John Purcell

In this episode, John Purcell takes us through the process behind writing his novel The Lessons.  We had one of those wonderful long meandering chats, not just about John’s novel, but about lots of other books. We discovered a mutual love for EM Forster’s A Room with a View and why it’s such a perfect novel. And John shared the fascinating method he used to learn from the classics. And of course we talked about the creation of his novel The Lessons - how he wrote the 4 first person narratives, how he overcame a lifelong aversion to spreadsheets to help structure the novel and the importance of talking to yourself, preferably while wandering over the Kent downs or your locale of choice. John also shared the thrills and spills of the editing process for this novel - in a word, brutal - as well as differentiating between the character voices and how to end a chapter.You’ll find links to buy both paperback and ebook versions of The Lessons here.ABOUT JOHN PURCELLWhile still in his twenties, he opened a second-hand bookshop in Sydney – imaginatively called 'John's Bookshop' – in which he sat for ten years reading, ranting and writing. Since then he has written (under a pseudonym) a series of successful novels and, as part of his previous role as Director of Books at Booktopia, interviewed hundreds of writers about their work. John’s 2018 novel, The Girl on the Page was a bestseller, and a film adaptation is in the works. He now lives in the English countryside with his wife, three dogs, four cats and his overlarge book collection.Website: https://www.johnpurcellauthor.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnpurcellauthorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookeboy/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookeboyFor information about the Your Author Website course, go to https://www.writerscentre.com.au/store/courses/your-author-website/To enter this month’s competition, head to Instagram or Facebook and look for the giveaway post.This podcast is recorded on the beautiful, unceded lands of the Garigal people of the Eora nation.Full show notes available at writersbookclubpodcast.com