Wonderfully Bookish

This episode was originally published on August 29, 2020. We’re joined by Beth – a book blogger, BookTuber and Instagrammer at BooksNest. In the past few years, she has grown her following to 27k+ on Instagram and almost 4k on YouTube (as of August 2020). Beth shares her tips and tricks for growing your Instagram following, how to set up your account for success, and she explains how she started monetising her online content.

This episode was originally published on Oct 8, 2019. This episode is a is a very special one, because it’s time to say hello to the new Wonderfully Bookish co-host, Natasha! Creating a podcast is so much fun, but it’s also a lot of work when you do it alone. I have so many topics I’ve wanted to explore and discuss but when it’s just be sitting all alone, trying to ramble to myself for 30 minutes, it gets a little tedious – and I don’t think you’d want to listen to that either. So logically, a co-host is the best way to go. I’m so excited to have someone with me to discuss all things bookish, and hopefully make each episode a bit more interesting to listen to. We’ve got a ton of ideas and I can’t wait to see where the podcast goes from here. In this episode, we discuss favourite books, authors and genres, our thoughts on DNFing books, and we reminisce over our teenage Twilight phase.

This episode was originally published on August 8, 2019. Meet some of the most exciting voices in young adult literature during this special panel discussion at Foyles, London, with authors Lucy Powrie, Alexandra Sheppard, Kate Mallinder, and Gill Stewart. Sitting down with award-winning book blogger Michelle Toy, the panel explored the topic of Empowering Teens in YA, focusing on characterisation, storytelling and representation as a means of encouraging young peoples’ creative expression through reading. Thanks so much to Sweet Cherry Publishing for inviting me to this event and for giving me the chance to share the panel on the podcast!

This episode was originally published on May 17, 2019. In this episode, I speak with debut science fiction author Stephanie Bretherton, whose first novel Bone Lines is a dual-narrative tale that explores both pre-history and contemporary genetic science. We talk about climate fiction, how the issues we’re facing in the world are reflected in fiction, how to get published later in life, women in sci-fi, and more.

This episode was originally published on May 3, 2019. In a more relaxed (and slightly more serious than usual) episode, I talk about the issue of burning out in blogging, reading, work, and life in general. If you’re in a slump and need some advice to get out of it, this is the episode for you.

This episode was originally published on April 26, 2019. I talk with fellow book blogger Hollie about all kinds of books: fantasy books, audiobooks, and weirdly formatted books. We also talk about setting deadlines for ourselves, and trying not to burn out from working too hard. Finally, we give each other some book recommendations and I, as usual, fangirl over Neal Shusterman.

This episode was originally published on April 19, 2019. After accidentally taking a 4-month break, the Wonderfully Bookish podcast is back and ready to go again! I’m back with a quick episode to update you on what’s been happening in my life that’s made me abandon the podcast (sorry), books I’ve read recently (including one that has been causing a lot of trouble in the UKYA community, future plans for the podcast, and how YOU can be a guest.

This episode was originally published on Nov 12, 2018. I’ve known Daniel Ingram-Brown, this episode’s guest, for a while now and it was a delight to have him on the show so we can have a catch up and you can hear about all the cool stuff he’s up to! Dan is the author of a series of children’s adventure books called The Firebird Chronicles. The first book in the series, Rise of the Shadow Stealers, has been adapted into a stage production which toured at the end of October and the beginning of November. The third book, Through the Uncrossable Boundary, comes out on November 30th. I read a super advanced copy and all I can say is that it’s definitely been worth the wait! In this episode, we talk about the process of adapting a book for the stage, the release of the third and final Firebird Chronicles book, Dan’s upcoming projects, and what his typical day looks like.

This episode was originally published on Nov 5, 2018. In this episode, I chat with Chloe Seager, author of YA novel Editing Emma. The sequel, Friendship Fails of Emma Nash, was published in earlier this year. We discuss whether the worlds of writing and working in publishing, as well as humour in YA fiction and why it’s important to young people today. It’s interesting to compare her views to Simon James Green, another comedy YA writer that I interviewed a couple of episodes ago. We also chat about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which I’m taking part in this month (Nov 2018), and Chloe’s inspirations for her books, including whether they’re inspired by her own teenage years. We had a bit of trouble recording this (as Chloe mentions at the beginning of the episode, I kept sounding like a robot) and for some reason, the recording still isn’t 100% perfect. I hope you can bear with it just this once!

This episode was originally published on Oct 15, 2018. I chat with Simon James Green, author of Noah Can’t Even. We discuss why LGBT and humour are important in YA fiction, especially today, and the upcoming Proud anthology, in which Simon features with his short story about gay penguins. We also discuss Noah Can’t Even being adapted into a TV show, whether YA fiction is inclusive enough yet despite the rise in LGBT themes, and what’s next on the cards for Simon.

This episode was originally published on Oct 10, 2018. When you love a book, its screen adaptation can either hit the spot or completely miss the mark. In this fun discussion, I chat with Elle Crook, a travel and book blogger, all about film and TV adaptations, from the wonderfully great to the down right awful. We also go on a nostalgic trip down memory lane as we chat about our favourite books from childhood, including Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicholson series and the Ally’s World series by Karen McCombie. Let us know which books you loved as a kid, especially if you Ally’s World – I was surprised to find someone who loved the series as much as I did!

This episode was originally published on Oct 1, 2018. In the first episode of the Wonderfully Bookish podcast, I chat with Akemi Dawn Bowman, author of Starfish and Summer Bird Blue. Starfish was one of my favourite books this year, so I was excited to have Akemi as my first guest! Akemi discusses her inspiration, some self-care tips for aspiring writers trying to get their book published, and shares some insights into how to persevere when submitting to agents and publishers. If you’re an aspiring writer, this is for you!

This episode was originally published on Sept 23, 2018. This is a quick episode so you and the podcast can get to know each other! I’ll give you a sneak peek at some of the authors coming up in the first few episodes, chat a little bit about why this podcast came to fruition, and welcome you to the world of Wonderfully Bookish. I’m so excited that this podcast finally exists because I’ve been working on it for so long! It’s genuinely exciting that I’m getting to chat with some wonderful authors and bloggers and I can’t wait for you to listen to our discussions.