In a recent post in her Writers Chat series, Shauna Gilligan posed some great questions about The Chicken Soup Murder.
Briefly, the interview covers:
- breaking genre.
- the role of child narrator Michael in exploring life and death in a coming-of-age story.
- developing the character of Nan.
- the first lines of the novel.
- some fun questions to finish, including the all important, ‘What’s next?’
To read the questions and answers in full, please click here
There is so much I could say about the background to writing The Chicken Soup Murder; I’m grateful to Shauna for asking me to take part in her Writers Chat series and giving me the chance to share some of that experience.
Shauna Gilligan is a novelist and short story writer, originally from Dublin. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of South Wales and teaches creative writing. Her debut novel is Happiness Comes from Nowhere. To learn more about Shauna please click here.
Maria Donovan 
Fascinating Q & A, Maria. It’s always a treat as well as an eduaction to learn more about how a writer thinks and works. The Chicken Soup Murder is in the plan to read this summer. The plan gets changed at least weekly – but I’m hopeful 😀
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Thank you, Sandra. It’s lovely you are thinking of reading The Chicken Soup Murder! As there are so many books in the world to be read I appreciate the intention.
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I have every intention of making the intention a reality, Maria! 😀
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Even better, Sandra!
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Wonderful Q&A, Maria, I enjoyed the insights. I am reminded that I must review The Chicken Soup Murder which has pride of place on my reading desk.
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Thank you, Gretchen! I know you will have a lot on and am grateful for the attention.
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It’s such a great story yet I’m not a great reviewer so I will tread carefully with the plot 😉
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Oh yes. This is the trouble with a puzzle and a mystery! Though I hope it can be re-read as well for the other elements (and to pick up any missed clues).
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Ah, those missed clues! Interestingly I enjoyed and related to the games and Guy Fawkes Night, etc, because Australian homelife was still very British based when I was a kid.
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Oh that’s good! It’s so interesting to get your perspective.
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By the way I just read your eloquent post about your favourite Australian crime writer, Peter Corris. It certainly made me want to read the Cliff Hardy series – not least to feel the Australian vibe. Sorry to comment about it here but I can only like it there!
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Such an interesting interview, Maria. It’s so useful to be given insights into how stories are developed. I’m already drawn to Nan.
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Thanks very much for your interest, Cath. Much appreciated. If you decide to give The Chicken Soup Murder a try I would love to know what you make of it.
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I’m looking forward to reading it shortly.
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