Philippa sits down with Ellery Lloyd — the husband and wife writing duo of Colette and Paul — to talk about their brilliant new novel Time to Burn, their Radio 2 Book Club selection, and what it's really like to write a book with the person you live with. Plus listener questions from the Quick Book Reviews Facebook group, and a biscuit answer that connects beautifully with a very recent episode.
🎙️ Ellery Lloyd on Time to Burn
In the very near future, time travel is possible — but only for the obscenely wealthy. Tech entrepreneur Inigo Frank has built Tempus Tours, and documentary maker Phoebe Hunt is there to film his story. Until the first day of filming, when a returning group of time travellers come back bloodied and dazed — and one of them is missing. Someone Phoebe knows.
Colette, Paul, and Philippa discuss:
The real-world inspiration: billionaire obsessions with space travel, and what happens when technology outpaces consequence
Why the book is driven by character and mystery rather than quantum physics — it's a thriller that happens to involve time travel, not the other way around
Their dream writing locations: a railing-free balcony on Dartmoor (Colette) and a house with extraordinary sea views in Devon (Paul) — neither of which involves being in the same room
The nightmare writing location: sitting next to Paul, who types loudly, laughs at his own sentences, and performs the act of writing like a 1930s movie reporter
The Radio 2 Book Club announcement — recorded with Sara Cox the morning of this episode
Reader questions from the Facebook group: cover design, who first suggested writing together, how they develop ideas (WhatsApps, balconies, and a legendary late-night text from China), whether they argue about plot points (they don't — but one of them keeps a backup Word document, just in case)
The Ellery Lloyd formula: a world you haven't been inside before, characters with real motivations, and everything tied up satisfyingly at the end
Where they'd travel if they could: Paul chooses dinosaurs and Romans; Colette wants a dress she saw when she was 18 and has never stopped thinking about
What they're reading: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (Colette) and The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (Paul)
Biscuit answer: Colette powers her writing with Tim Tams — bite off both ends, suck tea through the middle, eat immediately before it collapses. Paul eats his daughter's digestives resentfully and wishes he'd bought Hobnobs.
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