Mandy Robotham, author of 'The Hidden Storyteller' - Historical Fiction writer discusses the rules of genre, needing a deadline, and stopping when it gets good
Writer's Routine
Dan Simpson
4.9 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mandy Robotham has had many careers, and is busy. She's worked as a midwife, a journalist, and now is an author across genres. Her newest novel is 'The Hidden Storyteller', tells the story of reporter Georgie Young who, in 1946 returns to Germany and finds it unrecognisable post-war, she then teams up with detective Harri Schroder to catch a killer.
We talk about historical fiction, how she knows the rules of the genre, and how much she thinks about the style of the writing. You can hear about the thorough research she took on, about what happens when you get caught out, and why Buffalo wings were her undoing.
Mandy discusses the balance of being an extroverted writer, how she finds the male voice, and why she likes to stop mid-scene.
This week's episode is sponsored by 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', a brand new true crime podcast. Take a listen wherever you get your shows.
Support us at patreon.com/writersroutine
@writerspod
writersroutine.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, welcome along to writer's routine. It's the podcast where we take a look through an author's |
| 0:13.7 | working day, see how they get stuff done. This week we're chatting to Mandy Robotham. Her new |
| 0:19.1 | novel is The Hidden Storyteller. We talk about the |
| 0:22.7 | rules of historical fiction, how strictly she sticks to them, also why she needs a deadline, |
| 0:28.7 | and why a life of many different careers has given her a dedication to the work. |
| 0:34.8 | I have to get down to it and I have to treat it like a job. |
| 0:38.7 | And I worked for 20 years as a midwife, you know, shifting. |
| 0:43.3 | You just get into that work pattern. |
| 0:45.2 | Just have to get up and you have to do it. |
| 0:47.4 | And then when you do it, you love it. |
| 0:50.3 | And then when I'm in researching stages, when I'm not writing, so usually about two months before I start writing every book, it's research. |
| 0:58.3 | I really miss it and I get very itchy. |
| 1:01.0 | I get very grumpy because I'm not writing. |
| 1:04.7 | And I just know that I'm ready to write when I start, little scenes start popping up in my head and I'm, I just can't help but write them down. |
| 1:13.4 | There is more with Mandy Robotham in this week's writers routine. |
| 1:23.9 | Yes, welcome along to the show. My name is Dan Simpson. Thank you for being there for following, for listening and hopefully sharing. In this podcast, we try and see how people get stuff done. We steal some creative and planning secrets and chat to authors about how they plan their day and their life and their work and their space |
| 1:45.1 | to give them the best chance of getting the words out. |
| 1:48.8 | And our episode this week is brought to you by the new True Crime podcast, |
| 1:52.9 | Who is the Cheese Wire Killer? |
| 1:55.2 | It's all about a 1983 murder unsolved, |
| 1:59.4 | regarded as one of Scotland's most gruesome cases. And I think it's perfect for us. |
| 2:05.4 | It's crime writing, storytelling and podcasting. And I think that, well, I hope that you love all of |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dan Simpson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dan Simpson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.