Heather Burnside

Heather Burnside is a British author known for her gritty crime novels set in Manchester. With most of her thirteen novels becoming Amazon bestsellers, Burnside's works have become staples of the genre, portraying urban life authentically.

Heather Burnside grew up in Gorton, one of Manchester's toughest estates. This area was notorious in the 1990s as the headquarters of a dominant gang and was often in the local press for shootings and drug-related problems. This environment inspired Burnside's novels.

After taking a career break to raise her two children, Burnside enrolled in a creative writing course. This decision marked the beginning of her writing career. She recalls: "I knew from that moment that I wanted to write for a living. It opened up a creative side of me that had been dormant". During this time, she published many articles in well-known magazines and eventually ran a writing services business before devoting herself full-time to her novels.

Burnside started with Slur (2014), showing readers her strong and honest writing style. She has continued to explore the darker corners of urban life in subsequent novels.

Her series The Working Girls delves into the lives of sex workers, highlighting their struggles and resilience. The five-book series has been praised for its gritty realism and empathetic portrayal of its characters. Burnside has also written two standalone novels and two trilogies, each exploring different aspects of crime and survival in the urban landscape.

When asked about her journey to becoming a writer, Burnside describes it as "challenging, worrying, exciting, exhilarating and so much more". Despite the financial uncertainties of a writing career, she finds immense satisfaction in her work.

"I get satisfaction in so many ways: when I've had a good day's writing when readers contact me to tell me how much they enjoy my books, when I get positive reviews, and when my books do well on Amazon," she says.

Heather Burnside currently resides in Manchester with her two grown-up children.

Photo credit: heatherburnside.com