Charlie and Nikki May (This Motherless Land) discuss her childhood in Lagos and moving to England, various ways Nikki's story changed over time (quite a lot!), the Nigerian women's relay team of 1992, and the upcoming TV adaptations of both This Motherless Land and Wahala.

Please note that there is some swearing in this episode.

General references:
About the Nigerian Women's Relay team win at the 1992 Olympics
Rocks (2019)
Nikki made the shortlist of the Nigerian Prize for Literature

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Enid Blyton: The Famous Five (series)
Jane Austen: Pride And Prejudice
Jane Austen: Emma
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Nikki May: Wahala
Nikki May: This Motherless Land

Release details: recorded 29th July 2025; published 27th October 2025

Where to find Nikki online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:50 Being inspired by Jane Austen and Mansfield Park and introducing the way that the book is inspired by Nikki's own life
05:27 Expanding on how this book is inspired by Nikki's childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, and later move to England
08:52 About Nikki's brother, to whom This Motherless Land is dedicated
09:56 Talking about the Ikoyi club in Nigeria Nikki's family was a part of
11:03 The story changed so much during the writing! We discuss a few different areas - Liv, romance, JoJo
16:10 Somewhat like Funke, Nikki changed her name when she moved to England. We also discuss switching between Nigerian English and British English
20:33 Funke's father's grief
23:42 Brief discussion on how Jane Austen's sister couldn't attend her funeral
24:53 Easter eggs - carnation milk, and differences with food between the nations in this context
27:39 Could Liv have been believed about Kate?
29:27 The story beyond the pages and brief info about both This Mother Land's and Wahala's TV adaptations
33:40 Making each book different
35:30 What Nikki is writing at the moment; discussing ageism and the difference between men and women in that context
39:53 About Billy the parrot
41:06 Nikki's dogs and doing a combined dog and plot walk

Charlie and Jim C Hines (Kitemaster) discuss how his story developed over a number of years, including wonder and physics reasoning in the book, his excellent study of grief (and humour in that context), and his unique and choices in regards to the book world's belief system of an afterlife.

Please note there is some very mild swearing in this episode, as well as discussions of cancer and death. Please also note, on a very different subject, that there are spoilers for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe as well as Serenity (Firefly) and, sort of, for Star Wars: A New Hope. I doubt anyone but me will mind, but I'm including the info regardless.

General references:
Cancelled Fable Legends game
Jim's link-to-all-posts on his poses as women on the covers of fantasy books
Jim's post about the physics of the kiteships
17 Again

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
C S Lewis: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
Jim C Hines: Slayer Of Old (referenced as Unchosen Ones)
Jim C Hines: Kitemaster
Jim C Hines: Fable: Blood Of Heroes
Jim C Hines: Magic Ex Libris (series)
Jim C Hines: Goblin Quest

Release details: recorded 23rd June 2025; published 13th October 2025

Where to find Jim online: Website || Instagram || Facebook

Where to find Charlie online: Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

02:03 Struggling to come up with Kitemaster's summary
02:33 Selling the book
04:27 The parts of Kitemaster that have remained over the time Jim had been writing the story
06:44 Jim's work on the physics of how the kiteships would work
09:38 The grief in the book
13:35 Including Ossa, Nial's grandmother, who accompanies her in the form of a spirit kite, and discussions of how she would be the sum of her entire life's personalities and ages
21:11 Vikaan and Xao
26:02 Working with the cloud sky serpents and dragons, the god-like nature of the latter
28:36 World building
33:27 Everyone holds Nial's wrist!
35:25 Working with humour when you've got a theme of grief
41:38 The fictional old oral history texts Jim includes
42:58 The importance of Jim's characters to him
46:02 Queen Kavaya's thread conclusion
47:39 Could there be other stories in this world?
49:17 Jim's next book, now called Slayers Of Old

Charlie and Julie Kagawa (Fateless) discuss video games, working with fate and destiny, Julie's brilliant world building and magic system, and the decisions she made about where to end the book.

General references:
Charlie and Julie's pre-show chat (which is the reason Charlie knows Julie meant Final Fantasy X)
My episode with Samantha Sotto Yambao is 122

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Julie Kagawa: The Iron Fey
Julie Kagawa: The Blood Of Eden
Julie Kagawa: Talon

Games mentioned:
Assassin's Creed
D&D
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Guild Wars 2
Hitman
Prince Of Persia
Splinter Cell
Tomb Raider

Release details: recorded 19th May 2025; published 22nd September 2025

Where to find Julie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || YouTube (Minecraft channel)

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:35 The video game inspirations (this becomes a longer discussion)
06:09 Writing the main characters
09:36 The fatechasers as a people
11:38 Working with an ensemble cast of characters
14:34 How Julie came to choose when to reveal the details of being fateless to the character
16:39 Writing the slow burn romance
18:56 Julie's awesome world building and unique magic system
22:22 Raithe's world and what we might learn about it in book two
24:07 Kovass' religion and how Julie worked with different sects of it
27:33 On Julie's decisions as to killing characters off
29:45 Choosing where to end this book
32:29 More about book two

Charlie and Maggie Stiefvater (The Listeners) discuss the lesser-known history of the US hosting Axis diplomats in luxury hotels, the arrangements made to swap diplomats one for one, including disability and mental illness in such a story, Maggie's main character's dachshunds and their relationship to the man they never let pet them, the era-aligned game that Maggie created, and much more.

General references:
Shiver (film adaptation)
Charlie's conversation with Elaine Chiew is episode 111
Amelie
Big Fish

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Maggie Stiefvater: Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater: The Scorpio Races
Maggie Stiefvater: The Raven Cycle
Maggie Stiefvater: The Listeners

Release details: recorded 1st May 2025; published 8th September 2025

Where to find Maggie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || TikTok

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

00:01:41 How the book started
00:08:01 The history and hotels in terms of Maggie's interest. Lots of info here!
00:13:08 How Maggie created the characters; whether there's been a change in her process of 'thieving'
00:16:30 Creating June and her role as 'Hoss'
00:20:51 June and Tucker together and in the context of the sweetwater
00:25:43 Are the sweetwater or Avalon hotel characters?
00:28:57 The letters Maggie bookends the story with, and then we move on to Pennybacker and the dachshunds and Edgar
00:38:12 411
00:41:18 Disability and labels in the book, including Sandy and Maggie's decisions in regards to his story thread
00:50:04 Edgar beyond the pages
00:51:55 The arrangements during WW2 where diplomats were exchanged between the powers
00:57:49 What did Pennybacker have to say about the Swiss that he said he'd tell June?
00:59:11 The game of Winnet!
01:03:46 Present news about the Shiver film adaptation
01:04:39 Brief info on what Maggie's next adult novel

Photo credit: Stephen Voss

Charlie and Emily Slapper (Everyone I Know Is Dying) discuss her phenomenal book that looks at a young woman spiralling from mental illness. This involves discussing romantic relationships when one is depressed, the affect of parents, the affect of society, and not using labels.

General references:
I spoke to Samantha Sotto Yambao in episode 122

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Emily Slapper: Everyone I Know Is Dying
Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar

Release details: recorded 16th April 2025; published 25th August 2025

Where to find Emily online: Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:25 The inspiration, films that only scratched the surface
03:25 Emily's surprising answer to the question of what research she did
04:14 Talking of the nod to The Bell Jar
04:41 And to the question as to Emily's books in a drawer, and about Emily's original career plan
07:02 The first line and responses to Iris as a character
10:01 On not labelling Iris
11:10 The importance of writing fiction about mental illness
12:39 Including discussion on how society affects us
14:48 George and his role
18:00 Patrick and his role
20:24 The impact of Iris' parents and upbringing on her
24:44 Emily's choices as to the ending
28:30 How should we feel about Sara?
31:50 On privilege or the lack of it
33:05 Patrick's life beyond the book
34:58 The way Emily incorporates the passing of seasons
38:28 Emily's second book

Charlie and Michael Stewart (Black Wood Women) discuss the persecution of Irish people in the 17th century, the loss of and possible reintroduction of wolves in Britain, and 17th century hippies.

Please note that there is discussion of drugs in this episode.

General references:
The Bronte Writing Centre

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Elizabeth Fremantle: Honey And The Sting
Ian D Rotherham: Yorkshire's Forgotten Fenlands
Michael Stewart: King Crow
Michael Stewart: Walking The Invisible
Michael Stewart: Black Wood Women
Michael Stewart: Surrounded By My Enemy
Stacey Thomas: The Revels

Release details: recorded 14th April 2025; published 11th August 2025

Where to find Michael online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:25 The inspiration for Black Wood Women. We continue on the subject of wolves and their loss and reintroduction
06:50 What having three narratives allowed Michael to explore
08:29 The persecution of Irish people in the 1600s
11:08 Michael talks about the 1600s communities that we might today call hippy
16:14 World building, making it all so real
19:19 The language of the novel - a mix, Charlie found, of old and new
21:54 On Michael's witches taking substances
23:52 Michael's interest in ravens
29:14 The men, particularly Johanne the Swedish wolf hunter who Charlie reckons is more witch than anything else
34:53 Was the questioning in Black Wood Women of what was going on with witch accusers drawn from the history?
39:31 More about Alice
42:16 About the ecology in the book and how this relates to our present day
45:28 Is it difficult writing such a dark book?
50:19 What Michael's writing now, Surrounded By My Enemies

Charlie and Paul McVeigh (I Hear You) discuss Paul's time writing stories for the BBC, being an emotional writer, and a traumatic medical experience that has had a big effect on some of his work.

Please note there are two incredibly mild swear words in this episode.

General references:
BBC Writers Room, now BBC Writers
Paul's play is called Big Man
Paul's blog post about tips from Heather Larmour

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Kit de Waal: My Name Is Leon
Kit de Waal (ed.): Common People
Paul McVeigh: The Good Son
Paul McVeigh: I Hear You
Paul McVeigh (ed.) The 32
Paul McVeigh (ed.) Queer Love
Sarah Butler: Ten Things I've Learnt About Love
Sinéad Gleeson (ed.) The Art Of The Glimpse
Wendy Erskine: Sweet Home
Wendy Erskine: Dance Move

Release details: recorded 7th April 2025; published 28th July 2025

Where to find Paul online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:28 Paul talks about being commissioned by the BBC to write the short stories now featured in I Hear You, as well as his success in doing so
07:03 Why publish these short stories in a collection now?
13:01 Did Paul's working class background have an affect on the resilience he's discussed?
16:37 The first story, Tickles. We also talk about Paul being an emotional writer
26:01 The second story, Cuckoo, which is heavily influenced by an operation Paul had
32:45 About the 10 linked stories, The Circus
38:23 Paul tells us about the short story collection he's currently writing

Charlie and Sophie Jo (Red Flags) discuss healthy relationships particularly in the context of young people and in terms of values and hobbies. They also delve into popular media from the '90s and 2000s as included in Sophie's book.

General references:
Love Respect
10 Things I Hate About You
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
The OC
Girls
Normal People TV adaptation

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Sally Rooney: Conversations With Friends
Sally Rooney: Normal People
Sophie Jo: Red Flags

Release details: recorded 17th March 2025; published 14th July 2025

Where to find Sophie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || TikTok

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:35 The inspiration for Red Flags
04:10 More about Stephanie
08:34 Is there a sequel for Stephanie in Sophie's future?
10:54 Creating Poppy and Cam, who Charlie found were extremely well written
13:56 Sophie tells us about her work helping teens know what about healthy love looks like
17:58 The popular media references in the book from the 1990s and 2000s
20:39 The scene in the bookstore, the meta aspect to Red Flags
23:12 Talking more about relationships where people might not have interests in common
25:08 Cam's parents and their affects on his views of relationships and so on
28:55 Talking about the characters we haven't yet talked about
31:13 Cam's granddad
33:01 Where might Poppy and Cam end up in the future?
35:59 What the response has been from teen readers
37:23 Some details about Sophie's next book