Episode 108 In Conversation with Ashleigh Nugent

Ashleigh Nugent’s debut novel, LOCKS, was published by Picador Books in 2023 to rave reviews including 4/5 stars in the Daily Telegraph. LOCKS recently secured a TV deal with 2LE Media. Ashleigh has also written for theatres, academic journals, poetry anthologies and magazines. Ashleigh was Liverpool City Region’s Artist of the Year in 2021. He is also course director at RiseUp, where he uses his own life experience and mindset expertise to support prisoners.LOCKSPublished by Picador 22nd June 2023First self-published in May 2020Paperback coming on 27th June 2024Ashleigh will be touring around libraries, bookshops and prisons throughout 2024.Ashleigh said "My biggest fear was that my family would hate me for writing the book, and that Black people would misunderstand the message, white people would be offended and LGBT people, women and all kinds of other people would misunderstand my use of derogatory terms from the 1990s."You can connect to Ashleigh on his website - ashleighnugent.comAnd on social media - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedInI asked Ashleigh what his advice to other writers would be and he said:"While writing ‘Locks’ I had a picture of Tupac Shakur on my wall, watching over me and encouraging me to take on board his work ethic. I would hear Tupac’s voice in my head telling me (in his own expletive-laden Tupac-ish way) to get it done.  My advice to others, and self, is to do it your way -- 100% -- and, eventually, people will get it, people will come on board and support and help you to make this happen. But don’t wait for anyone, no excuses, stop procrasti-learning. Just CRACK ON!Write 500 words per day. Do that 5 days a week and you have 2,500 words a week; that’s 10,000 words a month; that’s 120,000 words a year. Novel done."Support the showJoin me on Substack - here - for more insights into writing and being published, as well as mindset tips and tools. You can subscribe to get access to much more from me, including workshops and coaching.If you would like to show your love for the podcast, please consider buying me a coffee through BuyMeACoffee.com. This gives you an opportunity to make a small, one-off donation - you are not committed to regular payments. Making the podcast earns me no money, and in fact costs me a fair bit, but I do it for the love, and because I have such fun talking with wonderful authors. Even if you can't afford to buy me a coffee, simply letting me know that you love the podcast means a lot to me. Please take a moment to leave a star rating, write a review, or share the episode with others you know who will benefit from listening in, or you can tag me in social media when you share an episode that you love with your followers.My website is http://www.zoerichards.co.uk where you can discover how you can work with me, and you can find me on TwiX and Instagram as @zoerichardsukAnd finally my debut novel, Garden of Her Heart, is out now and you can buy your copy here.Happy writing, and may the wo...