Talking to My Friends About Books with author Chris Penhall

As part of Talking to My Friends About Books I've embarked on a new adventure - a radio show for West Wilts Radio called Books and Tunes!

In this episode I chat to author of romcoms, gothic novels, timeslips and much more, Kirsty Ferry and writer, broadcaster and charity worker, Tony Fisher talks about his long radio career, his love of books and how he is now writing his own novels, instead of interviewing authors about theirs.

I was recently invited onto BBC Upload in the East on World Book Day, to talk about how I became a writer, and why now I'm doing it, I can't seem to stop!

As part of my Talking to My Friends about Books podcast, I've just started a new bookish adventure:

Here's my new radio show for West Wilts Radio. Its called Books and Tunes because I talk to writers and readers about books and play some music!

In this episode I chat to international best selling author of romantic women's fiction, Lizzie Chantree about why and how her writing journey started and how and where she writes. And Peter Dixon of The Bumbling Book Club talks about what this all-male book group reads and why it works. Plus avid reader, Deborah Stephenson takes us through some of her favourite reads.

I love chatting to people about books, hence the clever title of my occasional podcast, The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast.

And for this one it is sci-fi author, Anka Troitsky, who I first met many years ago when we began dancing salsa at the same time. 'Back in the day' as I like to call it, we didn't really discuss the fact that we were both aspiring novelists. And then we lost touch. Fast forward about 15 years, and a familiar face turned up at the Buddy Writing group I run in Chelmsford with fellow author, Lizzie Chantree, and it was only then, that Anka Troitsky and myself discovered that we had both nurtured, all those years ago, the same dream - to write books!

And so far, Anka has had three published - Object and Vist, Construct and Vist, and Vist and Proper Ganda. So, I invited her on to the podcast for a chat about writing and all that kind of thing.

Information about her books and her social media links can be found on https://www.ankatroitsky.com/

Summer in Your Eyes is now out as an audio book (as well as paperback and e-book.)

So here's a brief extract read by Sophie Dora Hall to whet your appetite

Travel writer Holly Merriweather knows a fresh start is just what she needs. The break-up with her childhood sweetheart and collapse of their artisan cheese business definitely didn’t help in that department. So Holly’s thrilled to score her dream job at an iconic travel book publisher. She’s ready for sunsets in Marrakech, cocktails on the French Riviera and gondola rides through the Venetian canals. And she’s had enough of men. She’s putting herself and her career first. But of course her new colleague — and the boss’s son — Jack is drop-dead gorgeous. And it turns out the job is not the glamourous sightseeing she was expecting. She struggles to stay away from Jack and they begin to work together to ensure the company’s legacy. Perhaps this summer she’s heading towards the most exciting chapter of her life…

©2023 Chris Penhall (P)2023 Soundings

I spoke to author,Julie Haworth, last year about her debut novel, Always By Your Side, published by Simon & Schuster in 2022. 

She has now won the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award for the book, in the Romantic Novelists' Association's (RNA) annual Romantic Novel Awards for 2023.  Always By Your Side is also due out in paperback in August. 

I thought, that it would be nice to catch up with Julie to see how she feels now she's got used to the idea of being the winner of such a prestigious award.

Always By Your Side

About the book

When school teacher Rose loses her dream job at a London primary school, her self-confidence takes a knock. Worse still, her stockbroker fiancé, Ollie, sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to join his firm, which only adds to the feelings Rose has that their relationship might be coming to an end.

An unexpected phone call, and an elderly aunt who’s taken a fall, means Rose must drop everything – including Ollie – and return to Blossom Heath, the Sussex village she grew up in.

With no job to rush home to, Rose decides to stay in Blossom Heath for the Summer, trading London for the idyllic countryside. Here Rose finds herself reconnecting to the village life of her childhood in more ways than one, including falling head-over-heels for local farmer, Jake.

So when her London life comes calling, Rose is faced with an impossible choice… to return to the high-pressure life of her past, or embrace the joy of a new life in the country.

About Julie Howarth

Julie Haworth writes uplifting stories about friendship and community, bursting with romance and charm, from her home in the bustling city of Chelmsford, Essex. Her debut novel, Always By Your Side, was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2022 as an e-book and the audiobook was released in October 2022. The paperback will be published in the summer of 2023. Julie is still pinching herself that she’s realised her lifelong dream of becoming a published author! When she’s not busy writing or running her copywriting business, Julie can mainly be found shopping, drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee and hanging out with her two rescue cats. Julie is also a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors

You can follow Julie on Instagram and Twitter: @juliehowarthauthor

You can buy the books via all major platforms including https://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Your-Side-uplifting-friendship-ebook/dp/B09HZ3PFN4

Ray Clark is a Sony Award-winning radio presenter and writer, who's written a memoir about his life - Stay Tuned - I Could Say Something Brilliant at Any Moment!

His career has spanned stints on the legendary Radio Caroline, commercial, American, and BBC radio.

With tens of thousands of hours of radio shows over four decades behind the microphone, and award-winning documentaries to his name, Ray has interviewed hundreds of household names - another terrific source of anecdotes for this book. Ray Clark can still be heard every week worldwide on Radio Caroline, BBC Radio Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk and BBC Essex in the UK, and regularly on KDKA Pittsburgh and other American radio stations. Away from the studio, he has written two books: Radio Caroline – The True Story of the Boat That Rocked and The Great British Woodstock – The Incredible story of the Weeley Festival 1971. He lives in Burnham on Crouch with his wife Shelley and has lost not one jot of enthusiasm for his childhood dream of ‘playing records on the radio’.

In my occasional series - The Talking to my friends about books podcast, I chat to Deborah Klee, who's latest novel, The Forever Cruise, has just been published.

We chat about the book, writing, and how much we love books!

About Deborah Klee:

 Deborah Klée writes page-turning, uplifting stories about friendship, community, and emotional courage.

She has worked as an occupational therapist, a health service manager, a freelance journalist, and management consultant in health and social care.

Deborah lives on the Essex coast, where she loves to walk by the sea or the surrounding countryside filling her pockets with shells, and acorns, and her head with stories.

Visit her on her website at www.abrakdeborah.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter @DeborahKlee

I love talking to my friends about books, so here's my  occasional podcast  -  Talking to My Friends About Books because I'm really good at titles....ha ha!

Julie Howarth had her first novel, Always By Your Side, published in August and the audiobook has now come out too, so we had a chat about that, writing and taking a leap of faith to unexpectedly make your dream come true.

You can follow Julie on Instagram and Twitter: @juliehowarthauthor

Author Lizzie Chantree and myself decided we wanted to get writers together to write in a supportive and relaxing environment - to us, this is a cafe! So we came up with the idea of free buddy-writing sessions, where we get together, have a couple of writing sprints - Lizzie has a timer and everything - and have a chat, drink coffee, a cake, or whatever you want. Whether you write a page, a paragraph, a line or two words, we want to encourage everyone who wants to give it a go, to get writing.

We've had two day-time sessions so far, and are now venturing into the evenings.

It's at Fete Grays Yard in Chelmsford on October 20th between 6.30pm and 8.30pm - you must book - check out the events section on the Fete_GraysYard Instagram page for all the info.

BBC Essex's Tony Fisher is a real lover of books, reading and is also an author himself, and he chatted to Lizzie on his BBC Essex radio programme about the event.

Chris Penhall's Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast

In this edition of the Talking to my friends about Books Podcast, myself and author Lizzie Chantree discuss our love for romantic fiction, Marian Keyes and how we feel about hammocks. Plus we talk about her  novel, The Little Ice Cream Shop by the Sea e, Shh….It’s Our Secret.

In this episode of The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast (in which I talk to my friends about books mainly, whilst sometimes meandering around other stuff...) author Gina Hollands and I chat about  her novel,  The Fall and Rise of Ronni Fairweather

Essex-based author, Carrie Elks was scouted by a literary agent after she wrote Twilight fan fiction, which led to her very first book being published in Brazil

She is now a very successful hybrid author, meaning some of her books are traditionally published and some are published by herself. Hugely prolific, she has already had one book out this year  called Leave me Breathless – and has another one coming out soon called Lost in Him.

We chatted recently about how she works and what its like having your novels translated into many different languages, amongst many other things of course..

Find out more about Carrie via https://www.carrieelks.com/