AN author from Powys, who only started writing when she was made redundant 6 years ago, is celebrating the publication of her second novel.

Kathy Biggs had a varied career as a nurse, carer and homeopath, before she turned her hand to writing after she was made redundant by Age Concern in 2017. She then attended a creative writing course in Builth Wells and something clicked.

Last year, aged 64, she published her debut novel, ‘The Luck’. At the end of June it was followed by a second, ‘Scrap’, while she has already completed the first draft of a third.

Released by Honno Press on June 29, Scrap has already seen the Bradford-born writer, who has called mid Wales home since the 1980s, named author of the month by both the Welsh Books Council and Libraries Wales – proving that age is no barrier.

The book is the story of how a young boy found in the back of a car at a scrapyard changes the lives of the people who find him.

“I had the idea for Scrap during a visit to a scrapyard in Swansea with my husband Paul, who is a builder,” said Kathy, now 65.

“I was waiting in the van, watching all the machines at work when the first line of the book suddenly popped into my head. I was in the middle of getting The Luck ready to send out to publishers and agents at the time so I couldn’t trust myself to write it down and get side tracked.

“However, a few weeks later, when the first batch of submissions had gone out, I sat down at my computer and typed the words. The kid was in the back of the car for a week before they found him: the hottest July for years, the sun so fierce it made your head hum… and I was off.”

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“The story is about second chances, about not knowing who – or what – might come along and transform your life,” added Kathy.

“It’s about being able to recognise that opportunity, or person, and having the courage to make the change.

“Although the stories differ greatly in time and setting their theme is very similar: family, relationships, the ups and downs that make up our lives.”

Kathy, who moved from Yorkshire to Glascwm almost 40 years ago, has called Llanwrtyd Wells home since 1999.

County Times: Kathy (l) at the Llanwrtyd launch of Scrap last Friday. Credit Peter Barnett Kathy (l) at the Llanwrtyd launch of Scrap last Friday. Credit Peter Barnett (Image: Peter Barnett)

 

She enrolled on an Aberystwyth University creative writing course held at Builth’s Wyeside Arts Centre after redundancy.

She started writing poems and short stories, with The Luck – about Irishman Darragh O’Grady, who leaves home in the 1930s and begins a new life in America as a crop duster – developing from a short story into a novella.

The Luck was published last October by Aberystwyth-based Honno, which concentrates on publishing women of Wales, and they quickly accepted her idea for Scrap too.

Victoria Hall in Llanwrtyd was again the venue for the official unveiling of Scrap last Friday, July 7, at 7pm.

You can pick up Scrap from your local bookshop or online at various outlets, including Amazon, World of Books and Honno.