Robert Thorogood, author of 'Death Comes to Marlow' - Mystery writer talks about making stories fun, cosy crime, and stopping the excuses
Writer's Routine
Dan Simpson
4.9 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2023
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Robert Thorogood's newest novel is 'Death Comes to Marlow'. It's the 2nd in the 'Marlow Murder Club Mysteries', about a group of amateur sleuths who solve crimes in a quintessentially British town. We talk about his love of cosy crime, why he is inspired by Agatha Christie's need to keep things fun, and why he wanted to write a mystery about where he lives.
Robert created 'Death in Paradise', a tv series that has become a BBC institution, and is just wrapping it's 13th series. You can hear the story behind that, and why a fear of failure still drives him even after a triumphant TV show, and a bestselling book series.
We chat through why he starts early, as early time is bonus time, also why you should always serve dessert first, and why you need to stop tricking yourself that the day isn't right to write.
This week's episode is sponsored by 'The Return of King Arthur', a historical fantasy series by Jacob Sannox. There are 3 in the series, 'The Ravenmaster's Revenge', 'Agravain's Escape' and 'Tristan's Regret'. It's dual-timeline, flashing between modern day and the 5th century. If you enjoy fantasy like Tolkien and George RR Martin, crime like Lee Child, and a touch of historical fiction like Bernard Cornwell, you'll love these. Get a copy on Amazon or at jacobsannox.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of writer's routine, this week chatting to Robert Thurgood. |
| 0:14.3 | His newest novel is Death Comes to Marlowe. It's the second in the Marlowe Murder Club series, |
| 0:20.2 | all about amateur sleuths who help solve mysteries in their quintessentially British town. |
| 0:25.6 | It's being made into a TV series, and he's got a lot of experience in that, which we'll chat through in a sec. |
| 0:31.8 | Also, you can hear why he works in a pile of tat and why it's important to not trick yourself that you can't write, it gets in the way. |
| 0:39.8 | But it is so hard not to, I mean, to sort of bluff and double bluff yourself into what you need in order to write. |
| 0:46.4 | You know, you can easily sit down over morning and trick yourself into not being able to write for eight hours. |
| 0:51.7 | So that's what you're fighting against every day, |
| 0:54.8 | is this sort of fear that, oh God, it's today the day that I just, the environment's not right, |
| 1:00.9 | or I'm not feeling right, or I'm hung over, or I don't have my special peppermint tea. |
| 1:06.0 | So that's why I try and give myself as few things as possible. You know, the room doesn't have to be |
| 1:13.4 | tidy. The desk doesn't have to be smart. You know, the computer doesn't have to be anything in |
| 1:17.3 | particular because that, I hope, will allow me to write more frequently than not. There is more with a |
| 1:21.8 | brand new writer's routine and Robert Thurgood in this week's episode. |
| 1:32.9 | Yes, welcome along to Writers' Routine. |
| 1:35.5 | This week we're chatting to Robert Thuragood. |
| 1:38.5 | It's the show where we take a look inside an author's working day. |
| 1:40.3 | My name is Dan Simpson. |
| 1:41.6 | Thank you so much for listening. |
| 1:45.1 | And this week's episode is sponsored by The Return of King Arthur. It's an Arthurian fantasy trilogy by Jacob Sannix. Three books in the series, |
| 1:51.9 | The Ravenmaster's Revenge, Agravain's Escape and Tristan's Regret. These are a fascinating take on |
| 1:58.3 | history novels, particularly the stories of King Arthur too. |
... |
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