The Literary Sofa
Guest Authors
Writers on Location – Jason Hewitt on writing a Road Novel
To start the autumn season on the Literary Sofa, I am delighted to welcome Jason Hewitt as the first author to appear twice in my Writers on Location series. I have got to know Jason in real life since he wrote about Arctic Norway, one of the settings for his acclaimed debut The Dynamite Room, and I’m impressed … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Virginia Baily on Rome
The destination for today’s Writers on Location, Rome, is one of Europe’s most visited cities and high on many a travel wishlist. I have been there three times (although the most recent was fifteen years ago), and in a similar-but-different way to the story Ginny tells in today’s piece, it instantly became a significant place … Continue reading
Guest Author – Anne Goodwin – When small is beautiful in the publication circus
It is always a good day on the Literary Sofa when I get to feature a book and author whose path to publication I have followed for some time. It’s inspiring to see new writers succeed and increasingly apparent that there’s more than one way to get a story into the hands of readers, as several recent … Continue reading
Guest Author – Jon Teckman on being Published but Unagented (via Open Submissions)
I said there would be no post this week but as the Literary Sofa is currently ‘having a moment’ I’ve decided to try and fit in as much as possible before I disappear for August. We’ve had a provocation on diversity from Nikesh Shukla. Last week we had a post that made people cry (and … Continue reading
Guest Author – Antonia Honeywell: Agented and Unpublished
Firstly, thank you for the extraordinary response to Nikesh Shukla’s brilliant post on the subject of diversity in fiction last week and for the many thoughtful contributions (here and elsewhere) to a debate which people are clearly keen to have whether or not they agree with his ‘provocation’ to white writers – and some expressed valid … Continue reading
Guest Post – True Diversity in Fiction – a Provocation from Nikesh Shukla
Many posts have sparked lively debate on the Literary Sofa, but today is the first time I have knowingly provided a platform for a ‘provocation’ ! Although it’s not our topic, Nikesh Shukla’s second novel Meatspace is out in paperback today: it too is provocative, thoughtful and very funny; an entertaining but uncomfortable read for … Continue reading
Guest Author – Jami Attenberg on Playing with Form
Books come through my letterbox almost every day, an intriguing mix of the eagerly awaited, surprise discoveries and (occasionally) things so far off my radar that it’s quite funny. All keen readers have a few favourite ingredients which will send a book to the top of their TBR pile and for me that is the … Continue reading
Guest Post – Voula Grand on The next GONE GIRL (The spells stories cast – or don’t)
Today I’m joined by a friend, the author and psychologist Voula Grand. Voula and I met soon after I joined Twitter and started the Literary Sofa blog. She has been an early reader of the two novels I’ve written and her generous feedback, giving me the benefit of her professional perspective, has been fascinating and immensely … Continue reading
Guest Author – Danny Scheinmann on Crowd-funding his second novel
Welcome to today’s guest Danny Scheinmann, author of international bestseller Random Acts of Heroic Love, a book I really enjoyed a few years back. It came as a surprise to see that Danny’s second novel (which has a great premise, by the way) is being crowd-funded on Unbound. I had a feeling there might be … Continue reading
Guest Author – Paul McVeigh on Writing a Difficult Setting
It is a huge personal thrill to have Paul McVeigh visit the Literary Sofa. There’s a reason I’ll never forget the night Paul first crossed my radar in 2012. We were both in the line-up for one of Rattle Tales’ fantastic spoken word events in Brighton. It was my first public reading and it went much … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 