The Writers’ Gym Podcast

Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes joins Dr Rachel Knightley on the Writers' Gym Podcast, discussing how we turn interests and passions into writing careers. Xavi is Reader in English Literature and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University and a founding member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. His publications include the monographs Contemporary Body Horror (CUP, 2024), Horror Film and Affect (Routledge, 2016) and Body Gothic (UWP, 2014) and the edited collections Twenty-First-Century Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion (with Maisha Wester, EUP, 2019) and Horror: A Literary History (British Library, 2016). Xavier is co-president of the International Gothic Association and a founding member of the Horror Studies special interest group hosted by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies.
 
https://www.waterstones.com/author/xavier-aldana-reyes/784113
 
https://www.routledge.com/authors/i14274-xavier-aldana-reyes

Dr Rachel Knightley shares how a Writers' Gym member's fear of plagiarizing can be turned from a 'reason' not to write into a reason to write as much as possible.

Ally Wilkes joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym to discuss the power of horror fiction to explore identity and the highs and lows of creating a writing life that works for the individual you are.  

 

Ally’s debut novel, All the White Spaces, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and her second novel, Where the Dead Wait, was one of Esquire’s best horror books of 2023. Her short fiction has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies from publishers including Nightmare Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Flame Tree Press, Eerie River, and Nepenthe Press. Her next novel, Man Eater – set in the fevered jungles of the Amazon during the late Victorian orchid-hunting craze – will be published in February 2027.

 

Visit the Writers' Gym at writersgym.com

 

Find out more about Ally at:

 

Her website:

https://allywilkes.com

 

Wikipedia:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Wilkes

 

AM Heath:

https://amheath.com/authors/ally-wilkes

Dr Rachel Knightley shares three resolutions for creative confidence on the page and in life.

Dr Rachel Knightley is joined by author and editor Jenny Rogers, one of the UK’s most experienced executive coaches. Jenny’s book, Are You Listening? published by Penguin Random House, tells human stories from the perspective of a coach: it tackles common human dilemmas such as how to overcome shame after a mistake, how to face disappointment and  bereavement, what it means to start a new career or recover a more honest self after making a fortune or after life as a celebrity. During her stint as a BBC TV producer she commissioned and edited many best-selling books including Delia Smith’s Cookery Course and Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery. 

 

Recent titles include Personality Type: understanding yourself, getting more of what you want (2024) and Fearless Coaching (2025). She is currently working on a book for women in mid life. This will be published in 2026 by Short Books.

 

Her books range from Coaching for Health, co-written with Dr Arti Maini to titles on how to be an excellent facilitator, how to cook and eat healthily, how to navigate career crises and how to be a successful coach, with a 5th edition published in 2024 of the book many now regard world-wide as the ‘Bible’ of coaching, Coaching Skills: The Definitive Guide to being a Coach. Jenny’s philosophy as a writer is that, to adapt Dr Einstein’s phrase, everything should be as simple as possible, but not more simple. Her aim is to tackle complex subjects in a way which makes them accessible.

 

Jenny was an early entrant to the world of coaching and has now been a coach for 35 years. As well as her own coaching, she trains and supervises other coaches. She was married for many years to the BBC Editor and journalist Alan Rogers. He died in 2010. She lives in central London close to her two sons and three grandchildren. She is a keen cook, filmgoer, walker and wannabe textile artist.

 

Find out more about Jenny at https://jennyrogerscoaching.com