EP7 - Brian Conaghan

For the finale of Season One, a banger for you - an interview with the wonderful Waterstones Children's Laureate Joseph Coehlo! Joe talks us through balancing writing with the responsibilities of Laureate-ing, his notebook organisation, working with illustrators, all while I ogle his beautiful jumper.Thank you to Joe and to all the interviewees who've made this podcast happen and be a lot of fun to make. //JOE LINKS//https://www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com/https://www.booktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/childrens-laureate/joseph-coelho-biography/https://twitter.com/JosephACoelhohttps://www.instagram.com/josephcoelhoauthor/?hl=enhttps://www.youtube.com/c/JosephCoelhohttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Joseph-Coelho/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AJoseph+Coelho Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a cracking interview with the funny and fantastic historical fiction children's writer (plus she does a whole tonne of other impressive stuff) Iszi Lawrence. She's the talent behind 'The Time Machine Next Door series' for 7-9 year olds as well as many splendid stand-alone middle grade novels including acclaimed 'The Unstoppable Letty Pegg'.We talk through historical research, beautiful notebooks, having hobbies for fun and much, much more.//ISZI LINKS//https://iszi.com/Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Iszi-Lawrence/author/B0865T388B?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=truehttps://twitter.com/iszi_lawrencehttps://www.instagram.com/iszi_lawrence/https://www.youtube.com/c/iszitube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A magical-feeling chat with fantasy children's writer Amy Wilson. We tucked ourselves up by a log fire in Amy's house, even though Amy was getting over a bad cold at the time. It's brilliant to hear from Amy how she manages the life/ writing juggle and how inspiration can strike at any moment - you'll look at school runs and supermarket trips in a new way.//AMY LINKS//https://amywilsonbooks.com/https://www.instagram.com/amywilsonbooks/?hl=en---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Strap in for an absolutely fascinating chat with the awesome M.G. Leonard! M.G. Leonard is a total star in the childen's books world; she has written multiple series, won many awards, changed the way we see beetles but never thought she'd be a writer. Find out how she does it right here!//MG LINKS//https://www.mgleonard.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mglnrdTwitter/ X: https://twitter.com/mglnrdYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXkvH_z3_Ik_92josdTlfVw---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A frank, honest and funny chat with the glorious AF Harrold, who is definitely not a writer of children's book but is a poet who has just happened to write some stunning children's books in his time. We talk about Mr. Noselighter by Roger McGough, book sales, working with illustrator greats, poetry and Susan the Cat (AF's feline) makes an appearance too.//AF LINKS//https://www.afharroldkids.com/https://twitter.com/afharroldwww.instagram.com/a.f.harrold---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a chuckling-chat-conversation with 'The new master of books for children' (The Times) Piers Torday! Whilst acclaimed children's writer Piers Torday waits for his next round of edits to come through, we talk about the varying ways we react to editorial notes, how Piers started writing and what he's learnt along the way. //PIERS LINKS//https://www.pierstorday.co.uk/books/https://www.instagram.com/piers_torday/---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first interview with a publishing industry professional! This week, we hear all about the morning routine, workload and book business of literary agent James Spackman. James has worked in publishing for many years, starting out as a post-room worker at Bloomsbury Publishers before moving into selling and marketing books. He has run a cycling book imprint named 'Pursuit,' is the 'Book Pitch Doctor', began the Spare Room Project (to help non-Londoners make a start in publishing) and is also a keen lino printmaker. How does he do it all? Listen on to find out ...//JAMES LINKS//Twitter/ X - https://twitter.com/blackpooltower?lang=enThe bks Agency - https://www.thebksagency.com/The Book Pitch Doctor - https://www.bookpitchdoctor.com/about-me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Conaghan spills the beans about book writing, writing for television and his baby monkey plant. We had a chat via Zoom from writing shed to writing shed (Brian's was much fancier than mine) with probably the best irreverent chat-starter to date.//BRIAN LINKS//Twitter/ X - https://twitter.com/ConaghanAuthorBooks - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Brian-Conaghan/author/B00O0J9NSW?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A deep dive into the fascinating book journey of author Jenny McLachlan who has written novels for young adults and middle grade and has recently published her first illustrated project, a book for younger readers entitled 'Stink'.We also fall into a rabbit hole chat about how odd we were as children but how this is probably what made us into the book creators we are today.//JENNY LINKS//https://jennymclachlan.com/books/Twiiter/ X - https://twitter.com/JennyMcLachlan1Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Jenny-McLachlan/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AJenny+McLachlan---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great chat with my pal and fantastic picture book maker Karen George whose book career began after winning a competition to illustrate a story by Julia Donaldson.We go into extreme detail of Karen's book-life story, how she makes her illustrations and talk about her acclaimed work on 'What Happened to You?', her most recent book 'Mr. Mornington's Favourite Things', a touching and moving tale of a saxophonist living with dementia, and her work with Shelterbox.//KAREN LINKS//Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/karengeorge_books/?hl=en-gbTwitter/ X - https://twitter.com/hughshampooBooks - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Karen-George/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AKaren+GeorgeShelterbox - https://shelterbox.org/inthecoldnight/#video---pollyhoyen.comTwitter: @bookhorseInstagram: @iambookhorse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.