Tom Hindle – How to switch between work and play when writing

Tom Hindle published his successful debut, ‘A Fatal Crossing’, in 2022. It drew comparisons to Agatha Christie and propelled him to the list of mystery writers to watch. He’s back with a second whodunnit, ‘The Murder Game’. It tells the story of nine guests trapped in one house, when a murder mystery night goes wrong.

We talk about how his writing life has changed since he packed in the full time job, and how he switches between writing for work and for pleasure. You can hear how he tries to be a plotter… but always ends up pantsing, what it was like meeting a major childhood hero, and how he solved the problem of getting two people in the same room at the same time.

Thanks for sending over the best books you’ve read this year to writersroutine@gmail.com. This week’s picks were:

‘Before You Knew My Name’ by Jacqueline Bublitz, ‘The Art of the Gathering’ by Priya Parker, ‘The Mandrake Company’ series by Ruby Lionsdrake, and ‘Garden of Lamentations’ by Deborah Crombie. Thanks to Andrea, Kate and Cynthia for sending those over.

You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine