This month's First Writes column features a writer you may recognise from The List's own pages. Lynsey May is the author of Weak Teeth, an emotional and darkly humorous tale of a world spinning out of control when a relationship falls apart, forcing protagonist Ellis back to her family home.

^{Lynsey May / Picture: John Need Media}

What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? I have a lot of fractured memories of reading and I’m not sure I could work out which book was actually first, although I do remember some picture books very dearly, including Geraldine’s Blanket by Holly Keller and The Trouble With Gran by Babette Cole. I do, however, remember very proudly going through to announce to my parents that I could read grown-up books now when I managed the first page of Five On A Treasure Island by Enid Blyton. I was also absolutely obsessed with The Reluctant Vampire by Eric Morecambe, not that long after. 

What was the book you read that first made you decide to be a writer? I don’t think there was ever any one book, but those that have helped me get here are in their thousands! I wanted to be a writer from a young age. My grandma, Alison Thirkell, was one and she was certainly an inspiration. From Judy Blume to Terry Pratchett to an interest in Greek mythology to a Dick Francis phase, the books I read as a teenager definitely shaped my ambitions and gave me an idea of the many types of fictional worlds that are out there for the building. 

What’s your favourite first line in a book? I honestly don’t know! First lines are massively important, but they definitely just become part of the whole in my mind.

Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you? I think one of the debuts that had the biggest effect was The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton. Another one that blew me away was Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. This year, I’ve also been paying a lot of attention to other current debuts and have a few Scottish highlights, including For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie, Home by Cailean Steed and The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? If I can, I’ll start the day with a coffee and a read of whatever book I’m enjoying, even if it’s only for a couple of pages. Then I just try and crack on as quickly as possible. I definitely work best at the beginning of the day, so I try to make the most of it.

What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? Generally feel bad for stopping, pretend to myself that I might get back to it, then meander into chilling out.

In a parallel universe where you’re the tyrannical leader of a dystopian civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? It would have to be Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It was the last book I hated that I forced myself all of the way through. Since then, I’ve learned to stop and give up. I went into it completely naive and it was an entirely disagreeable experience. 

What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist? To keep writing and reading, and to find yourself some other aspiring novelists to hang out with. There are very few things you can control when it comes to getting your stories in the hands of other people, but the stories themselves will always be yours.

Weak Teeth, out now, is published by Polygon; Lynsey May appears alongside Fran Littlewood and Ryan Love at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Saturday 20 May, as part of Aye Write.