ONE OF THE WORLD'S most beloved authors, Sir Alexander McCall Smith is best known for his globally best-selling series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. The author of over one hundred books covering all manner of subjects and characters, his delightful, warm and thought-provoking books have been translated into 46 languages, while Alexander holds honorary doctorates from thirteen universities and, in 2024, was knighted by King Charles III for services to literature, academia and charity.
Sir Alexander joins Good Journeys with Ben Veal, the purpose-driven, award-winning interview series from Second Mountain Comms, produced by Tall Oak Productions.
THE JOURNEY TO WRITING OVER 100 BOOKS
"Sometimes I find myself writing two books at once," shares Alexander on his prolific journey as a best-selling author. "I enjoy writing series because I enjoy getting back to the characters that I've already met. I write every day and I am very fortunate that I can write quite quickly, so I just have to sit at the desk for the requisite period and the ideas seem to come. I don't really have to agonise over what's going to happen [in the story] once I start: it's almost as if it has been made up elsewhere. I have a very general idea of what is going to happen, but often that may change and is supplemented by various developments that I hadn't originally intended or imagined. Things happen in the book which may surprise me."
SIR ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH ON ACTS OF KINDNESS
"The thing about Mma Ramotswe [the central protagonist in Alexander's No 1 Ladies Detective Series] is that she's kind. That is something that I hope emerges in the portrayal of her character. Kindness is actually really, really important. I like describing kind characters, acts of kindness and friendship in my books. It really gets to me when I see an act of kindness: I tear up very quickly and find myself very moved by seeing kindness in action."
TACKLING LIFE'S CHALLENGES THROUGH LITERATURE
Sir Alexander McCall Smith's books undoubtedly focus mainly on the positive aspects of life, however they do not steer completely clear of the challenges that we all experience as human beings. "The world is, in many respects, a vale of tears, particulary at the moment. I feel like we are faced with some very bleak matters: you'd have to have closed your eyes pretty firmly to not see that in the world around us. There are these things and I am prepared to tackle and talk about them, but there are ways of doing that. You can talk about them and show characters dealing them with in a positive fashion, and you can confront these matters in a way that you could describe as relatively light: not in an irresponsible way, but actually just pointing out that although these things occur, there is often a way around them or surmounting the difficulties of life."
PURPOSEFUL CONVERSATIONS
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