The Worm Hole Podcast
Join me each second and fourth Monday of the month, when I'll be in conversation with an author about one (occasionally more) of their books. We'll be taking a fairly deep dive, looking at the background, the topics, writing, and the nitty gritty. Expect spoilers and frequent discussions of the endings.
Episodes
Charlie and Alex Hay (The Housekeepers) discuss his meticulously planned and fast-paced 1900s heist novel wherein the entire contents of a grand house are to be removed... and the mistress of the place is in on it. Alex tells us about the successful collaboration between himself and his three editors and we discuss the various comedy aspects of the book.
Sadie Jones' The Uninvited Guests
Julia Laite's The Disappearance Of Lydia Har...
Charlie and Paula Cocozza (Speak To Me) discuss how phones have taken the place of conversation, a number of literary Susans, and Paula tells us about her love of reading and libraries in childhood.
The Guardian's story on Kirstie Allsopp smashing her daughter's IPad
Susan Cain's Quiet
Suze Rotolo's A Freewheelin' Time
I am (happy?) to say that Susan the dog is no longer the first Susan mentioned on pages about 'Susan' on Wikipedia
...
Charlie and Nicolai Houm (The Gradual Disappearance Of Jane Ashland) discuss a unique and somewhat extreme form of coping with grief, where his characterisation blends into his own writer self, and the opening ending he left his readers with.
Please note that there's some swearing and mentions of suicide in this episode.
Wikipedia's article on Andersonville Prison
Where to find Charlie online
Charlie and Elissa Soave (Ginger And Me) discuss including the working class in fiction, writing about neuro-divergence without labels, and social care and society in context. We also discuss Elissa's Greggs habit, writing about her hometown, and why her editor told her 'this is not Reservoir Dogs...'
Please note that there is a mild swear word in this episode.
The Primadonna Prize
Laura Pearson's episode was number 11
Kazuo Ishigu...
Charlie and Lisa See (Lady Tan's Circle Of Women) discuss the medieval Chinese woman doctor Tan Yuanxian, whose book is still in use today. We also discuss, in this context, the isolation and disability of being an aristocratic woman in the time period.
Please note that there is swearing in this episode.
Tan Yuan Xian's Miscellaneous Records Of A Female Doctor
Hildegard Von Bingen
The Washing Away Of Wrongs
Where to find Lisa onlin...
Charlie and Eleanor Shearer (River Sing Me Home) discuss how slavery didn't really end when it was abolished, and Eleanor's experiences studying the Caribbean during this time and the knowledge she gained. We also explore different versions of freedom, and the way Eleanor's family influenced her writing.
The Windrush Foundation
Samuel Smith's To Shoot Hard Labour
Toni Morrison's Beloved
Marianne Hirsch
V S Naipaul's The Loss Of El ...
Charlie and Jenni Keer (The Legacy Of Halesham Hall) discuss wacky puzzle houses, writing as a reader, the age gap in her book, and Rebecca-like characters who remain alive.
The Winchester Mystery House, California
Where to find Jenni online
Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram || TikTok
You can contact the show at books@carnelianvalley.com
Discussions
01:16 The inspiration/reason for the story
03:29 The house... and Clement...
Charlie and Kate Thompson (The Little Wartime Library) discuss the wartime history and community of East London's Bethnal Green - the Tube station that housed locals during the Blitz, the library that moved down into the tunnels and is now back overground, and the people that made the community what it was. We also discuss wartime reading and the measures put in place to stop women reading escapist fiction.
Please note that there i...
Charlie and Ronali Collings (Love & Other Dramas) discuss her relationship with her mother and where that influences her novel, racist comments and decisions in the workplace, and her experiences of female friendships during her IVF journey. We begin with her studies for a Masters - her supervisor was Bernardine Evaristo.
The Madeline Milburn Mentorship Programme
Ronali's interview on The Two Of Us
Ronali's episode on Chloe Timms' ...
Charlie and Kristina McMorris (Sold On A Monday; The Ways We Hide) discuss the harrowing photographs of children that inspired her last two novels, why she chose to focus - in the first book - on the news reporters rather than the children, and changing the fictional outcome of the stories.
The photograph of the children for sale and an article with the basics
Kristina's Facebook post about her and RaeAnn's appearance on NPR
Interv...
Charlie and Orlando Ortega-Medina (The Fitful Sleep Of Immigrants) discuss the reality for LGBT asylum seekers in the US, Orlando's own experiences as a lawyer, and same-sex marriage rights now Roe v Wade has been overturned.
Orlando's law firm
Authority Magazine video
"How Do We Master Our Ego?" an discussion with Rabbi Joseph Dweck for J-TV
Where to find Orlando online
Charlie and Amita Parikh (The Circus Train) discuss how Amita's dancing and performing experiences influenced her work, her controversial decision to have her wheelchair-using heroine learn to walk, and the Theresienstadt Ghetto (concentration camp) where prisoners led a fairly cultured life.
'Ten Fun Facts About The Circus Train' on Amita's website
The Night Ferry
Elizabeth Kenny
The Theresienstadt Ghetto
Information and links abo...
Charlie and Emma Cowell (One Last Letter From Greece) discuss grief, miscarriage and expectations surrounding it, and, in keeping with her book's title, Greece and its culture.
Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episode's page on my ...
She's back! Charlie and E C Fremantle (The Honey And The Sting) discuss producing a book that is utterly devoid - and then some - of filler, Black people of the Stuart era, and the film of Fremantle's first novel, which will star Jude Law and Alicia Vikander.
Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy an...
Charlie and Cecelia Tichi (A Fatal Gilded High Note) discuss the Gilded Age in its success and its crimes, her rebellious 1890s character who defies class, and the history of French Bulldogs.
Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episod...
Charlie and Kate Glanville (The Peacock House) discuss her main character who is 90 years old, and villains who aren't so villainous after all. Kate also discusses the way her dyslexia has effected her reading, and some of her thoughts on education in this vein in the context of her younger character.
Please note that there are spoilers throughout the episode.
Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the list...
Charlie and Kristin Harmel (The Forest Of Vanishing Stars) discuss the true story, and Kristin's own fictional one, of a group of over a thousand Jewish people who during WW2 slowly escaped to and hid in a vast forest away from the Nazis.
Please note that there are spoilers throughout the episode.
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Charlie and Sally Page (The Keeper Of Stories) discuss story collection, the forgotten mistress of the abdicated Edward VIII, and dogs who swear something chronic!
Please note that there are some spoilers throughout the episode.
Please also note that there is a mild swear word in this episode.
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Charlie and Natalie Jenner (Bloomsbury Girls) discuss Jane Austen in all Natalie's interesting concepts, tales of related auctions she has been involved in, and the work to 'preserve and pull together' a record of the books that inspired her. They also discuss Natalie's inclusion of Daphne du Maurier in her novel, Persephone Books, and genre in its context as a label.
Please note that there are (very slight) spoilers throughout the...
Charlie and Chloe Timms (The Seawomen) discuss Chloe's dystopian fictional religious cult in all its fantasy and reality, the major changes she made to the book as the editing progressed, and her own interpretations of the various parts of the ending.
Please note that there are spoilers throughout the episode.
Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click ...
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