#115: Rachel Blackmore & Literary Agent Juliet Pickering — Getting Published, Historical Fiction, Making Your Pitch Stand Out & Inside a Literary Agent’s World

Anna Bogutskaya has studied thousands of horror films and books.  In this interview we talk to Anna about the role of the monster and how writers can harness primal emotions to tell captivating stories. We also dive into her process for pitching and writing nonfiction books.*ABOUT ANNA BOGUTSKAYA Anna Bogutskaya is a freelance critic, author, film programmer and creative producer. She writes for BBC Culture, Guardian, MUBI, the Face and TimeOut, amongst others, and programmes films for BFI, Edinburgh Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. She produces and hosts The Final Girls podcast. She’s the author of Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate and Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold On Us.*RESOURCES & LINKSUnlikeable Female CharactersFeeding the MonsterThe Final Girls: A Horror Film PodcastThe BabadookIn the Dream House by Carmen Maria MachadoAdmit OneDanse Macabre by Stephen KingHouse of Psychotic Women by Kier-La Janisse For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Writer, Entrepreneur & Podcaster David Perell on simple frameworks you can use to bring your voice to life and write in a way that makes your writing memorable and has your readers calling you “one-of-a-kind." Links & Resources Write of PassageDavid PerellHow I Write PodcastABOUT DAVID PERELL David Perell has taught 2,000 people to write in his Write of Passage program. After being the King of Typos and boring sentences in his 5th grade English class, he became freakishly obsessed with the craft of writing, and today, he has 435,000 Twitter followers and a group of people who… gasp, adore his writing. More recently, he started a podcast called How I Write where he’s interviewed people like Tim Ferriss, Morgan Housel, and Amor Towles. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Literary Legend Kate Mosse on writing 11 + novels, finding her voice with her fifth novel, researching historical fiction, pushing past doubt, dealing with rejection and how she launched the Women's Prize For Fiction.*ABOUT KATE MOSSEKate Mosse is the author of eleven novels & short story collections, including the No 1 bestselling The Joubert Family Chronicles. Her books have been translated into 38 languages and published in more than 40 countries. Kate is the Founder Director of the Women's Prize for Fiction & the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction - the largest annual celebration of women's writing in the world - and is the Founder of the global campaign #WomanInHistory launched in January 2021 to honour, celebrate and promote women’s achievements throughout history. She was awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours List 2024 for services to literature, women and charity. *RESOURCES & LINKS📄Interview Transcript (unedited) https://www.katemosse.co.uk/Map of BonesThe Ghost ShipWomen's Prize for FictionThe Discoveries Program​​Weekly Writers’ Hour ContestTrailer for Kate’s upcoming one-woman show! For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky has dedicated his life to studying happiness. In this episide we talk to him about  ‘mattering’ and how we can use his research findings to write more, worry less about our status and embrace a lightness in our creative work.*ABOUT DR. ISAACDr. Isaac Prilleltensky holds the inaugural Erwin and Barbara Mautner Chair in Community Well-Being at the University of Miami. He has published 12 books and over 140 articles and chapters on wellness and creativity. His most recent book is How People Matter: Why it Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and Society, co-authored with his wife, Dr. Ora Prilleltensky.*RESOURCES & LINKS📄Interview Transcript (unedited) https://www.professorisaac.com/How People Matter: Why it Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and SocietyPsychology and the status quo.How People Thrive The Routledge International Handbook of Human Significance and MatteringArie W. KruglanskiHow to Know a Person by David BrooksMatt’s thoughts on Creative Health For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Penny Wincer, an author, writer and non-fiction book coach on how writers can think deeply about their living spaces, what makes a house a home and we dive into her expertise around creating engaging non-fiction and creating a non-fiction book proposal to send to agents.*ABOUT PENNY WINCERPenny Wincer is an author, freelance writer and non-fiction book coach based in London. She is the author of Home Matters: How our homes shape us, and we shape them and Tender:The imperfect Art of Caring. Penny hosts the podcast Not Too Busy To Write.*RESOURCES & LINKS📄Interview Transcript (unedited) Penny’s websiteHome Matters: How our homes shape us, and we shape themTender:The imperfect Art of CaringPenny’s Substack Not Too Busy to WritePenny’s podcast Not Too Busy To WriteThe Little Book of Colour by Karen Haller Book Proposal Group  For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Literary Agent (RCW Agency) and children’s author Sam Copeland on what he’s looking for in his submissions pile, how to write a compelling pitch letter, what he thinks about submitting to agents internationally and how he constructs funny middle-grade fiction.*ABOUT SAM COPELANDSam Copeland was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year at the 2020 and 2021 British Book Awards and selected for the Bookseller's Most Influential People in Publishing in 2020. He welcomes e-mail submissions and can be contacted on [email protected]. His associate is [email protected]. He is also a children’s author. The Waterstones Children's Book of the Year shortlisted his Charlie Changes series.* RESOURCES & LINKS📄 Interview Transcript (unedited) Sam Copeland RCW Literary AgencyPiranesi by Sussana Clarke The Overstory by Richard Powers Jenny Pearson Submit your ms to Sam: [email protected]. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Award-winning cookbook writer, blogger and novelist Kate Young on creating a viral cooking blog, how she turned her blog into a series of cookbooks, and what goes into a pitch for a cookbook. Plus her approach to plotting rom com, adding depth to rom-com characters, her approach to writing sex scenes and what she thinks every rom com should have. *ABOUT KATE YOUNGKate Young is a writer and cook, whose award-winning Little Library Cookbooks feature food inspired by beloved works of literature. After a sunny Australian childhood (spent indoors reading books) she moved to London, which suited her much better. She now lives in a converted mill in a Gloucestershire town. Experienced is her first novel.*RESOURCES & LINKS📄 Interview Transcript (unedited) ExperiencedThe Little Library CookbookKate’s Food Books Kate’s Substack: The Organised Lesbian For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Practical advice from Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama on writing and editing poetry and expanding your world with poetry. Highlights from a previous episode. For the full episode, listen to interview episode #103*ABOUT PÁDRAIG Ó TUAMA​Pádraig Ó Tuama is a theologian, writer, and conflict transformation practitioner. His books include In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World; Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community; Sorry For Your Troubles; Borders & Belonging and Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World. He hosts the On Being Studios podcast Poetry Unbound with Krista Tippett’s studio.*RESOURCES & LINKSThe Butcher Of Eden - Feed The BeastPoet Victoria RedelToni Morrison - ParadiseFollow PádraigPádraig’s Substack, Poetry Unbound  For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

For decades, Rachel Blackmore dreamed of becoming an author. In 2020, she joined Writers’ Hour and began her first novel. Now, her debut, COSTANZA, is being published by Dialogue Books (Hachette) and is hailed as an addictive tale of desire and betrayal. In this special interview, we're joined by Rachel and her literary agent, Juliet Pickering. We discuss Costanza's path to publication, what makes manuscripts stand out to agents, and techniques for crafting 'outrageously evocative' fiction.*ABOUT RACHEL & JULIETRachel Blackmore spent more than a decade working and raising a family, before taking a career break to write historical fiction about marginalised women, as a way of looking at contemporary issues.In 2021 she was a runner-up in Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Competition and won the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair in 2022. Her debut novel, COSTANZA, a historical novel set in Renaissance Rome telling the story of Costanza Piccolomini, the muse of Bernini, was published by Dialogue Books (part of Hachette).Juliet Pickering joined Blake Friedmann in 2013, becoming Vice Head of the Book Department in 2017.  Alongside literary, book club and commercial fiction, Juliet represents non-fiction writers including narrative writing on relationships, pop culture, social history and food, and a small number of cookery and other illustrated books.*RESOURCES & LINKSCostanza by Rachel BlackmoreSigned Copies of CostanzaWriters’ Hour Harper's Bazaar Short Story Competition  Juliet’s Q&A with LWS Irish Writers Centre Novel FairThe Wayward Sisters by Kate Hodges For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

A curation of our favourite questions and poems from our interview with poet David Whyte. We ask him: What we can do when we can’t access our writing? How do we live through fallow periods of writing and what rituals he uses for writing. He shares the poems: A Seeming Stillness, A Song for the Salmon and Start Close In.*ABOUT DAVID WHYTEDavid Whyte is an internationally renowned poet, author, and speaker. His books include The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America, Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words, and The Bell and the Blackbird. His latest collections are David Whyte: Essentials and Still Possible. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!