Penny Wincer is not too busy to write. Except of course, sometimes she is too busy to write as much as she would like. Join Penny as she has conversations with other writers about writing, publishing and creativity whilst juggling all the demands on them such as motherhood, caring and other paid work.
Penny Wincer is the author of two narrative non-fiction books, Tender and Home Matters and a non-fiction writing coach. She's an Australian and long-term resident of London, a mother of two teenagers, an unpaid carer and always attempting to get just a little more writing done.
Ilona Bannister on the humanity and pleasure of thrillers
Ilona Bannister, long time friend of Not Too Busy To Write is on the podcast talking about her new novel and her move from literary fiction to thriller. FIVE is set on a train platform, 5 minutes before a train will arrive and one of the five characters will die. The reader is asked who they think deserves to die.
Ilona talks with me about breaking the forth wall, unlikeabe characters and how readers are reacting to confronting their own prejudices, why law school is great training for a writer and the pleasures and humanity of the thriller genre.
FIVE is out May 5th
Links
FIVE - Ilona Bannister (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9780008770563)
Little Prisons - Ilona Bannister (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781529353921)
When I Ran Away - Ilona Bannister (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781529352696)
THE FOLD membership for writers (https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/the-fold) - join the 21 Day Writing Challenge!
Penny on Instagram @pennywincer (https://www.instagram.com/pennywincer/)
22 Apr 2026
Jane Harper on beginning at the end
Jane Harper is the Gold Dagger award winning, bestselling author who defined a new sub genre - Australian Noir - with her breakout debut The Dry in 2016. Today we're talking about her 6th novel Last One Out, a brilliantly dark and twisty novel about a missing son and a dying rural town. Jane talks with me about her extensive outlining process (which begins at the end), what motivated her through the writing of her first novel when she was a full time journalist and why isolated communities make such fantastic settings.
Links
Last One Out - Jane Harper (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781035033973)
Aaron Falk Series
The Dry - Jane Harper (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9780349142111)
Forces of Nature - Jane Harper (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9780349142128)
Exiles - Jane Harper (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781529098464)
Jane Harper's Ted Talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_harper_creativity_in_your_control)
Darling Girls - Sally Hepworth (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781035038879)
Mad Mabel - Sally Hepworth (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781037409875)
The Mother Fault - Kate Mildenhall (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mother-Fault-Kate-Mildenhall/dp/0008430268/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QOL6WUP858HF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OTHpoivk3_eTpgNRhR7l68aKtBZrqT4rxETa-euPZzQWTSsw9Eg3eo7ldyV4AbAOaBwvHOtCz-Wk4BinEnoGwPqW_nJ3SG99vgYueNEUz1I.rNcNfpdBCofmLdrj6DJUgnBskY_4Jvot415d5a_s1Zo&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+hiding+place+kate+mildenhall&qid=1776694909&sprefix=the+hiding+place+Kate%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-1)
THE FOLD membership for writers (https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/the-fold) - 21 Day Writing Challenge begins May 1st!
15 Apr 2026
Catherine Newman on the tragicomedy of midlife
New York Times bestselling author Catherine Newman is back on the podcast talking about her hilarious new novel about midlife anxiety Wreck. Catherine talks with me about writing superstitions, hilariously terrible reviews, what success as a novelist has really meant to her and the joy she has found in owning her own publication on Substack after a lifetime writing for other people.
Links
Wreck by Catherine Newman (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781529959697)
Sandwich by Catherine Newman (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781804993187)
We All Want Impossibly Things by Catherine Newman (https://uk.bookshop.org/a/6990/9781529177220)
Crone Sandwich - Catherine's Substack (https://cronesandwich.substack.com/)
THE FOLD membership for writers (https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/the-fold)
Who has been a guest on Not Too Busy To Write
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Dreda Say Mitchell
Chloe Timms
Emma van Straaten
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
19 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100
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Quality
71
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
90
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