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Hey Reader,

School -> Uni -> Good Job For Life -> Marriage -> Children -> Retire -> Die

This is the path presented to most of us when we’re kids.

So obviously I crashed through the safety barriers, did a couple of barrel rolls, fell into a cave system, log-flumed along a river, and bounced around chaotically.

Nicky Denson-Elliott made me sound much more cool and collected than that, though, on her award-winning podcast Women’s Business.

I was fully delighted for Nicky to interview me because she’s kind of a big deal! And she’s a fab interviewer! And we had a blast and talked for over an hour about alllll kinds of stuff.

Like:

• How a working-class kid from an ex-mining town found herself in private school and out of her depth
• What it was like studying archaeology as a mature student then becoming a crime scene examiner
• Stumbling into marketing and press offices
• Getting fired a couple of times and what it’s like dealing with the shame (it activated clown mode for me)
• How I ended up as a copywriter — and then a ghostwriter and nonfiction book coach
• Why there’s still a lot of snobbery in publishing and how independent publishing can offer freedom that trad publishing can’t
• How books often support business through credibility and opportunities rather than direct income
• Why foundational clarity and lived experience shape a distinctive author voice
• My late autism diagnosis: masking, empathy, and exploding frameworks like “eat the frog” to fit different brains
• Plus we discussed AI’s flattening effect on writing and thinking.

So ya we got through a lot there!

If you’ve got a journey coming up and you fancy listening to me and Nicky talk about pretty much everything, you can find our episode on Spotify here.

She won the Independent Podcasts Awards, by the way. And was a finalist in the International Women’s Podcast Awards. AND was longlisted for the British Podcast Awards.

Her podcast is Very Good Indeed, so you’ll be in for a treat if you subscribe.

It’s always interesting having someone ask you about your story, because you forget stuff.

When I’m telling someone about my path, I’m always surprised at where I’ve been and how I got there. The mistakes I made and the lessons I learned (and failed to learn) and the FUN I’ve had!

If you’re stuck for creative ideas this morning, imagine I’m sitting in front of you, asking you how you got here.

You might be surprised at how far you’ve come.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

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