If comedy writing is your thing, we've got a real treat for you. This week we talk to the super talented and rather prolific Robert Popper. From how he broke into the industry via Steve Coogan and The Comic Strip to his smash hit sitcom Friday Night Dinner. We also chat about Robin Cooper, The Timewaster Letters, South Park, Look Around You, and plenty more besides.Robert’s Wikipedia Plus, in our regular 'Dare To Share' feature (where we have a look at what our listeners have been writing, read it out, then discuss it) we look at an excerpt from J. Aaron Courts' 'Hot Box'.See more from Aaron here:https://www.instagram.com/aaron.courts/ https://aaroncourts.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The great Carl Reiner once said “Improvisation is just writing in front of an audience”. So we figured if we could brush up on our improv skills it's bound to make us better writers... right?This week improv extraordinaire, and official Comedy Store Player, Ruth Bratt talks to us about her life, her craft and the eating habits of her cat... before putting us to the test with our own improvised play. What could possibly go wrong?Go and see Ruth with the legendary Comedy Store Players here:https://comedystoreplayers.comGet your ticket for Showstopper! The Improvised Musical here:https://showstopperthemusical.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unfortunately we're not able to include show notes this week, for legal reasons.Thanks for listening.www.floraopil.comFind out more about Flora here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writing can be a solitary business. All those hours spent with nothing but a blank page and a bottomless coffee cup.On reflection we reckon it's probably good to interact with other human beings occasionally.It can stop you going full fruit-loops. (You know...dressing as your main character and wandering around the house talking to yourself.)It can help you find friendly Alpha / Beta readers.It can boost the learnies.It can even help you become more productive... apparently.So this week, we thought we'd have a look at the benefits of reaching out to other writers. Be it through communities like Writers' HQ, classes, retreats or social media.And in the process we stumble across a writer who is living proof of just how beneficial reaching out to others can be...and then some!Check out Writers' HQ here:https://writershq.co.ukBuy Sam's excellent book here:https://geni.us/PuzzlemakersAnd thanks to Jennifer Last for sharing her excellent Not Dead Girl extract! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Tom & Jon on another rambly exploration.This time we're off back to the 1840s to take a good, hard look at the Brontë sisters. Who were Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë? What were they like? How is it possible that three sisters all wrote so brilliantly? Why are they still so revered by readers across the world? and what was the deal with Branwell?Pack a rain coat, a poetry book and a flask of tea and come with us o'er the moors, as we chat to experts: biographer - Lucasta Miller, English Lit Professor - Gregory Dart, and the lovely folk at the Brontë Museum in Haworth, to learn more about these fascinating and extraordinary writers.Lucasta's Website:https://www.lucastamiller.com/theauthorBuy The Brontë Myth:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/355538/the-bronte-myth-by-lucasta-miller/9780099287148Visit The Brontë Parsonage Museum:https://www.bronte.org.ukAnd thank you to Professor Gregory Dart - a total legend.See him give Philomena Cunk a run for her money here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beP0rZIITmI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As an aspiring young writer it's easy to be put off by even the most well intentioned constructive criticism...what's not so easy is to revisit that critique many years later and be inspired to write a novel that has publishers literally fighting each other for the chance to print it.Join us for a fascinating interview as Jessica Bull, author of the much anticipated "Miss Austen Investigates" describes the downs and very significant ups of her writing journey.Buy Miss Austen Investigates here: https://shor.by/MissAusten Jessica’s soash:Twitter: @NovelistJessica (https://twitter.com/NovelistJessica)Instagram: @jessicabullnovelist (https://www.instagram.com/jessicabullnovelist/)author pic by Cassie Baruc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aaaaaand we're back!The Failing Writers return for what some are calling the fourth season of this spectacular podcast. We look forward to a whole new smorgasbord of writing tips, challenges, goals and cock-ups plus a raft of interviews with some of the biggest names in the writing world. Starting with a real corker courtesy of writer, presenter and thoroughly lovely fella Danny Wallace.So hold tight and keep your legs and elbows tucked in at all times... it's gonna be a hell of a ride!Danny stuff:https://dannywallace.comPreorder Danny's new book here:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/393456/somebody-told-me-by-wallace-danny/9781529931181Phil Oddy's Echoes:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Echoes-Entanglement-Book-Phil-Oddy/dp/B0CSRZVPQZDanny's photo:  www.selashiloniphoto.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy New Year Folks!  We continue our seasonal ghost stories with a handful of listener-written tales. So gather around the hearth with us again as we bring you a selection of eerie yarns, to make your timbers shiver.Massive thanks to our fantastic contributors:AB Finlayson:  https://abfinlayson.com    Threads: a.b.finlayson Craig Margolis:  X: @damnblankpageSteve Salisbury: X: @SalisburyWriter   Threads: salisbury.writerChristian FieldhouseSteven Stilbech:  X: @stilbechSimon Curtis:  X: @simonmcurtisGeoffrey G. N. Harrison:  https://www.deaf-duck.uk  Threads: gharrisonauthor(In this weeks episode, we also completely forgot to mention that Simon Curtis sent us a brilliant M.R. James Christmas picture quiz!  Check the blog to see how many M.R. James stories you can recognise from his natty little sketch!) A history of ventriloquist dummies coming to life:It appears Gerald Kersh was one of the first to publish such a story in 1939 called “The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy," this was adapted by screenwriter John Baines for the Dead of Night movie.Dead of Night Moviehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_of_NightMagichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_(1978_film)Goosebumpshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goosebumps_(film) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please accept this as a most cordial invitation to accompany Jon, Tom and as yet unnamed guests for an evening of traditional ghost story telling. We have chosen the most atmospheric venue we could acquire at short notice and now request your company, to consummate this joyously Victorian Christmas night of heebiejeebies. Please bring only yourself. We shall provide the spirits.Talking Scared:https://talkingscaredpod.com/about/Michelle Paver:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-scared/id1530064310?i=1000638347893The King:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-scared/id1530064310?i=1000623833730Dark Matter:https://michellepaver.com/dark-matter/‘Cherry Ripe’ Paintinghttps://fineartamerica.com/featured/cherry-ripe-detail-john-everett-millais.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alec Worley is an award-lacking (his own words!) author from South London. He writes comics, fiction and audio drama about swords, fangs and lasers. He’s best known for his work on 2000 AD (home of Judge Dredd), Star Wars, and for legendary horror director John Carpenter.He's one of those really annoyingly talented people, with an eye for story and an ear for dialogue.You know the ones.He's also a dead nice bloke.You can read his newsletter, ‘Agent of Weird: Exploring the Write Fantastic’ (alecworley.substack.com)Or find out more on his website alecworley.comLinktree: https://linktr.ee/AlecWorleyDredge Runners audio drama:https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/178999229X?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Out of the blue, someone sent us a game. A game all about words and etymology and language - the very stuff we LOVE. So, we decided that we'd get together and play the game to see if it's any good, and have a chat with the bloke who created it. That game is The League of the Lexicon. That bloke is Joshua Blackburn and this is the podcast where all of the above takes place. To try your hand at a few questions and maybe even win a copy of the game - click here!Here's where you can find out more about the game, and maybe even order one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We couldn't let the amazing stories that made it to the final short-list go un-read and un-heard... so here they are. Plus there's a nice little chat with the overall winner of our £500 prize, Manu St Thomas. Enjoy!!Still not had your fix?Geddaload o' these beauties...."God of Ramen" (shortlisted for a Flash Fiction Magazine competition in 2022) - https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2022/11/10/god-of-ramen/ "I Have an Invisible Cat" (nr. 7, winner of the Globe Soup July 2022 micro-fiction challenge) - https://www.globesoup.net/cats "The Man Who Married the Sea" (nr. 10, winner of the Globe Soup May 2022 micro-fiction challenge) - https://www.globesoup.net/blue "Dinner" - https://101words.org/dinner/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NaNoWrimOhNo! It's that time of year again when words-per-day becomes the currency.  So we thought we'd bring you even more words... Words of novel-writing wisdom!  No, no... not from us... obviously.  From novelist and longtime book editor Howard Mittelmark.  Co-writer of How NOT to Write A Novel.  A fantastic book full of the pitfalls most writers fall into when they're setting off along the long and arduous road to Novelton, Nebraska.So join us for some entertaining and enlightening chitchat, and learn things about yourself you've long suspected, but have been deliberately ignoring for years.We can't guarantee any of this will help with your word count, but we all need to take breaks, right?How Not To Write A Novel:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/56677/how-not-to-write-a-novel-by-sandra-newman-howard-mittelmark/9780141038544Howard's novel -  'Written Out':https://www.amazon.co.uk/Written-Out-Howard-Mittelmark/dp/157962572XHire Howard...https://howardmittelmark.com/editorial/National Novel Writing Month:https://nanowrimo.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the help of two expert spookologists: Stephen Volk - horror writer & mastermind behind the BBCs infamous 'GHOSTWATCH', and Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe - famed ghostbuster & parapsychologist, we're attempting to figure out what gives us the heebie jeebies, so that we can all go away and write the world's GREATEST EVER GHOST STORY.That invitation extends to you too, listeners!  We want your submissions for our Traditional Ghost Story Christmas Special later in the year.So get writing - and hopefully we can all sit down round the fire and share a little anthology of all our spooky stories in December.Here's the link to buy Stephen's brilliant new ghost story book:http://tartaruspress.com/volk-the-good-unknown.htmlCoffinmaker's Blues, Stephen's excellent book of horror essays:https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/coffinmakers-blues-ebook-by-stephen-volk-5605-p.aspand Stephen's website:https://www.stephenvolk.net/the-good-unknown.htmlAlso, Afterlife: Lost Loved Ones is out on audiobook (Bafflegab) on Halloween!Don’t forget you can also follow what Ciaran's up to on Twitter / Xhttps://twitter.com/ciaranokeeffe?lang=enand don't miss him on Danny Robbins new TV series Uncanny:https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001rckl/uncanny-series-1-1-case-1-miss-howard  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well... there's a lot of talk about whether it's right or wrong to use AI to write your book for you. But that's not what this episode is about really. I mean, we touch on that and discuss it. You can't just ignore the moral questions, can you? But we mostly have a natter with Andy Stanton. An author of some repute.He's written a new book, using ChatGPT, but perhaps not quite as you would imagine. Benny The Blue Whale is a journey through the workings of the mind of a genius writer, and through the "mind" of ChatGPT.https://oneworld-publications.com/work/benny-the-blue-whale/Episode cover image created using https://hotpot.ai/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AND THE WINNER IS......... announced in the podcast. Plus the runners up and some highly commended entries, and as many of the superb entries that we can mention. It's been a brilliant comp this year - with some amazing stories submitted. Listen to see if you've won, and to hear the winning entries in all their glory!Huge thanks to our judge, Kathy Hoyle - and to our brilliant sponsors Scrivener!https://kathyhoyle.com/https://www.literatureandlatte.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 14th is BOOKSHOP DAY!  So here's a little episode... well... it started out as a little episode... to celebrate the humble bookshop. Jon visits his local store to find out more about the art of selling paper and ink. In the process discovering the formula for writing the quintessential indie bookshop bestseller.  The boys share the names of the bookshops they would open and.. well gosh... they just... have so many incisive and fascinating things to say about books and writing and candles and shelving... so... you definitely won't want to miss any of it.  And then... as if you're not already stuffed to the very brim with amazing podcast content... off we go... on a whistle stop tour of THE GREATEST BOOKSHOPS ON THE PLANET.We're too good to you.  We really are.Jon's local:https://www.grovebookshop.comGoldfinch Books in Alton:https://www.goldfinch-books.comBookshop.org:https://uk.bookshop.orgEl Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ateneo_Grand_SplendidShakespeare and Company in Paris:https://www.shakespeareandcompany.comLivraria Lello in Porto:https://www.livrarialello.pt/en/homeBarter Books in Alnwick:https://www.barterbooks.co.ukAlso... don't forget you can get 20% off Scrivener if you're quick!'urry up and go to https://www.literatureandlatte.com, Hit '+Add Discount' on the pay page - and use the code FAILINGThe lovely pastel picture of Grove Bookshop used for the episode art is by Jon's dad, Clive Rand.  Who sells all his work to raise money for The Royal National Lifeboat Institution.https://www.cliverand.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're out and about tracking down poetry for National Poetry Day 2023. We take to the Yorkshire hills in search of the Stanza Stones. Join us on our adventure and help us celebrate some of the work of our current Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage.http://www.stanzastones.co.uk/https://www.simonarmitage.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine being a writer and not actually writing!Oh wait.  That's us.Imagine being a writer and NOT BEING ABLE TO WRITE!That was Oli.  He had a 10 month long migraine that almost literally killed him.Listen to his fascinating story and hear how he tried to made sense of it all through his autofiction book: Train Lord.  We talk about writing the truth, finding roots, failed orgies and about just how bloody hard writing can be.You can buy Oli's fantastic book Train Lord direct from:Penguin UK:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/444219/train-lord-by-mol-oliver/9780241525081Penguin Australia:https://www.penguin.com.au/books/train-lord-9780241525074As well as all the usual places.Plus we remind you, as if you needed reminding, about our £500 flash fiction contest in association with the wonderful Scrivener app.For 20% off Scrivener in September... 'urry up and go to https://www.literatureandlatte.com, Hit '+Add Discount' on the pay page - and use the code FAILINGYou're absolutely bloody welcome. x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello again. This time out we're having a nice sit down with author Emma Healey. Her debut novel, Elizabeth is Missing, (which has been described as "bloody brilliant, honestly, you should read it Tom, it's funny and sad and intriguing. Proper mint it is.") has sold over a million copies and won the Costa First Novel Award. Plus it ended up being made into a film by the BBC, starring the late Glenda Jackson, who it turns out performed her own stunts.(That will make sense when you listen)Find out more about Emma here...https://www.emmahealey.co.uk/Here's where you can support Alzheimer's Society...https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/navigation/make-donationand don't even think about forgetting to remember the Failing Writers Podcast £500, 500 word Flash Fiction Competition in association with Scrivener*. (*An amazing writing app that facilitates the makey-upping of books a whole tonne-load. Which suggests you should really go to https://www.literatureandlatte.com, Hit '+Add Discount' on the pay page - use the code FAILING and get 20% off the indispensable Scrivener app!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.