AdventureSmith meets the 2026 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize

I think one of the things that's so clear from both of you is that a lot of the traits that you see in explorers and adventurers today in the adventure heroes of Lord of the Rings, the, the other books that we've all read, determination, resilience, also applies to being a writer.

Writing a book is, is hard, and there is a lot of work that goes into it.

You're both quite a few books in now to your career as writers.

Do you still find it hard? How do you keep going? Adam.

Oh, no, I don't find that hard at all.

I, I, um, I love it.

I just, I just write, right? Um, uh, I've always written, I mean, even before, before I, I...

my sister bullied me into writing a novel.

I, I, uh, um, I've always enjoyed the writing of it.

I find it calm, and it's the, it's the only thing in terms of the writer's life, the writing is the only thing you have control over, right? Um, you, you've got no control over whether you get an agent.

You have no control over whether you get published.

You have no control over what a reader decides to read your book or not.

All you can do is find joy, um, or meaning or both from the writing.

And, and, um, uh, I think if you can't, if you can't do that, if you can't find a- at least a meaning, 'cause some people are natural grumps, so joy is beyond them.

But if you can't, if you can't find a meaning in the writing, I, I think it would be very hard to go on.

And I think most writers, I would...

I, I'd be shocked if there were many writers who didn't get something from the writing itself that just keeps them at it.

I completely agree.

I think if you don't enjoy it, you, you do something else.

[laughs] Um, and I also agree that, you know, the only part you have control over, and also it's like a, not a bubble in the sense of, of, you know, shutting yourself off from the world like a hermit, but it, it's, it is your own creation.

This is the only part you get to have control over, and it's the only part you can wholeheartedly enjoy.

You know, there will be setbacks and disappointments.

Even if a book does much better than you anticipated or it does as well as you hoped or whatever, you know, there, there will be something that, that isn't gonna be great about your writing career, maybe with another book or, you know, it's quite stressful, um, trying to make a living as a, as a creative.

So you, you know, you've got all these other things that you'll be thinking about.

So I think the actual writing itself- Is, yeah, it's hugely enjoyable.