111: The Healthy Debate Show with Dr. Belynder Walia & guest Linzi Day111: The Healthy Debate Show with Dr. Belynder Walia & guest Linzi Day
UK Health Radio Podcast
Author Linzi Day talks with Dr. Belynder Walia about starting a fantasy series later in life, using stories to support personal change, and finding the courage to follow long‑held dreams. Their conversation highlights how fiction can comfort people through tough times and why it’s never too late to begin again.
39:56•3 Jul 2026
Linzi Day on Late-Life Creativity, Magic and Having the Nerve to Begin
Episode Overview
- Fiction can reach people more deeply than direct advice, allowing ideas about change and self-worth to sink in gently.
- Lockdown and early retirement became a springboard for Linzi Day to start writing fiction in her 60s.
- Readers often describe the Gretna Green series as a “safe place” that brings comfort during grief, illness and major life shifts.
- Linzi believes it is never too late to follow a dream, as long as you are still breathing.
- Taking the risk to share creative work is essential; without trying, you will never know what might have been possible.
“If you're breathing, it's still not too late.”
Ever wondered what it might look like to start a whole new creative career in your 60s? This conversation on The Healthy Debate Show follows author Linzi Day as she talks with Dr. Belynder Walia about creativity, courage and starting again when life has already taken several turns. Linzi shares how early retirement and the isolation of lockdown unexpectedly opened a door to fiction.
Walking country lanes with her dog, she found imaginary characters "stood in the lane" and began asking them, "What's broken in your world today and why?" Those conversations turned into the Gretna Green fantasy series, which blends magic, humour, mystery and personal transformation. Rather than writing classic self-help, Linzi explains why she chose fantasy: stories can slip past people’s defences in a way advice rarely can.
She talks about using playful details – like "safe mating advice for dragons" – to smuggle in ideas about self-worth, judgement and unlived dreams. Readers across the globe have written to say the books became a “safe place” through grief, illness and major life changes, with some rereading the series many times. You’ll also hear Linzi’s refreshing honesty about starting late and pressing publish despite fear of judgement.
Her stance is disarmingly simple: "If you're breathing, it's still not too late" and "If you don't try, you will never know." She urges anyone sitting on a long-held dream to stop self‑criticism, do something "a bit crazy", and see what happens. This episode is ideal if you’re curious about creative reinvention, love character‑driven fantasy, or need a gentle nudge to dust off that book idea, side project or long-buried ambition.
What might change for you if you treated your dream as an experiment rather than a test you have to pass?
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