Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Watch this episode as a full video interview on YouTube

Stephen Fishbach is a Pushcart Prize-winning writer and former television executive who served as a Vice President at MTV. A graduate of Yale with an MFA from NYU, he is widely recognised as a two-time contestant and runner-up on the reality show Survivor. His diverse writing background includes serving as a speechwriter for Stevie Wonder and hosting the literary podcast Paraphrase. Stephen lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and two daughters, and his debut novel, Escape!, was inspired by his unique insider perspective on reality television.

We had a fantastic time chatting with Stephen about how a harrowing monsoon in the Cambodian jungle finally gave him the focus to pursue serious fiction. We delve into his transition from the "clown music" of reality TV to winning the Pushcart Prize, and how he used his writing to reclaim narrative control in his debut novel. We also talk about his love for the social deduction game Blood on the Clocktower and the meticulous research required to capture the "texture" of life of a professional Marilyn Monroe impersonator.

Links:
Buy Escape! now
Visit Stephen's website
Follow Stephen on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video episode on YouTube

On today's episode of Adventures in Publishing-land, we congratulate Tariq on not one but two new Longlistings, and struggle to understand a story about new research that suggests a heavy focus on literacy skills in schools is actively undermining the motivation to read for fun.

Plus, the TikTok books charts have launched! What effect will they have on the industry? And as copies of Shy Girl sell for more than £100 on ebay, Tariq wonders if he should buy up as many copies as he can to fund his retirement (spoiler: he shouldn't!)

00:00 Intro
05:00 The Reading Paradox - Literacy Skills v Joy
16:52 Top of the Toks - TikTok Book Charts Launch
31:31 From Shy Girl to Prom Queen? Cancelled Book Sales Soar
41:49 Stranger Than Fiction - Nadine's Idea Factory

Links:
Literacy focus 'actively undermining' reading for pleasure, HarperCollins finds
TikTok releases first monthly BookTok Bestseller List
Copies of Mia Ballard's Shy Girl listed online for over £100

Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more!

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Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Alessandra Ranelli is an American writer living in Vienna, Austria. Murder at the Hotel Orient is her first crime novel. She has the full support of the real Hotel Orient, and has been allowed access to all its rooms, even the secret ones. As part of her extensive book research, she left her career as a pastry chef and became a hotel receptionist. She is currently writing her second novel.

We had great fun chatting with Alessandra about how a visit to the Hotel Orient sparked the idea for the novel, and how she moved from idea to fully finished novel (with multiple agent offers along the way). We talk about her having different UK and US agents and how that works, and the nerves as she waited for Murder at the Hotel Orient to come out.

Links:
Buy Murder at the Hotel Orient now
Follow Alessandra on Instagram
Visit Alessandra's website

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook
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Follow us on Bluesky
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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video episode on our YouTube channel

Charlotte Robinson is a writer and television producer. After graduating from Exeter University with a degree in English, Charlotte started working as a runner in the television industry, where she perfected the art of making teas and coffees on a wide variety of programmes before moving into drama production and becoming a script editor and story producer on shows such as FORTITUDE (Sky), THE TUNNEL (Sky), and Amazon Prime’s adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s best-selling novel THE POWER. Recently, Charlotte story produced both series of Steven Knight’s upcoming A THOUSAND BLOWS for Disney+ and produced the final three episodes of series two. Her debut novel, MARS ONE, is out now.

We had a great time chatting with Charlotte, hearing about how she got started in TV, what the jobs of script editor and story producer entail, and where she first got the idea for MARS ONE. We also talk about getting notes in both TV and fiction writing, and we get some interesting anecdotes about her work in TV!

Links:
Buy Mars One now
Follow Charlotte on Instagram

Subscribe to Narrative Damage on your podcast app and on YouTube

Support us on Patreon and get the podcast early and ad-free, along with other great benefits, including a bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook
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Follow us on Bluesky
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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a video episode on YouTube

You've been querying for months, or even years, and then it happens - you get that email from an agent asking for a call! It's exciting, but also nerve-wracking. What should you ask, what green flags - or red flags - should you be looking out for? We break down the dos and don'ts of 'The Call' so that you can go into it well-prepared and hopefully land the best agent for you.

Drafting Notes is a series in which one award-winning writer (Tariq) and one hopefully soon-to-be-published writer (Marco) discuss various writing issues as they occur to them!

Support us on Patreon and get access to Drafting Notes episodes early, along with other great benefits!

Drafting Notes and Page One - The Writer's Podcast are brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Drafting Notes is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.