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Hello and welcome to the Falkirk Libraries (special summer) podcast with Vikki and special guest Helen MacKinven. This episode we were chatting with local author Helen about her reading habits and what life’s like as a published author. I asked her about her writing influences and style as well as her tips for budding writers.
We were also treated to two very different readings from her novels. Books mentioned can be found at Falkirk Libraries’ website.
What we have been reading and listening to:
Vikki has been reading:
• Madness Lies, Helen Forbes
Helen’s three best books of 2018 so far:
• This is Going to Hurt , Adam Kaye
• Three Things About Elsie , Joanna Cannon
• The Hearts Invisible Furies, John Boyne
Quote of the episode: “Like friends, you can never have too many pairs of shoes!”
Our discussion: We chatted about Helen’s writing life. Topics included the following:
• Plot and Planning – do you always have your story arc worked out ahead of time?
• How important is a sense of place in your writing?
• What’s your writer’s voice and how did you find it?
• Your favourite character of your own creation so far?
• How do you approach difficult subjects as a writer?
• Your influences past and present
• How useful and or important is Social Media to a modern writer?
• Your writing habitat, best place and time to write etc…
• Writing Tips – a bit of advice you would give to a budding writer
Titles mentioned during our discussion:
• Buddah Da, Anne Donovan
• Smile, Roddie Doyle
• The Trick is to Keep Breathing, Janice Galloway
• Jellyfish, Janice Galloway
• Bantam, Jackie Kay
• Midwinter Break, Bernard MacLaverty
• Talk of the Toun, Helen MacKinven
• Buy Buy Baby, Helen MacKinven
If you live, work, or play in Falkirk, and would like to take part in the Writing Rammy have a look at the Rammy page on our website
Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then tell a friend or colleague about our podcast; or give us a review on iTunes so more people get to hear about us. We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, then go to then go to librarylovefalkirk.com, Falkirk Libraries on Facebook, or @LibFalkirk on Twitter.