Sunday Post with Heather Burnside

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Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

 Today's post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelve, Reader Book Buzz  for weekly updates.

           LOOKING FORWARD TO APRIL

Writer Heather Burnside is with me today. Heather has had ten books published to date: two trilogies plus the first four books in a series of five. The fifth and final book in the series is due to be published in January 2022.

Heather, can you talk about your books?

All my novels are in the gritty crime genre and are based in Manchester, UK. The first trilogy features the Manchester gang wars of the 1990s, the second features the Manchester door wars of the 90s when gangs took over the doors of nightclubs and pubs in Manchester, and my current series revolves around the lives of sex workers in the city.

What drew you to write in this genre? 

I spent my teen years on one of the toughest estates in Manchester. During the 1990s gangs moved into the estate and it was constantly in the press because of problems with drugs, shootings etc. Although I had left the estate by this stage, it piqued my interest. Also, when I am developing my characters I draw characteristics from some of the people who lived on the estate.

What is your favorite motivational phrase?

I don’t really have one to be honest, but I spur myself on by telling myself, ‘I can and I will’.

Which writers inspire you? And what are you reading now?

I draw my inspiration from actual events, characters, news articles and TV documentaries rather than from other writers. However, I do have some favourite authors in the genres of sagas and thrillers including Catherine Cookson and Jeffery Deaver. Many of the books I read have a triumph over adversity theme which is evident in my writing, so this has perhaps influenced my writing to an extent. Currently I am reading The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths.

Heather Burnside grew up in Gorton, a working-class area of Manchester famed as the original location for the TV series, Shameless. She moved from Gorton to Longsight and spent her teenage years on one of the toughest estates in Manchester. Heather draws heavily on this background as the setting for many of her novels.

To date she has published ten novels and is currently working on her eleventh. You can find out more about Heather's books by signing up to her mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/CP6YP to receive regular updates, or by viewing her website:www.heatherburnside.com

That's my week.  Tell me about yours in the comments below.

CURRENTLY 

From the author of this blog...This week I found myself driving ride share again. I picked up an ice cream truck driver and a computer programmer who got into a recent car accident but wasn't mangled. He talked to me about how he envisioned himself as a writer when he was a kid. As I say to anyone 'Its never too late to start writing.'

I also went to the allergy clinic to get tested for peanut allergy. My results were negative, thank God! I don't know what gives, I think it may be my GI tract is incredibly off because I have the worse acid reflux one could have. I know too that my birth mother had a hard time with both her liver and gallblader. I'm crossing my fingers.

Either way, I also talked to writers about their craft and what enables a writer to keep motivated to write. I learned about the pomodoro technique, which states to write for 25 minutes, take a break and repeat. It helps! I love talking to writers every morning about their craft and you get some ideas that are helpful.

Someone recommended me this book because its supposed to have magical realism, which I love. I usually get my magical realism from writers like Alice Hoffman and Haruki Murakami