Part 1: Tony Kent is the author of Power Play and the previous two exciting thrillers featuring Michael Devlin and Joe Dempsey, Killer Intent and Marked for Death. He’s also a leading criminal barrister (attorney), former champion boxer and ex-movie stuntman - you may have seen him in a Roman cavalry charge with Russell Crowe in the film Gladiator or riding off a burning barge in The Mummy. So how does he fit in writing his thrillers? How is he launching Power Play at a time when social distancing and self-isolation in the midst of coronavirus means that public gatherings are banned? Especially if you’ve had the virus yourself - like Tony. Also, does he have the writing world’s best author back story? (In a previous episode, book publicist to the stars Angela McMahon explained how important your personal back story is to getting published and getting attention.) Tony has a belter of a tale about he got into law. And what does Tony have to say about the morality of writing a story with a pandemic at its heart - super topical or simply exploitative? *** Also in this episode, we offered a platform to authors whose book launches have been disrupted by coronavirus, and the renowned crime fiction writer Judith O’Reilly responded. Her new book Curse The Day is out now. Brace yourself for a blistering pace and the reappearance of assassin Michael North. Spoiler alert, it turns out that Tony Kent loves Curse The Day and its predecessor Killing State. Phew! What a happy coincidence and a sign that you should read her too, if you haven’t already. It’s a only a tiny taster of Judith (she’s written much more) - we’d love to have her on for a lot longer in future. *** We celebrate 3 bookshops in this episode - Forum Books in Corbridge, Goldsboro Books in London and Waterstones in High Wycombe with an interview with Ben Churchill. Get in touch if you frequent or work in a lovely bookshop - we love to tell listeners about you. (*** NB: Apologies for sound quality dips in this episode. We usually do everything face to face with alcohol or a cup of tea, but are getting used to new fangled ways of commuting remotely online. Hopefully we’ll get better at it.) We'd Like A Word is a podcast and radio show from authors Paul Waters and  Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, celebrities, talkers,  poets about books, songs, lyrics, speeches,  scripts, fiction and  non-fiction. We go out on various radio platforms at least once a fortnight and every other Thursday on podcast. Our website is www.wedlikeaword.com -  which is where you'll find information about Paul and Steve and our  guests - and details of the radio stations that carry We'd Like A Word.  We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword and Facebook @wedlikeaword and our email is [email protected] - and yes,  we are slightly embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear  from you - your thoughts,  ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word in person, to chat, review, meet writers or read out passages from books. . .