How Withholding Backstory and Context Can Actually Elevate A Story
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 733 Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this inspiring interview, Bianca connects with debut author Aisling Rawle and dives into ‘The Compound’—a dark, gripping tale set in the twisted world of reality TV. She opens up about her unconventional path to publishing, the pivotal role her literary agent played, and the novel’s central themes of desire, materialism, and social critique. Aisling unpacks her approach to character development and reflects on the lasting influence of Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ on her work. From creative inspiration to industry insight, this discussion reveals the raw truth about writing, ambition, and the unpredictable road to literary success.
Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi there and welcome to our show, the shit no one tells you about writing. I'm Bianca |
| 0:12.7 | Moray and I'm joined by Carly Waters and C.C. Lira from PS Literary Agency. |
| 0:19.6 | Hi everyone. Today's guest was born in 1998. |
| 0:24.5 | I know some of you are going to be very triggered by that. |
| 0:27.4 | Take some deep breaths. |
| 0:28.7 | She was raised in the very small village of Litrum in the west of Ireland. |
| 0:32.9 | She now lives in Dublin where she is an English teacher in a secondary school. |
| 0:37.2 | The compound is her first book. |
| 0:39.6 | It's my pleasure to welcome Ashling Rawl. Ashling, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. |
| 0:45.7 | It is wonderful, wonderful having you. This book, man, those of you watching on YouTube, |
| 0:51.6 | I'm holding the galley app. It's quite battered, which is a good sign with me. |
| 0:55.9 | The more battered the book, the more I've enjoyed it. It's called The Compound. And I'm just |
| 1:00.8 | going to read you the flap copy so everyone kind of has context for what we're talking about. |
| 1:05.8 | Lily, a bored, beautiful 20-something wakes up on a remote desert compound alongside 19 other contestants on a popular |
| 1:13.8 | reality TV show. To win, she must at last her housemates while competing in challenges for |
| 1:19.3 | luxury rewards such as champagne and lipstick and communal necessities to outfit their new home, |
| 1:26.2 | such as food appliances and a front door. |
| 1:29.8 | The cameras are catching all of her angles good and bad, but Lidly has no desire to leave. |
| 1:34.6 | Why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? |
| 1:37.1 | As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly |
| 1:42.7 | difficult to distinguish between desire |
| 1:45.2 | and desperation. When the producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting even dangerous |
... |
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