“When you write a story about aliens, you are actually writing about people who are not like you.” Author Tade Thompson joined me on the podcast this month to talk about comic books, cons, and unconscious bias. Tade is the author of the novella The Murders of Molly Southbourne, and the novels Making Wolf and Rosewater.  In the episode we talk about the amount of sympathy a reader has, and whether you can truly know people. At the end of the episode, Tade reads a brand new short story set in the Rosewater universe, inspired by a prompt.

“If I’m scared, and if I’m excited then that’s what propels me forward.” Late last year I met up with Irenosen Okojie, author of Speak Gigantular and Butterfly Fish (Jacaranda Books), at the Arcola Theatre. We talked about the research she did for her debut novel, the strangeness of London, and the wealth of prizes her books have been nominated for. She also talked about her work with City of Stories at Forest Hill Library. Finally, she read Point and Trill, a short story about nighttime paintball, inspired by Daniel Ross’ prompt from last month.

“Les Dennis’ winnebago is over there, but mine’s bigger.” Happy new year! This month I’m joined by author Daniel Ross, who’s book Bobby Denise is Reigning Rampant is currently crowdfunding over on Unbound. In the episode, he talks about his choice to publish his book with the publisher, the difficulties of crowdfunding, and an article about Noel Edmunds which inspired the novel. Finally, he reads a brand new short story inspired by Claire Askew’s prompt. You can help crowdfund Bobby Denise is Reigning Rampant over on the Unbound website. You can also buy Helen McClory’s The Goldblum Variations over on 404 Ink’s website.

“It’s the darkest, most miserable book ever.” Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2017 was a bit miserable but hopefully this podcast has been a shining light in your life. To round off the year I talked to Claire Askew, author of All the Hidden Truths from Hodder Books, and This Changes Things from Bloodaxe. She talks the difference between writing novels and poetry, as well as her work with Scottish Book Trust and Write Like a Grrrl. We also chat about her work with the Craigmiller Library and how board games can encourage reading. Finally, she reads a brand new poem based on a prompt from last month’s guest.

“I had one person who said, ‘you look too angelic to have written this’.” This month on the podcast, novelist Sophie Hopesmith sat down to talk to me about death cafes, body horror, and the questions that only women get asked. Her novel, Another Justified Sinner is available from episode sponsors Dead Ink Books. Sophie also reads a brand new short story based on a prompt from last month's guest Verity Holloway. It’s the eve of the recession, but who cares? For commodity trader Marcus, life is good. So what if he’s a fantasist? So what if he wills his college sweetheart to death? So what if it’s all falling apart? This isn’t a crisis. Until it is. As misfortune strikes Marcus again and again, he finally has to change. But can this English psychopath ever change? Maybe he needs to find himself? Maybe he needs to travel? Maybe he needs to help others? Maybe he needs to change his medication? Another Justified Sinner is a literary black comedy about the fall and rise and fall of Marcus, a slippery sinner. How difficult is it to change? If you're listening to the episode before December 7th you should head on over to Kickstarter and get yourselves a subscription to Dead Ink's Eden Book Society. London shaped people - podcast partners Storgy are launching their first anthology of short fiction on December 12th at Vout-O-Reenee's. Let them know you're coming!

“It’s been a part of my life for so long I actually still wake up in the middle of the night and think ‘Oh god I need to finish it’.” Happy Halloween everyone! It's a special horror themed edition of the podcast this month as I talk to novelist and non-fiction writer Verity Holloway. Verity is the author of the novel Pseudotooth and the book The Mighty Healer. In the episode we talk about how ships get their names, the cliches of portal fantasy, and how witches can't reverse. Verity also reads a story based on a prompt set by Rocketship Forest, which is guaranteed to terrify you. Thanks to our partners Storgy, and thanks to episode sponsors Dead Ink. Dead Ink will be launching The Eden Book Society on Halloween so keep an eye out for that.

Thom Hammersley, Rick Hartley and Ian Collins are Rocketship Forest, and describe themselves as a combination of punk, folk, metal, mariachi and electronica.   The band is singer Thom's second longest relationship and I talked to them all about their previous bands, their DIY approach to recording and releasing their music, and their move into putting on their own nights under The Headache Factory banner.   Finally, they perform a brand new song named after Helen McClory's prompt from episode one (if you haven't listened to it, do yourself a favour and stick it in your ears now.

Hey, we're back! The Paperchain Podcast returns for another ten episodes of talk with writers and artists, and brand new short stories, poems and songs. In this episode I talked with Gillian Best and Helen McClory about setting and identity in their novels, and their shared experiences of DIY promotion for their debut novels. Gillian is the author of The Last Wave, and Helen wrote the novel Flesh of the Peach. Both are published by Scottish publisher Freight Books. During the course of the interview Helen discusses how much easier it was to organise a tour of seven US cities than a single book launch in London, Gillian redesigns the British Citizenship Test, and both writers read brand new stories based on the prompts Cake Flamenco, and Jeff Goldblum. Stick around at the end of the episode for some bonus content from the interview.

"There's a lot of authors out there and if you pay them right you will get all of them." It's the final episode of the first series of The Paperchain Podcast and we've got Escape Artist's very own Alasdair Stuart on the show. He talks about his origins as a film critic in Yorkshire, through to running "the best kept secret in podcasting." We talk about the process of reading through submissions, and how running a network of podcasts has changed the way he writes. Alasdair also talks about how he has come to learn about the construction of stories through writing Dr Who RPG sourcebooks, and we definitively declare the sixth Doctor story Timelash a hot mess. Finally, he reads a story based on last episode's prompt, and turns out to be the only guest who actually enjoyed doing that bit.