Spelade
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Anna Hope has written three very successful novels, the last of which, Expectation, was published to much fanfare in 2019 and which has been optioned for film. But before that Anna experienced plenty of rejection as an actor, and then when she turned to writing her first novel failed to sell.
Anna was such a joy to speak to and she felt like the perfect first guest for Write-Off, talking openly and honestly about quite how difficult that experience was and how she got through it to become the hugely successful novelist she is today.
Anna's novels are Wake, The Ballroom and Expectation and you can find them in all good bookshops as well as my own online bookstore link: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/francescasteel
Many thanks to Scott Elliott for his invaluable podcast advice, and to Robin Stannard for my lovely Write-Off logo.
Find me on Twitter @francescasteele #writeoff.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Welcome to Write-Off with Francesca Steele, a podcast about writing rejection in all its forms, from self-doubt to books not selling, and how people get through it. I'm a writer and journalist based in London with some personal experience of this after my own first book failed to sell. Guests include Anna Hope, Andy Weir, Katherine Heiny, Michele Roberts, Julian Fellowes, Ann Napolitano, Phoebe Morgan, Harry Parker, Alex Wheatle and Douglas Stuart. I hope you find them as inspiring as I do.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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When The Girl on the Train came out in 2015 and went straight to number one on global bestseller lists Paula Hawkins was pitched like a debut. But in fact Paula had written several previous novels, romantic comedies, under a pseudonym, the last of which hadn’t done well at all, leaving Paula feeling seriously rejected. What I loved about talking to Paula is they even though she is now one of the most famous thriller writers alive, she remains extremely cautious and circumspect, with vivid recollections of how it felt before she was successful and before she started to really love what she was writing,
Her latest book, A Slow Fire Burning, is out now and is, I think, her best yet, a really clever mystery with a lot of subverted tropes and jokes about book writing. We talk too about not being able to give publishers what they want, the horror of bad reviews - yep, she had them - and the book that The Girl on the Train very nearly was until another author wrote it.
You can find me on Twitter at @francescasteele and Instagram at @Francesca_steele
Don’t forget that I list my guests' books at my online shop https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/francescasteele. This helps fund the podcast so please do buy there! Also do rate or review the podcast on your app - it helps more people find out about Write-Off, and also I just really like seeing the reviews!
The lovely Scott Elliott helped me produce this season. Please do consider him for all your pod needs. https://www.podcastconsultant.co.uk
This season is sponsored by the wonderful Jericho Writers https://jerichowriters.com. Listeners of the podcast can get an exclusive 15% discount on membership by going to www.jerichowriters.com/join-us and entering the code Write-Off.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Welcome back! Clare Chambers is kicking off this season. Clare has written nine published novels - her first when she was just 26 and her latest, Small Pleasures, a wonderful book long-listed for the Woman’s Prize last year. But just before Small Pleasures there was a failed novel that nearly caused Clare to give up on writing altogether. It took her five years to write and then no one wanted to buy it.
We talked about her feeling her career was over aged 50, working as an editor herself for the legendary publisher Diana Athill, how she switched from being a pantser to being a committed plotter and being given permission not to be funny.
Don’t forget that I list my guest’s books at my online shop https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/francescasteele. This helps fund the podcast so please do buy there! Also do rate or review the podcast on your app - it helps more people find out about Write-Off, and also I just really like seeing the reviews! You can also find me on Twitter at @francescasteele and Instagram at @Francesca_steele
The lovely Scott Elliott helped me produce this season. Please do consider him for all your pod needs. https://www.podcastconsultant.co.uk
This season is sponsored by the wonderful Jericho Writers https://jerichowriters.com. Listeners of the podcast can get an exclusive 15% discount on membership by going to www.jerichowriters.com/join-us and entering the code Write-Off.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
