This week I'm delighted to welcome Tim Clare, writer of fiction and non-fiction, for a chat about focus. We talk about planning, fractured focus & intense focus, confidence, editing and the theory that attention is the purest form of compassion.

Tim opens up about the specific pleasures and pitfalls of deep focus for neurodivergent people. We talk about experimental French literature group The Oulipo, we disappear up our own bumbles but we do come out again.

Tim's latest book is The Game Changers is published by Cannongate.

He also wrote Coward, in which he explores all possible cures for anxiety.

Check out his podcast Death of a 1000 Cuts, it's an amazing resource for writers!

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Alice is an award winning comedy writer, Broadcaster, and performer. Listed in the Telegraph’s 50 Funniest Comedians of the 21st Century, her solo comedy shows have been commissioned as TV specials on Amazon Prime, NextUp and the ABC.

She has made four documentaries for Audible: Meditation 101, Habit Change, Wellness and Work Life Balance. She also co-hosted BBC Radio 4 series Stranger Than Sci Fi, about ongoing conversations between science and science fiction.

Alice recently published her first book A Passion for Passion: A Delirious Love Letter to Romance. It's a glorious homage to genre fiction, celebrating the solemn silliness of romance novels.

She has an excellent Patreon, where she writes a brilliant blog. She also hosts creative retreats in Switzerland! Let's all go!

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Today I'm talking to poet and novelist Sophie Robinson. Sophie's debut novel Prairie Oyster came out last week. Buy it from your local bookshop, or from Bookshop.org who donate over 80% of their profit margin to independent bookshops.

As well as being a writer, Sophie runs Devotion, a radical and inclusive writing workshop for people working at all levels.

We talk about the concept of vulnerability, both in writing and in life. We also explore addiction, panic attacks, radical acceptance & surrender, chronic illness, becoming an accidental knitting influencer and ignoring the male gaze (but not the male gays).

Read Sophie's poem Art in America here.

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