The wonderful Elise Valmorbida joins me this week to talk all about her new book The Happy Writing Book and the positive power of creative writing for our mental wellbeing.

We chat Lord of the Rings, Flaubert, Shakespeare, philosophy and more in this fun and informative episode that winds its way through the worlds of creative writing.

Show notes

Elise’s website
The Happy Writing Book by Elise Valmorbida

Things mentioned in the episode:
Virginia Woolf
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Why I Write by George Orwell
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida
The Happy Writing Book by Elise Valmorbida
Discourses of Epictetus by Epictetus
Epicurus
Joan Didion
The TV President by Elise Valmorbida
Shakespeare
Samuel Becket
TS Elliot
Toni Morrison
Michael Ondaatje
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
How to Change the World by John-Paul Flintoff

We welcome Gyles back to the Shelf Healing podcast, this time to talk all about his new Memoir Odd Boy Out and how he found writing memoir. We talk about how he chose what to write in his memoir, and how different it is to writing any other type of book, especially for someone who has written prolifically and many biographies.

Gyles also talks about the relationships between sons and fathers, why diary writing is important, and how he’s crammed as much wisdom and gossip as possible in his new book!

Also a big shoutout to libraries!

Show notes

Find Gyles on Twitter
Find Gyles’ new book Odd Boy Out here

This week I chat with Associate Publisher for Angry Robot, Eleanor Teasdale, all about her comfort reads, what books she chooses for the Angry Robot list, how she rereads outside of the genre she works in for a solid mind reset, and Angry Robot’s passion and promotion of diverse fiction. We also talk about how she named her cat (and how I named mine!).

Show notes

Eleanor’s Twitter
Angry Robot’s website
Angry Robot’s Twitter

Things mentioned in the episode:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Old Kingdom series (Sabriel & Lirael mentioned) by Garth Nix
Broken Harbour by Tana French
Just William Audiobooks
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Marc Gascoigne
Midsommar (film)
Get Out (film)
Gemma Amor
The Cabinet by Un-Su Kim
Tower by Bae Myung-hoon published by Honford Star
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
Educated by Tara Westover

I chat with the lovely Lisa Edwards, former publisher, now author and yoga teacher, all about her memoir Cheat, Play, Live and her thoughts on the therapeutic effects of reading and writing. We have a wonderful dive into travel writing too.

Show Notes

Links to Lisa’s book
Link to Lisa’s blog Because I Can
Link to Lisa’s Twitter

Things mentioned in the podcast:
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Paul Theroux
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

Trailer for the new Work & Life wellbeing podcast from UCL