Unlucky for some but this year’s 13th Literary Lunch was deemed an all out success! The two WI Reading Groups hosted a successful event in the WI Hall on Saturday 17th June.
After a buffet lunch provided by WI members Dorothy Anderson introduced this year’s guest speaker Michelle Kidd, a local author. Michelle described how she had always wanted to be a writer from an early age and as often happens life got in the way. She originally qualified as a lawyer in the 1990’s and worked in Civil and Criminal Litigation for ten years. The dream persisted and finally in 2018 her first novel “The Phoenix Project” was published. This was followed by more novels in the DI Mackintosh series which were all self-published. Eventually in April 2022 Michelle signed a deal with Joffe Books and her books will now be republished. In May 2023 the first book in the DI Nicki Hardcastle series was published. “Missing Boy” is set in her hometown of Bury St Edmunds and the action describes every parent’s worst nightmare when a young boy goes missing during the annual Christmas Fair which takes place in the Abbey Gardens. As in most detective thrillers it’s a race against time to find the missing child and readers are taken around many well-known sites in Bury St Edmunds. The second book in this series was due to be published on 22nd June, entitled “ The Trophy Killer”.
After talking about her life in writing there was time for questions from the audience. People were keen to know how she came up with her ideas for characters and plots and in particular if she knew how her stories would end. Michelle admitted she didn’t always know exactly how the book would end but would let the story evolve.
The afternoon ended with Dorothy Anderson thanking Michelle for talking to both WI members and guests about her life as a writer. The Reading Group members were also thanked for providing a delicious spread of sandwiches, cakes and desserts. Hopefully next year’s Literary Lunch will provide an equally entertaining afternoon.
