The Evolution of a Novel
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 842 Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode, Bianca chats with Belfast-born writer Gráinne O’Hare, author of the hilarious, tender, and irresistibly relatable debut novel ‘Thirst Trap’. They discuss the evolution of Thirst Trap—from messy drafts to its final form, capturing the chaos, grief, and wild nights of your 20s, writing nuanced female friendships, crafting authentic dialogue, balancing “quiet” storytelling with real emotional stakes and so much more! If you love coming-of-age stories with humor, heart, and a whole lot of hangovers, this episode is for you.
Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there. We've got a lot. We're really excited to tell you about, but I'm going to make this real |
| 0:04.9 | quick so you can get to the episode. The deep dive is coming up at the end of January. The lineup of |
| 0:10.9 | speakers is incredible and the range of topics is mind-blowing. You do not want to miss out on the last |
| 0:17.3 | deep dive ever. Then the beta reader matchup is open once again |
| 0:21.3 | with the matchups going out early in February. |
| 0:23.9 | Sign up to kick your creative year off with a bang. |
| 0:27.2 | Lastly, there's an amazing writer's workbook available |
| 0:30.0 | which will make the perfect gift for you |
| 0:32.3 | or the writer in your life. |
| 0:34.4 | Head to our website, The Shit About Writing, to find out more. |
| 0:44.6 | Hi there and welcome to our show. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. I'm best-selling |
| 0:51.1 | author Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Cece Leera of Wendy Sherman Associates and Carly Waters of PS Literary. |
| 1:00.2 | Hi everyone. Today's guest is a writer from Belfast based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. |
| 1:06.4 | She received a Northern debut award for fiction from New Writing North and was awarded funding by |
| 1:12.0 | the Arts Council for the development and completion of her first novel. She has also been |
| 1:17.6 | shortlisted for the Francis MacMannis short story competition and the Bradport Pies and came in |
| 1:23.6 | the top three of the Benedict Kylie short story competition. She is media subject editor |
| 1:29.2 | of critics' reviews for the British Society for 18th century studies and has a PhD in 18th century |
| 1:36.6 | women's life writing from Newcastle University. It's my pleasure to welcome Gronia O'Hare. |
| 1:42.8 | Gronia, welcome to the show. |
| 1:45.8 | Thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:50.7 | Wow, that's one impressive bio, very, very impressive. |
... |
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