Writer's Routine

Kevin Wade is a screenwriter and show-runner, behind some of the biggest films and series of recent times. After acting for a bit, he started off penning Off-Broadway plays. Kevin moved on to write on 'Working Girl', 'Meet Joe Black', 'Maid in Manhattan', before getting huge success as the exec producer and showrunner for most of the 'Blue Bloods' series. The show was a police procedural starring Tom Selleck. It ran for years, and meant Kevin and his team needed to write over 20 mysteries a season, that individually wrapped up and all contributed towards the overall was series arc.

His debut novel, 'Johnny Careless', was nominated for an Edgar Award, and he's followed that up with 'One Good Eye'. It tells the story of Police Chief Jeep Mullane, who sets off on a lonely and dangerous path to find out who attacked one of his oldest, closest friends.

We discuss the marathon of writing 20+ episodes of a show every year, and learning to hit the beats and fit the format of network television. Also you can hear why he ditched the initial idea for the novel, and why a fire isn't really exciting.

Get a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

Support the show -
patreon.com/writersroutine
ko-fi.com/writersroutine

Find the newsletter - writersroutine.substack.com

@writerspod
writersroutine.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Hill is a Philip K. Dick nominated author, having published 6 books over the last 13 years. 'Lamb', 'The Breach', 'Zero Bomb', 'Graft' and 'Folded Man', have all be acclaimed for their prose, innovation and invention... he descibes them as 'getting a little weird'. He's also published novels as MT Hill. Matt's new novel is 'Wrecks'. It tells the story of mechanic Jim Sorrel, who is dismissed by his rally team for his part in a life-changing crash. When he is offered a second chance, he discovers his punishment has only just begun.

It's inspired by Matt's childhood spent in a motor-racing loving family, and we discuss how he's used that for a speculative, noirish thriller. You can hear how he keeps the pace of a car-focused book going across the novel, why he's very open to learning things, and what he's done with a new dedicated writing space.

We chat about the challenge of sticking the landing, his big editing change, and why his method and routine has changed over the last few years.

Get a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

Sign up to the newsletter - writersroutine.substack.com

Support the show -
patreon.com/writersroutine
ko-fi.com/writersroutine

@writerspod
writersroutine.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vaseem Khan tried to be an author for a long time. He wrote widely, in all genres, even analytically studied the greats to learn from how they did it, but kept gettiing rejected. Finally, after many turned down pitches, he landed a deal for 'The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra'. It tells the story of a retiring police officer, who is given an elephant to adopt. It was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels between 2015-20.

He still writes widely. Vaseem published the 'Malabar House' novels set in 1950s India, which focus on the country's first female police officer. His most recent novel, 'The Edge of Darkness' is in that series. He also won the CWA Crime Dagger award in 2021 for his book, 'Midnight at Malabar House'. He's given psychological thriller a go with 'The Girl in Cell A', set in the United States which sold very well, and has more recently turned his hand to something like cosy crime, with his novel, 'Quantum of Menace'. It tells the story of Q from the world of James Bond. Recently fired and pottering about at home, he must solve the mystery of a friends murder. You can hear about the process of being approached by the Ian Fleming estate, and the deal-breaker that he insisted on for the character.

We talk about why everything needs to be spot on as he goes through the novel, also how he brought life to a caricature, and how he managed to keep going through the rejections. There's also a lot of editing and workplace tips to inspire your own day.

You can get a copy of the book at uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

Support us -
patreon.com/writersroutine
ko-fi.com/writersroutine

This week's episode is sponsored by Philippa Hall's 'Quick Book Reviews' podcast. Take a listen wherever you've got this.

@writerspod
writersroutine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ajay Chowdhury was the first winner of the Harvill Secker Bloody Scotland Prize. His 'Kamil Rahman' crime stories are incredibly successful, works on various boards, ran a global deep-tech business, and co-founded Shazam! Also he runs a few groups, and is a theatre director. He's a busy man.

He's back with 'Eden Falls', a thriller about Adam and Aisha, who are about to go on their honey. Only, Adam disappears at the airport along with Aisha's passport, simply leaving behind the message, 'I'm sorry'. What follows is a chase across the USA, diving into the shadowy world of weaponised AI.

Ajay is very open about how he uses AI when writing - to bounce ideas off, for quick searching - and in a world in which many authors are scared of AI's place in creativity, Ajay thinks that it's here to stay, so he may aswell make the most of it.

We discuss how he balances creativity with business, and has the energy to stick with ideas through to the finish. We also talk about changing his writing style, how he gets to know his characters, and the simple letters he remembers to get things done.

Get a copy of the book at uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

Support the show -
patreon.com/writersroutine
ko-fi.com/writersroutine

@writerspod
writersroutine.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cathy Bramley has published 18 novels, and sold over 2 million of them. Since her debut in 2015, it's taken a while to finalise she is actually an author. Cathy writes light-hearted romantic uplit, often focused on ordinary women doing extraordinary things.

Her new novel is 'Somewhere Only We Know', telling the story of Magnolia Jones, who sets off on the gap year trip her daughter so wanted to do... and she finds a bit of herself along the way.

We talk about her busy, busy location, and the software that stops her panicking. Also you can hear how she navigated life moving from being a self-published writer, to a more traditionally published author, and all the unexpected work that comes with it.

Get a copy at uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

This week's episode is supported by Philippa Hall's 'Quick Book Reviews' podcast. Take a listen wherever you've found this.

Support the show -
patreon.com/writersroutine
ko-fi.com/writersroutine

@writerspod
writersroutine.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.