2016-11

Part two of This Writing Life's chat with ace writing team Neil Richards and Matt Costello opens with a discussion of their first novel, Dead in the Water. Set in their bucolic, fictional Cotswolds village of Cherringham, it stars Jack, a retired New York City cop, and Sarah, a single-mother of two. Having teamed up as crime fighters in previous episodes, the dynamic duo eventually reunites to solve the mysterious death of a local teacher.

This Writing Life has talked to a pair of writers before: David Mitchell and Michel Faber. But Neil Richards and Matt Costello are the first bona fide writing team. We meet, ostensibly, to discuss Dead in the Water, the first full-length novel in their already successful 'Cherringham' e-book crime series: previous episodes have consisted of short stories and novellas.

As a trailer for This Writing Life's next interview - with crime fiction, video game and script-writing team Neil Richards and Matt Costello - our dynamic duo talk about the benefits of a late start, and offer a little advice for budding authors.

The fourth and final part of DBC Pierre's conversation with This Writing Life podcast begins with a discussion of fraud. Pierre writes about this at the start of his excellent writing guide, Release the Bats, and hit headlines following his Man Booker victory for seemingly defrauding a former friend out of his house.

'I don't believe in inspiration.' So says DBC Pierre at the start of his third This Writing Life podcast, brought to you after two small party political broadcasts. Following a little drug chatter, I ask how Pierre disorients his senses these days?

Richard Russo has written 11 books, 8 screenplays, won a Pulitzer Prize (for Empire Falls), and most recently published the excellent Everybody's Fool, the sequel to one of This Writing Life's favourite novels, Nobody's Fool.
When we met in London, we talked about everything from book signings to working with Paul Newman. Russo also discussed Clinton-Trump and the 2016 US Presidential Race. This Writing Life posts it now as a Special Podcast. The exchange begins with some general chatter on confusion and self-made men.
Our lengthy interview with Richard will be posted later in 2016.