Shows
Short Story HuntersShort Story Hunters - Episode 11 - Balloon and SunburstNo, it's not a new hard-hitting crime series. It's more fun chat as the Internet's only Hiberno-Swiss duo return for the penultimate episode of Series 1.
B. recommends the many health benefits of drinking hot water, while Jonny remembers, as a lad, always having wanted but never receiving a helium-filled balloon. This week’s stories, from The Litopia Flash Club, were inspired by the prompts: “Balloon” and “Sunburst”. They are: An Encounter With Pirates by Matthew Snoding. Gita by Benjamin S, and Ten Pounds for a Balloon? No Thanks by an Anonymous contributor.
2021-06-1121 minShort Story HuntersShort Story Hunters - Episode 2 - New BeginningsNew Beginnings? Some suggest that would have been ideal as theme for episode one. But Pod Land's first Hiberno-Swiss presenting duo, B & Jonny, laugh in the face of such hidebound convention. They dance to a different drum. And if you'd like to submit your own story, then visit litopia.com/hunters and send us your flash fiction piece of no more than 500 words.2021-04-0913 minShort Story HuntersShort Story Hunters - Episode 1 - The Kindness of StrangersEvery week B and Jonny present 3 short stories or pieces of flash fiction from writers at Litopia writers' colony and beyond. If you'd like to send us your story (500 words maximum, please) we have an open door policy. If we like them we'll featured them on the show. Visit: https://litopia.com/hunters/ QlGai3KK1cxyU7K7lFpL2021-04-0213 minShort Story HuntersShort Story Hunters - Trailer #2Launching weekly every Friday from April 2nd 2021.
Submit your short story (500 words max) https://litopia.com/hunters/2021-03-3000 min
Short Story HuntersShort Story Hunters - Trailer # 1Coming soon from Litopia, the Internet's oldest writing community: Short Story Hunters.
A weekly show featuring Flash Fiction stories from Litopia's Flash Club, presented by Barbara and Jonny.2021-03-0900 min
Litopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE | Hosted By Literary Agent Peter Cox"Featured on today's Pop-Up Submissions...
An Allodyne Touch - Speculative Fiction by Simon Cairnes
No More Dragons - Fantasy by Cameron Glenn
Lifepaper - Contemporary Fiction by Deborah Cooper
Life's too Short to Tiptoe - Romance With An Erotic Element by Anna Hursley
The Peregrine Letters - Speculative Fiction by Susannah Dent
Peter Cox's Special Guests Today Are Lee Murray and Andy Dickenson!
Watch this show on YouTube https://youtu.be/Vf_qgvIdYb4
Lee Murray's book recommendation is Revelation: Poppet Cycle Book 1 by Donna JW Munro.
Andy Dickenson's book recommendation is Maggot Moon...2021-01-031h 15Litopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE | Hosted By Literary Agent Peter Cox"Featured on today's Pop-Up Submissions...
Book of Shai I - Young Adult - Sci-Fi by Homer Shingles III
How To Dig Your Own Grave - Satirical Serial Killer Thriller by Michele Houlihan
Pantheon - Historical Fantasy Fiction by William Bayliss-Brown
Pemberton Manor - Commercial Women'S Fiction/Mystery by Georgina Key
A Car Called She - Young Adult - Sci-Fi by Gerard Byrne
Peter Cox's Special Guests Today Are Tex Thompson and Dean Baxter!
Watch this show on YouTube https://youtu.be/0Kf-d7iWUyU
Tex Thompson's book recommendation is True Grit by Charles Portis.
...2020-12-151h 15Litopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE | Hosted By Literary Agent Peter Cox"Featured on today's Pop-Up Submissions...
OVER THE HILL and INTO THE CIA - Comedy/Political Thriller by Sidney Cris
Booga The Wonderhound - Childrens Chapter Book by Samantha Kennett
Last Journey to Prague - Part Literary Thriller, High Concept, Incomplete Love, And Something In Between All These by Steven Burch
Athena - Science Fiction by Robin Batty
Family Liar - Comedy/Political Thriller by Chris Rathburn
Peter Cox's Special Guests Today Are Kesia Lupo and Jamie Mollart!
Watch this show on YouTube https://youtu.be/pFDxm5fZtCs
Kesia Lupo's book recommendation is Piranesi by Susanna...2020-12-071h 08Litopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE | Hosted By Literary Agent Peter CoxFeatured on today's Pop-Up Submissions...
i_hate_america - Uplifting, Accessible Literary Fiction by Sorrel Frith
The Vapors - Black Noir by Joe Tello
In The Wide Open - Historical Thriller by Derald Breneman
Faerie Glass - Paranormal Romance by Lauren Rose
Not His Story - Uplifting, Accessible Literary Fiction by Shannon Byrne
Peter Cox's Special Guests Today Are Roz Morris and Jon Duffy!
Watch this show on YouTube https://youtu.be/ZHgmeEYZJAU
Roz Morris's book recommendation is The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne.
Jon Duffy's book recommendation is The Diary of a Nobody...2020-11-291h 16Litopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with publisher Nicolas Cheetham | Hosted By Literary Agent Peter CoxFeatured on today's Pop-Up Submissions...
Braindead or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Puberty - Literary Memoir by Jack Robinson
Unveil Me - Romantic Suspense by LHS Miloni
What The Wind Can't Carry - Fantasy by Sophie Sparham
Battery Life - Mixed, Short Stories, Drama. by Kieren Hughes & Nick White
The Pandaemonium Chronicles - Literary Memoir by Brandon Hatten
Peter Cox's Special Guests Today Are Nicolas Cheetham and Jamila Gleason!
Watch this show on YouTube https://youtu.be/tZ9oDk_LeHg
Nicolas Cheetham's book recommendation is The Trouble With Peace...2020-11-231h 25Litopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with special guest Tex ThompsonWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Solus" - commercial fiction from Helen Greenwood;
"Vicious Virtues" - adult/post-apocalyptic from Sam Alexander;
"6 Bullets, 1 Home" - post-apocalyptic thriller from Darren Burgess;
"Noor: A Girl in Akbar's Army" - historical chick lit from Nupur Maskara;
"Feral Snow" - literary thriller from Mark Lowes.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouTube and...2020-08-0300 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Publisher Kesia LupoWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"The Dark Cry of Aristid" - epic fantasy from William Brian Johnson;
"Disintegrating Angels" - thriller from Hunter Liguore;
"Matida and the fall of Ophir" - fiction from Martha Tawapei;
"Son of Anger" - historical fiction from Donovan Cook;
"Fat Boy" - dark comedy from Joseph Cobb.
Subscribe to Litopia's chan...2020-08-0300 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Special Guest Sara GrantWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"A Postman's Guide to Monster Hunting" - science fiction from Will G. White;
"An Uplifting Murder" - sci-fi/crime from Andrew Harrowell;
"Surfing in the Dark" - thriller from Debbie Hewson;
"Eleven Twenty-Two" - romance from Jordan Clayden-Lewis;
"Secret Skin" - mystery from Rayonna Lash.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouT...2020-07-2100 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Special Guests Meredith Tate and Kevin Brooke!Writing a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Why in Paris?" - queer historical fiction from Nick Henderson-Mayo;
"Frum God: The Mostly Tue Adventures of a Modern Day Messiah" - lit fic from David Litvin;
"Deciduous" - suspense from Michael Devendorf;
"The Fountain" - sci-fi from jake;
"Che Guevara Zombie Killer" - action/horror/comedy from Luis A. Davidovich.
Subs...2020-07-1200 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with John BiggsWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"She's on Pointe" - young adult sport romance from Lucy Carey;
"Magnus MacLeod and the Devil's Coin" - paranormal detective mystery from James Ashton;
"A Night's Beckoning" - supernatural thriller/urban fantasy from Brent Turner;
"Unsung" - ya fantasy/sci-fi from Kathryn Rossati;
"Hylopath" - psychological suspense from Michaël Wertenberg.
Subsc...2020-07-0500 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Emma Read & Peter LawsWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Dead Parents" - literary fiction from Gabriel Smith;
"The Elf Disc" - mythology and fantasy from Sam Meyer;
"Both Sides Now" - women’s commercial fiction from TL Gough;
"The Grymcat Conspiracy" - ya fiction from Dan Brockington;
"Divorce Inc." - thriller from Anthony White.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouTube and jo...2020-06-0900 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVEWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Category 13" - speculative fiction from Leo-Paul Bailly-Kermene;
"Umbra" - adult fantasy/weird tale from Yulia Perch;
"The Vacant Skies" - near-future science fiction from Leif Rennes;
"STAZR The World Of Z: The Dawn Of Athir" - epic fantasy from Anay Ayarovu;
"Invisible" - legal thriller from Jonny Dixon-Smith.
Georgina Key's book reco...2020-05-0300 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Children's Book Editor Kesia Lupo from Chicken HouseWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Fat Boy" - dark comedy from Joseph Cobb;
"Prince of Loch Ness" - mystery-thriller from AmandaMarie Hickman;
"68430" - ya sci-fi from Lexi Nolletti;
"The Bad Man" - crime/thriller from Jason Leech;
"The Mudbow Sisters" - fantasy from Eric Juneau.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouTube and join us live in the...2020-04-2600 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Tex Thompson and Brian CleggWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Matilda & Sebastian" - young adult from G.S. Banks;
"Bookeemessiah" - science fiction from Michael Sawan;
"Skjultvik" - mystery / horror from Stephen Durham;
"Soil and Stars" - ya space opera from James Beedle;
"Temples of Glass " - high fantasy from Matthew Atkinson.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouTube and join us l...2020-04-2300 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Bill SwiggsWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Annie & Dov" - ya contemporary from Julie Schwartz;
"A Very Rich Poor Man" - upmarket fiction from Grace Mattioli;
"Penny for a Cotton Zebra" - young adult from Joel Wynn / Pamela Morton;
"The Twelve" - mystery from Joe Tello;
"When Shall We See The Mermaids?" - novel from Geoffrey Heptonstall.
Subs...2020-04-1200 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Sara GrantWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"The Advent of Love" - women's fiction from Laura Wilkinson;
"Homo Ex Machina" - science fiction from Kevin Yarr;
"Twenty Sixty (2060)" - thriller from Darren Burgess;
"Locked in the Wrong House" - upmarket thriller from Brian Willems;
"Chasing Rainbows" - sci-fi/coming-of-age/horror from Colin Rice.
Sara Gran...2020-04-0500 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVEWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Suzuri" - historical fiction from Francisco J. Villarreal;
"Dimitra" - historical fiction from Dana Dimitri Richardson;
"The Chair Man" - thriller from Alex Pearl;
"[Working Title]" - historical romance from Isla Aitken;
"I Am Gold" - young adult from Sarah Leonard.
Geoff Sullivan's book recommendation is "Dubliners" by James Joyce. Buy...2020-03-2900 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with publisher Melissa EveleighWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"My October" - middle grade adventure fantasy from Jennifer Claessen;
"Hashtags: A Novel" - literary / commercial fiction from Polly Becker;
"The Gray Nothing Scar" - thriller from Rebekah Alexander;
"Let Yourself In" - revenge thriller from Darren Burgess;
"Family of the Stars" - epic fantasy from D. A. Smith.
Georgina Key...2020-03-2200 minLitopia All ShowsOnline Writing: Pop-Up Submissions LIVE with Daisy WaughWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"For the Love of Life" - dual narrative, reading group, speculative from Angela Young;
"Firstborn" - fantasy/humour from Nikky Lee;
"Sugar Bear" - children's picture book from Timothy Doggett;
"Labyrinth" - mixed from Liz Monument;
"Sailor's Heart" - historical fiction, based on true events from Martin Campbell.
Ali G's book reco...2020-03-0800 minLitopia All ShowsHorror Fiction - Pop-Up Submissions LIVE with Rev Peter LawsWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Featured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions…
"Guinevere" - historical fiction from Fil Reid;
"Mudpies and Strawberry Jam" - scfi/historical from Adam Byrne;
"The Burden Gift - A Ruiner's Truth" - sci - fi from Bassil Eid;
"Pisces" - psychological thriller from Donald MacCuish;
"As We Fall" - dystopian from Orri Bogdan.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouT...2020-03-0100 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Caroline RyderWriting a book? Let literary agent Peter Cox and his friends from the publishing industry - and from Litopia Writers’ Colony - review your submission live! Make a Pop-Up Submission here: https://litopia.com/subs/
Today's special guest is writer, screenwriter and journalist Caroline Ryder - follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolineryderwriter/
Featured on today's Pop-Ups...
"Liberty" - literary thriller from Nick Cox;"Shoe Man" - humorous picture book from Julie Barnett;"Shadow" - supernatural thriller from Efe Dogu;"Tia and the Cosmic Se...2020-02-1600 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Mo O'Hara - Writing Tips, Getting Published & Making SubmissionsFeatured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions...
""Exili Saves the Flintelf" - fantasy from Victoria Bastedo;
"Sifting Sand" - commercial women's fiction from Caroline Meech;
"Heaven's Nightmares" - adult romantic fiction from lynn hughes;
"Bright & Others" - historical fiction from Victoria;
"Godonism" - dystopian from Theo Von Cezar.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouTube and join us live in the Litopia chat room every Sunday at 5pm UK.
Make Your Pop-Up Submission here!
The winner of each show is immortalised here: https://litopia.com/winners.
...2020-02-0200 minLitopia All ShowsPop-Up Submissions LIVE with Special Guest Emma RobinsonFeatured on this edition of Pop-Up Submissions...
"To Be Enlightened" - speculative fiction from Alan Steinberg;
"The Lake at Standing Rock" - speculative (dystopian) from Rachel O'Sullivan ;
"Ichabod" - literary fiction from Michael Manning;
"Pecunia Blues" - a thriller from Des Kirby;
"The Final Eliminator" - fiction from Kit Galer.
Subscribe to Litopia's channel on YouTube and join us live in the Litopia chat room every Sunday at 5pm UK.
Make Your Pop-Up Submission here!
The winner of each show is immortalised here: https://litopia.com/winners.
2020-01-2700 minLitopia All ShowsThe Litopia After Dark Xmas Family Murder Show!
At Last – The Litopia After Dark Xmas Family Murder Show is here! Yeah – it’s a tad late, folks (or early, for next Xmas). But hardcore Yule like this is worth waiting for.
This is the show that puts Fifty Shades in the shade. That makes your office Xmas party look sophisticated. That cracks your Xmas nuts and then asks damn fool questions about Ants.
There is no mercy; for Agent Cox is the quizmaster. And you are his prey.
Don’t miss this unique chance to reliv...2015-02-1300 min
Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 050 - All The World's Books In The Palm of Your HandEveryone agrees that last week's show was one of our best ever... but we might just shatter that consensus tonight. Our sujets du jour include:
* Is Google’s Great Book Bank Robbery the beginning of the end for traditional publishing and bookselling? Our very own business guru speaks!
* Dating and mating in the book business – what really goes on in those long, lustful editorial meetings – we spill the beans!
* How a Mexican strawberry picker managed to bring down the entire world’s economy... sort of.
* And Noddy and Big Ears – what was that really all about, then?
All this plus our all fu...2009-05-111h 00Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 049 - Kindle PornFinally, the Kindle may have found its market: but perhaps not quite what Amazon expected - it may just be the the new must-have accessory for pornophiles. That is, if a recent thread on FriendFeed is anything to go by... and yes folks, Litopia After Dark merits an explicit tag this week – you have been warned!
Raising our sights for a moment, Peter is convinced that, in a blinding flash of revelation, he has seen the future of the digital publishing business - and it's Google, not Amazon, who look like being the clear winners.
"When we look back", he sa...2009-05-111h 00Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 048 - Sachsgate and Farting DogsOn LITOPIA AFTER DARK’s panel tonight are regulars Donna Ballman and Dave Bartram, more than ably assisted by Isle of Man writer John Quirk and British publisher-turned US-uber-agent Sarah Davies.
The biggest news this week isn’t that Walter the Farting Dog is headed to the big screen – significant though that is. Since being published in 2001, this modern epic and its four sequels have sold millions of copies worldwide (the movie of the flatulent pooch will be produced by the Farrelly brothers and will be scripted by Joel Cohen, whose previous work includes "No Country For Old Men," and "Fargo"...2009-05-111h 00Litopia After Dark 26 - 50The Litopia After Dark Halloween Special: The Spooky ShowIt’s Halloween and this week Litopia After Dark goes to hell as the panel get their fangs into some of the juicy topics up for discussion.
The prominent atheist Richard Dawkins is stepping down from his post at Oxford University to write a book aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in "anti-scientific" fairytales. Prof Dawkins said: "The book I write next year will be a children's book on how to think about the world, science thinking contrasted with mythical thinking. I haven't read Harry Potter, I have read Pullman who is the other leading ch...2009-05-111h 00Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 046 - Hokey, Maudlin, Mawkish, Kitschy, Mushy & SchmaltzySentimentality is in the air on Litopia After Dark this week as we try to create a tear-jerking, heart-wrenching, sickly sweet best-seller (pass the sick bucket!). However, it all gets a bit over-emotional and we move on to more serious topics...
Last week we took a look at the sex-and-blackmail scandal that propelled etiquette doyenne Emily Post to start peddling good manners as a commodity, nearly 100 years ago. This week, Emily Yoffe writes in SLATE about the lack of manners (as if we really expected them) in the US election campaign. Could it be an element of the social malaise...2009-05-111h 00Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 045 - A Heck of a Frankfurts week Litopia After Dark is delighted to welcome back Martyn Daniels, fresh from the Frankfurt Book Fair. We take full advantage of his ringside view and ask the question everyone is asking… how were the parties?
A new book by Roy Blount Jr has just been published – Alphabet Juice (with nearly the longest subtitle in publishing history). Blount contends that "through centuries of intimate contact with the human body, some words have absorbed the uncanny power to carry the ring of truth." We try to put our finger on the hidden language of words, particularly as it applies to peop...2009-05-1153 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 044 - The Return of Richard (and Judy)On the show this week, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan – the British husband and wife equivalent of Oprah – are back on UK television screens… but did any of you notice?
An essay by Theodore Dalrymple heralds a new social disease – “False Apology Syndrome” and we’re very sorry to have to ask you this… but, could you suffering from it?
A new book is out this week - Patronizing the Arts by Marjorie Garber. In it, she considers the means by which most of Western civilization has paid for its great works of artistic achievement – patronage by the super-rich, and quite often super...2009-05-1152 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 043 - The Influence of WritersOn Litopia After Dark this week we are delighted to welcome as our special guest Martin Toseland, former publisher at both Penguin and HarperCollins, and now an author himself. Martin’s book A Steroid Hit The Earth: The Catastrophic World of Misprints is published on 10th October.
In the week that Gwyneth Paltrow launches GOOP, a website designed for her to tell us how to live better, we ask... why? A disturbing article in the current American Scholar describes precisely how muzzled both authors and publishers really are in China - will we end up changing them - or will th...2009-05-1147 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 042 - Art for Art's Sake3368772386_e408f47eaeIn the week when Damien Hirst made $198 million selling pickled animals, famed art critic Robert Hughes all but crucified Hirst and his "dull witted" patrons in an outspoken attack published in The Guardian.
On Litopia After Dark we discuss whether Hirst is a pioneer - or a pirate, as Hughes maintains. Also, British children's authors who visit schools and libraries more than once a month will need to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority as of October 2009. Is this opening the door to a world where the State decides whose ideas are acceptable - and whose aren’t?
Br...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 041 - Corporate Publishing is DoomedIn the week when the world’s financial industries appeared to go into meltdown, Litopia After Dark zeroes in on the impact this will have on the publishing industry.
What effect will the credit crunch and looming global economic disaster have on the world of books? We also discuss e-readers, following disturbing research showing that on-screen reading is flawed. Is the e-reader doomed? And, after Eoin Colfer has been commissioned to write a new Hitchhiker instalment, we ask if resurrecting old favourites is a good idea? All this seriousness is balanced out with our regular merrymaking in the form of Pi...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 040 - Lipstick On A PigThe J.K. Rowling plagiarism case, psychoanalysing the mind of the Republican voter and mad scientists... such a medley of topics can only be found on Litopia After Dark. This week, as well as deciding whether we think JK has won a victory for writers everywhere, we also try to pitch our novels to the Agent, and solve the ticklish issue of an anonymous listener who's addicted to tarting up his pig. Seriously.
On the panel this week we are delighted to welcome back Dr Susan O'Doherty, writer, clinical psychologist and the author of Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 039 - Campaign for the BookLitopia After Dark this week has not one but two very special guests. We welcome back novelist, journalist, actress and broadcaster, Amanda Lees, author of the Kumari Goddess of Gotham teen novels. Also we are delighted to welcome Alan Gibbons, author of numerous award winning children's titles including the Blue Peter Award winning, Shadow of the Minotaur and the Carnegie Shotlisted, The Edge. Alan has launched a campaign against library closures in the UK, recruiting to his cause so far, Philip Pullman, David Almond, Michael Rosen and Beverley Naidoo, among others. We discuss Alan's Campaign for the Book in depth...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 038 - All ChangeLitopia After Dark this week has a new format. Buoyed up by the roaring success of our Summer Specials (thank you all for your wonderful feedback) we've incorporated a few of your favourite segments into the regular show. This week not only do we discuss why there are so few males in the Publishing business, we also play Pitch The Nasty Agent. Amazon gobbles up yet another massive internet company - Shelfari, a social networking startup for book lovers - and we chat about our experience of internet bookshelves before tackling Litopia's Cry For Help - solving a problem sent...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 037 - Semi-ColonicOn Litopia After Dark this week The Boston Globe reports that the semicolon is in trouble.
And, dare we say punctuation in general. Is this the end of civilisation as we know it - or simply the end of dead-end pedantry? And Biographies - an endangered species? Both the quality and quantity of biographies is falling, says the Guardian. What do we read into this? Also, the dumbing down of society. Don't Trust Anyone Under 30 says the author of newly-published "The Dumbest Generation" - they're stupid! Can this really be true? According to a recent UNICEF survey, Britain is the...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 036 - Gossip & ScandalWe're back! Did you miss us? We missed you!
In our first Litopia After Dark of the season we're talking about the pitfalls of self-publishing and the plunging sales of the gossip magazine. We also cover freedom of speech as Random House pull a novel by Sherry Jones called The Jewel of Medina. Our regular Amazon spot is back and this week we look at Audible's impending launch of an imprint to showcase titles from indie publishers before they're published and we chat about the built in obsolescence of the Kindle.
On our panel this week are Dave Bartram, Donna...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia Summer Special: MasterclassIt's the last week of our holidays and Litopia After Dark brings you some stunning interviews from Donna.
David Diaz, Caldecott winner, talks about children's book illustrating and the relationship between illustrators and writers.
Sid Fleischman, Newberry winner, talks about writing, whether you can tell when you're writing an award winning book, and how to succeed in the biz.
Adrian Fogelin, children's writer, tells the good, the bad, and the ugly about the life of the midlist writer, the writing business for folks who aren't on the bestseller list, and the children's market today
Molly O'Neill, editor at Bowen Press...2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia Summer Special: The Early YearsLitopia After Dark is on holiday!
But don't despair. Since we're a resourceful bunch we've put together a montage of our best bits for your listening pleasure. So sit back, get a glass of something cold and enjoy!2009-05-1018 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia Summer Special: The Holiday Reading ShowAre you heading off to some exotic idyll for a fortnights R & R?
Or maybe you're venturing off alpaca shearing in Outer Mongolia? Or perhaps, you're skint and sitting on a deck chair in your back garden.
No matter where you're spending your hard earned break let Litopia After Dark give you the low down on the must reads of the summer. Dave, Donna, Carolyn, Eve and Peter recommend books for your reading pleasure over the long, hot, summer days.2009-05-1049 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 032 - The Publish-Or-Be-Damned Game Show3404210482_92f6b66461Our last, and without doubt most outrageous (note the "Explicit" rating) live offering before the long summer break - we proudly present our most ambitious and most perfect game show offering, for your amusement and delectation.
Panelists Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Paul Baker, Carolyn Soutar and very special guest "Dr. Sue" Susan O'Doherty embark on a positively neo-Darwinian competitive frenzy of combat - publishing-style! Fortunately, our own Eve Harvey is on hand to keep the score, and to maintain a modicum of sanity.
For the next three weeks, we're not live - but we ARE nevertheless going to...2009-05-101h 04Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 031 - The Famous Litopia Game ShowAs we continue our long wind-down into the summer holidays Litopia After Dark is proud to present The Famous Litopia Game Show! The contestants battling it out for the title of Game Show Legend were Dave Bartram, Donna Ballman, John Quirk and me (Eve Harvey, Podcast Officer extrordinaire). And I was rubbish. Not just a bit rubbish but really rubbish. Where were the questions about Captain Underpants? Where were the quotes from Gerri Halliwell? Why didn't we have to recognise the blurb from The Da Vinci Code? Despite my desperate efforts to Google the answers, raid my bookshelves for cheat-material...2009-05-1042 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 030 - The Litopia 4th July Holiday QuizWhere do your most brilliant ideas come from? What's the most extreme thing you've done when researching your book? What's the worst book you've ever bought? Litopia After Dark this week begins to wind down for the summer holidays with a writers' quiz. It all gets completely out of hand as the panellists give each other marks and the bickering reaches a crescendo as they try to outdo each other in the race to the finish line... tune in to see who wins.
The contenders this week are Dave Bartram, Richard Howse and Donna Ballman. They are joined by Amanda...2009-05-1051 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 029 - The Death of Big PublishingThis week on Litopia After Dark we examine the role of the world's mega-publishing houses and try to predict their future. We contemplate the often-tenuous position of being a Big Publishing Boss. If the price of signing with Big Publishing is being contracted to grind out a book every year - could you cope? And why - when indie film and music publishers are so widely respected - does the indie publishing scene get such little media attention and respect?
On the panel this week are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram and Editorial Director of Behler Publications, Lynn Price. The Ustream...2009-05-1045 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 028 - Pace Yourself!3423368490_61c25da61aDoes Country Music reflect the history of the people? On Litopia After Dark this week we discuss a new book by Dana Jennings called Sing Me Back Home. Also, that buzzword of the '90s - multitasking. New research suggests that it accomplishes very little. And how Google is making us all stupid. After all that we take a short nap before recommending our favourite links of the week.
On the panel this week are Dave Bartram, Donna Ballman and John Quirke. And in the Ustream chatroom 7.30pm GMT we sang "Drop kick me Jesus through the Goal...2009-05-1043 minLitopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 027 - Are Books Bad?The massive environmental destruction wrought by paper industry isn't the only bad thing about book production that we cover on tonight's LITOPIA AFTER DARK. Our special guest on this week's show is Raz Godelnik, CEO of Eco-Libris. His company believes in providing people with easy and affordable ways to plant a tree for each book they read. So what can we, as writers, do to influence change? The panel gets stuck in – and you can, too, if you join us live next week in the UStream chat room!
Main topic - books and the environment
Our special guest Raz Goldelnik ta...2009-05-101h 03Litopia After Dark 26 - 50Litopia After Dark 026 - What's Your Problem?On Litopia After Dark this week:- Our special guest is Dr Susan O'Doherty, writer and clinical psychologist. The writers workspace - how to maximise creativity. Literary giant Gore Vidal is on his last tour of Europe - who are the 21st Century Literary Legends? And, age ranging in children's books - for or against?
The Doctor is in! Litopia After Dark this week takes on the role of Public Service Broadcasting. The life of a writer is often lonely, exhausting and intense; trapped in a world of introspection and solitude. History has shown writers are often more likely to...2009-05-101h 06
Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 025 - Going, Going, Gone!On Litopia After Dark this week:- Celebrity auctions are big business, why do people buy this stuff? Robert McCrum gives a run down on the changes during his 10 years at The Observer. Is it mental to go on a Creative Writing course? Computer games and the narrative drive. The Scott McClellan "tell-all" and the legal dispute over the new Ian Fleming book.
What am I bid?
Charles Dickens' desk goes under the hammer this week and Britney Spears' used chewing gum fetched $14,000 on Ebay recently. Since it seems there's money to be made from celebrity relics, Litopia After Dark...2009-05-101h 21Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 024 - Boys Night OutOn Litopia After Dark this week:- Our Special Guest is Jean Hannah Edelstein, writer blogger and literary commentator. Is it time for the first female Poet Laureate? William McGonagall - genius or idiot? Nerds are the subject of a new book. Kindle figures are out and Amazon puts the squeeze on Publishers. And public schoolboys are back - but what makes us love them?
Here come the boys!
Litopia After Dark flexes its muscles and takes an unemotional, rational, stoic look at the masculine news of the week. We keep it real as we discuss boy poets, boy heroes...2009-05-101h 04Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 023 - I Hate You!Yes, there’s an exceptional amount of aggro in the news this week and, as you’ve come to expect, our fearless panel tackles everything head-on as we discuss things we hate, things they hate and things things hate: it’s really one great big hate-fest.
To balance out all the negativity we have a very special guest who we love. Prize winning teen author Susie Day's hilarious and touching novel, BIG WOO!, is published by Scholastic (Marion Lloyd Books) in the UK in April and by Scholastic Inc in the US in the summer. In the US it goes by the...2009-05-1059 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 022 - Author 2.0Tonight on LITOPIA AFTER DARK we're delighted to have as our special guest an acclaimed author who could be considered a signpost to the future. In the words of publishing maven Martyn Daniels (who was our guest on "The Money Issue - How will Authors Survive in the Digital Future?" April 5th) Kate Pullinger is one of the few authors who "gets it" about the new digital media age, and who is already using it in highly creative ways.
Reader in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University, Kate currently teaches the online MA in Creative Writing and...2009-05-101h 02Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 021 - A Big, Sexy PackageYour book is written, re-written, checked and double checked and you're ready to find it a home. But in this ultra-competitive publishing climate how do you ensure your novel escapes from the slush pile? On Litopia After Dark this week our very special guest is Simon Flynn, Publishing Director of Icon Books and we ask him how to sex up our submissions to get them noticed and how publishers themselves package their books to entice the reader.
Libraries are branching out: As Swansea Library declares Friday nights, singles night and Swiss Cottage Library, London introduces a "borrow a person" event...2009-05-101h 12Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 020 - Virtual Dinner PartyDinner parties! Soul food for the chattering classes (if you’re a writer that means you). Don't you just love them? If you’re a man, the answer is likely to be "No!". If female, probably the opposite. An intriguing item in Slate explains why eligible men are so difficult to find for these quintessentially middle-class eating events (apart from the fact that they simply don’t like them).
Our soigné panellists then examine a new book published this week that re-evaluates the 1960’s - what lasting impressions has this decade left on our lives today? Singer and troubled celebrity Amy Wineh...2009-05-101h 05Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 019 - DIY4U? How Writers Are Doing It For ThemselvesThe dynamically changing nature of the publishing business is creating new opportunities for writers to eliminate the publisher and go straight to the reader directly. This week, Litopia After Dark considers just how easy - or otherwise - an option it is to make a living by doing it all yourself.
As the Harry Potter trial wraps up in New York, we spend some time thinking through the arguments and implications of what might be termed a literary weep-off. We also ponder some new opportunities for authors' revenge against reviewers. And - do you really need to go to the...2009-05-101h 06Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 018 - The Sex and Death ShowThe life of a writer is idyllic; long walks in the countryside, sipping latte in street cafes and pondering the greater meaning of life on the banks of a babbling brook. So everyone thinks! In reality, the writer's life is very hard and in some cases deadly.
This week, after news of the death of several prominent internet writers, Litopia After Dark stresses about the exhausting, demanding pressure writers are under. Are we taking on too much?
We also discuss V.S. Naipaul (whose reputation is slated in a new biography out this week) and ask, can we overlook the...2009-05-101h 06Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 017 - The Money Issue - How will Authors Survive in the Digital Future?This week Litopia After Dark looks to the future. As we move rapidly into the digital age, there are undoubtedly opportunities for writers, plenty of pitfalls, but mostly uncertainty. It's a timely subject - this week, Britain's Society of Authors alarmed everyone with a shock prognostication: authors may stop writing - so their chairperson said - because it simply wont pay any more!
This has also been the week in which the blogs-to-books publisher The Friday Project crashed and burned its way into liquidation yet paradoxically, on the other side of the Atlantic, Random House has just paid $300,000 to an...2009-05-101h 16Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 016 - The End Of Civilisation As We Know ItPeople are getting dumber, the world is sinking into entropy and signs of decline and fall are all around. So why are we bothering with Litopia After Dark this week? Well, someone has to sort it out!
The Queen's English is on the endangered list. Katie Price (the UK glamour model aka Jordan) has a book in the running for a major award - her publsiher admits that even they don't know how much of it she actually wrote herself - if any! Disney have turned our beloved Famous Five into a Hollywood cartoon. Enid must be spinning in her...2009-05-091h 02Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 015 - Happy TalkThis week, Litopia After Dark boldly goes where no podcast has gone before (note the effortless Roddenberry reference!) as we consider Arthur C. Clarke’s legacy and ponder the literary merit of SF: geek fodder or classic fiction?
We also nominate a children's author to (literally) shoot out of the sky - and the Encyclopaedia Britannica goes luxury... but do we love it enough?
Also, on the show this week... happiness is overrated... Sebastian Horsley is banned from the USA... employees are gagged... and it's Mac! No it's PC! No Mac! PC! Mac!
Finally, we enquire where old books go to...2009-05-091h 02Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 014 - The Hooker PrizeLitopia After Dark this week is plunging further into the murky depths of the literary world than we have ever been before, as we deliberate the question - Vice: is it any good?
We look at the sin of shoplifting books, the evil-doing of downloading e-books and the depravity of failing to return library books. And as we plummet, the panel discuss literally pitching your work and the wrath that may result... the sloth of Thesaurus use... the lust of the madam memoir.
By the time we've settled at the bottom of the pit, all that remains is the question...2009-05-0953 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 013 - The Future of the BookLITOPIA AFTER DARK this week takes a fascinating direction as we discuss one of the biggest and most important questions facing writers and publishers today - how will books be sold in the future? Also, The Litopia Effect - how our discussions are influencing the world of literature as yet another story of fake memoirs hits the headlines. Plus we are all, literally, stereotypes... Jacqueline Wilson publicly disapproves of herself... and writers - mad, bad and dangerous in power?
To discuss these topics in depth are Donna Ballman, Beverly Gray, Dave Bartram and Richard Howse. Our special guest this week...2009-05-091h 06Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 012 - Touching The MonkeyThis week’s LITOPIA AFTER DARK recklessly plunges into the wild and wacky world of the WOTY (listen to the show to find out!) during which we learn more than we ever thought we’d want to know about micro-groms, man-flu, smirting and whaletails –to name but a few.
We also look at the latest developments in the lawsuit brought by JK Rowling and Warner bros against the author of publisher of the unofficial Harry Potter encyclopaedia... ask what future is there for publishing trade magazines... ponder alternatives to the Mozart Effect... and ask What Your Bookshelf really Says about you.
...2009-05-0959 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 011 - Writers are All ThievesRecorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what's new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. We can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there's an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme.
This week the panel discuss the dark and ugly face of writing. No, not Jeffrey Archer, but plagiarism. We're naming and shaming the cheats of the writing world and asking why would they steal? We're also looking at the years weirdest book titles - "Cheese Problems...2009-05-091h 00Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 010 - Inalienable UnderpantsRecorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. We can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme.
Joining Peter Cox this week are Donna Ballman, Beverly Gray and Dave Bartram and special guest Carolyn Soutar.
In this week’s show the panellists share their views on a multitude of news items. How do they feel about Zadie Smith’s attack on Literary...2009-05-091h 09Litopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 009 - Why Do We Do It?Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Again, we can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme.
Panellists this week are Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray, Donna Ballman and Eve Harvey.
The show this week is an introspective. The panel examine their own reasons for entering the highly competitive world of the unpublished writer and try to explain what it is abou...2009-05-0954 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 008 - EnantiodromiaRecorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. We can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme.
Today’s show is called Enantiodromia – (Greek: enantios, opposite + dromos, running course) is a concept introduced by psychiatrist Carl Jung meaning the superabundance of any force inevitably produces its opposite. Thanks to Dave for the word of the week.
In this week’s extraordinarily named show...2009-05-0954 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 007 - Mummy Took My Fingers!Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Again, we can be found live on UStream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity to watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme.
In this week’s packed show we will be discussing Literary Prizes. How do the panel feel about the system of Prizes? AL Kennedy has just been awarded the Costa Prize and yet the book is a bleak read, not universally appealing. We dis...2009-05-0953 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 006 - ShroomsIn this second programme of 2008 we are again live on Ustream and the chat room is open for comments during the recording of the Podcast.
This week the panel discuss the rather depressing news that further cuts are being made to funding for the Arts. The British Council has effectively been dismantled, its 20 specialist officers (including the much-respected Susie Nicklin, Head of Literature) have been made redundant and invited to re-apply for their jobs. Also is POD (Print on Demand) the future for mainstream publishing? Will the fast turnaround in printing and lack of warehouse costs be the answer to...2009-05-0957 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 005 - Warts & AllIn this first Litopia After Dark of 2008, we’re live on Ustream and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme.
This week the panel discuss Chuck Norris. What? Has Chuck Norris decided being an action hero is no longer fulfilling and penned his own romance novel? Fortunately not. The discussion revolves around a book called “The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World’s Greatest Human” and the resulting law suit. Also, the far more serious issue of Books and the Landfill. What can we do about the environmental impact of the publis...2009-05-0940 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 004 - Is Story Dead?For the last show of 2007 we’re doing something a little different. This week, VARIETY reports that more and more films are abandoning the classical 3-act structure in favour of nonlinear story construction. So the main question we’re going to address tonight is all about the future of story itself. Andrew Gillman, who will be familiar to many listeners of our earlier podcasts, is currently directing another series for BBC3 starring Rob Brydon. We asked Andrew and his producer, Alex Kavallierou, to give us their thoughts and some context on this most fundamental issue for all writers. Our panellists are...2009-05-0943 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 003 - Living DangerouslyIf you look at the bestseller charts on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s not hard to predict what you’re going to see. In the UK, 15 of the top 20 hardback non-fiction books are television spin-offs. Stateside, this week’s hardcover fiction list is equally humdrum - you’d be forgiven for thinking that we’d all been swallowed up in a time warp and gone back to the 1980s. So - has “safe” publishing finally taken over? We also tackle buzz marketing, the ten most manly writers ever, and the definitive American woman of our time. This episode’s guests are Don...2009-05-0938 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 002 - Facebook Face-OffRecorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Last week, we gave Amazon’s Kindle a good going-over - and we’re not finished with the subject yet - well take another look at it quite soon, when we can assess what kind of initial impact it’s made.
This week, it’s the turn of another “saviour of the publishing industry” to get the high-octane attention of our panel of writers - the rise of the social network. Are you on FaceBook? W...2009-05-0943 minLitopia After Dark 1 - 25Litopia After Dark 001 - The Kindle - Saviour or Segway?Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture.
This week, we tackle The Kindle - Savior of the publishing industry or Segway? Princess Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton’s takes on Tom Cruise. And we give Bloomsbury Publishing our best advice in coping with Potter bereavement. Plus our picks of the week, and sleepers of the week. Our pundits are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse.2009-05-0942 min