Freya Berry’s recent debut The Dictator’s Wife features a chilling portrait of a late eastern European tyrant’s partner, as she prepares to go on trial for her life. Here the author describes her five rules for creating such an intimidating and compromised anti-heroine. The Dictator's Wife: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/freya-berry/the-dictators-wife/9781472276339/ @FreyaBBooks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zoë Somerville's recent novel The Marsh House concerns a single mother's Christmas visit to the creepy Norfolk coast, and her reading a life of a previous resident of her dilapidated cottage while nature does its best to frighten her. Here she shares her Five Rules of Writing on how to create pure rural fear. The Marsh House: https://headofzeus.com/books/9781838934675 https://zoesomerville.com/ @zessomerville Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer Christina Patterson, whose most recent book is Outside, the Sky is Blue, a crystal-clear account of the havoc visited on her family by illness, on her Five Rules of Writing memoir. https://christinapatterson.co.uk/ Outside, the Sky is Blue: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/christina-patterson/outside-the-sky-is-blue/9781472282651/ @queenchristina_ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan Carson, whose most recent novel The Raptures concerns a spate of deaths at a rural Protestant Northern Ireland primary school, on her five rules for writing about the province. @JanCarson7280 The Raptures: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1115884/the-raptures/9780857525758.html https://www.jancarson.co.uk/ Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Balls, author of the superb Shane MacGowan biography, A Furious Devotion, on his five rules for interviewing someone who has little desire to cooperate. @RichardBalls A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan: https://omnibuspress.com/products/a-furious-devotion-the-life-of-shane-macgowan-published-on-7th-october-2021 Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: https://strong-words.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Hodgkinson, whose magazine is devoted to the quest for maximum satisfaction from minimum effort, on where writing fits with this equation. @idler The Idler: https://www.idler.co.uk/ An Idler's Manual: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/IDLERS-MANUAL-by-TOM-HODKINSON/9781901170344 Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: https://strong-words.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First-time author of the sublime Mrs March, Virginia Feito shares her five rules on writing "a gloriously grotesque antiheroine." Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lesley-Ann Jones, Fleet Street survivor and writer of the recent Love of my Life about the relationships of Freddie Mercury, on how to write a rock biography. Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: https://strong-words.co.uk/ Buy Love Of My Life here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/lesley-ann-jones/love-of-my-life/9781529362343/ @LAJWriter https://www.lesleyannjones.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Davis, guitarist with glam nobility Mud and co-composer of Kylie's Can't Get You Out of My Head, on how to write hit records. Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: http://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and editor of the Londnr culture website Nina-Sophia Miralles, on her five rules of writing about the ultra-haughty fashion bible, Vogue magazine. @Londnr https://www.ninamiralles.com/ Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: http://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and publisher Jay Glennie, who specialises in deeply researched records of the making of classic films, on the five rules of getting A-list movie folk to share their stories. Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: http://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Film director, screenwriter and bestselling French author Jean-Baptiste Andrea, on writing his second novel A Hundred Million Years and a Day, one of Strong Words' 20 best books of 2020.  Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine. Buy A Hundred Million Years and a Day: https://belgraviabooks.com/product/a-hundred-million-years-and-a-day-pb-b?i=1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Music writer and author Pete Paphides, whose autobiography Broken Greek describes the vital role played by the Top 40 in his formative years, discusses his seven (!) rules of writing about one's own infancy.  Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine. Buy Broken Greek here: https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/pete-paphides-2/broken-greek/9781529404425/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ancient historian Tom Holland, author of bestselling works on Julius Caesar, the first Roman emperors, Persia in its imperial pomp and a history of Christianity, on turning the remote past into a gripping read. @holland_tom Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: http://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Gillian O’Brien, historian and author of the superb “The Darkness Echoing,” on her “dark tourism” itinerary of Ireland’s “places of famine, death and rebellion.” Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: http://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 8 of The Five Rules of Writing, Scarlett and Sophie Rickard describe how they turned Robert Tressell’s “intimidating” Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists into a dazzling page-turner of a graphic novel. Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: http://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 7 of The Five Rules of Writing, Dylan Jones, the GQ editor and author of entire libraries on music, politics and culture, provides instruction for those wondering how to write an oral biography.   Presented by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 6 of the Five Rules of Writing, Matt Wesolowski, creator of the "Six Stories" brand of podcast-as-novel ultra-creepiness, on how to scare your readers witless. Brought to you by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: https://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 5 of the Five Rules of Writing, David Hepworth, the journalist, broadcaster and writer of several bestselling volumes on how rock music changed the world, shares his views on how it's done. You won't be needing a chair.  Brought to you by Ed Needham and Strong Words Magazine: https://strong-words.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 4 of The Five Rules of Writing, Sabine Durrant, a masterful creator of unnerving domestic tension, sheds a little light on her techniques, including a superb method for surprising yourself.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.