Replacing Plot with Emotion in Quiet Novels

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

How To, Books, Education, Fiction, Arts

4.8 • 733 Ratings

🗓️ 3 July 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this engaging conversation, Bianca interviews debut author Lidija Hilje. Her articles and essays were published in the New York Times, and other outlets. She runs a book club for writers with a membership of close to 100, and is an active member of the WFWA.The authors discuss her novel 'Slanting Towards the Sea,' exploring themes of literary citizenship, the writing process, and the emotional depth of her characters. Lidija shares her journey from being a book coach to a published author, the challenges of writing in a foreign setting, and the importance of emotional truth in storytelling. The discussion also delves into her querying experience and the significance of crafting a compelling opening for a quiet novel.

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.
0:11.9	I'm Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Carly Waters and Cici Lira from PS Literary Agency.
0:19.7	Hi everyone, we are welcoming back a guest today, this time in the capacity of debut author,
0:25.6	which is incredible. Our guest is a Croatian novelist and certified book coach.
0:30.5	Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and other outlets.
0:33.8	After 10 years of trying cases before Croatian courts, she obtained a book coaching certification and has been working professionally with writers ever since.
0:43.1	She lives in Zadar, Croatia with her husband and two daughters.
0:47.0	Slanting towards the sea is her first novel.
0:50.3	It's my pleasure to welcome Lydia Hilja.
0:53.2	Lydia, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for
0:56.2	having me again. Yes, and for our listeners, can you just give us a brief overview of what we
1:02.1	discussed the first time because you gave us a very helpful genre guide and there may be new
1:08.1	listeners who'd like to go back and listen to that episode.
1:12.5	Yeah, so the first time I visited, I was a guest on your podcast in the capacity of a book coach,
1:18.4	and I came to discuss my genre guide, which was a guide that discerns the differences
1:25.0	between literary, woman's fiction, upmarket fiction, that kind of
1:30.5	thing. So we discussed that the first time around. Yeah, it was a great resource for those
1:36.3	of you who've either forgotten about the episode or won't listeners then, go back and find it.
1:41.4	Search for Lydia's name and you will find that episode. Right. So
1:45.5	those of you watching on our YouTube channel, I'm holding up the beautiful cover of slanting
1:51.8	towards the sea. It's just stunning. Lydia, who painted this? How much say did you have in
1:57.9	this cover? Well, it's a curious story because I saw this painting on Instagram before my book even went on
	...

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