Francesca Segal is the author of Welcome to Glorious Tuga and Island Calling, the first two novels in a trilogy about the delightful fictional island of Tuga De Oro in the South Atlantic. Francesca talks with me about fictional world building, the deliberate choice to create a refuge and a community, not without challenges but incredibly hopeful as well as the influence of 19th century literature on the novels, and the joys and challenges of writing interconnected books. We also talk about Francesca's 2019 memoir Mothership, still one of the most incredible accounts of early motherhood I have ever read.

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Welcome to Glorious Tuga - Francesca Segal

Island Calling - Francesca Segal

Mothership - Francesca Segal

The Fold membership for writers

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Listeners of Not Too Busy To Write can receive their second book FREE

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Today I am in conversation with not one but three guests! We're talking about the incredible impact of the Women's Prize Discoveries from three perspectives - 2026 Judge and Curtis Brown literary agent Ciara Finan, 2022 shortlistee and author of the extraordinary debut novel Ordinary Saints, Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin and Alice Trew, 2024 shortlistee who has just secured a 2 book deal, the first of which The Hungry Dark, will be out in 2027.

Ciara talks us through her work as a literary agent and what she'll be looking for amongst entries in the 2026 prize, and Niamh and Alice talk about their experiences as shortlistees and the incredible impact it has had on their careers and their community as writers.

The Women's Prize Discoveries is open to all women aged over 18 who are unagented and unpublished, resident in the UK and Ireland, and writing in English, in any adult fiction genre. The deadline for the 2026 prize is January 12th. Submission is free and requires 10k words and a synopsis. See the link below for more details.

Links

Women's Prize Discoveries

Ordinary Saints - Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin

Curtis Brown Creative

Ciara Finan at Curtis Brown

Alice on Instagram

Niamh on Instagram

This series of the podcast is sponsored by award winning audio book app xigxag

Listeners of Not Too Busy To Write can receive their second book FREE

To redeem, download the xigxag app from the App Store or Google Play.

Go to My xigxag/Settings, then click on Account.

Under Vouchers, click on the ‘Enter code’ button and add your voucher code TOOBUSY to your account.

After your first purchase, your second title will be free!

Chartered psychologist, coach and author Suzy Reading believes women need to learn to be a bit selfish. After many books on the subject of self care and self nourishment, Suzy focuses her new book How To Be Selfish, instead, on the importance of receiving care.

Suzy and I talk about why women struggle with self advocacy so much and why it's a vital skill to live a full life, especially one in which we contribute so much to our families and communities. We also talk about why writers specifically need to be a little bit selfish and why it's worth learning how to be.

Links

How To Be Selfish by Suzy Reading

Suzy Reading on Instagram

The Fold membership for writers

Penny Wincer on Instagram

This series of the podcast is sponsored by award winning audio book app xigxag

Listeners of Not Too Busy To Write can receive their second book FREE

To redeem, download the xigxag app from the App Store or Google Play.

Go to My xigxag/Settings, then click on Account.

Under Vouchers, click on the ‘Enter code’ button and add your voucher code TOOBUSY to your account.

After your first purchase, your second title will be free!