Rachael Mogan McIntosh talks about the writing process for her memoir Pardon My French, a candid, hilarious love letter to family life and France with three valuable lessons for overcoming adversity: make home a beautiful nest, lean into the tough lessons and look for the comedy in everything. In our chat we discuss everything from how you protect your friends and family from your writerly tendency to mine their lives for material, how to structure a memoir in terms of narrative and character arcs, how to hone your own voice on the page, the importance of adding specific detail to create authenticity and avoid cliche, and how to balance your penchant for absurdity and humour with pathos and vulnerability.

You’ll find links to buy both paperback and ebook versions of Pardon My French here.

ABOUT RACHAEL MOGAN MCINTOSH

Rachael Mogan McIntosh is a mum of three, crisis counsellor and community trainer from the south coast of NSW. Her writing has appeared in publications across Australia, France and the USA. Rachael loves books, baths, coffee, podcasts, TV and Terry’s Chocolate Orange; consuming them simultaneously whenever possible. Pardon My French is her first book.

Website: http://mogantosh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mogantosh/

Questions this month were from:

Penelope Janu - https://www.penelopejanu.com/

A’Mhara McKey - https://www.amharamckey.com/

To enter this month’s competition, head to Instagram or Facebook and look for the giveaway post.

Pre-order The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson here.

This podcast was recorded on the beautiful, unceded lands of the Garigal people of the Eora nation.

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