Charlie and Samantha Sotto Yambao (Water Moon) discuss her UK debut - yay! - exploring the concepts of fate and choice, the process of evolving the romance, and, we catch up on the lives of Sam's dogs.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
Ticket link for the podcast live events
Sam joined me to discuss The Beginning of Always in episode 50
Sam joined me to discuss Before Ever After, Love and Gravity, and A Dream of Trees in episode 5

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
David and Leigh Eddings: The Belgariad
J R R Tolkien: Return Of The King
Samantha Sotto: Before Ever After
Samantha Sotto: Love And Gravity
Samantha Sotto: A Dream Of Trees
Samantha Sotto Yambao: Water Moon

Release details: recorded 11th February 2025; published 9th June 2025

Where to find Sam online: Website || Facebook || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

03:38 This being Sam's UK debut; how it came about
07:32 The inspirations - Ninenzaka in Kyoto
10:28 Expanding on the pawnshop concept in terms of Water Moon's look at fate and choice
12:56 Sam's interest in putting science and fantasy and magical realism together
15:07 Neutrinos!
17:24 When in the process do you research?
19:01 Creating Hana
23:05 Writing about the loss of mothers
25:40 The romance in terms of when Keishin was included
31:19 The bad guys of the book
34:05 All about the ending and Sam's choices
37:17 Charlie brings in Death of the Author
41:06 Doctor Who references
42:19 What's next?
43:03 Asking about Sam's dogs who have made appearances in our previous episodes

Charlie and Amy Jordan (The Dark Hours) discuss the Irish police force, the Garda, in the 1990s, particularly where it involves sexism. They also discuss the effects on a relationship of being a member of the police, and the way trauma can influence extreme actions.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
The New York Times review (paywall)

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Amy Jordan: The Dark Hours

Release details: recorded 14th January 2025; published 12th May 2025

Where to find Amy online: Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:31 The inspiration
03:19 Writing Julia and exploring the effects of what she's been through
09:21 Exploring trauma and its effects
14:22 The pacing
18:49 More about how Amy included Julia's husband and what he goes through as a result of her career, which includes talking about people Amy knows
23:26 Where Julia says, "Call me Julia"
25:22 The misogyny and the Garda in general in the 1990s
32:36 Brendon and his Morse Code
35:08 Creating the fictional villages, and Amy's spooky story of a real house
38:33 Minor details of book 2, including where Amy will take Julia and Philip's relationship

Charlie and Amy Engel (I Did It For You) discuss her literary thriller wherein the killer did it but it isn't that simple, wherein both the victim's and killer's families are given empathy, and wherein the sister of the victim and the brother of the killer start a romance.

Please note that whilst there are no references to detailed violence, this episode looks at various issues surrounding murder cases.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
It was indeed Elmore Leonard who said, "You take out the parts that people skip when they're reading". This link has more information.

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Amy Engel: The Familiar Dark
Amy Engel: I Did It For You

Release details: recorded 17th December 2024; published 28th April 2025

Where to find Amy online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || Facebook

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:15 The inspiration - location and character
02:37 Creating Greer
04:50 Creating Ludlow and the well-drawn townspeople
07:53 How Amy works with secrets and reveals
09:24 How was it writing Greer in terms of her being an unreliable narrator?
11:10 The different extra narratives
12:33 Roy, the killer's, difference, his potential neurodivergence, and the importance of looking at this
15:41 Did you ever consider not having Roy 'do' it?
17:33 The grief in the book, including a look at the different sets of parents
19:46 Including Dean and humanising the family of the murderer
22:30 Amy tells us more about how her career in law influenced her writing
24:35 The slower pacing, which isn't so usual for a thriller, and how Amy categorises her novels. We then move on to what Amy added to the novel in editing
27:59 Amy's thought process and planning in regards to the bad guy (different person to the killer)
34:03 Amy deciding to end Greer and Dean's romance
36:29 Where Greer and Dean may end up, separately, beyond the pages of the book. We then move on to Greer's parents in the same vein
39:03 What Amy is writing and planning now

Charlie and Nydia Hetherington (Sycorax) discuss the witch Shakespeare's Prospero hates so much and Nydia's reimagining slash prequel to The Tempest. This involves conversation about chronic illness, attitudes to women in regards to the occult, and on a seemingly unrelated subject, the tendency of pirates to leave problematic people on isolated islands.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
W H Auden: The Sea And The Mirror

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Libby Colman: Trixie - The Childhood Of Sycorax, Witch Of Algiers
Margaret Atwood: Hag-Seed
Marina Warner: Indigo
Nydia Hetherington: A Girl Made Of Air
Nydia Hetherington: Sycorax
Tad Williams: Caliban's Hour
William Shakespeare: The Tempest

Release details: recorded 4th December 2024; published 14th April 2025

Where to find Nydia online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:20 The initial inspirations - theatre and Nydia's chronic condition
10:23 Research and inspirations in regards to other adaptations
12:58 More on Nydia's dedication to Shakespearean writing
13:58 Disability and women being witches put together
20:01 The good women in the book, Yemma and Zari
24:11 Including Barbarossa the pirate and the way pirates left criminals isolated
28:26 Afalkey the Beautiful and charming men
30:05 The role the Crow plays
32:48 What Nydia is writing at the moment
34:30 Nydia's William Blake novel she mentioned earlier

Charlie is joined by Alex Hay, Lucy Barker, Stacey Thomas, and a wonderful audience at Goldfinch Books in Alton. You want a writing deep dive? You've got it!

Please note that this episode has a whispered swear word in it - we were all adults!

The next live event will be at P&G Wells in Winchester on Friday 4th April. Tickets are available here If you can't click the link, go to pgwells.co.uk

Full show notes and a transcript to follow shortly.

The video of the main conversation is on YouTube here