Matt Haig on his early struggles as a literary novelist and the unexpected success of his memoir "Reasons to Stay Alive"

Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist and non-fiction writer Matt Haig. Matt's work includes the novels "The Humans", "How to Stop Time" and "The Midnight Library", the last of which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and spent 52 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He has also written several children’s books including "A Boy Called Christmas", which became a feature film starring Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent. Matt's non-fiction works include the memoir "Reasons to Stay Alive", which spent 46 weeks in the British top ten, and "The Comfort Book". His work has been translated into over 50 languages. We spoke to Matt about his early struggles as a literary novelist, writing about depression in "Reasons to Stay Alive", and his new novel, "The Midnight Train".

In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes.  

We’ve also made (yet) another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We’ve added a further 70 pages of new material to the package of successful article pitches that goes to anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more, including new pitches to the New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Guardian Long Read. The whole compendium now runs to a magisterial 230 pages. For Patreons who contribute $10/month we’re now also releasing bonus mini-episodes. Other Patreon rewards include signed copies of the podcast book and the opportunity to take part in a call with Simon and Rachel.

A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices