Fife author releases debut book

A Fife woman who returned to university after turning 60 to pursue her passion of working in the food and drink industry, has published her first book.
Helen Walsh is already planning her second book.Helen Walsh is already planning her second book.
Helen Walsh is already planning her second book.

Helen Welsh, from Newburgh, has employed a unique approach to write her memoirs, choosing to tell her life story through her memories of food and drink.

‘A Life in Mouthfuls’ uses Scottish culinary treats to take readers on an emotional journey, sharing tales of good times, hard times, disasters and celebrations.

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Helen started work on her book days after handing in her dissertation for her MSc Food and Drink Innovation course at Abertay in 2018.

She said: “I wanted to write something for fun, after spending a year or so doing academic work. I had the idea of writing a memoir by choosing episodes from my life that related to food and drink memories.”

Helen finished a first draft in around three months, and initially thought that no one would be interested in reading it.

She added: “I’m not a celebrity, so I didn’t see why anyone would care. I happened to see a competition for non-fiction work that was run by the Scottish Association of Writers and I decided to enter it.

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“I won second prize and the adjudicator, who was a literary consultant, said she thought it had commercial potential. That gave me confidence. It took another three months to edit, proof read and provide general finishing touches, and then I self-published it.”

‘A Life in Mouthfuls’ also talks about the impact Abertay University had on Helen’s life: “I very much enjoyed my time at Abertay, and a lot of opportunities came from that.

“Dr Jon Wilkin from the university also provided an endorsement for the back of the book, which was nice.”

Helen, who balances her writing career with a job as a tour guide at Lindores Abbey Distillery, is already planning her next book: “It’s a bit of departure from food writing. It’s called ‘Book to Film: Great Adaptations’.

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“I’m in a group where we read a short story or novella, then meet to watch the film adaptation – so it’s about what we’ve read and watched.”

‘A life in Mouthfuls’ is available on Amazon both in print and as an e-book.

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