Writer's Routine Dan Simpson

Shaun Bythell runs 'The Bookshop' in Wigtown, it's Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop, and is now incredibly popular. 
Back in 2017, Shaun published, 'The Diary of a Bookseller', a book filled with his daily experiences running the store. People fell in love with his wry musings, the life of a bookseller, and it became a Sunday Times bestseller. He's followed it up with 'Confessions of a Bookseller', and 'Remainders of the Day', in the 'Bookseller Series'.
We talk about why everyone finds the life of a bookseller appealing and whether that's really what it's like. You can hear how a diary becomes published, how an editor works on it, and whether having them published has changed how he writes a diary. 
This was recorded back in 2022, I have no clue why it's taken so long to be released. Sorry Shaun, and I hope you enjoy the episode!
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Jonny Sweet won the 'Best Newcomer' Prize at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, created a sketch group with 'The Inbetweeners' Simon Bird and Joe Thomas, and appeared in many TV Comedies, including 'Chickens' and 'Him and Her'. He wrote the movie 'Wicked Little Letters' starring Olivia Colman, which was released this year.
He has also just published one of the most acclaimed novels of the year. 'The Kellerby Code' tells the story of Edward, living in a world he can't afford and to which he doesn't belong. Getting by doing odd jobs for friends, he falls in love with one of them, and after a little act of kindness in the group takes a sinister turn, it unleashes the unspeakable brutality at Edward's core.
We talk about why he's been lying to people about the plot, and how the writing process changes depending on what he's working on. You can hear how much he thinks like a director when writing, and why he prefers not to hear himself think.
This novel has been highly recommended by some of the best authors around, and we discuss how he deals with such praise.
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Our special guest this week is Kate Storey. Under the name Lisa Timoney, she's published 3 books, 'Her Daughter's Secret', 'Her Mother's Lies' and 'His Secret Wife'... but a change of genre means a change of name.
Kate's back with book club fiction now, and has published, 'The Memory Library'. It's all about Sally Harrison, who has been building a library for 43 years. Every year she adds a new book to it, dedicated to her estranged daughter Ella who has fled to Australia... however, when disaster strikes, Ella must return home and fix their relationship. It's an ex-English teacher's dream novel, a book about books!
We discuss outlining, how much she knows what she's doing, without trying to limit the places her characters could take her. Also, we chat through how how she has learned as an author, and what she wants to change about the way she works.
You can hear why she finds pictures online to inspire her characters, what it's like to work with an editor, and how far the finished book is from her very first idea.
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After writing around 7 books and getting many rejections or near-misses, Alina Khawaja finally has a published novel. It's called 'Maya's Laws of Love', and tells the story of Maya on her way to Pakistan for an arranged marriage she hopes will end with love. Only, after a disastrous journey, she begins to wonder if Mr. Right might actually be someone else she meets along the way.
Alina is well read and decorated, with a degree in English, History and Creative Writing, and a Masters in Literatures of Modernity, and all the time whilst studying, she's been writing. She's been carrying on in the face of rejections, reading to get better, and cracking out stories. You can hear how she dealt with rejections and near-misses, and why she thinks this novel finally got her published. Also, at a time when self-publishing has never been easier or more successful, we talk about why Alina was desperate to follow the traditional route.
You can hear about her outlining process and whether that's likely to change, also why she tries to avoid tangents, and how she's trying to make her work stand out in busy bookshelves.
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Samuel Burr has worked as a TV executive, creating shows like 'The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds', 'Eight Go Rallying', and 'The Secret Life of Cleaners'. Many years ago he worked on a documentary in a retirement home, now it's given him the basis for his debut novel.
'The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers' looks at Clayton Sumper, an enigma who was abandoned at birth on the steps of the puzzlemakers, ending up being raised by some of the sharpest minds in the country. The hope is that he's learned from them, as to discover the secrets of who he is and who he can be, he needs to crack one last puzzle.
We talk about the details of writing such a tricksy book, matching chapter names to crossword answers, and how getting deep into those details impacted his ability to be creative. You can hear why he works towards a final sentence, also why he uses the pomodoro technique, and how he gets ideas by spying on strangers.
We discuss his time at the Faber Academy, how working in TV has influenced his storytelling in novels, and you can hear about the business of writing - what does an advance mean? What happens if you get a big deal? How do you get paid?
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Caz Frear was launched to debut success after winning the 'Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller' competition. Her novel, 'Sweet Little Lies', won the prize and found the bestselling status they searched for. What happens next? How do you follow up on debut success?
Caz discusses how she dealt with that writing her 2nd and 3rd novels, and why she's constantly looking to make her day better and improve how she works. We talk about the tech problems she attempts to deal with, how the process has changed after being a number of books down, and how she deals with the pressures of being an author that needs to do everything.
Her new novel is 'Five Bad Deeds', which tells the story of Ellen Walsh, a teacher, mother, wife, and all round good citizen, who discovers she has done something incredibly bad... but has no idea what.
You can hear about why she's changed her work-day to go easy on herself, how he stays creative while doing the admin, and how she's changed her mindset of working.
Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine
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