Spend an hour with Sinéad and our guest, Victoria Williamson, as we take a stroll through the stories that have shaped one of the most prolific and imaginative children's authors writing today. Victoria's work ranges from emotionally charged stories for older children and young teens, right down to fantastical adventures for younger readers, never failing to enthral and captivate, and it was a pleasure to sit down with her and chat all things story. We talk about the 'hero's journey', her career as a teacher, the many far-flung places her work has brought her to, her commitment to social justice and other causes close to her heart, and what authorly ambitions she has yet to achieve. Come and join us, and find out how Victoria is Storyshaped.

Find Victoria online via her website

Books mentioned in this week's episode include Victoria's own:

The Boy With the Butterfly Mind

The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle

Hagstorm

War of the Wind

The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams

And the stories that shaped her include:

The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien

Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien

The work of Stephen King

The work of Monica Dickens

The Tripods, by John Christopher

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4, by Sue Townsend

The Hardy Boys (and later iterations), originally created and written by Franklin W. Dixon

Maps, atlases, and books about travel

The work of Jane Austen, the Brontes, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens

Harry Potter, by JK Rowling (these books set Victoria on the road to becoming a children's writer)

Treasures of the Snow, by Patricia St John

The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham

The work of MR James

Victorian Gothic Stories and Ghost stories (in general)

Rivet Boy, by Barbara Henderson

Euro Spies, by Lindsay Littleton

Haarville, by Justin Davies

Into the Faerie Hill, by HS Norup

The Silver Road, by Sinéad O'Hart

TV influences include:

Star Trek

Our podcast bookshop in Ireland is Halfway Up the Stairs: www.halfwayupthestairs.ie

In the UK, check out our storefront on: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/Storyshaped. Disclaimer: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

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