Behind The Spine inkjockey

“Faced with a more precarious claim on power, the film industry is depicting men in more stereotypically powerful ways. The big question is ‘what do we do about it’?”
The global feminist movement has the same budget as one F35 fighter plane. That alone shows you how much of a chasm there is between the funding for peace and the funding for war.
In this International Women’s Day special, we speak to Dean Peacock, director of the Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace programme for the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom. In this episode he explores the origins of WILPF, one of the oldest women’s peacebuilding organisations in the world. He discusses the concept of the “war economy”. And he explains the impact of gaming and entertainment on ideals of masculinity.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why a new type of war story should be told - the stories of the pacifists and war resisters.
Why we need to redefine our vision of masculinity.
How to better use violence in your writing.
Find out more about Dean here.
Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.
Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production, and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up to the newsletter here.
You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 
You can view the full transcript here.
Connect with the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthespinepodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheSpine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehindTheSpine
Website: www.behindthespine.co.uk

“How many weddings have you gone to where you don't really know very many other people at the wedding? And it's trying to make those connections of who is who. It was something I wanted to recreate for the reader.”
Between deciding the guest-list and actually getting everyone together under one roof, wedding days can be… chaotic, to say the least. Beneath the jubilance often lies a web of unresolved family dramas and conflict. The question is, will it bubble up to the surface?
Kate Sawyer’s new novel ‘This Family’ is set over a single summer’s day, at the wedding of Mary, whose fractured family has been brought together. The book regularly takes us back in time, revealing information about the cast of characters that have gathered for the big day.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why you shouldn’t place too many restrictions on yourself before you head into writing a novel.
Why the most interesting parts of a story are often what lie beneath what you can see.
Why you should surround yourself with fellow writers.
Find out more about Kate here.
Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.
Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production, and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up to the newsletter here.
You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 
You can view the full transcript here.
Connect with the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthespinepodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheSpine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehindTheSpine
Website: www.behindthespine.co.uk

“No one wakes up a horrible person. It's something that takes hold over time. It's about worldview, formative experiences, and what you were told growing up as a kid. And I try very hard to think about that stuff because… you can feel it.” - Tom Hindle
In the idyllic setting of Italy’s largest lake, Lake Garda, the illustrious Heywood family gather for a wedding when horror strikes. Someone has been murdered… but who is the killer? And will they strike again?
Tom Hindle is making quite the name for himself in the whodunit genre, with the releases of  A Fatal Crossing, The Murder Game and now Murder on Lake Garda. Meshing the pacey excitement of a detective novel with the gritty realism of well fleshed out characters, his books have a hint of thriller, and his latest is no different. 
Tune in as Tom tells us about the rotten Heywood family and their unsavoury past, how he came to set a murder mystery in such a place of serene beauty, and why the beat “People lie, facts don’t” runs so consistently throughout his novel.
In this episode you will learn:
Why you should think of your scenes as elastic bands if tension is your goal
How to avoid creating 2-dimensional characters.
That everyone is the hero of their own story, and believes what they’re doing is right.
Find out more about Tom here.
Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.
Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production, and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up to the newsletter here.
You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 
You can view the full transcript here.
Connect with the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthespinepodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheSpine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehindTheSpine
Website: www.behindthespine.co.uk

“What a great idea if, through this grieving process both of them could heal - could come to understand the other through the vehicle of poetry” - Diana Janney
Poetry and philosophy bring together two fractured souls, 12 year old Rufus Ellerton whose parents have died, and his grandfather Horatio who’s now tasked with raising him.
Diana Janney’s latest novel is a beautiful, musical piece of writing, which weaves poetry and philosophical musings into the prose. A Man of Understanding follows the story of Rufus (Blue) as he moves to a finca in Majorca with his grandfather.
Hear as Diana explores her motivations for writing a novel like this, in this way. How her musical background inspires her writing style - even if she doesn’t realise it. And what kind of writer Diana is, gardener or architect.
In this episode you will learn:
How to weave poetry and philosophy into a novel
Why you should hold onto those characters you abandoned in the past.
The benefits of bringing all parts of yourself to your writing.
Find out more about Diana here.
Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.
Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production, and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up to the newsletter here.
You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 
You can view the full transcript here.
Connect with the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthespinepodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheSpine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehindTheSpine
Website: www.behindthespine.co.uk

“They’re kind of flags mounted in occupied territory. That's the idea of a tattoo on the female form. Because the female form is a political space. It's a space of contention and conflict.” - Joelle Taylor
A tattoo can tell the most profound story. Many have deep meanings to the people who wear them, and all of them serve as time capsules, allowing a person to revisit a moment in time again and again.
Accomplished poet and playwright Joelle Taylor’s debut novel The Night Alphabet introduces us to the heavily tattooed Jones, who regales us with the stories behind the ink that adorns her body. Flitting between past and future, the book takes us on a journey through time, tackling hard subjects like violence against women and generational trauma.
Hear how Joelle navigated the move from poetry to prose, why she chose to tell such important stories through the art form of tattoos and hear the inspirational story of the impact her work has had on marginalised female communities.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why you should write stories about the issues you feel enraged by. 
How to get creative when choosing how to tell your story.
And how different stories demand different forms.
Find out more about Joelle here.
Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.
Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up for the newsletter here.
You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 
You can view the full transcript here.
Connect with the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthespinepodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheSpine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehindTheSpine
Website: www.behindthespine.co.uk

“She felt she had a duty to protect all these people. And the Villa very much became, for Iris, a refuge for everybody” - Fiona Valpy
In the past, a wartime heroine shelters people from the ravages of war. In the modern era, the villa once used for refuge is up for demolition, and its extraordinary past may be the only thing that can save it.
The Cypress Maze is the latest novel from prolific writer Fiona Valpy. As a dual-timeline novel, we spend time in both 1943 and 2015, at the Villa delle Colombe. Moving from an Italy in the midst of World War II and in the throes of civil war, to a more peaceful point in Italy’s history, but one that is turbulent for the villa’s characters Beatrice and Tess.
Hear how each timeline was inspired by two incredible, real-life stories of determination and bravery. Delve into issues of grief and suffering, in a novel that illuminates how we all experience these emotions differently. And learn how to do dual-timeline narratives the right way.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why you must find an anchor for your story when writing dual-timeline fiction.
The importance of empathy as a writer.
Why your writing should include both the shadow and the light.
Find out more about Fiona here.
Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.
Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up for the newsletter here.
You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 
You can view the full transcript here.
Connect with the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthespinepodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehindTheSpine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehindTheSpine
Website: www.behindthespine.co.uk