Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
My guest today is A.L. Michael, author of nine romantic comedies including Goodbye Ruby Tuesday and The Last Word.
Her latest release is Cocktails and Dreams, part of the new Martini Club series.
Andi is also a Creative Therapeutic Facilitator, currently researching the power of creative writing to be helpful in recovering from eating disorders.
Find out more at almichael.com or find her on Twitter or Facebook.
In the intro I give a personal update (spoiler-alert – I did more holidaying than writing in July!) and talk about my plans for August.
I also mention Joanna Penn’s recent podcast episode about her experience at Thrillerfest, in which she discusses comparisonitis and the difficulty of balancing ambition and contentment. Go here for the episode (it’s really worth a listen) and here for Joanna’s wonderful book on marketing How To Market A Book.
Finally, I talk about the future of the podcast and the possibility of adding advertising or sponsorship or joining Patreon. And, in lieu of corporate sponsorship, I plug my own book on writing! Click HERE for store links.
If you have any thoughts on advertising or patreon or suggestions for ways in which I can improve the show, please do get in touch. I would love to hear from you!
In the interview:
On process:
‘I have a number for that day that I’m happy with wordcount-wise.’
‘Sometimes, I’ve got no idea where they’re going now so I’ll play with the characters for a bit or research a location and something usually pops up.’
‘I work from a very brief skeleton, but I usually write little chunks in a notebook that’s specifically for that book.’
On writing as a career:
‘I had my careers advice at seventeen and I said ‘I’m going to university to study writing and I’m going to be a writer’ and he said ‘that’s not a job’.’
On doing a degree in creative writing:
‘I think I wrote a lot of crap then, but I learned how to form a story and how to get criticism and feedback… But you could only be a literary writer in their eyes.’
Andi’s tips for productivity:
‘I like being in control… I do a lot of list-making and goal-setting.’
‘I would love to do a retreat so that’s on my list… I usually go to a festival every year where I run creative writing workshops.’
‘I think play is really important and experimenting.’
‘Always write more than you talk about writing.’
On being a worried writer:
‘You’ll always have worries with writing because it makes you so vulnerable.’
‘Everyone has that particular number in their word-count when you hit it and think ‘God, I’m awful’… Usually to get over it I remind myself that I’ve done it once so I can do it again. I think finishing a book is the hardest thing you can do… But if you’ve finished a book, you can finish another book.’
‘I thought being published was the end of the journey, the end-goal, but it’s actually the start.’
On writing as a therapeutic tool:
‘It’s a very freeing experience.’
Thank you so much for listening – I truly appreciate it!
If you have a writing (or publishing) question that you’d like me to tackle, please get in touch via email or Twitter.
I’ll answer it on the show and credit you (unless, of course, you ask to remain anonymous).
And if you have a moment to share the show on social media or leave a rating on iTunes (or your preferred podcast app), that would be brilliant! THANK YOU!
