Episode

#201: Writing Bestselling Fantasy — Holly Black (The Cruel Prince) & Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree) on Magic Systems, Building Worlds From Research, and Writing Through Self-Doubt | Compilation

Podcast: London Writers' Salon
Published: Jul 5, 2026
Duration seconds: 2853
Processing state: not_requested
Canonical source: https://podcast.londonwriterssalon.com/episodes/201-writing-fantasy-holly-black-the-cruel-prince-samantha-shannon-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-on-magic-systems-building-worlds-from-research-and-writing-through-self-doubt-compilation-qYAbtJZH
Audio: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/edc299ff-a28d-457d-8b86-271fb39b50bc/55fe4efd-2e46-4f0d-9d17-a719bbda38f4/episodes/audio/group/6c948f1d-aa30-492d-bf09-eaaad69ec19c/group-item/32616491-516a-4bce-9580-1ff4101296bf/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=ZnWZcMuv
JSON: /v1/public/podcasts/london-writers-salon-5324518/episodes/201-writing-bestselling-fantasy-holly-black-the-cruel-prince-samantha-shannon-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-on-magic-systems-building-worlds-from-research-and-writing-through-self-doubt-compilation
Markdown: /podcast/london-writers-salon-5324518/201-writing-bestselling-fantasy-holly-black-the-cruel-prince-samantha-shannon-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-on-magic-systems-building-worlds-from-research-and-writing-through-self-doubt-compilation.md

Actions

POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/london-writers-salon-5324518/episodes/201-writing-bestselling-fantasy-holly-black-the-cruel-prince-samantha-shannon-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-on-magic-systems-building-worlds-from-research-and-writing-through-self-doubt-compilation/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/london-writers-salon-5324518/201-writing-bestselling-fantasy-holly-black-the-cruel-prince-samantha-shannon-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-on-magic-systems-building-worlds-from-research-and-writing-through-self-doubt-compilation.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

Bestselling fantasy authors Holly Black and Samantha Shannon on building believable magic systems, researching and constructing immersive worlds, and why the right book often only emerges once you’ve written the wrong one.