A Quickie with Heather Hill

Heather Hill – comedy writer and mum of five (not the band) lives in Scotland and is one of a rare kind; the rare kind being one of the 0.5% of females that is ever-so-slightly colour blind. She is known to have been prevented from leaving the house with blue eyebrows on at least one occasion.

Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?

My newest novel is called The Advice Bucket and it is quite a different genre to my usual work. It was an idea born from stories about a bird man I used to make up and tell to my best friend when I was twelve years old. It’s a comedy-fantasy, and as I say in my blurb, it’s that story of a half-man, half barnacle goose you know you’ve been waiting for. I confess I’ve never read a book like it myself (and I’ve read A LOT of books) and it was a challenging one to write, so if you fancy something a bit different – something that might make you think and smile, this is the one to try. It’s also set in the Scottish Inner Hebrides so please buy it so I can go back for more gorgeous research trips to write another! What a place!

If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?

‘How Can I Tell You I Love You When Your Face is in a Book?’

I may have occasionally forgotten myself and a few people I’ve been taking along with me in my life when I’m in mid-read of a great book or within sniffing distance of a book shop.

What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?

The first time I ever met a fan in person who wasn’t someone I knew personally was at the party of a mutual friend and I’m afraid I ended up disappointing her quite spectacularly! She had read and adored my debut novel, The New Mrs D, which is written in the first person and whilst it is a comedy it’s also quite an emotional and empowering read, particularly for women over 40, as the main character is.

There is a particularly piognant scene which is depicted on the cover, where the protagonist tears off her bikini top and rides a horse topless on a beach in Greece ala Shirley Valentine. The fan’s question was, had I ever done this? All night she’d been chatting away happily to me until the moment when I told her no, I hadn’t. After a moment’s silence she told me I’d really shattered all her illusions and she then sat in a corner and went very quiet for the rest of the night! I felt terrible. Note for all readers: not all books written in the first person are based on or about the author!

If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?

Amanda Prowse – hands down. I just think it would be the best laugh two people had ever had working with each other, although we’d need a party-sized pack of Tena Ladies for the duration – hey, they might sponsor us! I heart Mrs Prowse and her beautiful books too much, she always makes me cry when I read her and cry laughing (with my legs crossed) when we speak.

Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).

I once auditioned for the X-Factor twice and I hate that show now so I’m too ashamed to tell people! The first time I was so riddled with stage fright I bombed and the second time I went in after sinking about four brandies and got through to the second round.

Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.

I recently read The One by John Marrs because everyone on TBC was raving about how great it was. They were wrong… this book wasn’t just great it was phenomenal. I have never read a thriller with plots and sub plots aplenty where I didn’t guess the outcome at all for any of the characters. I predict huge, exciting things for Mr Marrs and I don’t mean in the sexual sense. Sorry, John.

Also just finished The Summer of Impossible Things by the fabulous Rowan Coleman and I confess I am a huge fan of her books which means the why needs no explanation, but this is my favourite so far. Time travel, a love story and a character called Pea! Fabulous. Settling down with a book written by Rowan always feels like a wee treat to myself.

As I type I have just finished A Man Named Dave which I found among a pile of books my daughter had in her room when I snuck in to tidy up. You know that way you go in to dust and end up lying among the teenage-junk flicking through an interesting book instead? This was one of those. It is the concluding volume to Dave Pelzers memoirs, the first two of which I didn’t read because I was afraid they’d upset me too much. Then I thought if my 14-year-old could manage it so could I! Quite honestly a difficult book to read only due to the subject matter but a very, very important story. As a mum of five and grandma of two myself, I’m left still thinking about this one. One of the hardest, most heart-wrenching things I’ve ever read.

Who is Heather Hill?

Heather Hill – comedy writer and mum of five (not the band) lives in Scotland and is one of a rare kind; the rare kind being one of the 0.5% of females that is ever-so-slightly colour blind. She is known to have been prevented from leaving the house with blue eyebrows on at least one occasion.

Heather started out writing lines for comedians in the Aberdeen, Glasgow & Edinburgh live comedy circuit, before embarking on a novel writing career. Her hilarious, debut British comedy ebook, ‘The New Mrs D’, was an Amazon No1 bestseller before the paperback was published by Fledgling Press, Edinburgh in Spring 2015.
She has written for publications including Psychologies Magazine and has been included as one of Scotland’s 200 most remarkable voices in The Scotsman newspaper in 2017.
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