Sadly, Maeve Binchy died this week. I always loved her writing and had the privilege of meeting her years ago at an event at the Irish Cultural Centre in London. She seemed larger than life then – a big personality, but gracious and funny as well. Her books remind me that it is the story which is the key. Story and characters are what we write about, and what readers want to read about. Telling those stories is, of course, the hard part, but while following the twitter thread about her, I was guided towards this three minute video, which I’ll now pass along to you. Her writing tips are very much like the ones Anthony Trollope gives in his Autobiography. I always thought he and Maeve would have gotten along swimmingly. I should remember that in case anyone ever asks me one of those “who would you like to invite to dinner” questions.