Books: Talk of the Toun
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Genre: Contemporary Scottish fiction
Publisher: ThunderPoint http://www.thunderpoint.scot/authors.html
Publication date: 29/10/15
Biography:
I write contemporary Scottish fiction, with a particular interest in exploring themes such as social class and identity, using black comedy and featuring Scots dialect. I graduated with merit from Stirling University with an MLitt in Creative Writing in 2012.
In my day job I work with numbers, travelling all over Scotland to deliver teacher training in maths. By night, I play with words writing short stories and developing ideas for my next novel. My short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies and literary journals, such as Gutter magazine. One of my novels was shortlisted in a UK-wide competition by Hookline Books.
Originally from the Falkirk area, I now live in a small rural village in North Lanarkshire with my husband. I have two grown-up sons but have filled my empty nest with two dogs, two pygmy goats and an ever-changing number of chickens.
My debut novel, Talk of the Toun is a coming-of-age story of love, family life and friendship set in the summer of 1985 in a working class village in the central belt of Scotland. It is due to be published in October 2015 by ThunderPoint.
Website: http://helenmackinven.co.uk/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Helen-MacKinven
Twitter handle: @HelenMacKinven
Location: Central Scotland
Links to blog posts: http://helenmackinven.co.uk/
Writer Superpowers
I’d be interested in speaking at festivals, bookshop events, libraries and other literary occasions, either on my own or as part of a panel. I’d be delighted to get involved in discussions about using Scots in writing, giving a voice to working-class characters, being a mature student, my journey to publication, writing tips and the use of social media.
I blog regularly on a range of writing related topics and can write articles and short stories for publication.
