Lucy Ashe, author of 'The Model Patient' - Historical Thriller writer discusses finding control, why a book deal changes things, and unpacking therapy
Writer's Routine
Dan Simpson
4.9 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we're chatting to Lucy Ashe. Lucy trained at the Royal Ballet school, and now works as a teacher in Brooklyn, whilst writing brilliant books. Her debut, 'Clara and Olivia', was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger Award. Her follow up, 'The Sleeping Beauties', was also set in the world of ballet.
The new novel is 'The Model Patient'. Set in 1960s London, it explores obsession and betrayal. In the quiet hush of her therapists office, Evelyn Westbrook finds herself revealing secrets she'd prefer to stay hidden. When her sessions with the enigmatic Dr. Daley starts to give more questions than answers, she finds her interest in him turn into an obsession. It was inspired by Lucy's own traumatic relationship with a therapist, and it helped her find some control in that strange situation.
We talk about Lucy's writing life, after recently having her first child, and how that's changed how much time she thought she'd have to write. Also, hear how a book deal changes how you write... does it add confidence or pressure? And, how it's a slight diversion from her normal historical fiction book - she's found the psychological thriller in this one.
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Also, this week we're supported by the Quick Book Reviews podcast with Philippa Hall. Take a listen wherever you've got this show.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week's episode of Writers Routine is sponsored by the Quick Book Reviews podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | If this show takes you behind the scenes of writing books, the Quick Book Reviews podcast takes you into what makes them brilliant. |
| 0:13.0 | It's all about the authors too. You can join Philippa, who for the last six years has been chatting to some of the biggest authors around and discovering |
| 0:22.0 | their newest work. If you're a reader looking for new book recommendations and getting to know |
| 0:27.1 | your favourite writers, this is the perfect show for you with in-depth chats and spoiler-free book |
| 0:33.3 | reviews in perfect bite-sized chunks to fit easily into your day. |
| 0:38.7 | Philippa gets into all the fun questions too, finding out what authors like to eat, where they |
| 0:43.9 | want to go on holiday, and the gossip about bits of their life that you won't find anywhere |
| 0:49.4 | else. All that with some very speedy book reviews, getting right to the heart of all the newest stuff out there and the best ones for you to read. |
| 1:01.8 | The Quick Book Reviews podcast is a lighthearted look at authors and what you might love about their new book. |
| 1:08.3 | You can get two episodes a week, wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for |
| 1:12.9 | the Quick Book Reviews podcast. This week's episode of writer's routine is sponsored by Ingrams |
| 1:21.7 | Spark, who let you publish like a pro. You have a story, so share it with the world. Today, there's no need to wait |
| 1:29.9 | for someone else to help your book get read. You can take control. You can do it for yourself |
| 1:35.4 | with Ingram Spark who offer everything that you need to publish, promote, sell and print |
| 1:41.6 | your book, where the hardcover paperback e-book you can publish the way that you want. |
| 1:47.7 | Ingram Spark lets you explore all the publishing options to find out what's right for you. |
| 1:52.8 | It offers global e-book and print distribution connecting your creativity with over 45,000 libraries, retailers, and online stores. Now, I know in doing over 400 |
| 2:04.7 | episodes of this show that everything going into self-publishing can be a bit intimidating, what |
| 2:11.5 | with ISBNs and covers and correct file formats and getting it into the right places and then getting |
| 2:17.4 | it read once it's there. |
| 2:19.3 | And all that happens after you've actually got the book written. That's why Ingram Spark has a huge |
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