WHO IS YVONNE?
Although I’ve always been an avid reader, being an author was an unexpected turn-up for the books (pardon the pun). I began blogging on Facebook in 2018 as Growing Old Disgracefully and two years later became the loveliest of clichés, a lady who wrote a lockdown book. Remember The Big Blue Jobbie books? I’m glad that I wrote a contemporary account of my time shielding because I would otherwise have forgotten much of the utter weirdness of that period.
My lockdown hobby gave me the confidence to tell another story. I’d often sat on a train, coming home to Newcastle after a work trip, and wondered what would happen if I didn’t get off; what if I kept going to the end of the line and simply disappeared? I recalled once attracting curious looks on a train as I laughed uproariously at Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre. That was the book I wanted to write; a book that would make someone laugh in public. That book became Frock in Hell and of course, more hilarity followed with Losers Club.
I live near Newcastle upon Tyne now, but the Losers Club books are inspired by my childhood in Aberdeenshire, particularly Aberchirder where I spent my teens. The characters aren’t based on real people. It was more about the peculiarities of a close-knit community, where only when you emerge into the outside world do you realise that what seems normal back home is, in fact, bonkers. Some of the anecdotes in the books, however, are based on things that actually happened.
There we have it. Wasn’t that more interesting than me banging on about how I live with my family and my dogs? After all, you can find out about my daily struggles with washing the big dish and celebrate my success at finally owning a set of matching bath towels by following my blog at https://www.facebook.com/Growingolddisgracefully. Or if you want to join the conversations about my books, follow my author page at https://www.facebook.com/yvonnevincentauthor. Or do both! Honestly, I’m everywhere, and I do like a good blether.
Want to know what I sound like when I blether? Here are some clips of me guesting on podcasts:
