language of the novel 30:37 Was there something in particular that lead to you setting the book in the Edwardian period? 33:23 Being in Edith's head 34:27 Beetle Spread! 38:30 Did you ever consider having Edith leave the theatre? 39:20 The undercrofts and the importance of moving the story underground. We then continue on to discuss further theatrical influences on both the novel and ourselves 47:12 The photograph of a woman at the very end of the book 48:59 Edward explains why he won't tell us about what he's currently working on Photo credit: Elizabeth McCracken Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

For live show tickets, click here Charlie and Chloe C Peñaranda (The Stars Are Dying) discuss the incident wherein her heroine stabs the hero, getting around her hero's ability to run amok via deus ex machina, and becoming a hybrid author after success as a self-published writer. Please note there are brief mentions of abuse in this episode. A transcript is available on my site General references: Chloe's TikTok Books mentioned by name or extensively: Chloe C Peñaranda: An Heir Comes To Rise Chloe C Peñaranda: A Throne From The Ashes Chloe C Peñaranda: A Sword From The Embers Chloe C Peñaranda: The Stars An Dying Chloe C Peñaranda: The Night Is Defying Sarah J Maas: A Court Of Thorns And Roses Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 24th October 2024; published 13th January 2025 Where to find Chloe online: Website || Facebook || Instagram || TikTok Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 01:36 Was romantasy the genre you'd been waiting for? 02:55 The initial thought for The Stars Are Dying - Greek myths and Chloe's series An Heir Comes To Rise, and we talk about potential spin-off series 06:34 Why Chloe chose the second iteration of Nyte and Astraea's relationship to focus on instead of the first 08:04 On having a general direction or goal in mind for The Stars Are Dying 08:49 Creating Astraea and Nyte 10:26 Using a slow burn romance 11:45 Getting around the potential deus ex machina of Nyte's powers 13:07 Deciding when to give readers answers as to Astraea's mental state and so on 14:33 The inclusion of amnesia and abuse 15:44 The Libertatum 17:55 The planning before putting pen to paper 19:21 Discussing Astrea's stabbing of Nyte 20:53 Slight notes on the crossover between The Stars Are Dying and An Heir Comes To Rise 23:54 On Cassia's role 25:06 Drystan 25:38 About The Night Is Defying 27:06 How fans of An Heir Comes To Rise have responded to The Stars Are Dying 28:38 Being, now, a hybrid author 30:13 How the traditional publishing deal came about 32:19 On getting a house and garden for her dogs following the publishing deal 33:37 Ideas Chloe is considering for her next work Photo credit: Caroline Anne Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Charlie and Eliza Chan (Fathomfolk) discuss many questions of immigration in both reality and her fantasy fiction, the different mythological creatures she used and decisions in regards to location inspiration, and Fathomfolk's controversial ending. Please note there is a spoiler in this episode for N K Jemisin's The Fifth Season. For live show tickets, click here. A transcript is available on my site General references: The Witcher Jessica Jones The Untamed Books mentioned by name or extensively: Eliza Chan: Fathomfolk Eliza Chan: Tideborn N K Jemisin: The Fifth Season R F Kuang: Babel Rhonda Parrish (ed.): Sirens Buy the books: UK || USA Release details: recorded 14th August 2024; published 23rd December 2024 Where to find Eliza online: Website || Instagram Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Discussions 02:25 The initial inspirations 04:34 More about the topic of immigration 06:57 World building and the world outside of Tiankawi 09:05 Creating Mira, Nami, and Cordelia 14:56 Having started with one narrative and changing it to three 17:44 Using different countries' mythologies, originally planning to set Fathomfolk in a British city, and the possibility of historical settings 25:25 Kai's significance and his relationship with Mira 28:59 Writing and pacing 31:23 Eliza's 'use' of The Drawbacks and the response to the book 37:06 The Onseon engine 39:20 Dragon pearls 42:25 The themes of motherhood and friendship 46:18 The use of gods 49:46 The controversial ending! 51:25 Book two, Tideborn 52:23 Harbour Of Hungry Ghosts 53:52 The game of Wulan Photo credit: Sandi Hodkinson Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

First live show details Guests: Alex Hay (The Queen Of Fives; The Housekeepers), Stacey Thomas (The Revels), Lucy Barker (The Other Side Of Mrs Wood) Date: Wednesday 26th February Location: Goldfinch Books, Alton, Hampshire Ticket link: https://bit.ly/3Das5kn Accessibility: Both the shop itself and the toilets are accessible.