Tim Booth, yes that Tim Booth, singer with the band James, has a lot to say about writing his first fiction novel. He's well aware of the clichés about rock star books and is here to address them all. Nothing was off limits, so there's talk of sex and drugs and rock'n'roll, but also vulnerability and confidence and truth'n'lies. The genesis for the story came 28 years ago, but the catalyst was an LA writing group that frankly could make up the subject of an entirely different book! It's a thoughtful discussion but does get a bit sweary - goes with the rock band territory - just in case you've got young kids listening nearby.

Find Tim's reading recommendations and all past episodes of Bestsellers at www.bestsellerspodcast.com

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Phil first met Chris Whitaker on the radio during lockdown, when Chris published, 'We Begin At The End.'

His extraordinary new book, 'All The Colours of the Dark,' also features a strong teenage lead character, facing some pretty dire circumstances. Chris tells Natalie and Phil he drew on his own early years trauma to create his new hero, Patch. He also opens up about being arrested, accused of a financial crime, just as his last novel was coming out.

And he reveals he's come to love The Muppets' 'Rainbow Connection' song, since writing this book...!

All The Colours of the Dark is a superb book. Read it before you see it on TV, as Universal are currently making it as a three season event.

Trigger Warning: Chris speaks candidly about his own abuse as a child in this episode. This may be triggering for survivors of physical abuse, child abuse or domestic violence.

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Abir Mukherjee is the hugely successful writer of five historical crime novels. He created the Wyndham and Banerjee series of thrillers, starting in 1919 India, each book progressing towards Partition.

His brand new novel - Hunted - is a stand alone contemporary edge of the seat thriller which took Abir over three years to write and resulted in him forming a mentoring group with luminaries such as Val McDermid, Lee Child, Mick Herron and Ruth Ware who all gave different advice on how to craft a contemporary thriller.

Abir explains the writing process and 'turning things up to eleven,' with the action; why his starting point for his books is always his personal anger and he and Natalie bond over living in Surrey and share their fears about just how posh their kids are turning out..!

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