Acclaimed and award-winning author Sue Nyathi joins Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel to talk about how life has gone since she left the corporate world to become a full-time writer. Spoiler alert – it's gone really well! Sue breaks down how she got started as a writer, going back to the early days when her handwritten books were passed around the class in her Bulawayo high school. Sue admits that she writes two kinds of books – fun and scandalous vs deep and literary. Listen in to find out how her fans react to this dichotomy. Fiona and Gail ask Sue about her new masterwork An Angel’s Demise, which Gail was afraid to read. Fiona explains why one of the characters gives her actual goosebumps, and not the nice kind. Gail explains the meaning behind the term ‘structural edits’, and Fiona talks about the ‘flashlight method’ of constructing a novel. Fiona recommends the book The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, while Gail talks about her love for the show The Santa Clarita Diet with Drew Barrymore. Since this episode was recorded, An Angel’s Demise was awarded the prestigious NIHSS Humanities Award for Best Fiction: Novel. Congratulations, Sue! Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you. Join the conversation on our socials. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube

Fiona and Gail are joined by the brilliant and hilarious Angela Makholwa, author of Critical, But Stable, The Blessed Girl, Black Widow Society, and more. Angela tells us about her close encounters with serial killer Moses Sithole and how she needed a break from the darkness after Red Ink came out. Fiona and Angela talk about how turning thirty hits differently when you're a woman, and Gail asks Angela to describe her writing process (hint: it involves luxury hotels and tow-thousand word days). Angela spills the beans on what changes she had to make to The Blessed Girl when it was published in the UK, and what it was like to be shortlisted for a major comedy award. The ladies talk about Bontle as a strong character in charge of her own destiny but agree that they wouldn't want their daughters going down the blessed girl route. Angela gives some delicious details about her upcoming book. It's going to be a thriller and not to be missed! Fiona tells Gail about her favourite time of the day to get writing done and Gail suggests ways of not getting distracted by social media. They discuss the awesome new midlife podcast The Shift with Sam Baker and why Fiona was epically unimpressed with Hugh Grant in the romantic comedy Two Weeks' Notice. Angela tells us why she finds Bill Bryson's The Body so helpful as a writer, and recommends Save the Cat by Blake Snyder to Gail. Fiona and Gail would love to hear from you. Join the conversation on socials! Angela on Instagram · More about Angela Makholwa · Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube

Fiona Snyckers and Gail Schimmel are working writers - and their favourite people are writers. Join them as they dive deep into HOW and WHY successful writers write. Follow us on Instagram · Chat with us on Twitter · Join our Facebook group · Subscribe to us on YouTube