45. Writers in Pakistan & India (part 2): Awais Khan, Amitav Ghosh & Vikram Chandra

45. Writers in Pakistan & India (part 2): Awais Khan, Amitav Ghosh & Vikram Chandra join presenters Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan on the We'd Like A Word books & authors podcast, with insights into how they write, advice for new authors & books they love. Awais Khan, from Lahore in Pakistan, is the author of two novels - In The Company of Strangers (published by Simon & Schuster India, & soon to be published in the UK by Hera) & No Honour (published by Orenda Books - we had the publisher Karen Sullivan on a previous hilarious and revealing episode of We'd Like A Word). In The Company of Strangers is being made into a feature for Pikchur TV online streaming service. Awais is also the founder of The Writing Institute in Lahore.

Awais talks agents, Annette Crossland, overcoming discouragement, how to schedule your writing, Jackie Collins, how to be socially relevant, the problem of counterfeit books in Pakistan, if you can be a writer while holding down a day job, his experience of The Faber Academy, Liberty Books, the Indian/Pakistan trade embargo, forced marriage & so-called honour killings, and the Edhi Foundation. We also hear about comic novels and Steve's Dad - also an author & a friend of Daphne du Maurier.

Amitav Ghosh is the renowned Indian author of the Sea of Poppies trilogy & more recently, Jungle Nama. His writing advice is to write the book you would love to read yourself, or that would make you laugh or cry. He recommends Barkskins by Annie Proulx.

Vikram Chandra is most famous for writing Sacred Games, which was made into the extremely popular Netflix series of the same name. He advises new authors to follow their obsessions & ignore the received wisdom that you should write what you know. On the contrary, he says you should write what you do not know, what obsesses you. He recommends Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.

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 wedlikeaword@gmail.com 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 by Paul Waters or Cockerings (the new comic classic, just out) by Stevyn Colgan.