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This week, we’re unpacking the controversy surrounding Emerald Fennell’s "Wuthering Heights" adaptation. From historically inaccurate corsets to Margot Robbie’s "raunchy" take on Cathy, we debate how far a retelling can stray before it loses the source material entirely.

Plus, we look at how one writer used AI to publish 200 novels in a single year, allegedly earning six figures. But is she a writer? And after a century of dominance, are paperbacks shuffling toward extinction?

00:00 Intro

01:25 200 'Books' A Year - The AI Romance Gold Rush?

12:48 Pulp Fiction No More - The Death of Paperbacks?

23.35 Raunchy Brontë - Straying Too Far From the Source?

37:38 - Off Script: Stranger Than Fiction

43:15 Final Chapter - Best RomComs

Links:

Can AI Chatbots Write Romance? NY Times Article

The Death of the Mass Market Paperback?

How Different Is Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” Compared to Emily Brontë’s Book?

Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more!

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Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Rebecca Hannigan has an MA in Creative Writing Crime Fiction from UEA, graduating in 2023. She won the UEA/Little Brown Crime Prize for her dissertation. She has also been shortlisted for Virago/The Pool’s Best New Crime Writer. Her first novel, Darkrooms, is out now.

We had a great chat with Rebecca, hearing about her experience of getting a masters in crime writing and how that helped her with her debut, Darkrooms. We also discuss the anxiety that can build up as a debut writer in the lead up to launch, and get into a big discussion about what makes twists work (or fail), as well as talking about writing unsympathetic characters.

Links:

Buy Darkrooms now!

Visit Rebecca's website

Follow Rebecca on Instagram

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

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Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as a full video interview on YouTube

Jacob Rollinson was born in England in 1984. He is currently based in East Sussex, employed as an academic librarian. Jacob has a PhD in creative and critical writing from the University of East Anglia. He is always looking things up, and he never knows where his next interest is going to take him: he has delivered papers and joined panels on topics ranging from literature and archive work to translation of Classical Chinese poetry, journalism and human rights, and crime fiction. He enjoys weird books.His debut novel, The Truth of Carcosa, is out now.

We had a really interesting chat with Jacob, talking about weird fiction - what it is and how it can be unsettling - and learning about how The Truth of Carcosa grew out of a fever dream during Covid. Plus, we discuss the role of luck in publishing, and the value of writing courses.

Links:

Buy The Truth of Carcosa now (can be bought in the UK via Amazon)

Follow Jacob on Bluesky

Visit Jacob's website

Support us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageone

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-one

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on Bluesky

Follow us on Threads

Page One - The Writer's Podcast is part of STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing and publishing podcast needs! Follow STET Podcasts on Instagram and Bluesky

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.