Always Take Notes is a fortnightly podcast from London for and about writers and writing. Hosts Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd speak to a diverse range of people in the industry on a variety of topics, from the mysteries of slush piles and per-word rates, to how data are changing the ways newspapers do business and how to pitch a book. patreon.com/alwaystakenotes
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Amanda Harris on the economics of publishing, setting up her own literary agency and what makes a worthwhile celebrity book
Rachel and Simon speak to the literary agent Amanda Harris. Amanda started her publishing career in publicity, first at Pan Macmillan, then at Simon and Schuster. She switched to editorial and worked with authors including David Baldacci and Jackie Collins before moving to Orion, where she launched two imprints, Orion Spring and Seven Dials. In 2019 Amanda joined YMU, a global talent agency, and…
Jeff Maysh on optioning dozens of his magazine stories to film and TV production companies and the roots of his interest in crime
Simon and Rachel speak with the journalist Jeff Maysh. Jeff's work, specialising in narrative non-fiction with cinematic structure, and focusing on untold true stories, has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek and the Financial Times. With over 30 stories in development for film and television, he's been called "the most optioned writer working today". His story from…
Vicki Willden-Lebrecht on screens, the reading crisis and building a business around illustrated children's books
Rachel and Simon speak with the literary agent Vicki Willden-Lebrecht. Vicki set up The Bright Agency in 2003; today the company represents authors and artists from across the world. Its clients include Benji Davies (the creator of the "Storm Whale" series and the illustrator of the "Bizzy Bear" books), David Litchfield (the author and illustrator of the "The Bear & the Piano" series) and the…
Tom Rob Smith on his bestselling debut "Child 44", screenwriting for the BBC and FX, and taking a different approach in his new novel "Twenty Years Together"
Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and screenwriter Tom Rob Smith. Tom wrote his first novel, "Child 44", about a serial killer in Soviet Russia, at the age of 26. After publication in 2008, the novel went on to sell over two million copies, with translations in 35 languages. It won the International Thriller Writer Award for Best First Novel, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and…
Siri Hustvedt talks about her marriage to the novelist Paul Auster - and writing about him after his death in “Ghost Stories”
Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and essayist Siri Hustvedt. Born in Minnesota in 1955 to a Norwegian mother and American father, Siri grew up bilingual. On a family trip one summer, she read voraciously and decided she wanted to become a writer. In 1981 Siri published her first poem in the Paris Review and a small collection emerged two years later. In 1992 she published her debut novel,…
John Lanchester on his novelistic portrayal of London on the brink of a financial crisis in "Capital" and intergenerational strife in his new book "Look What You Made Me Do"
Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and journalist John Lanchester. John has written six works of fiction including "The Debt to Pleasure", "Capital" and "Fragrant Harbour" and four of non-fiction including "Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay". His books have won the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award, the E. M. Forster Award and the Premi Llibreter, been…
Kathryn Stockett on the success (and controversy) of "The Help" and taking 17 years to publish a follow-up novel, "The Calamity Club"
Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Kathryn Stockett. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Kathryn moved to New York after university and spent almost a decade working in magazine publishing and marketing. In 2001, reeling from the 9/11 attacks and missing home, Kathryn started writing "The Help". The story of black maids and their white employers in Jackson in the 1960s became a sleeper…
Michael Morpurgo on how his novel about a horse in the First World War gained a spectacular second life on stage and screen
In an episode recorded live in Bristol, Simon and Rachel speak with the children's author Michael Morpurgo. A former primary-school teacher, Michael has written over 150 books, including "Private Peaceful", "Kensuke’s Kingdom" and "The Butterfly Lion". "War Horse", first published in 1982, later became a hugely successful production from the National Theatre and then, in 2011, a film directed by…
Lauren Groff on book bans, artificial intelligence and what novels set in the past reveal about the present
Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and short-story writer Lauren Groff. Lauren is the bestselling author of the novels "The Monsters of Templeton", "Arcadia", "Fates and Furies", "Matrix" and "The Vaster Wilds", and the short-story collections "Delicate Edible Birds" and "Florida". "Fates and Furies", "Florida" and "Matrix" were all finalists for the National Book Award in the United States.…
Jason Burke on his career as a foreign correspondent and unravelling 1970s terror networks in his new book
Simon and Rachel speak to Jason Burke, the international security correspondent for the Guardian. Jason has been a foreign correspondent for almost 30 years, reporting from the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and Africa. He writes regularly on terrorism and is the author of five books: "The New Threat from Islamic Militancy" (which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2016); "The 9/11 Wars"…
