Bob will be speaking together with David Orson Newton at the Town Hall (within the Corn Exchange) on Saturday 14th November 2026 between 2.15pm and 3.15pm.
One Step Ahead of Reality
What makes a headline into a gripping thriller? How do authors capture the challenges, conflicts, and possibilities that lie just beyond the horizon?
Join David Orson Newton and Bob Fairbrother for a lively conversation exploring the inspiration behind their writing and the art of creating stories that feel both entertaining and unsettlingly plausible. From emerging technologies and global events to timeless questions of power, courage, and human nature, they’ll discuss how contemporary issues find their way into fiction and why readers are drawn to stories that reflect the world around them.
Along the way, they’ll share insights into their creative processes, the research behind their novels, and the challenges of balancing realism with imagination. Whether you’re an avid thriller reader, an aspiring writer, or simply curious about how authors transform real-world ideas into compelling fiction, this engaging discussion offers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes.
Expect thought-provoking conversation, plenty of stories, and opportunities to put your own questions to the authors.
About the author
Laptop: check.
Imagination: check.
Procrastination: check.
Living in Devon, running the South Devon Book Festival, madly scribing, mangling French, trail running and enjoying the occasional game of table football.
Bob is writing timely relevant speculative, thriller fiction on climate, governments, and the flaws within us all.
Bob’s Latest Release: Scorched Planet Policy
2054.
Captain Zail Jent has crashed her malfunctioning craft on Earth.
She gets out in time before it slips into a river, marooning her in a climate-ravaged, hostile part of the planet. And her smart suit that mind controls and protects her through a meds feed has failed, causing drug withdrawal amnesia and sickness. If she doesn’t get help soon, she is going to die.
With Zail’s memory gone, she puzzles over who she is, where she comes from, and what she is meant to do here. And how is she going to get home?
As her memory returns, Zail begins to question whether home is what she thought it was, forcing her to cast doubt on everyone.
But what if she is the one who should be feared?
Blandford Literary Festival 