Helen Fisher, author of 'Joe Nuthin's Guide to Life' - Writer discusses the rocky road to publication, writing when you're not writing, and the plot road map

Helen Fisher's debut, 'Space Hopper' was acclaimed as one of the most unique debuts of 2021, recommended by Cosmopolitan, Woman's Weekly', Marian Keyes, and many more, it looked set to launch her to a glittering career.

Things weren't that simple for Helen. In the following 2 years, she wrote 3 novels which were all turned down and rejected. At an incredibly low point, she almost gave up. It was only the story of Joe, along with her editor, that gave her enough strength to carry on for one last go.

'Joe Nuthin's Guide to Life' tells the story of Joe, who likes everything predictable, consistent and in order, yet he soon finds an adventure pushes him well outside of his comfort zone, where sometimes joy lies.

We discuss how Helen overcame her tricky 2 years, what she's learned from it, and how that is affecting how she approaches publication now. Also, you can hear why she's always writing, even when she isn't writing, why it wasn't the plot that drew her into the story, and how she made characters authentic, not cliched or predictable.

This week's episode is sponsored by true-crime podcast, 'Who is the Cheese Wire Killer?', find it wherever you're listening to this!

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