The Paperchain Podcast

About The Paperchain Podcast

Welcome to The Paperchain Podcast! What is The Paperchain Podcast, you ask? It’s a podcast hosted by me, Daniel Carpenter. I’m a writer, book reviewer, and Mancunian living in London. The Paperchain Podcast features interviews with authors, poets and other artists about their work, and the way they approach their writing. After that, they read or…

Episode 207 – Nerves (with Irenosen Okojie)

“If I’m scared, and if I’m excited then that’s what propels me forward.” Late last year I met up with Irenosen Okojie, author of Speak Gigantular and Butterfly Fish (Jacaranda Books), at the Arcola Theatre. We talked about the research she did for her debut novel, the strangeness of London, and the wealth of prizes…

Episode 206 – What’s Next (with Daniel Ross)

“Les Dennis’ winnebago is over there, but mine’s bigger.” Happy new year! This month I’m joined by author Daniel Ross, who’s book Bobby Denise is Reigning Rampant is currently crowdfunding over on Unbound. In the episode, he talks about his choice to publish his book with the publisher, the difficulties of crowdfunding, and an article…

Episode 205 – Tenderstem (with Claire Askew)

“It’s the darkest, most miserable book ever.” Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2017 was a bit miserable but hopefully this podcast has been a shining light in your life. To round off the year I talked to Claire Askew, author of All the Hidden Truths from Hodder Books, and This Changes Things from Bloodaxe….

Episode 204 – She Found it in the Sink (w/ Sophie Hopesmith)

“I had one person who said, ‘you look too angelic to have written this’.” This month on the podcast, novelist Sophie Hopesmith sat down to talk to me about death cafes, body horror, and the questions that only women get asked. Her novel, Another Justified Sinner is available from episode sponsors Dead Ink Books. Sophie…

Episode 203 – The Fireman’s Secret Shame (w/ Verity Holloway)

“It’s been a part of my life for so long I actually still wake up in the middle of the night and think ‘Oh god I need to finish it’.” Happy Halloween everyone! It’s a special horror themed edition of the podcast this month as I talk to novelist and non-fiction writer Verity Holloway. Verity is…

Episode 202 – A Whisper on the Stairs (w/ Rocketship Forest)

Thom Hammersley, Rick Hartley and Ian Collins are Rocketship Forest, and describe themselves as a combination of punk, folk, metal, mariachi and electronica. The band is singer Thom’s second longest relationship and I talked to them all about their previous bands, their DIY approach to recording and releasing their music, and their move into putting on their…

Episode 201 Cake Flamenco/Jeff Goldblum (with Gillian Best & Helen McClory)

Hey, we’re back! The Paperchain Podcast returns for another ten episodes of talk with writers and artists, and brand new short stories, poems and songs. In this episode I talked with Gillian Best and Helen McClory about setting and identity in their novels, and their shared experiences of DIY promotion for their debut novels. Gillian…

The Paperchain Podcast in Partnership with STORGY

We’re still building up to the launch of the second season on August 23rd, and I can’t wait for you to hear our first episode with Gillian Best & Helen McClory. It’s a really fun chat, covering everything from identity to dog puns. In the meantime though, I’ve got some really exciting news. The Paperchain…

Season Two Announcement

Seems like only yesterday that the finale of season one came out, but it was March. A whole four months with no new episodes. So what has The Paperchain Podcast been up to? Well, we’ve been recording a brand new series. That’s ten brand new episodes coming over the next year, featuring some incredible authors,…

Season One

The first series of the podcast is finished. Don’t worry – I’m hard at work getting everything planning and ready for a stellar second series, which will hopefully be coming out later on this year. For now though, here’s the complete first series featuring: Dominic Stevenson, Aliya Whiteley, Ella Chappell, Dave Hartley, Zelda Chappell, Abi…

Episode 10 – Panda Tragedy (with Alasdair Stuart)

“There’s a lot of authors out there and if you pay them right you will get all of them.” It’s the final episode of the first series of The Paperchain Podcast and we’ve got Escape Artist’s very own Alasdair Stuart on the show. He talks about his origins as a film critic in Yorkshire, through…

Alasdair Stuart

Alasdair Stuart is the owner of Escape Artists, the digital publishing company behind Escape Pod, Pseudopod, Podcastle and Cast of Wonders. He’s hosted over 500 episodes of Pseudopod, and his second collection of essays ‘Pseudopod Tapes Volume 2: Approach with Caution’ is forthcoming from Fox Spirit Press. He works as a tabletop RPG writer, short…