A few weeks ago, I had a phone call from a friend asking if I’d be interested in appearing as a guest on a new podcast she was setting up. Sophie’s idea was that all writers, whether we mean to our not, reveal something of ourselves in our writing. It’s not just about personality, it’s more than that: it’s our values, our sense of right and wrong, of how we see the world and the people in it. If there’s any sense of truth in our writing (and if there isn’t, why are we bothering?) all of that inevitably bleeds through into our work. I loved the idea of the podcast and completely agreed with the premise, and by the time we finished the phone call, I had persuaded Sophie that I’d be much better as a co-host than a guest.

Since then we’ve been working away behind the scenes, and I’m delighted to announce that the first three episodes of Beneath the Page are now available for your listening pleasure. The first episode sees Sophie and I discussing the concept of the podcast, before Sophie goes on to get the interview she was after in the first place, asking me about Dead Man Singing and Foul and Fair. The other two launch episodes see the pair of us interviewing Alice G May   and Sue Barrow respectively, and all three are available on Spotify right now. We’ve already recorded some future episodes, and we’ve got some great guests lined up for subsequent chats. The plan is to release a new episode every two weeks, with number 4 (with Kathleen McGurl) scheduled to drop on Wednesday 7th May.

We’re not following any specific literary genre – as well as my own books, the first few episodes will cover historical fiction, psychological thriller, YA, and romance – because what we’re interested in cuts across genre. It’s something much more fundamental about what it means to be a writer and to write something that resonates with readers. I hope you’ll enjoy meeting some new authors, getting an insight into what makes writers tick, and maybe discovering some new favourite books along the way.

Beneath the Page is part of Sophie’s publishing company, Cadence Publishing, and you can find more details on their website or by  following the podcast on social media. If you do listen (please do!) we’d love you to leave a review, which will help other people to discover what we’re up to. Thank you.