Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Simon Scarrow’s passion for writing began at an early age. After a childhood spent travelling the world, he pursued his great love of history as a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. His Roman soldier heroes Cato and Macro made their debut in 2000 in UNDER THE EAGLE, and have subsequently appeared in many bestsellers in the Eagles of the Empire series, including CENTURION, THE GLADIATOR and THE BLOOD OF ROME. His latest book, DEATH IN BERLIN, is out now, and his is on a tour of the UK for that right now.We had a great chat with Simon, discussing how he researches his novels, and talking about the differences between historical fiction and historical fantasy. Plus, he discusses why his latest book is sadly prescient in many ways, and we chat about why certain historical periods are viewed as more sellable than others.Links:Buy Simon's books nowFollow Simon on Instagram

We often hear that authors shouldn't write to market, shouldn't chase trends... but how true is that? Is it always a bad thing? And even if not writing to market, how important is it to keep an eye on the market as you write? We discuss it all in this episode of Drafting Notes.Drafting Notes is a new series of podcast episodes in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them! This series is a timed-exclusive for our Patreon backers - support us on Patreon for that and other great benefits!Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours nowFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads

Trevor Wood served 16 years as a Writer (not what you think it is) before branching out into journalism and then writing plays. From there, he moved into writing novels, with his debut, MAN ON THE STREET, winning the CWA New Blood award and the Crimefest Debut Crime Novel of the Year. His latest book, The Silent Killer, was published in July 2024 and is just out in paperback.We had a great chat with Trevor, learning what a Royal Navy Writer actually does, hearing about why he moved away from comedy plays to crime writing, and why he wants to explore serious societal issues with his stories. We also talk about planning vs pantsing and his iterative editing process.Links:Follow Trevor on FacebookBuy Trevor's books nowVisit Trevor's websiteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads

Watch the full episode now on our YouTube channelSelf-promotion for authors of all levels is increasingly important in today's busy publishing world - even with a traditional publishing deal, authors are encouraged to promote their own books. But what works, what doesn't - and how do you get over that "cringe" factor of promoting your own work? We discuss it all in this episode of Drafting Notes - a Patreon timed exclusive!Drafting Notes episodes are available at least three months early if you join our Patreon - check it out and get this and other great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ukpageone.bsky.socialFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ukpageone

Chris McQueer is a Scottish writer and spoken art performer. Writing in the Scottish vernacular, he is known for his dark comedy and surreal humour. He is best known for his two published collections of short stories Hings and HWFG. His debut novel, Hermit, is out now.We had a great chat with Chris, hearing about how he first decided to start writing his stories on Twitter, and why becoming a full-time writer wasn't all it is cracked up to be. We hear about why he has moved from short stories to novels, and why he wanted to write the story of a vulnerable young man in Hermit.Links:Buy Chris's books nowFollow Chris on InstagramSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads

Annabel Campbell writes fantasy with fierce female characters and disaster wizards, and believes everything is improved by dragons. She lives in a tiny village in Scotland, where most of her neighbours are sheep. She has a PhD in cardiovascular science, and when not making things up for a living, she works as a Medical Writer. Her debut novel, The Outcast Mage, is out now.We had great fun chatting with Annabel and hearing that The Outcast Mage grew from a story she wrote when she was 14! Plus, we hear how she made the scary decision to change agents before she had a publishing deal (and how it all worked out!) and talk about why special editions are such a big thing in fantasy publishing.(Annabel also asked us to note that Chris Simmons, who drew character art for her, worked on a graphic novel called Prehistoria!)Links:Buy The Outcast MageFollow Annabel on BlueskyVisit Annabel's websiteSupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads

Watch the full episode on YouTube now!What books influenced you as a reader and writer? We continue our countdown of the top ten books that influenced us as writers - from number 5 to number 1!(Before the comments fly in, we want to stress again: This is NOT a list of the ten best books we have read! We wanted to discuss books that have stayed with us for whatever reason and have influenced the stories we want to tell.)Let us know books that have influenced you in the comments below!Drafting Notes is a new series of podcast episodes in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them! This series is a timed-exclusive for our Patreon backers - support us on Patreon for that and other great benefits!Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours nowFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads

Watch this episode as a full video interview on our YouTube channel!Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times bestselling writer of Star Wars: Phasma, Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire, Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, The Secrets of Long Snoot, The Perfect Weapon, and Scorched; Disney Mirrorverse: Pure of Heart, It Will Only Hurt for a Moment, Guillotine, Midnight at the Houdini, Bloom, Mine, The Violence, the Blud series, Servants of the Storm, the HIT series, Wake of Vultures and the Shadow series (as Lila Bowen), and a variety of short stories in anthologies such as Death & Honey, Robots vs. Fairies, Hellboy: an Assortment of Horrors, Violent Ends, Carniepunk, Three Slices, and Last Night a Superhero Saved My Life.We had a great chat with Delilah, hearing about how she is so prolific, and what it is really like writing for IP projects like Star Wars (spoiler - Disney trips are a bonus!) We also walk about how structure helps her plan her stories, and she explains why letting go of the idea of writing a perfect book has helped her.Links:Buy Delilah's booksVisit Delilah's websiteFollow Delilah on BlueskyBuy Story Genius by Lisa Cron

What books influenced you as a reader and writer? That's what we're looking at on today's special episode of Drafting Notes as we break down numbers 10-6 on our own list of 10 books. *Before the comments fly in, we want to stress again: This is NOT a list of the ten best books we have read! We wanted to discuss books that have stayed with us for whatever reason and have influenced the stories we want to tell.*Let us know books that have influenced you in the comments below!Drafting Notes is a new series of podcast episodes in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them! This series is a timed-exclusive for our Patreon backers - support us on Patreon for that and other great benefits!Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours nowFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads