In this powerful episode of Plot Twist Radio, I sit down with author and nonprofit founder Helen Aitchison to talk about the journey from a 20-year career in social care to becoming a published author whose stories are changing lives.
Helen shares how her work in social services—supporting individuals facing homelessness, addiction, trauma, and loss—deeply shaped her writing, allowing her to create emotionally rich, authentic characters that truly resonate with readers.
We dive into:
- Why it’s never too late to start writing
- How lived experience can transform your storytelling
- Writing about difficult topics like grief, abuse, and addiction
- The importance of sensitivity readers and authentic representation
- The truth about the publishing industry (and why most authors don’t make money)
- How writing can be both therapeutic and life-changing—for authors and readers
Helen also shares the inspiration behind her novel The Dinner Club, a story centered on connection, healing, and the power of shared experiences, as well as her nonprofit work making writing accessible to marginalized communities through creative and therapeutic programs.
If you’ve ever felt like your story doesn’t matter—or that it’s “too late” to start—this episode will change your perspective.
✨ Because your story matters. And someone out there needs to hear it.
Where you can find Helen:
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Welcome to Plot Twist Radio, the show where creativity,
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storytelling, and the unpredictable path of the
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creative life all collide. I'm your host, Aaron Egnatz.
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Welcome back to Plot. Twist radio where every.
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Story has a turning point and every voice has the power to
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change everything. Today's guest is someone who
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proves that it's never too late to rewrite your story after
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spending over 2 decades. Working in social care.
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Supporting vulnerable communities, walking alongside
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people through some of life's hardest moments, she made a bold
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and deeply personal pivot into the world of storytelling.
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And she didn't just become a writer, she became a voice for
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the unheard. Her work is raw, emotional, and
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unapologetically human, exploring themes of grief,
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addiction, trauma, resilience, and connection.
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Stories that don't just entertain, but heal.
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In this episode, we talk about the.
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Power of lived. Experience why writing later in
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life can actually be your greatest strength, and how Helen
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is using her nonprofit to give others the chance to tell their
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own stories, no matter their background.
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This is a conversation about courage, creativity, and the
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belief that every single story matters.
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So settle in, because this one might.
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Just inspire you. To start writing.
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Helen, hello and welcome to the show.
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Hiya and thanks for having us. It's.
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Great to have you. So can you tell the audience a
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little bit about yourself before we get going?
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Yeah, so I'm an author from Northeast England, on the coast
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not far from Scotland. And I've been writing for about
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6 years Erin, and tried to becoming an an author.
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I would 20 years in social care. So I worked in social services
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and adults, I worked in corner services, I worked with the
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police in a civilian role and inhabited management for a
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national charity. So very, very different to
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writing. And then I became a writer in
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the rural world. Change.
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Really. Wow, that sounds like quite the
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journey. As you've said, you spent 20
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years in social care. How did that chapter of your
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life shape who you are today? Yeah, that's a really good
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question because a lot of my writing errand is based on my
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career for the experience that I had working in the field, short
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line and in management and also the experiences as my own life
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should take around me and things that we can all been that none
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of us are trying to immune from. So my right, you did start later
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and and certain people say do you wish you'd vote earlier?
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Do you wish you'd be coming over earlier?
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I would say no because my career shaped the characters, stories
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and you know, everything that I write about really is from
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alleged experience, you know, as a worker or as a person.
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So I think it it's really shaped my stories and helped me grow as
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a right down situation. I agree.
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And I hear that a lot. And it's the same with me as
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well. I didn't start writing until my
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late 30s. I don't know if it was that I
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didn't have it in me or like you said, it's the lived experiences
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because it really shaped even in fiction, which is what I write,
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you know, you kind of put your experiences into those stories.
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And I don't know, I don't know why, but it seems like write it
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middle age, maybe that's when it really gets going for a lot of
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the people I've interviewed. Yeah, yeah, it's definitely that
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lived experience and just learn from life and mistakes and
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successors and being able to write diversity of characters
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from the people that you've met. Yes, absolutely.
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So what? First sparked that.
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Transition from the social care into the writing when you
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realize, OK, now is the time. Yeah.
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Really, it started, Erin, when I was still in love with reading
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again, but and I'd had probably 15 yards where I hadn't been
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able to read consistently because word put in the way and
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life gets in the way. And I think we don't often give
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ourselves that priority of doing something to ourself.
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So reading was just something I didn't have time for.
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And a colleague of mine who used to work in the Tele wrote a book
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about his kind of experiences. It was fiction, but based on his
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three-year. And I was so proud of him.
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So I was like, I'm going to read in his book.
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And Phyllis is called and I read it and I was like, which was
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brilliant. And it really sparked my love
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for reading again. And I just couldn't stop reading
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at any opportunity. I would have a book in me hand
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would be going to the gym and I'd have a book, you know,
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weekend be reading and then I'd be reading and just reabsorbing
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stories again. And and I would read books and
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think I didn't like the way that ended or I wasn't key on that
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character. That character was really good
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or I would have done this differently.
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And I saw a competition to join the team writing calls.
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So I'm submitted a piece of right, you know, I've got on
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this course and I learned the oath and from that I just
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thought, well, why not try? You know what, I think the only
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the only feeling is never trying.
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So I started writing taught me and I started to get things
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published and then I've started to write in in secret, may I
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add, I wrote a book. This first book, Jenna Club was
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working full time on the evenings and weekend, but I
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didn't really tell anyone. The rest is kind of history, I
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would say, you know, as soon as that was kind of published, my,
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my whole life changed and I've never, never been at a stop
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writing. Change.
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That is a excellent story, and I feel the same way.
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We're like kindred spirits there.
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You know, once you start, you can't, you can't stop.
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It's like all these stories just start coming out of you.
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So you mentioned the dinner club.
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What inspired that story? So the the dinner club is
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basically about by strangers. You've all got a secret and it's
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about loss and loss in hope. In fact, you've been accepted
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and I've always worked in in the social cash field and in strong
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brings people together. And even in the most challenging
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of times, I think sharing a meal or a cup of tea or a cup of
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coffee or a snack brings people together.
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And the people that we used to work with in my career was very
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traumatized. And sometimes it was just having
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a cup of tea while offering them some talks that would help to
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breakdown barriers. And I think there's something
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about getting as well and cooking for someone or or just
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getting someone a cup of tea. You know, it can taste like the
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best thing in the world if someone makes something for you.
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So I wanted to send us something around that connectivity that
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we'll get from a shared experience like films.
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But I also wanted to write about characters that will diverse and
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that you are new about. So within there, there's a lot
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of emotion. There's a lot of humour as well,
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but there's a lot of emotion and there's the subtot is domestic
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abuse and calmness of feeling marriage and single parenthood.
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There's grief terminal, but I've done it in a way where I hope it
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feels relatable to different real ones.
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And then learn something and and connect with character.
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And so that was kind of the original against news for right
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in Buddhin Apple. Wow, that is this is intense,
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but you know you're right. These are the kind of things
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that when readers slip into them, you know, they look at
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these characters and they relate.
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I see myself in that person or that situation, and it makes
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them feel not so much alone. So not only is writing, I think,
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therapeutic for the author, but it can be for the reader.
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As well absolutely right I mean, I think with my with my writing,
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a lot of the things that write about a controversial in a way,
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you know, I take a risk and write about things that maybe
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challenge people's thought processions or I like you say
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give someone a voice who feels unheard.
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I'll just make someone feel like another law or learn someone
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something new and I think that's really important.
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I think we're going to, we've got a vehicle to write and to be
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able to to almost campaign and advocate for certain topics and
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certain characters. And I think that's what drives
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me, writing something where I feel actually it's important and
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doing it in the way that culturally connects people and
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resume. For sure.
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So what? Is your writing process, like,
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do you come up with an idea and, you know, write it out?
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Do you use like an organizer? Do you outline or do you kind of
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just sit down and just see where it takes you?
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Well, to be honest, I wish I was organized.
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I'm a bit of a whirlwind and I tend to get ideas and maybe
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company our worms almost and won't go away.
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So it very much all nothing with me and I'll write and I can't
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hate the folk and write something in a ridiculously
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short amount of time till I'm burnt out.
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But it it kind of works for me. I think there's something about
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once I have an idea enough and I'm really feeling it, I just
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can't stop. It's like a therapy almost, and
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the characters become me, you know, they just become alive and
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I just want to keep going. But that's not a good way to
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necessarily write because it ends up with a complete.
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I do have a business that I'm a director of, so I have to jog
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only time as much as I can, which is really hard.
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I've all got the great poems and commitments, so I wish I was
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more organized, but I'm very but it does actually work for me.
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So I think, well, you know what can't be cursed for?
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The end result is what's important.
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No, no matter how we get there. Absolutely so.
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A lot of your. Background centers around giving
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people a voice. How does that Tran or how do you
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make that translate into your writing?
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Because that can be difficult. I think that you do a really
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good job of it. So I'm, I'm curious how you're
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able to do it because that's something I've never been able
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to do. It I think it's really hard and
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I think that you know, typically write about what you know and if
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you don't know, research, research, research.
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So I try and write about things that I know or things that
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either artists experience or alter me.
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Work history. I've had a lot of knowledge
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around. So for example, and I'm not in
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recovery, so I'm substance must use, but I've worked in the
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field. So one of my books has a heavy
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theme of addiction. So I've done that from the
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police as not personal experience, but work experience
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and within those types of scenarios and have some
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potential arenas. So I would check with someone
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that that feels the right terminology or that a character
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feels representatives in Steel Village.
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So that's someone meant to well that that isn't exactly the same
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story that I've had, but I get the emotions.
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I get the way that hurt every year, so it can be tricky, but
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it is really important to me that I write about such topics.
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So I'm not as it is. You're very much directly linked
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to my own working personal experience.
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But it's not with the dotted line.
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And I make sure I do that research and make sure I have
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people here will read all that, trusted readers who will be able
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to give me tips or anything wrong.
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So recently I wrote a book about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and
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90s. HIV made the epidemic.
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And as a straight woman who isn't living with HIV, I needed
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to get that right. I needed to get that character
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right. You know, they're the main
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character. And he was a gay man.
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I needed to get that right. So I had a sensitivity reader
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and I had, I did a lot of research.
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So it's hard, but I think it's really important as authors that
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we talk stuff out there and that we're trying cover all different
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types of characters, but it has to be done right.
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It's why it's offensive. You can be really offensive to
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an audience and to an individual, and that's really
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important that we don't do that. So it takes a lot of time, but I
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think it also takes in all certainly flexible to be
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accommodate and into nothing that the words we think because
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we just don't. And that's where people like to
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get involved in help, which is fantastic.
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Yes. And I think it's great that you
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outsource that in a way, you know, talk to others that know
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it because you're right, we don't know.
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We like to think we know we're talking about about them.
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Yes, we're creating these characters, but we really don't.
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And in order for it to mesh with our audience, you know, we
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really have to know what we're talking about.
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So I love that you do that. So let's kind of pivot over to
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the right on the time. Is that am I saying that right?
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Right. Because I have.
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I love what you're doing with that.
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Can you tell us a little bit about how it started?
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Thank you. Yeah, Eric.
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So when I got my publishing contract with Cahill Davis
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Publishing for for the Dinner Club, originally had AI was at
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an age where I was starting to think about, you know, I guess
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not being able to do everything. I was in the late 30s and I
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think there's something about balance and I've always strived
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to get as a as a as a woman and as a professional.
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And I just knew that I wouldn't be able to work in my existing
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role and right because of the natures of the responsibilities
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are having in in really day job. So I thought, how can I combine
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my experience and love of working with people, in
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particular marginalized people and my new love of writing.
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So I set up a nonprofit called, which is around making creative
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writing inclusive accessibility therapy.
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So I do a number of projects that are specifically targeted
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to certain groups of people and some that are open to everyone.
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I do teaching and I also want to support to people who want to be
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published as well. So for example, last year I
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worked in a local women's prison and did therapeutic writing and
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at the end of it we published a book of their tuitions.
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So I'm back in the prison this year working and doing some some
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courses and some therapeutic writing.
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And I do big compete service with charities as well.
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I teach, which is also free to people to try and reduce the
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kind of elitism that Tim's done in the arts in general.
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And basically I do a range of projects where after you as a
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gaffe, one's a barrier. I've done books with veterans
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could run 7 decades as conflict and Melton's history.
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I've done books with women from a deprived community around
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gender changes and and kind of community over the years.
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I've done a bubble tea in the courtroom substances.
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So it's anything that I think where there is a gap where
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people are being tailored and represented and you know, it,
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it's brilliant for the individuals involved, but it, it
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brings me joy as well. So I'm able to tune is really
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what I do to a degree, which helps to have the autonomy to
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fit in with me writing, but also, you know, brings me a lot
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of joy as well. So it's, it's hard work having
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your own business, but it's definitely rewarding, you know,
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seeing people being able to express instance and have an
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opportunity to write quickly. For someone listening who feels
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like their story doesn't matter, what would you tell them?
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I mean, I think everyone's story matters, you know, and our
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stories, whether they be our personal narrative in our
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heritage, it's really important, but also our imaginations are
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really important. And I think we'll get messages
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all the time that, you know, we can't, it's not for us, you
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know, if we haven't done a being stable, can't do XY and they,
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you know, it's just not for us. And I think we've got to try and
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break those stereotypes and those molds and and breakthrough
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those barriers. And I feel and you know, I
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didn't see I was a writer for a long time.
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My my qualification has nothing to do with treated right.
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And I'm still in rubbish Stella. But, you know, I think actually
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it's about imagination about, you know, passion to do
00:16:52
something. And I think we've all got we've
00:16:55
all got that opportunity and we've all that it gave himself a
00:16:57
chance and be kind of ourselves and believe in myself.
00:17:00
And if we don't, someone else will believe in what until we
00:17:02
do. But I think our stories are
00:17:04
really important. And sometimes something right in
00:17:08
the line, you know, writing something very small poem, in my
00:17:11
instance, right in the poem turns into having a publishing
00:17:14
contract. You know, it does happen to to
00:17:17
regular people. Well, there is a lot of
00:17:20
celebrities, but it does happen to regular people.
00:17:22
And even if you write something that's only for you, it's still
00:17:25
really important to write it. You know, it's, it's taught as
00:17:29
your narrative. So I would encourage everyone to
00:17:32
write him just to start somewhere, you know, just start
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writing and see how we go. So just don't take it too
00:17:36
seriously but enjoy the therapeutic as well for sure.
00:17:41
Great advice, so let's talk about the publishing process.
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It is a journey, It is a journey.
00:17:50
What have you learned about the publishing world that might
00:17:53
surprise people? I think the biggest one is I
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remember when I got my publishing contract and my
00:18:01
colleagues at the time said only you're retiring that I can't
00:18:05
afford, you know, like a weekly shop.
00:18:08
I think people think that there's a lot of money in in
00:18:12
writing and there isn't. There is not unless you're
00:18:14
really big and you're successful, which does happen to
00:18:17
people. It's not, it's not an industry
00:18:20
where you're going to make any money.
00:18:23
I think that, again, kind of makes it very difficult stop
00:18:27
people there. And you know, it's another
00:18:28
barrier because unless you can afford to work tall, tiny marks,
00:18:33
you know, you're retired or you've got sentences behind you
00:18:35
and a lot of people don't have that opportunity because it
00:18:38
costs, you know, you don't get paid when you're writing books.
00:18:41
You spent hundreds and hundreds of hours creating something and
00:18:44
no one's going to give you an hourly wage while you're doing
00:18:47
that. And I think once you get your
00:18:49
book out there, it doesn't stop. And I think it's something
00:18:53
again, about the arts. Well, people think it's about
00:18:55
your toll file and raising your profile.
00:18:57
But actually we don't expect the cashier in the supermarket to be
00:19:02
waiting for free. We don't expect the new budget
00:19:04
riser to not take effect. So for me, I think the biggest
00:19:07
thing is, is keeping it real with regards to you're unlikely
00:19:11
to make a living out of it and you've got to do some loves, not
00:19:15
money. If you do make some money,
00:19:17
fantastic. But don't believe that that
00:19:20
don't use it as a reason to write because it's so hard and
00:19:25
it's all competitive and millions.
00:19:27
I think it's like 3 books released every on Amazon
00:19:30
alone. You know, it's it's it's a
00:19:33
massively competitive market and it's only a tiny percentage of
00:19:37
people have on naked. But that doesn't, that shouldn't
00:19:41
stop people from writing because we'll write because we're
00:19:44
stories important, because our voice is important.
00:19:48
Anything is is a bonus. But I think my biggest sort of
00:19:51
shot I would actually, you don't need any money from this.
00:19:56
Yeah. Yes, that was a big shock.
00:20:00
I remember the first time I I had the, you know, really
00:20:04
successful release and I was like, yes, finally this is
00:20:07
awesome. And you know, I was ranking kind
00:20:10
of high on Amazon and then when it came for like money, I was
00:20:14
like, Oh my God, this. Is just.
00:20:16
That doesn't translate into the work I put into it.
00:20:20
Just crazy, the amount of money and just absolutely crazy, yeah.
00:20:24
Yeah, it's a little depressing, it's a little disheartening, but
00:20:27
it hasn't stopped my love for writing.
00:20:29
So I think it's so important that you've said that, you know,
00:20:32
just keep doing it. Just keep doing it.
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Maybe you'll be the one that hits it big.
00:20:35
Who knows? After anything, it's a bonus.
00:20:38
Nothing. Sometimes, you know, when
00:20:41
someone reads your book, that's priceless.
00:20:42
Now remember, you know, I've had so many lovely messages about my
00:20:46
books from strangers and one of the first ones I got was one of
00:20:50
the genetic clock these things looking a woman said your book
00:20:54
made us go for therapy. And I was like that price that,
00:20:57
you know, that is what everything is about or someone's
00:21:00
saying your book made me feel that I wasn't alone.
00:21:03
That character made me feel that I wasn't a tweet.
00:21:06
You know, that's that's price. And so, you know, and though you
00:21:10
don't get much in the form of money, you get a lot of wealth
00:21:14
from people's feedback and from sharing the story.
00:21:17
And I think that's you can't put a price on that.
00:21:20
Very well said. So what is up?
00:21:23
Next for you, do you have any upcoming projects or recently
00:21:26
released? Projects I do, I do Aaron.
00:21:29
So I have a book come out of my publisher in July called Find an
00:21:35
Oscar Widow and that is about a man who middle-aged guy who on
00:21:39
his mother's jet bed finds out who he thought was his father.
00:21:43
He's his father and he goes and search for his father.
00:21:46
So that's come out in July and then in the autumn winter.
00:21:50
I also write Crying Pennies procedural books.
00:21:53
I'll be having the third in my police procedural series coming
00:21:57
out and squats so two this year. Wow, very exciting.
00:22:02
Where can the listeners find you?
00:22:04
So I'm on Facebook as telling. Interesting, right?
00:22:08
And Instagram and also have my websitesandrights.com and write
00:22:14
on thetime.com. Perfect.
00:22:16
And I will make sure those are in the show notes.
00:22:18
Thank you so much for joining me.
00:22:21
Like you, it's been a pleasure. Honestly, this is one of those
00:22:23
episodes that. Sticks with you.
00:22:25
What I love most in her reminder that writing isn't about
00:22:28
perfection, it's about truth. It's about lived experience,
00:22:32
about giving voice to the moment and the people that might
00:22:35
otherwise go on scene. And maybe the biggest take away,
00:22:38
You don't have to start early. You don't have to have it all
00:22:41
figured out. You just have to start.
00:22:43
Whether it's a novel, a poem, or even just a single sentence
00:22:47
written for yourself, your story matters.
00:22:49
If you want to learn more about Helen, her books like The Dinner
00:22:52
Club, or the incredible work she's doing through her Non
00:22:55
profit to make writing more accessible and therapeutic, be
00:22:58
sure to check out the links in the show notes and if this
00:23:01
episode inspired you. Even just a little.
00:23:04
Take that as your sign. Write the thing, say the words,
00:23:08
tell the story, because you never know who might need to
00:23:11
hear it. Until next time.
00:23:12
This is plot twist radio where the story always changes, and so
00:23:17
do we.