In the final episode of series 8, the two Alexas have the privilege of chatting with best-selling author and author coach, Sophie Hannah. As well as writing her many contemporary crime novels, Sophie was also commissioned by the Agatha Christie family to write a new series featuring Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot.

And when it comes to mindset for authors, Sophie is a goldmine crammed with nuggets of wisdom on how to think and the steps to take to make your writing dreams become a reality. So grab a cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy her brilliance.

Whether you call them narrative techniques or literary devices, this is a big, big subject. There are so many of these devices, and understanding what they are and how to use them is crucial to your fiction writing. In the penultimate episode of series 7, Alexas 1 and 2 run through a handful of better-known techniques that will help elevate your writing and immerse your readers.

In this episode, the two Alexas talk more about writing craft and delve into character arcs: the journey authors take their characters on through their novel. Successes and failures are all a part of that journey, and they help readers to engage and identify with protagonists. Ultimately, strong character arcs will make a reader care about those characters, and want to keep reading.