Authors Electric

I recently took part in a podcast created by Ben Bruce in a new series called 'Criminally Inspired', available via Spotify but we recorded it on Zoom. We ran through more or less my entire writing career in three-quarters of an hour, trying to work out between us what my sources of inspiration were. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation, which ranged from my first 'book', written in pencil in a notebook almost as soon as I'd learnt to write, through the children's plays my son and I co-wrote for our local youth drama group, to my current relentless production line of lightweight mysteries. Once the podcast was released it took me a while to make myself listen to it, but when I did I was surprised to find how much I had laughed during the recording, particularly when I recalled some of the drama group efforts - an example being the point at which my son had to fling himself into the wings as King Neptune, do a quick change out of his blue robes and silky white (f...

  I have to admit I am a very visual person, and I am easily distracted. As a consequence I rarely listen to talk on the radio, don’t really get on with audiobooks, and haven’t – up until recently – engaged with the growing phenomenon of podcasts. If I have time to spare, I tend to read or watch something on a screen. I used to listen to things in the car, but these days I do so little driving, I don’t tend to get the time for any meaningful listening. But I have been encouraged to explore podcasts and so I have been doing so. They are apparently one of the next big things in marketing to the masses. And you never know they might even help sell books! I am trying to make time to listen to more podcasts – the time I spend doing the ironing is one opportunity (!) – finding ones that are especially relevant to writing, my interests and my genre. The world of podcasts is expanding and diversifying. I can guarantee that you will find one that fits just into your niche. A quick googl...