We'd Like A Word

Writing dynasties (part 1): Felix Francis, Andrew Child/Grant & Rajmohan Gandhi tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about taking on a big book brand or carrying on a family writing tradition. It's different from continuation novels, they say, like when Anthony Horowitz took on Ian Fleming's James Bond character (see episode 4, series 1 of We'd Like A Word with Anthony Horowitz https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/rtTQmLv7Ivb ). These are books, stories and characters with whom they have grown up. But do they try to be exactly like their predecessor or collaborator? Distinctively different? How open are they about it? Is it better to keep it a secret until you're sure that readers will like it? And what if the originator decides he maybe does not want to retire after all? How do they write? And what books are they writing next? Lots of interesting answers in this 4-part episode.

Felix Francis is the son of Richard and Mary Francis, who together created the internationally bestselling Dick Francis thrillers, set in the world of horse racing. Felix began contributing to, then co-writing, then solely authoring the Dick Francis books long before his name was on the covers. He's written 16 of them now. Where does Dick end and Felix begin? Listen to find out.

Andrew Grant - now also known as Andrew Child - is the younger brother of Lee Child (real name Jim Grant), the creator of the bestselling Jack Reacher series - which you may also know from the Tom Cruise movies or the Amazon series starring Alan Ritchson. When decided he had only 4 more books left in him, he asked his brother Andrew to collaborate with him with a view to ultimately taking over. (Though that particular plot thickens...) But Andrew was already a successful thriller author in his own right. And he has a personal past cloaked in mystery.

Rajmohan Gandhi was a teenager when he was inspired to investigate how the world works and to write about it when his grandfather, the Mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. He spoke to We'd Like A Word at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival in Kasauli in India. It's hard to think of a more famous forebear than Gandhi. So how does Rajmohan fit into the tradition?

Lots of other authors, people & topics get discussed too - Tasha Alexander (the Lady Emily Ashton mysteries), Ben McIntyre, Desmond Bagley, Alistair Maclean, Alan Davies (Just Ignore Him), Arthur Ransome (Swallows and Amazons), Paul Gallico (The Snow Goose), Airey Neave and PD James.

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing dynasties (part 2): Felix Francis, Andrew Child/Grant & Rajmohan Gandhi tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about taking on a big book brand or carrying on a family writing tradition. It's different from continuation novels, they say, like when Anthony Horowitz took on Ian Fleming's James Bond character (see episode 4, series 1 of We'd Like A Word with Anthony Horowitz https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/rtTQmLv7Ivb ). These are books, stories and characters with whom they have grown up. But do they try to be exactly like their predecessor or collaborator? Distinctively different? How open are they about it? Is it better to keep it a secret until you're sure that readers will like it? And what if the originator decides he maybe does not want to retire after all? How do they write? And what books are they writing next? Lots of interesting answers in this 4-part episode.

Felix Francis is the son of Richard and Mary Francis, who together created the internationally bestselling Dick Francis thrillers, set in the world of horse racing. Felix began contributing to, then co-writing, then solely authoring the Dick Francis books long before his name was on the covers. He's written 16 of them now. Where does Dick end and Felix begin? Listen to find out.

Andrew Grant - now also known as Andrew Child - is the younger brother of Lee Child (real name Jim Grant), the creator of the bestselling Jack Reacher series - which you may also know from the Tom Cruise movies or the Amazon series starring Alan Ritchson. When decided he had only 4 more books left in him, he asked his brother Andrew to collaborate with him with a view to ultimately taking over. (Though that particular plot thickens...) But Andrew was already a successful thriller author in his own right. And he has a personal past cloaked in mystery.

Rajmohan Gandhi was a teenager when he was inspired to investigate how the world works and to write about it when his grandfather, the Mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. He spoke to We'd Like A Word at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival in Kasauli in India. It's hard to think of a more famous forebear than Gandhi. So how does Rajmohan fit into the tradition?

Lots of other authors, people & topics get discussed too - Tasha Alexander (the Lady Emily Ashton mysteries), Ben McIntyre, Desmond Bagley, Alistair Maclean, Alan Davies (Just Ignore Him), Arthur Ransome (Swallows and Amazons), Paul Gallico (The Snow Goose), Airey Neave and PD James.

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing dynasties (part 3): Felix Francis, Andrew Child/Grant & Rajmohan Gandhi tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about taking on a big book brand or carrying on a family writing tradition. It's different from continuation novels, they say, like when Anthony Horowitz took on Ian Fleming's James Bond character (see episode 4, series 1 of We'd Like A Word with Anthony Horowitz https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/rtTQmLv7Ivb ). These are books, stories and characters with whom they have grown up. But do they try to be exactly like their predecessor or collaborator? Distinctively different? How open are they about it? Is it better to keep it a secret until you're sure that readers will like it? And what if the originator decides he maybe does not want to retire after all? How do they write? And what books are they writing next? Lots of interesting answers in this 4-part episode.

Felix Francis is the son of Richard and Mary Francis, who together created the internationally bestselling Dick Francis thrillers, set in the world of horse racing. Felix began contributing to, then co-writing, then solely authoring the Dick Francis books long before his name was on the covers. He's written 16 of them now. Where does Dick end and Felix begin? Listen to find out.

Andrew Grant - now also known as Andrew Child - is the younger brother of Lee Child (real name Jim Grant), the creator of the bestselling Jack Reacher series - which you may also know from the Tom Cruise movies or the Amazon series starring Alan Ritchson. When decided he had only 4 more books left in him, he asked his brother Andrew to collaborate with him with a view to ultimately taking over. (Though that particular plot thickens...) But Andrew was already a successful thriller author in his own right. And he has a personal past cloaked in mystery.

Rajmohan Gandhi was a teenager when he was inspired to investigate how the world works and to write about it when his grandfather, the Mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. He spoke to We'd Like A Word at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival in Kasauli in India. It's hard to think of a more famous forebear than Gandhi. So how does Rajmohan fit into the tradition?

Lots of other authors, people & topics get discussed too - Tasha Alexander (the Lady Emily Ashton mysteries), Ben McIntyre, Desmond Bagley, Alistair Maclean, Alan Davies (Just Ignore Him), Arthur Ransome (Swallows and Amazons), Paul Gallico (The Snow Goose), Airey Neave and PD James.

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing dynasties (part 4): Felix Francis, Andrew Child/Grant & Rajmohan Gandhi tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about taking on a big book brand or carrying on a family writing tradition. It's different from continuation novels, they say, like when Anthony Horowitz took on Ian Fleming's James Bond character (see episode 4, series 1 of We'd Like A Word with Anthony Horowitz https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/rtTQmLv7Ivb ). These are books, stories and characters with whom they have grown up. But do they try to be exactly like their predecessor or collaborator? Distinctively different? How open are they about it? Is it better to keep it a secret until you're sure that readers will like it? And what if the originator decides he maybe does not want to retire after all? How do they write? And what books are they writing next? Lots of interesting answers in this 4-part episode.

Felix Francis is the son of Richard and Mary Francis, who together created the internationally bestselling Dick Francis thrillers, set in the world of horse racing. Felix began contributing to, then co-writing, then solely authoring the Dick Francis books long before his name was on the covers. He's written 16 of them now. Where does Dick end and Felix begin? Listen to find out.

Andrew Grant - now also known as Andrew Child - is the younger brother of Lee Child (real name Jim Grant), the creator of the bestselling Jack Reacher series - which you may also know from the Tom Cruise movies or the Amazon series starring Alan Ritchson. When decided he had only 4 more books left in him, he asked his brother Andrew to collaborate with him with a view to ultimately taking over. (Though that particular plot thickens...) But Andrew was already a successful thriller author in his own right. And he has a personal past cloaked in mystery.

Rajmohan Gandhi was a teenager when he was inspired to investigate how the world works and to write about it when his grandfather, the Mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. He spoke to We'd Like A Word at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival in Kasauli in India. It's hard to think of a more famous forebear than Gandhi. So how does Rajmohan fit into the tradition?

Lots of other authors, people & topics get discussed too - Tasha Alexander (the Lady Emily Ashton mysteries), Ben McIntyre, Desmond Bagley, Alistair Maclean, Alan Davies (Just Ignore Him), Arthur Ransome (Swallows and Amazons), Paul Gallico (The Snow Goose), Airey Neave and PD James.  

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing history & India (part 1): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William.

Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India.

William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company.

Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success).

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing history & India (part 2): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William.

Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India.

William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company.

Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success).

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing history & India (part 3): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William.

Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. 

William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company.

Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success).

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Diversity & short story anthologies (part 1): Authors Vaseem Khan & Ivy Ngeow tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan how they edited their recently published short story anthologies. Vaseem is co-editor (With Maxim Jakubowski) of The Perfect Crime: 22 Crime Stories from Diverse Cultures Around the World, published by Harper Collins. Ivy is editor of Asian Anthology: New Writing Volume 1, published by Leopard Print. We talk about getting diverse voices published, about cultural appropriation & avoiding "rule by the mob", how they choose who to include, what to do if you want to get your own story into an anthology, what editors love and what they hate, and we hear excerpts of some of the stories read by their authors.

These two short story anthologies take different approaches - open call v selected authors, big names v unknowns, genre framework v very loose theme. And the editors take different approaches on how they edit. For instance, if we do not generally put the word spaghetti in italics, why should we treat mee mamak any differently? Discuss...

Lots of other authors/publishers get a mention too - Dotun Adebayo and his XPress, Hachette, Will Dean, Neil Jordan, EP Chiew, Ewan Lawrie, Tess Gerritsen, Jabba the Hut creator John Coppinger, SA Cosby, Walter Mosley, and more.

We recommend both The Perfect Crime and Asian Anthology, but their editors are also authors in their own right with books out recently. Ivy Ngeow is the author of fiction and non-fiction including on fitness, health & cooking. Her latest thriller is White Crane Strikes. Vaseem Khan is the author of the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency & Malabar House crime fiction novels set in India.

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller \by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Diversity & short story anthologies (part 2): Authors Vaseem Khan & Ivy Ngeow tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan how they edited their recently published short story anthologies. Vaseem is co-editor (With Maxim Jakubowski) of The Perfect Crime: 22 Crime Stories from Diverse Cultures Around the World, published by Harper Collins. Ivy is editor of Asian Anthology: New Writing Volume 1, published by Leopard Print. We talk about getting diverse voices published, about cultural appropriation & avoiding "rule by the mob", how they choose who to include, what to do if you want to get your own story into an anthology, what editors love and what they hate, and we hear excerpts of some of the stories read by their authors.

These two short story anthologies take different approaches - open call v selected authors, big names v unknowns, genre framework v very loose theme. And the editors take different approaches on how they edit. For instance, if we do not generally put the word spaghetti in italics, why should we treat mee mamak any differently? Discuss...

Lots of other authors/publishers get a mention too - Dotun Adebayo and his XPress, Hachette, Will Dean, Neil Jordan, EP Chiew, Ewan Lawrie, Tess Gerritsen, Jabba the Hut creator John Coppinger, SA Cosby, Walter Mosley, and more.

We recommend both The Perfect Crime and Asian Anthology, but their editors are also authors in their own right with books out recently. Ivy Ngeow is the author of fiction and non-fiction including on fitness, health & cooking. Her latest thriller is White Crane Strikes. Vaseem Khan is the author of the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency & Malabar House crime fiction novels set in India.

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller \by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Diversity & short story anthologies (part 3): Authors Vaseem Khan & Ivy Ngeow tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan how they edited their recently published short story anthologies. Vaseem is co-editor (With Maxim Jakubowski) of The Perfect Crime: 22 Crime Stories from Diverse Cultures Around the World, published by Harper Collins. Ivy is editor of Asian Anthology: New Writing Volume 1, published by Leopard Print. We talk about getting diverse voices published, about cultural appropriation & avoiding "rule by the mob", how they choose who to include, what to do if you want to get your own story into an anthology, what editors love and what they hate, and we hear excerpts of some of the stories read by their authors.

These two short story anthologies take different approaches - open call v selected authors, big names v unknowns, genre framework v very loose theme. And the editors take different approaches on how they edit. For instance, if we do not generally put the word spaghetti in italics, why should we treat mee mamak any differently? Discuss... 

Lots of other authors/publishers get a mention too - Dotun Adebayo and his XPress, Hachette, Will Dean, Neil Jordan, EP Chiew, Ewan Lawrie, Tess Gerritsen, Jabba the Hut creator John Coppinger, SA Cosby, Walter Mosley, and more.

We recommend both The Perfect Crime and Asian Anthology, but their editors are also authors in their own right with books out recently. Ivy Ngeow is the author of fiction and non-fiction including on fitness, health & cooking. Her latest thriller is White Crane Strikes. Vaseem Khan is the author of the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency & Malabar House crime fiction novels set in India.

We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is [email protected] Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller \by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.