interviews / Q&A’s
Author Charlie Laidlaw publishes Being Alert! this month, a satire set in a Britain led by inept PM Winston Spragg, and dealing with a virus that breaks out in China. Sound familiar? Here, Charlie joins us in The Literary Lounge and discusses his book, COVID and the importance and rich tradition of satire … Continue readings
Tags : Being Alert!, Bloody Mary, British satire, bubonic plague, Charlie Laidlaw, COVID, Covid-19, Jack and Jill, nursery rhymes, nursery rhymes and satire, Ring a ring of roses, satire
Today, we’re delighted to welcome author and publisher Amanda Saint to The Literary Lounge. Amanda is the founder of Retreat West, a creative writing organisation and independent publisher. Her dystopian climate change novel, Remember Tomorrow, was published earlier this year. First of all, welcome, Amanda. Thanks so much for joining us. LS: Amanda, … Continue readings
Tags : Amanda Saint, dystopian, feminism, independent publishers, Margaret Atwood, Remember Tomorrow, Retreat West, the word for freedom
Today, we’re delighted to welcome to the Literary Lounge acclaimed writer AUSMA ZEHANAT KHAN, creator of the award-winning Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty series. Ausma holds a doctorate in international human rights law and each book highlights a different global human rights issue. No Place of Refuge, the fourth book featuring this Toronto-based … Continue readings
Tags : Ausma Zehanat Khan, editor's choice, Getty, Khattak, No Exit Press, The Literary Lounge Q&A
We’re utterly delighted to welcome wonderful Welsh–Canadian romantic-historical fiction writer Mary Balogh to The Literary Lounge. Described as the ‘superstar heir’ to the legacy of late, great Georgette Heyer, Mary is the recipient of numerous awards and has graced the New York Times bestseller list thirty-six times in her career thus far. Her … Continue readings
Tags : Bedwyns, Canadian writer Mary Balogh, Frederica, Georgette Heyer, historical romantic fiction, Little Brown authors, Mary Balogh, Mary Balogh 2019, New York Times bestselling writers, Piatkus romantic fiction, Regency, Regency writer Mary Balogh, RNA, romantic fiction, RWA, Simply series, superstar heir to Georgette Heyer, The Literary Lounge, The Literary Lounge Q&As, Welsh-Canadian authors, Westcott series
Today, we’re delighted to have wonderful Louise Voss with us in The Literary Lounge, talking all things music and writerly. Louise is the author of 13 books, including The Old You (2018), published by indie press Orenda Books to huge critical acclaim. We loved, loved, loved, loved it and so, of course, are beside … Continue readings
We’re delighted to welcome writer CHARLIE LAIDLAW to The Literary Lounge. The author of two books, Charlie publishes his third, The Space Between Time, this month with Accent Press. First of all, Charlie, thank you so much for joining us and for taking the time to answer our questions. LS: … Continue readings
Tags : Charles Gray, Charles Gray Charlie Laidlaw, Charlie Laidlaw, Kate Okello, Scottish authors, The Literary Lounge Q&A, The Literary Shed's The Literary Lounge, The Space Between Time, TS Eliot Four Quartets
Today, we’re delighted to welcome Canadian author Paul E. Hardisty to The Literary Lounge. Shortlisted for the CWA John Creasy Dagger award, Paul’s Claymore Straker series is critically acclaimed and has garnered fans such as Lee Child. Turbulent Wake, Paul’s latest book, is a beautifully penned standalone, examining love and loss. It is published … Continue readings
Tags : Arcadia B, Arcadia Books, Clay Straker, CWA, John Creasy Dagger award, Karen Sullivan, Orenda, Orenda Books, Paul E. Hardisty, reading on location, The Australian Institute of Marine Science, Turbulent Wake
Today, we’re delighted to welcome Icelandic writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir to The Literary Lounge. Her novel, Trap, the second instalment in the Reykjavik Noir Trilogy, is published in the UK by Orenda this month. LS: Lilja, thanks so much for joining us. You’re a playwright as well as a crime-fiction writer: which came … Continue readings
Tags : Arctic noir, drugs Iceland, Icelandic noir, Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Orenda Books 2018, Reyjakvik Noir Trilogy, The Literary Lounge Q&A, Trap
Crime-fiction writers love seaside settings – the myriad ways to kill people perhaps – so, it’s surely not that surprising that Hastings should have its moment in the sun in the Dr Jocasta Hughes’ series. The Literary Shed catches up with writer Candy Denman at one of her protagonist’s favourite bars. ‘This is … Continue readings
Tags : British crime fiction, Candy Denman, crime fiction, Hastings, interviews, Jo Hughes, Jocasta Hughes, NHS, procedural crime fiction, reading on location, seaside crime fiction, The Bill
Today, we’re delighted to welcome writer TOM COX to The Literary Lounge. The author of nine non-fiction books – and friend to many felines, including the beautiful The Bear – Tom makes his fictional debut this month with the short story collection Help the Witch, published by Unbound. Tom, thanks so much for joining … Continue readings
Tags : 21st Century Yokel, Help the Witch, Help the Witch Blog Tour, Ramblings Clare Balding, Random Things Tours, Short stories, short story collections, The Bear, Tom Cox, Tom Cox journalist, Unbound, Witch
Today, we’re delighted to welcome New Zealand writer extraordinaire VANDA SYMON to The Literary Lounge. Overkill, the first book featuring protagonist Sam Shephard, is published in the UK by Orenda. Vanda, thanks so much for spending time with us. LS: I believe Overkill was the first novel you wrote and published. How … Continue readings
Tags : Mataura, Meet the author The Literary Lounge, New Zealand noir, Ngaio Marsh award, NZ crime fiction, Overkill, procedural crime fiction, Roderick Alleyn, Sam Shephard, Sam Shephard series, Taika Waititi, The Literary Lounge Q&A, Troy and Alleyn, Vanda Symon
Today, we’re delighted to welcome writer Mike Shanahan to The Literary Lounge. Mike’s beautiful book, Ladders to Heaven, is published by Unbound. It celebrates the fig tree, a ‘keystone species’ which sustains a huge number of animals and insects around the world and is also important not just in terms of our past but … Continue readings
Tags : book review, book review Shanahan, books about trees, botany, fig trees, flora and fauna, Ladder to Heaven, Mike Shanahan, non-fiction, Q&A, The Literary Lounge Q&A, tree love, Unbound
Today, we’re delighted to welcome writer Patrick Kincaid to The Literary Lounge. Patrick’s debut book, The Continuity Girl, is published by Unbound. It draws on iconic filmmaker Billy Wilder’s controversial and yet cult movie The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. We’re particularly excited as we love Sherlock in all his incarnations and yet … Continue readings
Today, we’re delighted to welcome writer Gina Kirkham to The Literary Lounge. Creator of Constable Mavis Upton, Gina publishes Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, the second outing for her hapless, humorous heroine, with Urbane Publications, in July 2018. First of all, welcome, Gina – thanks so much for joining us. LS: Most people have one … Continue readings
We are delighted to welcome David Stuart Davies to The Literary Lounge. David is an acclaimed author, playwright, editor and expert on Sherlock Holmes – who also features in several of his crime novels. A member of The Detection Club, established in 1930 by a group of leading crime fiction writers, including Agatha Christie … Continue readings