Overcoming a reading drought, with Alice and Charlotte

When author and journalist Charlie Porter told someone in publishing he was thinking about writing a queer novel, he was told that there wasn’t a market for it. That was, admittedly, several years ago, but as the accolades for Nova Scotia House, the debut novel he released earlier this spring attest, times have changed - or perhaps its authors such as Charlie who have changed them. His beautiful and complex novel, narrated from the memories and mind of a middle-aged name named Johnny, offer an insight on what it was to live through the Aids crisis that evades the granular detail of the scant histories of that time but delivers all of the gut-punch. As Charlie explains on this episode of In Haste, when a huge proportion of a community of writers, thinkers, artists, musicians, makers, rebels and lovers die, sometimes the only way to retell their stories is by making them up. Fiction can become something history never existed to serve.Also in this episode: how to keep sane on book tour, and why gardening really is the cure all to the weirdness of bringing out a book.And a reminder: we’ve now set up an In Haste bookshop.org page - this is where you can buy all of the titles featured in the show. We’ll benefit from a tiny bit of kickback, which helps keeps the podcast in production. And if you love In Haste, we rely on substack subscriptions to exist. We’d love it if you were able to upgrade yours today. catch up Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

What is the worst thing that could ever happen to a journalist? So begins the twisty, compelling and deliciously seductive Bring The House Down, Charlotte Runcie’s debut novel and, officially, the most fun book Alice Vincent has read in years. Which is why she insisted that Char sit down and put up with her enthusiastic grilling of her about her sensational novel.This week marks the long-awaited publication of Bring The House Down, a modern revenge novel set at the Edinburgh Fringe, in which a morally dubious critic damns a one-woman show - only to have a one-night-stand with its creator hours afterwards.In response, scorned woman Hayley transforms her performance into a one-star review of his life, dredging up every bad thing Alex has ever done. The result is a novel that cleverly interrogates criticism, cancel culture and online discourse, while offering up some brilliant gags in the process.Today we celebrate Bring The House Down and Charlotte, and talk about her process behind the book - as well as the reality of writing it in six weeks after abandoning two other works in progress.You’d be very well-advised to buy your copy of Bring The House Down here.In Haste is hosted by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie, and is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions. Original music by Maria Chiara Argiró. Graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

Publishing, like every other aspect of life, is not immune from the trends cycle. In fact, it’s probably far more susceptible to what’s in vogue or not than it would like to admit. Remember when Gone Girl took the reading world by storm, and ushered in domestic noir in the process? Or that moment a few years ago with contemporary, female-focussed fiction was suddenly all being printed with covers of faceless women? If you think nobody else has influenced your reading taste, then we’re here to remind you that the Miranda Priestley cerulean sweater rule applies to books too.And we thought it was about time we got into one of publishing’s most, well, horny trends of the moment: romantasy.A blend of romance and fantasy genres, today’s guest, SFF specialist literary agent Maddy Belton, explains that romantasy novels are ones in which the high stakes of a fantasy novel (two, often magical or otherworldly political factions, which may or may not be human, are fighting for good and evil) are matched by the stakes of a love affair. Fourth Wing, the first in Rebecca Yarros’s sexy dragon saga the Empyrean series, offers a good case in point: our confused heroine is bound together, through the magic of dragons, with a man she is told wants her dead due to inherited political alliance. Furthermore: they both fancy each other.In this episode we delve into how and why Romantasy has become such a force to be reckoned with, what it tells us about why we read what we do, and where to start if we’re curious.And a reminder: we’ve now set up an In Haste bookshop.org page - this is where you can buy all of the titles featured in the show. We’ll benefit from a tiny bit of kickback, which helps keeps the podcast in production. And if you love In Haste, we rely on substack subscriptions to exist. We’d love it if you were able to upgrade yours today.In Haste is hosted by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie, and is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions. Original music by Maria Chiara Argiró. Graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

How can you create more space for reading in your life, and rediscover the joy of it?It’s the run-up to publication for Charlotte’s debut novel, Bring the House Down, and the post-publication glow for Alice’s latest book, Hark: How Women Listen, so today we’re talking about some of the weirdness that goes on the brain during the weeks before publishing a book, how we’re dealing (or not) with all of that, and how far away it all feels from the actual writing process.And speaking of things that aren’t writing, Char has a problem: she’s been finding it unusually difficult to read, often only getting to page nine or ten before abandoning the latest book on her bedside TBR pile. Alice, on the other hand, has been blessed by abundant rains of reading inspiration, and is powering through book after book with joy. Char is after some advice for how to get back to that place. Is it just a matter of putting away your phone, or is there more to it than that? How does what you read shape what you write? Plus, we find out the surprising book that Alice read while she was giving birth, and the most turgid book that Char has ever read when trapped in a holiday cottage.What do you do when you find yourself reading less? How do you rediscover the joy of reading?In Haste is presented by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie and is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

What does it meant to be a creative animal? Writing a book and having a baby can be oddly similar experiences: both take a long time and are not exactly pain-free. Alice and Charlotte have even done both at once, and in today’s episode we talk about what it’s like to bring a book and a baby into the world simultaneously, and to write about it along the way.We’re joined today by Helen Jukes, the author of Mother Animal, a memoir of pregnancy and birth and an unforgettably visceral exploration of the physical transformations of motherhood. Helen is an author and nature writer who has thought deeply about the complex physical experiences of mothering and writing. Mother Animal charts the diverse variations on mothering found in the animal kingdom, and sparks our discussion today on what else mothering can look like and what it can mean more deeply as a creative process.How important is community to the way we nurture new life? What do we mean when we talk about “natural” processes, and can a focus on nature blind us to the realities of toxicity and pollution? And how can we nurture the wild and animalistic sides of ourselves?How do you balance the different forms of creativity in your life?In Haste is presented by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie, and is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions. Original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

Have we got over a cultural reluctance to read literature in translation?Alice and Charlotte have both been reading Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, and it’s got us thinking about the unique experience of reading literature from another culture. In today’s episode, we speak to the novelist and translator Lauren Elkin about what it’s like to render a book in a different language, the scourge of bad translations, and whether translators are finally beginning to get more respect and recognition.We also discuss the huge impact of Fitzcarraldo’s publishing on contemporary literature, the importance of good design in publishing, hip literary parties, and why some books become widely read in some languages but never find their audience in others.In Haste is presented by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie, and is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

What could it mean to listen more deeply? Alice’s extraordinary new book, Hark: How Women Listen, is published this week, and in today’s episode of In Haste, Charlotte couldn’t resist the opportunity to ask her all about how it came into being.Alice turns interviewee as Charlotte finds out more about her evolution from passionate music journalist to author enveloped in the unfamiliar soundworlds of new life, in the wake of the birth of Alice’s first child.We discuss how Hark explores the mystery of phantom crying, the trauma of hospital sounds, the listening done by female spies and the thrill of musical connections between women as we dive into the book that Alice has been working on ever since In Haste began, following her journey to rediscover sound as something alive, vital and restorative.And, because this is In Haste, we also confront the realities of the writing process, and what it feels like to write about real life while in the middle of living it.Get your copy of Hark: How Women Listen by Alice Vincent here!In Haste is presented by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie and is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

Introducing the second season of In Haste! We are beyond delighted to be back on your airwaves.Today, Charlotte and Alice catch up on how their books, Bring the House Down and Hark: How Women Listen are getting on, now they are mere weeks away from publication.And, with two books about to be released into the wild, that means confronting what's next. Namely, the novel-in-progress that Alice has sent over the sea with her husband, and the “difficult second novel” that Charlotte is still trying to get on with. With some wisdom from a writer who has been there, friend of the show Jennie Godfrey makes a glorious return to discuss the incredible success of her debut, The List of Suspicious Things, and how she’s navigating its follow-up. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

For our third bonus episode of the summer, we all piled round to Alice’s house in South London for everything bagels and blueberry pancakes, joined by the wonderful Amy Key, author of Arrangements in Blue.Arrangements in Blue is a beautiful, complex and richly textured memoir about exploring a life without the presence of romantic love, woven through with Amy Key’s personal relationship to Joni Mitchell’s immortal album, Blue.Join us for chat about writing (what’s stopping us, and what’s keeping us going), romance, Joni, poetry and the search for the perfect candle sconce that will solve all our problems.In Haste is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe

It's our second bonus episode of the summer!Today, Alice and Charlotte share how their writing is going as the days lengthen and the temptation to spend time having iced coffees in the sun threatens to lure them away from their writing desks. They also talk about hot summer books and what to read on holiday - from depressing Victorian classics to bonkbusters to transformative international fiction. And what about books set in the summertime — what effect does heat have on a narrative?In Haste is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes. Get full access to In Haste at inhaste.substack.com/subscribe