Stacey Heale is a fashion academic and writer whose husband Greg was diagnosed with terminal cancer when their youngest daughter was just a baby. Greg died 5 years later. In her memoir Now Is Not The Time For Flowers, Stacey writes about the big conversations that arise from imminent death. In this epsiode Stacey and I talk about writing about the dead, abandoning the typical memoir structure and the very funny side of a very dark experience. Now Is Not The Time For Flowers is out March...

Jesse Sutanto is the best selling author of Dial A for Aunties and Vera Wang's Unsolicited Advise for Murders and the winner of the Comic Writer in Print Award 2021. Jesse and I chat about her latest book in her very funny Aunties crime series The Good, The Bad and The Auntie, about her journey from Oxford MFA in Creative Writing, to leaning into her irreverent funny side and the success it led to. We also talk about writing drafts in 5 weeks (yes 5 weeks!!), the joy of sharing her...

Charlotte Wood is an award winning Australian author of 10 books including the 2016 Stella Prize winner The Natural Way of Things and the 2020 international bestseller The Weekend. Her latest novel Stone Yard Devotional is about a woman who abandons her life, her marriage, her career and retreats to a religious community in a remote area of Australia, where she grew up. Charlotte and I talk about the themes that come up in her work, how her craft has changed over the course of her career, why...

Tamu Thomas is a transformational coach whose debut book Women Who Work Too Much helps over-achieving, over-functioning women set boundaries, find joy and flourish. In this conversation we talk about natural (rather than toxic) productivity, radical rest and why work (not over work) can be a positive thing. This is such an important conversation for those of us who are writers and have blurred boundaries between work, rest and play. Links Women Who Work Too Much - Tamu Thomas Tamu on...

Author Bijal Shah is a trained Bibliotherapist who brings the power of reading into the therapy room. It's a technique that dates back to Ancient Greece and Bijal shares some of the tools and techniques she uses in todays episode. Certain that reading is a big part of your mental wellbeing? You will love this episode which does a deep dive into why books matter and how we can get the most out of our reading experience. Links Bibliotherapy: The healing power of reading by Bijal Shah Bijal...

Amy Arthur is an award winning writer and science journalist whose new book Pace Yourself is a practical guide to pacing - a tool developed to the manage symptoms of chronic illnesses like ME/CFS which Amy was diagnosed with as a teenager. This is such an important (and practical) conversation, not just for those who are managing chronic illnesses but for any writer juggling writing alongside many other responsibilities, who constantly feel like they never have quite enough...

Jessica Bull's debut novel Miss Austen Investigates sets Jane Austen up as an amateur sleuth, when a dead woman is discovered at a ball and her beloved brother is arrested and facing the noose. I had so much fun talking to Jessica about the challenges of blending fact and fiction, her passion of Jane Austen (and the books and films that have been inspired by her) and the pleasures of researching late Georgian England. Miss Austen Investigates is a delight and is out now Links Miss Austen...

Katherine May is the Sunday Times and New York Times best selling author of Enchantment. Today we talk about the challenges of writing a follow up to her phenomenal bestseller Wintering, the importance of writers being open about the constraints they face, especially successful authors and advocating for accessibility while promoting your work. We also do a deep dive into Substack and why Katherine loves it so much and the importance of writers getting paid for their work. links Enchantment -...

Marisa Bate is a freelance journalist, women's rights advocate and author of Wild Hope. Part memoir, part reportage and part social history, Wild Hope tells the story of expanding and contracting women's rights in America through two bus journey's across the mid west - one by Marisa's mother in the 70s and the other, by Marisa in 2021. In this episode Marisa talks about finding hope in dark times, keeping faith in action and writing your own story when it so intertwined with the stories of...

Laura Bates is a Sunday Times Bestselling author, an activist and speaker. Laura founded the Everyday Sexism Project in 2012 and has gone on to write multiple best selling non-fiction books about gender equality. She has spoken in the United Nations, the Houses of Parliament, is regularly called on to provide evidence for parliamentary reports and has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her work on gender equality. Laura also writes Young Adult fiction and today we are discussing her...

Award winning writer Huma Qureshi returns to the podcast to discuss her debut novel Playing Games, a story about two sisters, their very different ways of processing grief and the question over whether it's ok for a writer to take from real life. We talk about the challenges of moving from short to long form fiction, the pluses (and minuses) of having a two book deal and the pleasures of writing about a writer. Huma is also a brilliant creative writing teacher and we discuss her style as a...

What's it like to publish a book as an expert in your field? Karen Haller is a behavioural colour and design psychology expert and is the author of The Little Book of Colour. Karen and I talk about some of the highs and lows of traditional publishing, some of the particular challenges she faced, as well as the many opportunities it opened up for her when her book became a huge success and was published in 14 languages. We also dive into what colour psychology is and how the book fits into...

Kate Sawyer is novelist and podcaster with a background in theatre producing and acting. Her first novel The Stranding was shortlisted for the Costa first novel award in 2021 and today we are talking about her second novel This Family. We talk about how her career in theatre has fed into her work as a novelist, genre expectations and how being a solo mother by choice made her rethink how she was going to earn a living and flex her creative muscles. Kate is the host of the wonderful podcast...

Marchelle Farrell's debut memoir Uprooting is about a year of tremendous upheaval and Marchelle's attempt to find home in a garden. In this conversation, we talk about vulnerability in the garden and on the page, identity in medicine and as a writer and how Marchelle's garden gave her a new perspective on colonialism. Uprooting is out now. Links Uprooting - Marchelle Farrell Marchelle on Instagram @afroliage Marchelle on Substack - Afroliage Penny on Instagram @pennywincer Penny's Newsletter

Summer REPLAY series Beth Kempton is a Japanologist, a best selling author and a writing mentor whose books have been translated into 24 languages. Her Latest book The Way of the Fearless Writer challenges the assumption that writing must be a struggle and filled with suffering. We talk about why it's important to know why we write, learning to let go in our writing, when to share our work (and when not to) and learning to trust in writing as a practice. Links The Way of the Fearless Writer...

You can sign up to the waitlist for Penny's next Non-Fiction Book Proposal Group at pennywincerwrites.com Summer REPLAY series Evie Wyld is an award winning author of three novels, the latest of which, The Bass Rock, won the Stella Prize 2021. We discuss writing a novel about male violence against a backdrop of #MeToo, and speaking about the subjects in the book in a year of highly publicised violence against women. We also talk about how motherhood, and the nature of writing with young...

To sign up to the waitlist for Penny's next Non-Fiction Book Proposal Group Program visit pennywincerwrites.com Summer REPLAY series Abigail Bergstrom is a literary agent and consultant, former editor, and now debut novelist. What A Shame is a darkly funny novel about grief, friendship and dabbling in the occult. Abigail talks about the challenges of having a lot of knowledge of the industry whilst writing and having to take her agent hat off in order to write, removing the constraints that...

Summer Replay Series Chloe Ashby is an arts journalist and author based in London. Her debut novel Wet Paint is about a young woman struggling to move forward after the traumatic death of her best friend, who finds solace in a painting and a life of routine, until a sudden change of circumstances has her undressing for strangers as a life model. We talk about ways of finding your way in to a story as a writer, writing about visual art and exploring ideas of control in characters. We also talk...

It's Carers Week in the UK so I have recorded a bonus episode of teh podcast with two fellow writer carers. Marina Benjamin is the author of many books, the latest of which is A little Give: the unsung, unseen, undone work of women. She also cares for her elderly mother. Caro Giles is the author of Twelve Moons; A year under a share sky and is a single parent to four daughters, two of whom have complex needs. This is a slightly different format to usual, with the three of us discussing our...

Daisy Buchanan is an award winning journalist, author and broadcaster who has had a varied writing career beginning in teen magazines, and now as a novelist. She's also the host of the chart topping podcast You're Booked - one of my favourite podcasts of all time. We talk about Daisy's move from journalist and non-fiction author to fiction, and how terrifying that was, the joys and challenges of writing about sex and the importance of reading for pleasure when you're a writer. Daisy is also...

Are you tearing your hair out about social media? Do you want to use it to grow your profile as a writer or shout about your book but it makes you uncomfortable? Nicola Washington is a social media marketer and she is passionate about helping writers get their work out into the world. As she says in this episode, after the immense hard work of writing a book, what a huge waste if nobody hears about it! This is a hugely practical episode looking at strategy, building genuine relationships and...

Suzy Reading is a chartered psychologist, yoga teacher and coach whose work all centres around giving people the skills to nourish themselves. Her latest book is Rest to Reset: The busy persons guide to pausing with purpose. As well as talking about Suzy's journey from expert to author of 8 books, we talk about what rest actually looks like, the problem with the current conversations around burnout and moving towards the idea of rest as rebalancing, and that is going to look different for...

Joanna Wolfarth is a cultural historian with a PhD in Southeast Asian art history. Her first book Milk: An intimate history of breastfeeding is a fascinating look at the social, historical and cultural contexts for this very personal of experiences, through art, philosophy, folk wisdom and interviews. Joanna talks about how needing to make sense of the experience of new motherhood, led to a furious dive into the research between feeds and in tiny snatches of time when her baby slept, how...

Lucy Werner is a PR expert and founder of The Wern, an agency specialising in PR and branding for creative small businesses. Lucy is not only an expert at book PR but also a published author herself and in this episode Lucy shares what she has learned about book PR and marketing from both sides. From building your authority and your brand before you publish, to promoting a book that already exists in the world, Lucy is a goldmine of information on how best to spread the word and get people...