Ron Butlin - So Many Lives and All of Them Are Yours

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali caught up with previous guest, novelist and poet Ron Butlin, to talk about his latest book 'So Many Lives and All of Them Are Yours' the surprise sequel (& prequel) to 1987's 'The Sound of My Voice' - a surprise not least to Ron himself.

The latter is one of Ali's favourite novels so it was genuinely exciting to be able to discuss the new book and learn more about the central character of Morris Magellan.

Ron talks about how the book came to be, his wife's (the writer Regi Claire) important role, reacquainting himself with Morris, the joy in creating new characters in familiar places, the themes he wanted to explore, writing about the unreal - or even surreal - time of Lockdown, the unintended parallels between the two books, using different narrative voices, and so much more.

The two also discuss the way Ron approaches writing, the differences, and similarities, between his poetry and prose, the importance of music in his life, and his desire to write more comedy - especially in these dark times.

Ron is such wonderful company, and it's always a pleasure to have him on the SWH! podcast. We think you'll enjoy listening as much as we did recording it.

Thanks must go to Birlinn for allowing us to record the podcast at their headquarters.

For further details, and all the ways to listen, go to https://www.scotswhayhae.com