Episode
Shen Tao, author of 'The Poet Empress' - Debut author discusses magical mystery, changing routines, and 9 failed manuscripts
- Podcast
- Writer's Routine
- Published
- Feb 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2948
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/writer-s-routine-435324/episodes/shen-tao-author-of-the-poet-empress-debut-author-discusses-magical-mystery-changing-routines-and-9-failed-manuscripts/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/writer-s-routine-435324/shen-tao-author-of-the-poet-empress-debut-author-discusses-magical-mystery-changing-routines-and-9-failed-manuscripts.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Shen Tao has always wanted to be a writer. For as long as she can remember, she's had ideas, developed characters, and written stories. It took her 9 attempts, 9 manuscripts, to finally get it done. Her debut is 'The Poet Empress'. It's a Chinese historical fantasy, blended with a love story and a murder mystery. It tells the story of a young woman, who enters the Imperial Court as a concubine, and learns poetry-magic to try and kill the heir to the tale. We talk about how she pushed on, through the failed manuscripts, and had an idea she knew would be a winner. A winner it was, eventually being bought in a 6-way auction. You can hear why she's prepared to chuck words away, why she writes a '0th draft', and how her routine has changed since going full-time. We chat about the pressure of getting it right, her unique inspiration blending both Chinese and Western myths and stories, and Shen shares her strong font opinions. Get a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine Read the newsletter - writersroutine.substack.com Support the show - patreon.com/writersroutine ko-fi.com/writersroutine @writerspod writersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.