In conversation with Simon J Houlton

And we're back - with episode seven!

And you can see our ugly mugs on YouTube… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrustratedauthors.substack.com [https://thefrustratedauthors.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Oli's fight against Jerry!

‘Please mum, don’t be sad when I die,’ are words no parent should ever have to hear. Thinking back over 2025 this must be one of the most inspiring interviews I did, talking to a woman whose courage and resiliance appear boundless. How do you cope watching your teenage son’s life tick away after he is diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer? I really don’t know how I’d deal with that. For Claire Duffield though the final two years of her son Oli’s life were spent making memories, researching his condition to find out if there was anything more she could or should be doing for him. As a family there was laughing and crying then crying some more and laughing some more and making some more memories in the time they had left together. It was an honour to meet Claire and talk to her about Oli, about all he did and the people whose lives he touched in his all too short life. Scary too to reflect on how quickly a family afternoon watching football turned in to a full scale medical emergency. Stuart Baillie This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrustratedauthors.substack.com [https://thefrustratedauthors.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Frustrated Authors 7 - planning for the future!

The first edition of The Frustrated Authors went live in October 2024, it was a bit of fun as uncle and nephew Stuart and Richard Baillie discussed their favourite novels while moaning about the failure of their own literary endeavours. In a world where having 450 downloads of your podcast puts you in the top ten per cent of all podcasts The Frustrated Authors was, by episode two, already scaling those dizzying heights. Now with an audience standing at around 600 the target is 1,000 plus listeners in 2026. In this podcast Richard and Stuart chat about the experience of creating The Frustrated Authors and review their highlights from the first six episodes and talk about the man who inspired them - Stuart's dad and Richard's grandfather - Peter Baillie, who had ten novels published in the 1950s and wrote many short stories for the plethora of science fiction magazines that were about in the immediate post war period. Listen right to the end and you'll hear some of the plans for 2026... you've not heard the last from The Frustrated Authors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrustratedauthors.substack.com [https://thefrustratedauthors.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Coming Soon!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrustratedauthors.substack.com [https://thefrustratedauthors.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

In conversation with Simon J Houlton

In the most recent edition of The Frustrated Authors podcast we highly recommended a debut novel by Simon J Houlton, The Night Swimmer that is set in Hastings. Stuart Baillie had the chance to speak to Simon, who lived in Hastings for most of his life before moving to Turkey, about his inspiration for the story and about his unconventional way of getting the novel finished. Have a listen and tell us what you think. Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrustratedauthors.substack.com [https://thefrustratedauthors.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]