TIGER the Podcast Episode One

In late 2017 I travelled from Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland to the frozen forests of the Russian Far East in order to track Amur (Siberian) tigers in the wild. This formed part of my research for my novel TIGER, which is partly set in the Russian taiga as it is known.

While there, I took sound recordings of everything I came across, including how to track; discovering a tiger’s recent kill; how to ice fish and shoot a Kalashnikov; accompanying Russian hunters on their expeditions; and interviews with local people including from the Udeghe village.

Now some of these recordings, along with commentary, music and short extracts from the novel are published as two podcasts which amplify and share my experience of researching this little known wilderness with its vanishingly rare top predator. Until very recently, only scientists were able to go to the region and so even getting there was difficult. The podcasts also discuss how the experience affected the novel, and myself as a writer.

The podcasts stand alone from the novel, so you do not need to have read TIGER to enjoy them. My website followers are getting the first listen!

• Amur tiger, Helensburgh, Kalashnikov, podcast, Russian Far East, siberia, Siberian tiger, taiga, tiger, tiger tracking, writer podcast, writer research
• September 22, 2020