Jo is the author of the Penny Dreadful series and the Rachel Riley books, and we discuss the importance of funny books for children, and her tips on how to write them. I think her partnership with Chris Hoy and the illustrator Clare Elsom in the Flying Fergus series is the model for celebrity publishing, so listen out. It can be done well!

We discuss the habit of writing, the accountability of Zoom writing sessions in lockdown – highly recommended, even now – and getting your book made into a BAFTA-winning TV show. Does it change your life? Am I talking to Jo as she lounges by her pool in the South of France? What are the average hourly earnings for writers, by the way?

When we spoke, Jo’s latest adult novel, The Talk of Pram Town, was about to be launched. I absolutely loved this book. It’s set between the 1980s of the royal wedding, and the late 1960s, telling the story of Jean, her runaway daugther Connie and her daughter Sadie. When Connie dies, Jean takes her granddaughter back to Harlow in Essex, where Connie grew up. I think of it as a story of Essex, sex and secrets. It’s heartbreaking and funny and true. Jo’s prose is brilliant and her dialogue is spot on. It didn’t get the launch it deserved because of lockdown, so do look out for it.

Links:

Jo's website: https://joannanadin.com
Bath Spa MA for writers for children and young adults: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-writing-for-young-people/
Bristol University MA Creative Writing: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/2021/arts/ma-creative-writing/
Jo All Alone TV series: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8047424/
Lollies book awards (for laugh out loud books): https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/lollies.
Be Amazing! An inspiring guide to being your own champion by Sir Chris Hoy: https://www.waterstones.com/book/be-amazing-an-inspiring-guide-to-being-your-own-champion/sir-chris-hoy/9781406394733
Jo and Sir Chris Hoy talking about writing the Flying Fergus series together: https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-on-demand/chris-hoy-and-joanna-nadin
Into The Woods by John Yorke: https://www.waterstones.com/book/into-the-woods/john-yorke/9780141978109
The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-science-of-storytelling/will-storr/9780008276973
The Bestseller Experiment podcast with John Yorke as guest: https://bestsellerexperiment.com/ep034-into-the-woods-with-john-yorke/

The ‘Masterminds’ name was actually suggested years ago by Christopher, who produces Prepublished. It’s a term commonly used for groups that get together to learn and share knowledge on a specialist subject. In this case: writing YA fiction. The group meets once a week or once a fortnight (online during lockdown) to workshop a couple of pieces and to be each other’s encouragement, writing conscience and inspiration. As you’ll hear, this was more necessary than ever at the time we spoke.

Thanks as always to Christopher Pett for production and editing.

Links:

City Lit: https://www.citylit.ac.uk/

Arvon: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/

British Library: https://www.bl.uk/

David Higham: https://www.davidhigham.co.uk/

Undiscovered Voices competition, run by SCBWI: https://www.undiscoveredvoices.com/

City Uni Novel Studio: https://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/short-courses/courses/the-novel-studio/

Faber FAB Prize: https://www.fabprize.org/

Spread the Word: : https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/projects/london-writers-awards/

In season one of Prepublished, I talked mostly to writers, agents and editors in the world of children’s fiction, as that’s where I spent the first ten years of my published life. Season two will spread its wings a bit and include conversations with writers across all age groups, including poets and playwrights, debut authors and bestsellers. As before, we’ll also take a look behind the scenes at the world of publishing.

But I start where I left off, with children’s writing. James Nicol is the author of a fantasy children’s series, published by Barry Cunningham of Chicken House. Barry is the man who discovered JK Rowling, Lucy Christopher, MG Leonard, Kiran Millwood Hargrave (sorry I misspoke your surname in the spoken intro, Kiran), Maz Evans and, in amongst them, me.

James is the first person I spoke to for this series, during the first lockdown, and once we’d mastered the technology, it was a balm to the soul. Like me, he had a long route to becoming a published writer. I love his story about turning down a dependable job in a sticking foam factory to work as a bookseller for many years.

James took various writing courses while he honed his craft, and I wanted to discuss the value of these with him. Is it worth it? Should one do it? What do you get out of it? All useful things to know, I think. As always, it was good to talk to a fellow writer about the ups and downs of the road to publication. I loved his comment that ‘you can’t fix a blank page’. If you want to be a writer, however hard it is, you first have to write.

https://jamesnicolbooks.com

https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk

https://www.chickenhousebooks.com