British writer and librarian India-Rose Bower’s folk horror debut novel, We Call Them Witches explores the concept of ‘eldritch’ creatures in a surreal post-apocalyptic world. In this episode, India-Rose discusses her surprising inspirations for the novel, what ‘eldritch’ actually means and a unique writing tip we should all try!
You can listen to the episode below, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or add the podcast RSS feed manually to your favourite podcast app.
00:00 Welcome
06:45 Writing tip: Don’t use AI for a pitch!
08:05 WIN!: The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon
9:57 Word of the week: ‘Mélange’
10:17 Writer in residence: India-Rose Bower
11:04 What is her book, We Call Them Witches about?
12:22 Origins of the story
15:02 Designing the eldritch ‘witches’
17:02 Creating the first draft
18:42 Entering a competition and securing an agent
21:07 Selling yourself and the book
22:21 Publicity and author life
23:35 Writing around work and health issues
25:29 Next book and research habits}
28:41 India-Rose’s unique writing tip
30:58 Final thoughts
Links mentioned in this episode
- WIN The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon
- Buy So You Want to be a Writer – the book!
- Facebook group for So You Want to be a Writer
Writer in residence: India-Rose Bower

India-Rose Bower was long-listed for the Discoveries prize, and has several short stories and poems published in magazines and anthologies. Her hobbies are attending pagan festivals and watching horror films, while working as a librarian. India-Rose has a long-term disability and lives with her non-binary partner in Yorkshire.
Follow India on Instagram.
Follow Curtis Brown Books on Instagram.
This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre and our course Fantasy Fiction Writing.
Find out more about your host, Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo on Twitter and @valeriekhoo on Instagram).




