Sara Cox on the Joy of Storytelling – and Why She Avoids Zombie Themes

There’s nothing Sara Cox likes better than telling a good yarn, whether on her BBC Radio 2 show or through the novels she writes.

“I quite fancy myself as a bit of a raconteur, like my granddad. He loved to tell a story, and I love to tell a story on the radio,” says the blunt-speaking northern lass, who has recently penned two best-selling novels.

She reveals that it was publishers who initially suggested she should delve into writing, proposing a focus on parenting. “Parenting kept coming up, and that gave me the ick a little bit,” she admits. “People struggled with what box to put me in when it came to writing, whether I should do a non-fiction ‘well, we all muddle through parenting’ kind of lark, which really wasn’t me.”

Currently, she’s working on her third novel, touching on themes of love, friendship, and everyday struggles – topics she can relate to. “I just want to tell a good story,” she states, “and I always wanted to tell quite a human story. I just like everyday people and their challenges, and also the lighter side of life, like love, relationships, and friendship.

“That’s where I start, writing about people like me, like my girlfriends, and that’s always a nice springboard to launch myself into writing.

“There’s never going to be an apocalypse or a zombie invasion in one of my books. But they’ll hopefully be funny, warm, and spin a yarn about regular folk.”

Besides writing her own books, Cox, 49, is on the judging panel for this year’s Kindle Storyteller Award, celebrating the UK’s best self-published story. She also presents the BBC2 show Between the Covers, where she and celebrity guests share the joys of reading.

Not surprisingly, she has a voracious appetite for all kinds of books herself – to the extent that she keeps her Kindle under her pillow at night in case she wakes up wanting to read.

“We have busy brains these days,” she explains. “If I wake in the middle of the night and my Kindle is under my pillow, where I keep it safe, I can just reach for it and read something soothing.”

As well as being enjoyable, Cox, a mother of three and owner of one horse, three dogs, two cats, and two tortoises, believes reading is good for her mental health. “I think, for your mental health, it’s great just to find a quiet corner, cuddle up with a dog or two, and read.

“Reading needs to be rebranded a bit rather than seen as something indulgent or lazy – so you’re not feeling that instead of reading, there are 10 different drawers you could be sorting out, or something you could be mopping.”

Though reading is a big part of her life, her main passion outside work – aside from her husband Ben Cyzer and children Lola, 20, Isaac, 16, and Renee, 14 – is her beloved horse Nelly. Cox grew up on her father’s farm in Bolton and owned ponies as a child but only bought Nelly, an Irish draught cross thoroughbred, in 2020.

“She’s gorgeous – she’s one of the best things that ever happened to me,” declares Cox. “I’m so pleased she came into my life.”

Nelly is stabled in Hertfordshire, about half an hour’s drive from Cox’s north London home, and she visits to ride her about four mornings a week. “Nelly’s 18 now, but she’s super fit, and she’s, touch wood, in great nick. So I think we’ve got a bit of time together yet.”

Of course, you can’t talk to DJ Sara Cox without mentioning her radio show. She’s presented the Radio 2 Drivetime show since January 2019 and gushes, “I love it, I love it! The show’s one of the first things I think about when I wake up. Every Friday, when we do All Requests, which I was a huge fan of as a listener, I still wake up buzzing that it’s All Requests.

“It’s three hours, and every link is a different caller choosing a song, but it’s a real pleasure to do. You have no idea who’s going to be calling, and we learn about people. So it’s really interesting – I’m just quite nosy naturally.”

Interestingly, Cox, who loves exercising, now stands up for her entire three-hour show instead of sitting at a desk. One of the late Dr. Michael Mosley’s BBC Sounds Specials about inflammation spurred her to stop sitting during shows.

“Basically, it’s about you can’t ever sit down – that’s when the trouble starts,” she explains. “When I do my radio show, I stand up while I broadcast, which I never used to do before. I think it gives a certain energy to your voice. Plus, it’s really good for you to be standing instead of sitting on your derriere.

“It’s quite good because sometimes I’m manking about and pretending to do karate or something, so it’s handy if you’re already stood up!”

As for other exercise, Cox believes strength training is important and feels “really lucky” because she has converted her garage into a gym. “I really like exercise – mentally, it’s a necessity for me,” she says.

“I try to do something each day, even if it’s just 20 minutes of weights, a little HIIT, or Pilates. But I cycle quite a bit and walk the dogs a lot too.”

After all that exercise, one might expect her to relax with a glass of wine – but although in the Nineties she was dubbed a ‘ladette’ for partying with pals like Zoe Ball, she says, “I don’t drink huge amounts now.” When she does have a glass of wine, she wants quality, which is why she’s just released her own wine collection.

“It’s another dream job,” she chuckles. “We’ve got books, radio, and wine. I didn’t want to just have my face on any old bottles of plonk, so we’ve curated a lovely collection.

“The collection starts with a lovely chablis, a beautiful red from Bordeaux, and a delightful rosé,” she adds wryly. “In the past, they said I was partying, but little did they know, all those years I spent drinking wine, it was research.”

Sara Cox is on the judging panel for this year’s Kindle Storyteller Award, which celebrates the UK’s best self-published story and is open to authors who publish their story via Kindle Direct Publishing between May 1 – August 31. The winning author receives a £20,000 prize fund and a marketing campaign for their title on Amazon UK.