Advice

Ask Michelle Anything

Alessia writes…

Hello Michelle,

I would really like to ask you a question that I am trying to answer myself over these last few weeks and…I wonder if you ever had to choose between two dreams? I want to be an author and an actress. But sometime I feel I am drifting to the acting ‘side’, and sometimes more to the writing ‘side’. I don’t know how to decide or if I can make it as both? I mean can you even be both? Thank you for your time.

Alessia Wilimowski

Michelle Replies…

Dear Alessia,

My goodness, that’s quite a question!  And it’s not one I’ve ever had to address, as I’ve never been faced with it, because I only ever really wanted to write.  I don’t think I’m in a position to give you advice, as the answer is, in all likelihood,  something which will probably only gradually become clear to you.  All I would suggest is that perhaps try not to think of it as an “either/or” question.  In other words, trying your hand at writing doesn’t necessarily mean giving up on acting, or the other way around.  It’s all about creativity, and the one feeds the other.  So perhaps give yourself permission to investigate and play around with both.

The best of luck with exploring this.

Regards, Michelle

 


Upcoming Live Events With Michelle

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Wimbledon Book Festival

October 17, 2025
Festival patron and Sunday Times bestselling author Michelle Paver will talk about her latest supernatural fiction in this live recording with Always Take Notes, a podcast for and about writers and writing.

Michelle will discuss her incredible career, from finding inspiration for Wolf Brother on Wimbledon Common to her latest novel Rainforest, which weaves Mayan culture with themes of obsession, gender and rebirth.

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The Witching Hour with Bridget Collins, Michelle Paver and Laura Shepherd-Robinson – Waterstones Canterbury

October 20, 2025

Join Bridget Collins, Michelle Paver and Laura Sheperd-Robinson as they discuss their stories in a brand new collection of ghostly tales called The Witching Hour.

In this dazzling collection of original haunted tales, thirteen bestselling and much-loved authors bring the old superstition of the witching hour to new and vivid life.
Transporting you from the smog of London to the freezing mists of Svalbard, from an Irish town riddled with rumour to a sinister English boarding school, these thirteen stories will serve as your spine tingling companion to the long hours of winter.
So curl up, light a candle, and wait for the clock to strike . . .
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Yeovil Literary Festival

October 25, 2025

An experience like no other. From a writer like no other...

Successfully published as an adult author, the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (“Wolf Brother”) were her first books for younger readers, followed by her brilliant 5-part series set in the bronze age, Gods and Warriors. On the adult side, her first ghost story, Dark Matter, was a UK bestseller and won massive praise from reviewers and readers alike, as did her second ghost story, Thin Air.

Oxford Literary Festival 2026

March 29, 2026

The Oxford Literary Festival takes place in venues across central Oxford, such as Blackwell's bookshop, the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre, the Weston Library, and Oxford colleges such as Christ Church and Worcester College. The festival includes international authors, journalists, intellectuals, historians, and poets.