The Worm Hole Podcast

Charlie Place

Join me each second and fourth Monday of the month, when I'll be in conversation with an author about one (occasionally more) of their books. We'll be taking a fairly deep dive, looking at the background, the topics, writing, and the nitty gritty. Expect spoilers and frequent discussions of the endings. read less
ArtsArts
Episode 86: Gill Paul (A Beautiful Rival)
13-11-2023
Episode 86: Gill Paul (A Beautiful Rival)
Charlie and Gill Paul (A Beautiful Rival) discuss the working lives of and rivalry between businesswomen Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, and the antisemitism in the US during WW2. We also discuss our views of Wallis Simpson. We spoke about Gill's book The Second Marriage (Jackie And Maria in the US) in episode 42 The Powder And The Glory Lindy Woodhead's Warpaint Cosmetics And Skin Gill's Another Woman's Husband Wendy Holden's The Duchess Where to find Gill online Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram || TikTok Where to find Charlie online Website || Twitter || Instagram You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Discussions 01:03 Why these women? 02:20 Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein hated each other but they never met... 02:59 Elizabeth's and Helena's backgrounds 07:28 The work Arden and Rubinstein put in to become successful 10:30 How Gill wrote her versions of Elizabeth and Helena 11:29 Elizabeth Arden's snobbery 13:46 The antisemitism in the West despite those countries going to war, particularly that coming from Arden 17:49 Irene Delaney, Elizabeth's forgotten 40-year-long PA 20:34 Moving factual events round to suit the narrative 22:24 Elizabeth employed her rival's ex-husband! 24:14 Advertisements and selling the companies 28:03 Helena Rubinstein's first husband was the publisher of Lady Chatterley's Lover 29:40 Rubinstein created the idea of skin types 32:39 The Suffragettes apparently wore lipstick on their marches, and talking about Gill's next book 34:53 What other people might Gill write about in future 36:33 Discussing our views of Wallis Simpson
Episode 85: Tasneem Abdur-Rashid (Finding Mr Perfectly Fine)
23-10-2023
Episode 85: Tasneem Abdur-Rashid (Finding Mr Perfectly Fine)
Charlie and Tasneem Abdur-Rashid (Finding Mr Perfectly Fine) discuss writing a story that hadn't yet been told in novels and working with getting the balance and choices right when it came to writing for Bengali Muslims, Muslims from other cultures, and other readers. We also discuss the guys she cut from the first draft, why she decided to finish her rom-com on the somewhat controversial note she did, oh and if you're looking for a great Turkish restaurant in North London, we've got you covered. Please note that there is swearing and discussion of rape in this episode. Not Another Mum Pod ('Was My Husband Gay?' is episode 6) Tasneem's 'he's a 10 but...' TikTok video Capital Restaurant, Wood Green Hala, Green Lanes Gokyuzu Antepliler Tasneem's Instagram Where to find Tasneem online Twitter || Instagram || TikTok Where to find Charlie online Website || Twitter || Instagram You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Discussions 01:44 The inspiration for Finding Mr Perfectly Fine 04:33 About Zara, Adam, and Hamza 08:48 How Tasneem wrote and planned the book, and balancing the different audiences she was writing for 13:30 Wherein Tasneem's dad bought her a computer for writing on when she was 10 years old 17:17 Deleted sections of the book - Zara met a lot more people! 20:16 Writing from a specific Muslim perspective (British Bengali) and pushback; also the Sylheti dialect 24:12 On the part where Yasmin wears hijab to cover her beauty when chaperoning Zara on a meet up 27:04 Hamza and Zara's lack of thinking about how controlling he is whereas others can see it 31:47 The Tariq plotline and backstory 33:26 Adam and Zara's mismatched values and working them out, Hamza, and the decisions Tasneem made for the ending 42:02 What happens beyond the ending pages 43:17 The possibility of a book about Amina 44:03 Further info about Tasneem's next book 47:31 On North London Turkish restaurants 49:47 On Tasneem's podcast, Not Another Mum Pod
Episode 84: Amanda Geard (The Moon Gate)
09-10-2023
Episode 84: Amanda Geard (The Moon Gate)
Charlie Place and Amanda Geard (The Moon Gate) discuss Tasmania in WW2 and in general, Australia's famed poet Banjo Paterson and his fellow Bush Ballad writers, British Blackshirts and the Mitfords, and the Moorgate Tube Crash in London. On a lighter note, Amanda also tells us much about the writing of her book, including a lot of what she left out in order to reduce her book from the lengthy draft it was to the mere 500 hardback pages it is. Amanda was the guest in episode 63 in which we spoke about The Midnight House Waltzing Matilda The Man From Snowy River The Mitfords - Letters Between Six Sisters The Moorgate Tube Crash I spoke to Kate Thompson about the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster in episode 76 Penghana Where to find Amanda online Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram Where to find Charlie online Website || Twitter || Instagram You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Discussions 01:50 The inspiration - Banjo Paterson's Bush ballads and mining in Tasmania 03:17 Keeping up with all the characters and planning the timelines 08:43 How there is so much of Amanda in this book 10:51 Mining on the West Coast of Tasmania, and Amanda's dad 13:41 Banjo Paterson and Australian poetry 17:49 Tasmania in WW2, including Prime Minister Robert Menzies 26:01 Women Blackshirts in Britain (including Diana Mitford) and the awfulness of Edeline 30:47 The Moon Gate's lengthy first draft 33:12 Moon Gates and rebirth 35:45 The focus on grief 37:23 Including the Moorgate Tube Crash 40:44 Amanda's Balinn returns! 42:45 The epilogue and what was left out 44:45 Rose and what might have been 47:20 The House of the book, Towerhurst and Australia's Federation houses, and huon pine trees 52:46 What Amanda found when renovating an old Irish house 55:07 More on Amanda's current manuscript, a story looking at occupied Norway
Episode 76: Kate Thompson (The Little Wartime Library)
12-06-2023
Episode 76: Kate Thompson (The Little Wartime Library)
Charlie and Kate Thompson (The Little Wartime Library) discuss the wartime history and community of East London's Bethnal Green - the Tube station that housed locals during the Blitz, the library that moved down into the tunnels and is now back overground, and the people that made the community what it was. We also discuss wartime reading and the measures put in place to stop women reading escapist fiction. Please note that there is a moderate swear word in this episode. Bethnal Green Library The Stepney Doorstep Society Bethnal Green Tube Station and history Pellicci's restaurant You can find photos of the underground library, tunnels, Kate in the library archives, and the quotes read, in Kate's article for Historia Magazine Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial in Budapest The event that Kate references that also led to a crush disaster was The Hillsborough Disaster Forever Amber Secrets Of The Singer Girls The Paris Library The Last Bookshop in London The Librarian Of Burned Books Where to find Kate online Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Discussions 02:02 How Kate found her story 04:36 Mrs Chumbley 06:09 The framing, using the Covid lockdown each end of the story 12:57 Why Kate created fictional narrators 15:55 How the tunnels at Bethnal Green Tube Station came to be used as bomb shelters and what it was all like 21:58 The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster 29:24 The Hughes Mansions bombing 31:09 Discussing Bethnal Green Library 32:28 The attempts to stop women reading whatever they wanted 37:26 Wartime reading: Mein Kampf and Forever Amber 40:54 Kate's writing and language 43:06 What's next? 47:05 Bethnal Green Library today 48:44 Kate's forthcoming podcast Photo credit: Debbie Clark.
Episode 74: Kristina McMorris (Sold On A Monday; The Ways We Hide)
08-05-2023
Episode 74: Kristina McMorris (Sold On A Monday; The Ways We Hide)
Charlie and Kristina McMorris (Sold On A Monday; The Ways We Hide) discuss the harrowing photographs of children that inspired her last two novels, why she chose to focus - in the first book - on the news reporters rather than the children, and changing the fictional outcome of the stories. The photograph of the children for sale and an article with the basics Kristina's Facebook post about her and RaeAnn's appearance on NPR Interview with RaeAnn for North West Indiana Times Interview with David McDaniel Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train The first sentence on Sold On A Monday ended up being: 'Outside the guarded entrance, reporters circled like a pack of wolves.' (The photograph that inspired The Ways We Hide is a photograph of some of the children who died in the Italian Hall Disaster and shows them laid out after death.) "How Monopoly Helped The Allies Win WW2" article The videos of the various MI9 tools are listed on Kristina's website Where to find Kristina online Website Twitter Facebook Instagram You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Discussions 01:21 Tell us about the photograph Sold On A Monday was inspired by 06:09 Changing the outcome for the fictional children 07:40 The book's focus on the reporters rather than the children 11:11 How Kristina's experience in media informed her writing 13:41 About the original title 17:55 The reliability of the characters 19:10 Ellis and Lily 22:33 Theme of family and motherhood 23:45 The photograph that inspired The Ways We Hide 27:17Fenna! 28:25 The four books Kristina is currently working on 32:29 Kristina introduces the extra content on her website
Episode 70: E C Fremantle (The Honey And The Sting)
10-10-2022
Episode 70: E C Fremantle (The Honey And The Sting)
She's back! Charlie and E C Fremantle (The Honey And The Sting) discuss producing a book that is utterly devoid - and then some - of filler, Black people of the Stuart era, and the film of Fremantle's first novel, which will star Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episode's page on my blog: http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/podcast/episode-70-e-c-fremantle The Honey And The Sting George Villiers Frances Coke John Felton Eleanor Davies Miranda Kaufmann's Black Tudors Pearl diver Jacques Francis The Poison Bed Robert Carr The painting of Anne of Denmark Firebrand Artemisia Gentileschi You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Question Index 00:40 [Asking Liz about her writing choices in terms of the stripped-back style of her book] 05:43 [Reading] 13:08 Could you talk more about the creation of the sisters themselves? 16:31 Is this book moving towards the fantasy genre? 17:21 Can you talk about the bees, honey, this concept? 19:08 George Villiers - can you talk about how you included the story and why you made the choices you did? 23:45 Were James I and George Villiers lovers, in your opinion? 26:58 Can you talk about your decision to use Francis Bacon's work in your book? 28:16 Can you talk more about your research of Black people of the era and their inclusion in your book? 31:55 Your first novel has now been made into a film (called Firebrand; in post-production). What can you tell us about it at this point? 34:10 Can you tell us about your next book, Disobedient? Photograph used with the permission of the author. Credit: JP Masclet.
Episode 69: Cecelia Tichi (A Fatal Gilded High Note)
26-09-2022
Episode 69: Cecelia Tichi (A Fatal Gilded High Note)
Charlie and Cecelia Tichi (A Fatal Gilded High Note) discuss the Gilded Age in its success and its crimes, her rebellious 1890s character who defies class, and the history of French Bulldogs. Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episode's page on my blog: http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/podcast/episode-69-cecelia-tichi The 1897 World Expedition in Nashville Parton's, Harris', and Ronstadt's Trio Cecelia's book on country music and literature Virginia City "Boss" Tweed Jay Gould Upton Sinclair's The Jungle John Mackey Evelyn Walsh McLean (Cecelia's book on Gilded Age Cocktails) The Gilded Age Society on Facebook You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Question Index 00:58 Where do country music and literature meet for you? 07:58 [Reading] 12:09 Why the Gilded Age? 15:57 There was a lot of crime in that era?... 21:43 How did you come to create Val, the fictional aspects? 27:11 Tell us about Velvet the French Bulldog 30:50 Tell us about A Deadly Gilded Freefall 31:32 Will there be a fifth book in this series? 31:55 How is Val going to progress as a character going forward? Purchase Links A Fatal Gilded High Note: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Barnes & Noble IndieBound Indigo Chapters A Deadly Gilded Free Fall: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Barnes & Noble IndieBound Indigo Chapters I am an IndieBound affiliate and earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Photograph used with the permission of the marketing team.
Episode 68: Kate Glanville (The Peacock House)
12-09-2022
Episode 68: Kate Glanville (The Peacock House)
Charlie and Kate Glanville (The Peacock House) discuss her main character who is 90 years old, and villains who aren't so villainous after all. Kate also discusses the way her dyslexia has effected her reading, and some of her thoughts on education in this vein in the context of her younger character. Please note that there are spoilers throughout the episode. Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episode's page on my blog: http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/podcast/episode-68-kate-glanville Kate's ceramics Newton House St David's College Llandudno and Conway Bodysgallen You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com Question Index 00:33 How did you first know when you wanted to write? 03:17 [Reading] 07:41 Can you tell us where the story comes from and your inspiration? 16:17 In terms of Evelyn's romance were there any wartime inspirations? 17:52 Why didn't you include Evelyn and Jack's reunion in the book? 20:34 Kind of on this, is a more pleasant cast of characters what you prefer to go for? 23:18 Tell us about the future for Tilly, Bethan, and Tom 25:20 What's next? 27:53 Tell us more about your ceramics business 29:02 [Kate talks about audiobooks and how they've helped her read] Purchase Links The Peacock House: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Waterstones Hive Barnes & Noble Indigo Chapters I am an IndieBound affiliate and earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Photograph used with the permission of the author.