Confessions of a Debut Novelist

Updated: 03 Jul 2025 • 194 episodes
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Listen to Confessions of a Debut Novelist, hosted by author Chloe Timms, to hear from new and up-and-coming writers about their debut novel. We talk writing journeys, tips and advice and what it's like to be new to the world of publishing. Each episode features a writer about to have their debut novel published, covering adult, YA and children's in a range of genres. We'll hear about rejections and setbacks, how writers signed with their agent and whether their book deal was with an indie publisher or one of the big houses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Mel Pennant about her crime novel A Murder for Miss Hortense. We discuss how Miss Hortense was inspired by Mel’s grandmother and golden age mysteries, the importance of balancing lightness and humour within the tragedy and resilience of the Black Britis

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In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Barnaby Martin about his dystopian novel The Quiet. We discuss how his writing career began with video essays on YouTube, his tips for taking history and making it more extreme when writing dystopia and why he believes you need to know the theme of the

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In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Lisa Smith about her historical novel Jamaica Road. We discuss how the idea for this novel came from a creative writing exercise and voices that wouldn't leave her alone, using real newspaper extracts to make the political backdrop come alive and how a

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In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Seán Hewitt about his literary novel Open, Heaven. We discuss having to transport himself back to the intensity and naivety of teenage years, using 1st person perspective to explore what love feels like when you don't know whether the other person feels

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In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin about her contemporary novel Ordinary Saints. We discuss how her inspiration came from a true story about a modern-day teenager being made into a saint, why she deleted her first 20k words and how entering a competition to give herse

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In this episode of Confessions of a Debut Novelist, I’m talking to Claire Gleeson about her contemporary novel Show Me Where It Hurts. We discuss how she was inspired to write a story of survival after a shocking act of familicide, writing intense grief and high emotion in a restrained way, and how she does all her wri

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