Cassandra talks all about horror, researching gore, the anxiety surrounding releasing new work, and their inclusion of Malaysian folklore and mythos in their writing.

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Show Notes

TW: Horror and gore

Horror writer extraordinaire Cassandra Khaw joins me on the podcast this week chatting all about researching for their visceral horror writing, the impact and inclusion of Malaysian mythos and folklore in their work, and how the pandemic has affected not only their daily life, but also their writing. We chat about how horror can be a comforting experience for the reader and how the writing process can be cathartic. Also haggis and the boob ghost Hantu Tetek.

Cassandra has two new books coming out this year which are linked below.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth available 17th October
The All-Consuming World available 21st September 2021
Cassandra’s website
Cassandra’s Twitter

Things mentioned in the episode:
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Rupert Wong: Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw
Butcher Bird by Richard Kadrey
Sophie Kinsella
Frances Hardinge
Holly Black
Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Bloodtide by Melvyn Burgess
Travelogues: Vignettes from Trains in Motion by Kathleen Jennings
Saint Death’s Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney
Desdemona and the Deep by C. S. E. Cooney
These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw (link to audio)
Don’t Turn On The Lights by Cassandra Khaw (link to audio)

Anna discusses her love of southern gothic, how reading aloud gives her great pleasure, and how mental health is affected by reading and writing.

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Show Notes

I chat with the lovely author, teacher, mentor, and mental health advocate Anna Vaught all about bibliotherapy, southern gothic, reading aloud, and mentoring. We discuss her love for poetry and horror stories, mental health and the myth of recovery, and the difficulties involved in being editied.

There’s a small trigger warning as we lightly discuss trauma in this episode

Anna’s Twitter
Anna’s website
Anna on The Bookseller

Things mentioned in the episode:
Out of the Darkness anthology
Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Depression: The Way Out of Your Prison by Dorothy Rowe
Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
William Faulkner
A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
Influx
Galley Beggar
Charles Dickens

Jordi talks all about bibliotherapy and his new book, Book Therapy. Lots of beautiful deep thoughts about the power of books on the mind and soul.

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Show Notes

I chat with fabulous publisher and author Jordi Nadal all about bibliotherapy and his new book, Book Therapy. Jordi is incredibly eloquent on the subject and if you aren’t quite sure what bibliotherapy is this really does strike right at its core. A beautiful, thoughtful episode I hope you love as much as I do.

Jordi’s new book, Book Therapy

Authors and books mentioned in the episode:
F Scott Fitzgerald
James Salter
Elena Ferrante
The First Man by Albert Camus
Man in the Search of Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Chekhov
Natalia Ginzburg
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
Octavio Paz
Groucho Marx
Virginia Woolf

Daniel talks about how comics helped him learn a new language when he was young and how wide a variety of styles there are to suit every taste.

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Show Notes

Part One: I chat with Dr Daniel Boswell about comics research, the way comics can help learn new languages, how they are therapeutic, and how different styles mean that pretty much everyone is covered if they would like a comfort comic book!

Mentioned in this episode are:
Tintin
Asterix and Obelix
2000AD
Superman
X-Men
Alan Moore
Garth Ennis
Patrick Zircher
Inkblot
Jimmy Palmiotti
Archie

Part Two: I conclude my chat with Daniel about comics and we chat and laugh about tie-ins, keeping fans on side, character design, the brilliant rise of creator owned IP, and the expressive art found in comics. This episode has plenty of laughs, me chatting horses in comics, and Daniel struggling to pick his favourite IP.

Things mentioned in the episode:
Deadpool
Black Widow
Rob Liefeld
Louise Simonson
Paper Girls
Miss Marvel
Marvel Assembly – Preeti Chibber
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
The Inhumans
Marvel Knights
BlackSad
Blade Runner
Snowpiercer
Thor
The Avengers
The Walking Dead
The Flash
Flashpoint
Wolverine
Dr Strange
Savage Avengers
Batman
The Joker
The Riddler
Catwoman
Jim Lee
Frank Miller
Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing
Dune
Shirow Masamune
Ghost in the Shell
Kieran Gillan’s The Wicked and the Divine

Liam chats about the power of comics in the first part of this interview and in the second on how books and writing helped his mental health, as well as the importance of bringing iconic characters to life.

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Show Notes

Part One: I chat with comics artist, writer, and novelist Liam Sharp about the therapeutic effects of reading and the power of comics in this, the first part of our interview.
Liam does a wonderful deep dive into the world of drawing comics and mental health.

Liam’s website
Liam’s Twitter

So many comic creators and writers were mentioned I hope I have covered them all!
Grant Morrison
Philip Larkin
The Boys
Garth Ennis
Marlon Brando
Elektra Assassin
Stray Toaster
Bill Sienkiewicz
Green Lantern
Dave Gibbons 
Neil Adams

Part Two: In this second part of my interview with Liam we go into detail about Liam’s struggles with mental health, how writing and reading helped him and how carefully he worked on Wonder Woman knowing how important a character she is to so many people.
We also chat about the huge success of Liam’s kickstarter campaign and how unexpected and life changing it will be for him. To have readers so visibly show their love and support has been incredible.

Liam’s website
Liam’s Twitter

More comics and creators mentioned here!
Wonder Woman
Greg Rucka
Arkham Asylum
Dave McKean

Ram talks all about how he became a comics writer and why he feels that more representation is needed in the industry.

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Show Notes

I chat with award winning comic writer Ram V this week all about how he fell into writing for comics and his interesting journey into reading comics. We discuss how comics are subtle or not so subtle pieces of social commentary, how representation and  new takes on classic characters is essential for the future of comics.

Links to:
Ram’s website
Ram’s Twitter

Works and creators mentioned in the episode:
Joe Abercrombie
Jon Delillo
Bill Sienkiewicz
Liam Sharp
Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Sequential Art by Will Eisner
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Black Mumba by Ram V
Alan Moore
Swamp Thing by Alan Moore
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
Essex County Trilogy by Jeff Lemire
Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
The Picture of Everything Else by Dan Watters
Pluto by Naoki Urasawa
20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa

Bonnie talks about her love of books and illustration, how she sees pictures as she reads, and how reading brings her joy.

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Show Notes

This week I chat with illustrator and artist Bonnie Hawkins. We discuss how reading has saved her life, how illustrations appear in her head as she reads, her love of illustrated books, and whether drawing is therapeutic.

An absolutely delightful episode with so much joy and beautiful books!
Do go check out:
Bonnie’s website
Bonnie’s Twitter
The 52 Crows Project

This week’s episode artwork is the drawing that started Bonnie’s illustration career.

Works and people mentioned in the episode
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Fairies by Brian Froud and Alan Lee
Masquerade by Kit Williams
Grimm’s Fairytales Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb
The Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb
PJ Lynch
East o’ the Sun West o’ the Moon
Alan Lee

Martin chats about open access and health, what therapeutic reading actually is and how Martin’s inner critic is always with him when he reads.

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Show Notes

This week I chat with Prof Martin Eve about what therapeutic reading actually means when you look hard at it and how writing can be significantly more therapeutic at times. We discuss the wellbeing benefits of Open Access publishing, the fears surrounding it, and how entwined the nature of the literary critic is for Martin when he reads.

Works and Authors mentioned in the episode:
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Brett Easton-Ellis
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchen
See Under: Love by David Grossman
China Mieville
The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien
Civilisation and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud
Lesley Thompson
Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy) by Tade Thompson
The Day of the Triffids by Jeff Wyndham
Distant Horizons by Ted Underwood
Redlining Culture by Richard Jean So
Toni Morrison

Philip chats about how a health scare affected his reading and how in his search for therapeutic books dealing with grief and the fear of death he found it in the most unexpected places and books. He also talks about how audio has changed how he consumes certain types of books and how it has enriched his reading life.

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Show Notes

This week I chat with Philip Connor, Commissioning Editor at Penguin Random House Audio and host of the podcast What Editors Want. We chat about how Philip’s reading habits have changed and moved more into non fiction as well as how he found himself searching for himself in books on grief and dying. The importance and suprising nature of finding representation in literature and how audio has lent itself to him rereading books and now commissioning works in audio.

Joan Didion
CS Lewis
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
The Hidden Spring  by Mark Solms
Night’s Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton
Ubik by Philip K Dick
Emmanuel Carrère
Emma Southern
Mary Beard
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
F Scott  Fitzgerald
Virginia Woolf
Vladimir Nabokov
WG Sebald
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
Why I Write by George Orwell

In celebration of UCL’s wellbeing festival Replenish Dr Rayner chats with Cathy all about her book Dear Reader and how Cathy has turned to reading and books for comfort and therapy during her life.

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Show Notes

Dr Samantha Rayner talks with Cathy Rentzenbrink about her book Dear Reader, and the therapeutic effects of reading on mental health and wellbeing. It’s a lovely episode that travels through time with books that affect multiple generations, how books are enjoyed for what they are not who they are marketed at, and how writing can be hard but the satisfaction of finishing is worth the difficulty.

Cathy Rentzenbrink’s books
Everyone is Still Alive debut novelThe Last Act of Love
A Manual for Heartache
Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books
and her debut novel Everyone Is Still Alive is released in July 2021

Authors and works mentioned in the episode:
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Agatha Christie
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
Georgette Heyer
Jean Plaidy
Harriet Evans

Cathy’s book recommendation
Humankind by Rutger Bregman