Authors Interviews

HOLLY CURTIS               INTERVIEWED 20 May 2013

Holly Curtis is a young English novelist who writes for children. A student of English Literature and Philosophy Holly encompasses both these subjects in her stories. In Mrs Cotesworth’s Garden is her first novel. Her day job is working in Cancer Registration which couldn’t be more different.

Have you always written novels?

No. I hadn't intended to write a novel, I didn't know if I could as I've always been used to the tight-writing of short stories. I've always just written whatever's come into my head and interested me, and it was the same with In Mrs Cotesworth's Garden.

Have you had any stories published?

 Not really, no. One appeared in a copy of my student paper when I was at university, and one was online as part of a competition – it had the second highest number of votes, if I remember correctly. I remain hopeful though.

When and why did you decide to switch to novel writing?

I didn’t really decide to switch to novels, I just had an idea and it happened to be a children's novel and I realised I love writing for children. Novels give a lot more room to expand and play; it’s not all about paring it down, although I still thoroughly enjoy writing short stories and the discipline of making sure every word works hard. I started writing In Mrs Cotesworth’s Garden some time in 2008. I didn't really have the confidence to try to do it before.

Could you tell us about In Mrs Cotesworth’s Garden, as a book blurb or a more detailed summary of the plot or both?

The current book blurb is:

In an ordinary-looking garden lies a forest. After her mother's death, Charlotte Harding has no desire to meet the collection of decidedly odd characters who inhabit it, including Pegasus "Yes, the famous mythological flying horse, how kind of you to mention". Yet, it contains a landmark she recognises but can't remember why, a fog-beast which haunts her and a strange little bat-like creature which follows her...and there must be answers.

I had the idea that it would be in a forest which has transformed out of a seemingly normal garden. I could picture Charlotte in it searching for something, but to start with I couldn't put my finger on what it was until that aspect of the story unfolded in my head - her mother died and she's angry about it as well as hurt by it. Then it became clear that the things she sees and does are really symbolic of what's going through her mind and how she's trying to cope with her loss and reconnect with her mum. Also, the characters she meets have their own problems so they all learn something along the way and end up helping each other.

Is there a real garden that you based the story on?

Yes, it’s based on the garden my grandparents had in Kent before they moved (minus the forest bit). I have fond memories of visiting and helping shell peas and make flapjack and things.

How best would you classify this genre? Children’s literature, fantasy fiction or other?

I’m not a fan of trying to categorise things too much because it can put people off before they’ve even tried them, but I would probably go with children’s fantasy fiction.

What is the age group for your target reader?

Middle grade, so around 8-12 years.

What inspired you to write this story?

I’m not really sure, to be honest. I just write whatever stories come to me and capture my interest. I studied English Literature and Philosophy at UEA and I've always loved both subjects which is probably why I wrote In Mrs Cotesworth's Garden. Partly I wanted to prove that Arts degrees are useful as well as interesting! It was also partly inspired by Carol Ann Duffy's poem In Mrs Tilscher's Class. It’s about the safety that should be felt in childhood.

I like to look at writing as telling people’s stories. I feel as though I have to do it right, because maybe somewhere it did actually happen to someone, so I have to tell the truth of it.

What are the themes in In Mrs Cotesworth’s Garden?

The philosophical aspects include life and death of course, but there are other things in there such as friendship, telepathy and mental health. It all comes second to the story though; it's written for children and there's plenty of humour too. It's the whole balance of life: happiness, sadness and things learnt along the way.

Could you describe your central character? What makes this individual special?

Charlotte is very hurt and angry over the death of her mother, and isn’t dealing with it very well. She’s very stubborn, so once she has the idea in her head that she has to cope with it alone it takes a while for her to let others in. She’s naturally a kind, considerate person with a great sense of humour, which eventually wins through her abrupt, hard exterior.

Have you ever been on a creative writing course?

Yes, in 2010 I went on an Arvon writing retreat and met some brilliant, talented people, tutors (Mavis Cheek and the late Paul Sussman) and other writers alike. I also did an online writing for magazines course and a script writing workshop.

Did you learn some useful tips there that you would be happy to share with others?

Oh, yes. I learnt a number of things, in particular, on the Arvon retreat I learnt that I was trying to self-edit all the time and it was preventing me from finishing the first draft. Basically, the first draft is supposed to be rough; you just need to get it down and only start polishing when you're done. At least that's how it is for me.

Which authors do you like reading?

How to choose? I love a number of authors for diverse reasons. I love a lot of the classics, especially Jane Austen and the Brontё sisters. Dostoyevsky, Oscar Wilde, Saki, Mary Shelley and many of the gothic horror writers. But I also love some living authors too (and some less long-dead ones) such as Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams (both legends), Dawn French, Margaret Atwood, Iris Murdoch, Angela Carter, Stieg Larsson, Phillipe Pullman. As for children’s authors, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Frances Hodgson Burnett, J.K. Rowling, Robin Jarvis, Helen Grant, L.J. Smith, Stephanie Meyer. There are so many I’d better just stop there.

Where are you now in terms of publishing your book?  

I’m sending it out to various literary agents and some publishers. Hopefully someone will take me on. I would also consider self-publishing.

Would you consider e-publishing?

Definitely. There’s nothing like the feel of a real book, but I do have an e-reader and I know more and more people are opting for e-books. It is more environmentally friendly after all.

Do you have any other projects?

Yes. At the moment I’m writing the first in a trilogy, Children of Wyrd, about a boy trying to protect his little sister from the strange powers she possesses, and the world it draws them into. It’s going well, and now I know how to write a novel, a lot more quickly than In Mrs Cotesworth’s Garden.

Thank you, Holly. Good luck with everything. I hope to see you on the printed page soon. Anjana

ELISABETH BROOKE                         INTERVIEWED 30 APRIL 2013

Elisabeth Brooke is an English author. She has written several books on astrology and herbal therapy. She is an astrologer, life coach, herbalist and ex-Samaritan volunteer.  Her website is www.elisabethbrooke.com. She is based in London. Elisabeth has several blogs.

Elisabeth, you have a multi-dimensional career. Where does your current writing fit in? Is this a new direction?  The novel comes out of my experience of living in the Caribbean. I left London in 1989 to do an overseas aid job in traditional medicine. I had reached a point in my career that I needed a change and a new direction. I had already finished my first book (which was so big it became two books) and I wrote a third while I was abroad.  I like writing – I have lots to say and am pretty solitary so it seemed like the ideal career for me. However after five non-fiction books I felt I had said all I wanted to say – so I thought I would try a novel. The book basically wrote itself – it was amazing really. So then I thought I’d write another one and I was hooked! I like breaking new ground but am not so good at doing the same thing for very long – hence the varied career.

Which genre does your novel belong to?  I guess it’s literary fiction, it is a time slip novel which moves between 1992 and 1492.

What inspired you to write a novel and when did you begin writing this?  I wanted to write about the indigenous people of the Caribbean – but to do that I had to read eye witness accounts on the conquest of the Americas which also got me wondering how it was when the three cultures: African, Indian and European met. I began writing it soooo long ago maybe 1995 it has taken years and years and several moves back and forwards across continents with my laptop and folders stuffed with research. I must have done about 10 versions but I am polishing it now –I can see the end is in sight!

Could you tell us a bit about the plot of your current novel?  It is based on the history of the first fifty years after Columbus landed in the Caribbean, with a modern reference.

How did you research your subject matter?  I read everything I could lay my hands on: first- hand accounts, anthropology, African and Amerindian customs. Luckily I can read Spanish and French so I was able to read most of the material. Also I have a readers pass to the British library and read every book in there, including ancient manuscripts and maps which covered the time period. I love libraries so this was a delight and a privilege to have access to all this amazing material.  Also I lived on the island for fifteen years so got a ‘feel’ for the place and talked to local people I could imagine how things might have been.

Why did you choose this period in history? It chose me really, in the beginning I thought I’d just read about the island but then I found there wasn’t a book which answered all my questions – so I had no choice but to write that book myself.

Is this your first work of fiction? No I wrote ‘A February Cuckoo’ published by the Women’s Press in 1997. This coincided with the birth of my daughter and I have been working on Quisqueya ever since.

Do you find it easy to get into the mind of your protagonist? Does your training in Psychosynthesis help you in any way to form your characters? Perhaps, I’m not sure – I’m really interested in people and the stories they tell, which makes me a good listener – so I watch and think a lot. But the characters develop in random ways. The African woman, Abatan came from a photograph I saw of her in the Welcome library in London (another excellent research place with open shelving so you can just browse the books). She was a potter and once I’d put her on the page she took over and wrote her own story really.

Do you have future projects planned?  Yes, I am writing a book about the Spanish Civil War which has been started but I have put on hold until Quisqueya is published. I’ve also written a book for children which starts off in Ptolemaic Egypt – it is the first in a series.

Is there a period in history that interests you as a setting for another novel? Yes, as above – I love Spanish culture but the children’s book series will span all the ancient civilizations – I’m interested in ancient history and spirituality.

Which authors have inspired you?  Oh…so many, currently I love: Helen Dunmore, she writes fiction like a poet, her books are gorgeous. William Boyd I like, Douglas Kennedy, Miriam Keyes but also George Elliot, Thackery, Dostoyevsky, Lawrence Durrell, Mervin Peake. I think I like stories about outsiders, Graeme Greene, Camus – there are so many. I read a lot – I should start a book blog…

What in your opinion does the modern reader look for in a novel? A good story, interesting and perhaps sympathetic characters, pace, depth, warmth: as a reader myself I like to find out or experience different lives through books.

Which age group and gender is your target readership?  Anyone, there is no target group.

Where and when do you normally write? I write at home and always used to do it first thing – but having a child (or now a teenager) I’ve found I can write whenever – but it’s always a struggle to get going – I can always find millions of reasons not to sit down and work.

You have been published already. How different is your publishing experience with regard to your first foray into fiction?  I was lucky first time around, I had a publisher and I showed them my book and they published it. Sadly, the Women’s Press went bust. Publishing seems a lot more competitive now, but I don’t know if that’s true or just that everyone talks about it more. Creative writing was in its infancy in the nineties, now it’s big business and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing – a bountiful gravy train for people teaching it though.

Is there a book that has inspired you in your life? Years ago I read the Women’s room by Marilyn French, an early feminist work and it really crystallized my politics – and I have never been a housewife! Recently I bought an excellent book called ‘The War of Art’ by Steven Pressfield, on the creative process, I try read a little of it each morning just to get me going. Forget the creative writing classes every aspiring writer should read this, he talks about procrastination and fear – things creative people know all about.

Do you have any writing tips?  Just do it – it’s the only way, the time or your circumstances will never be perfect, if you want to write start and continue: editing, editing, editing. And it will always take three times as long as you imagine.

Thank you Elisabeth and I wish you all the best.

POLIS LOIZOU                  INTERVIEWED 28 MARCH 2013

Polis Loizou is a young Cypriot writer who lives in London. He is currently working on two novels, quite different from each other.  

When did you first begin your writing journey?

I can’t even remember. By the time I was six, I was “writing and directing” puppet shows that I enforced on every visitor to our household. Story assignments in school were a thrill for me, though they bored my classmates. Writing’s been a constant aspect of my life.

Have you ever been published before?

No, but I’ve come close a couple of times with shortlists, longlists and special mentions. I’m still trying!

I believe you are writing two novels at the moment which is an incredible feat. Could you tell us a bit about each novel please?

It does sound pretty impressive when I see it written down like that.

One of the novels is a modern story about a directionless and ambition-free boy who falls for his foster mother’s young boyfriend. He seems to be stuck in a “blue period”, and the hope of romance is something he clings to amidst the political and social tensions of London 2010.

The other novel is very much the opposite – a fable-like tale set in no specific time or place. The disabled narrator tells of a summer in her long-gone youth, during which a string of murders rocked her seaside community. Her prime suspect was a beautiful peer known as Candy. But was Candy actually guilty, or might the narrator have other reasons for wishing to see her fall?

If you had to sum up your novels choosing one theme for each what would they be?

Oh my. The theme of the first novel, “Disbanded Kingdom”, would have to be battle. Of every shape and size.

For the second novel, “The Sweetness of Things”, it would be manipulation. The power of words and suggestion plays a huge part in the story of Candy.

Tell me a bit about your protagonists. What makes them tick?

The (unnamed) narrator in “The Sweetness of Things” is embittered by her circumstances – she’s lost her best friend to death, her mother to madness and has both made herself and been made to feel an outcast in her community. Candy, being beautiful and popular, is her nemesis.

“Disbanded Kingdom’s” Oscar, on the other hand, doesn’t feel much anymore. All he wants is love, even if he doesn’t know it.

Do you draw on real life experiences or are your novels completely imaginary?

Whether rooted in a recognisable universe or not, all my writing is a mixture of experience and imagination. It’s all very well for something to have a fantastic plot, but if it doesn’t make the reader ache with recognition, what’s the point?

Does your background as a Cypriot enter your novels at all via food or culture?

I never realised until recently how big a part food and religion play in my writing. These were staple ingredients in my upbringing, even though I’m an atheist vegetarian who can pace himself. While my Cypriot background has infiltrated several short stories, it doesn’t feature in the two novels (though I have plans for a Cyprus-set revenge trilogy in the future). Having said that, “Disbanded Kingdom” is very much about faith and godlessness, while “The Sweetness of Things” is brimming with food.

Are you a full-time writer or do you have another job?

I work in PR by day and write plays, screenplays, stories and novels by night.

What is your writing routine?

Any second I have to spare.

Have you sent your novel out to agents? What has been your experience?

I sent out a much earlier version of “Sweetness of Things” to no avail, but it’s changed a lot since so I’m hopeful. “Disbanded Kingdom” was greeted by many agents with a baffling “great writing but no thanks” response. I see its flaws now and am working to address them, but I feel I’m forever at “close but no cigar”.

Do you have any writing tips or advice for fellow writers?

Keep doing it and keep reading. Both help you develop.

Which authors would you like to see your novels placed next to in a book shop?

I couldn’t even dream of answering this question for fear of offending those writers. As a former Waterstones employee, I’ll just say I’d like my work displayed and raved about by booksellers.

Thank you, Polis. I wish you all the best. Keep writing!

CAROL REPTON                 INTERVIEWED 13 FEBRUARY 2013

Carol Repton is a British writer, born in Singapore, living in London, who has almost completed her debut novel and is looking for an agent. She studied French and German at University and has worked as a journalist for many years. Carol took several creative writing courses and this resulted in her first novel.

Carol, when did you first start writing fiction and why?

I first started scribbling bits and pieces of made-up prose and poetry around the autumn of 1991, after my first marriage broke up. I went on a creative writing course back then as well. It was a kind of therapy for me. Looking back, I must have had an urge to get certain things down on paper and storify them, in order to try to make sense of them. I was also strongly inspired by some incredibly psychic dreams I was having at the time. It was a kind of turning point in my life.

Did you find the creative writing courses useful? Would you recommend aspiring authors to do the same in order to learn the craft better?

Yes. I found the workshops that I took with Anne Aylor not only useful but also very encouraging. I learned the basic novel-writing and editing techniques, and also, how to cure writer’s block by doing automatic writing. After the latest course with Anne, in spring 2012, six of us who were on the course set up a writers’ group and we have been meeting up ever since to share our work and give each other feedback.

Around the same time, I took a fiction masterclass with the novelist DBC Pierre. I found it truly inspirational just listening to him talk about how he wrote his debut novel, Vernon God Little, which won the Man Booker Prize. Everybody has their own modus operandi, but his sounded crazy, magical and fun. One thing stayed with me and spurred me on with my own writing – it was when he addressed the class as “we writers”.

I would definitely recommend any aspiring authors to take some creative writing classes if they can, as it’s always useful to learn about technique. It’s also a good way to meet like-minded people. I would also recommend joining or starting up a writers’ group, to keep you going through the long hard months of writing alone.

Did your background in journalism help or hinder in your fiction writing?

Both really. It helps, because after 26 years in journalism, I am used to working with words - writing, editing and translating. And I love working with words. My career also trained me to meet deadlines when writing.

Initially, it was probably a hindrance though, because journalism trains you to be accurate, to stick to the truth, to the facts, whereas fiction is the opposite - it is all about the realm of the imagination. At first, I found it quite hard to adapt from journalistic to creative writing, and I think that is part of the reason I had writer’s block for ages. After learning various creative writing techniques, practising and allowing myself the freedom to experiment with stream of consciousness writing, I think I am beginning to overcome that obstacle. But it’s a constant battle to separate fact from fiction. I still try to be authentic when writing fiction, but that is not the same thing.

What interests me is the overlap between reality and fantasy, or Life and Art, which can sometimes occur when one is writing fiction. It is a kind of magical alchemy. What I mean is – if you really tap into your subconscious, e.g. by keeping a dream diary or writing fiction every day, strange things sometimes happen... Things that you have dreamt about may even come true.

What is your writing routine?

Over the past few months, I have got into a routine of writing for at least two to three hours most days, as I am trying to get my novel finished. On a good day, I sit down at the computer straight after breakfast, and write solidly until lunchtime. I have to get into the zone, so I don’t like to talk to anybody or be interrupted during that time.

In the afternoons, I have to go to my part-time job, and in the evenings I cook dinner for my family, so I like to get the writing out of the way first thing. I have been trying to write seven days a week, and the more I write, the more easily it flows. When I was writing the second draft of my novel, I set myself a target of 1,000 words a day. This was not always achievable, but it was very satisfying when I reached the daily target. I used to keep a record of the growing word count, to encourage myself to keep the momentum going.

Which novelists inspire you?

JD Salinger was the first novelist to really inspire me when I read The Catcher in the Rye. I could identify so strongly with the first-person voice of the teenage boy protagonist, being a young teenager and a rebellious one at the time.  Sylvia Plath – I still remember the impact The Bell Jar had on me at the age of about 19. Later on, I discovered  Haruki Murakami. I find him very readable, and clever in his melding of mundane reality and the surreal. Milan Kundera – I recently re-read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and had forgotten how multi-layered it is. Tolstoy and Chekhov, for their authentic characterisation and conveying of emotion. Javier Marias – I was bowled over by A Heart so White, which is so original and powerfully written, even in translation. JG Ballard, a very humane writer. Doris Lessing, a powerful feminist writer. Margaret Atwood, a great visionary of future dystopias.

 As for new novelists, I recently read Kevin Powers’ debut novel, The Yellow Birds, which I found heart-breakingly moving and poetic.

Do you have a favourite character?

If you mean in my own writing, yes – my protagonist.

Is he or she a good person or a mixed bag of character traits?

She is a bundle of contradictions, but basically good at heart.

What are you writing at the moment?

It’s a kind of love story with a difference, between two unlikely people, set against the background of the Iraq war and the financial crash in London during the noughties.

Do you research your novels?

Yes. I visit some of the places that I write about, before or after writing about them, so as to get a feel for the atmosphere and the little details. I also do some background reading on certain themes to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

Is your story plot driven or character driven?

I would say it’s mainly character-driven, though there is a plot lurking in the back of my mind. But the characters tend to take on a life of their own, and they can lead you down unexpected paths. So sometimes you have to change direction, and that may mean changing the plot.

Do you have future projects in mind?

Yes. I am thinking of writing something set in Asia during World War II and in the aftermath of the war.

Is there any writing advice you would like to share with other writers?

Believe in yourself enough to call yourself a writer.

Find yourself a comfortable, quiet room of your own where you can write in peace. I have my shed in the garden, where I scribbled much of the first draft of my novel in longhand in A4 notebooks. One way to overcome writer’s block when staring at a blank page, I found, was to sit in the shed, with an egg timer, notebook and pen. Set the egg timer for 15 minutes, and just write continuously whatever comes into your head. You may find that you are tapping into the creative side of the brain rather than the rational side, if you are lucky.

Don’t worry if other people think you are being unsociable or turning into a recluse or getting slack with the housework. That is what you have to do.

Carol's shed

Thank you Carol. All the best with your writing journey.

GERARD MACDONALD       INTERVIEWED 13 FEBRUARY 2013

Gerard Macdonald is a British author who writes screenplays for a living. He is currently writing a short series of political novels. The first, The Prisoner’s Wife, was published by St Martin's Press, New York, six months ago. He has a blog http://writingfictions.com

You published your first novel The Prisoner’s Wife in 2012. How easy was it to get published in this difficult market?

It's never easy getting published, unless you're Stephen King. It's a lottery. Your MS lands on the right desk at the right time, or it doesn't. The movie business is worse.

Do you have an agent at the moment?

Yes.

Could you give us a brief outline of the plot?

Planning Prisoner's Wife, I wanted to write about rendition - when a government agency (usually the CIA) kidnaps someone, spirits them out of whatever country they're in, drops them in a secret prison in one of the fifty-four countries that signed up to the programme. Often, this is so the prisoner can be tortured (as we see in Zero Dark Thirty, though that movie gets the details wrong). … I also wanted to write a love story; in the book an ex-CIA agent falls in love with Danielle, the prisoner's wife. The novel moves through France, England, Morocco, Egypt, and ends in Peshawar, on the Afghan border.

What inspired you to write political novels?

The present political scene interests me. Huge power shifts are happening, often not recorded by the mainstream media.

Are your plots based on real events?

Always.

How do you do your research your novels?

Books, the web, and travelling to the places I write about. For Prisoner's Wife, that included Paris, Cairo, Fez and Peshawar.

You’ve been likened to John Le Carré. Do you agree?

I'm not a fan of early Le Carré. I think he's gotten better in the later books.

Like John Le Carré and Graham Greene were you a spy once? Seriously!

Sorry, no. And Greene was a very amateur spy. 

Which authors have you been inspired by?

Garcia Marquez at one end of the spectrum. James Meek and George V Higgins at the other. 

Do you find writing political novels an outlet for your own political opinions or do you create characters whose opinions differ from your own?

Both things are true.

Which elements of writing are important for your particular genre would you say?

A factual base, realism, pace, dialogue.

Which of these elements apply to your novels-dialogue, pace, depth of characters, a tightly-knitted plot, plausibility, descriptive prose, subplots, development of lesser characters, the setting?

All of the above.

What are you writing at the moment?

A fictional version of the Lockerbie plane bombing. 

Could you give as an idea of the plot?

My protagonist, Melissa, loses her teenage son  in a plane bombing. When her grief eases, she goes to Beirut to find out who put the explosive on the plane. Acting as interpreter for an armed investigator, she battles her former fiancé, who is trying to pin the bombing on an innocent man.

Do you usually have to like your protagonists? Are they full of human frailties or do you create someone as close to perfect as possible?

Full of frailties. … but I think you need to have some affection for a character you're going to live with for two or three years.

Do you have any advice for our fellow writers?

Keep writing.

If our readers would like to buy a copy of your first novel The Prisoner’s Wife, should they order it on Amazon or is it available elsewhere?

Outside the US, only Amazon - hardcover or ebook.

Thank you Gerard.  I wish you all the best with your projects. We look forward to reading your novels.

Interviewed 25/1/2013

Ann Wickens is from Christchurch, New Zealand. She has lived in Hong Kong and currently resides in Grenoble, France. She is a mechanical engineer by education. Her hobbies include writing, art and music.

                                          

When did you first start writing?

I first began in Hong Kong as we lived in a rather isolated complex, east of Tai Po centre and south of the border with China.  I began to develop ideas that I had dreamed up while working in New Zealand, mostly to entertain myself.  

Which author(s) inspire (s) you?

First and foremost, Terry Prachett.  I will never write like him, but I love his work.  I must confess to enjoying J K Rowling, I find her novels to be well written.  P D James, because her marvellous descriptions of scenes and buildings in England delight me.  Stephen King for his thrilling twists, I wish I had this talent.  If you are a writer wanting some tips, I recommend Mr King’s book, ‘On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.  Lately I have admired the style of James Frey.  At the moment I am reading Charlene Harris.  And there are many others.

What are you writing at the moment?

What began as a short story about a fantasy genre character has become a rather epic novel.  I think about the characters as I do housework, shop for groceries and clean the toilet.  I write and/or edit every day.

Is the novel your preferred genre?

Yes.  Although I read thriller and crime, I discovered fantasy when I began my university studies and have always deferred to the genre.  Many of my favourites are Raymond E Feist, George R R Martin, J R R Tolkein, Tad Williams and again, Terry Prachett.

What type of fiction do you write?

I seem at the moment to be stuck on fantasy or paranormal.  It may change.

Can you tell us a bit about the plot, a taster perhaps?

Here is my ‘blurb’ if you will.  It may change.

Damon is the eldest son of Lord Eth-Gradon, Kings Regent in South Dhran City.  Dhran, the only toe-hold of the King beyond the Anith Mountains, is the home of two prosperous cities that are at war. 

Damon and his brother bear part of the old magic.  It allows them to do one specific thing….they change form.  But it is a curse rather than a gift and they are drawn by their power into madness.  They are not the only ones to be touched with the old magic.  The Lamina Sano Jessie Dalintreal has magic enhanced by a gift from her teacher.  When Jessie and Damon meet by chance, their fates are drawn together by the magic they both possess. As conflict descends upon the realm, bought by the dark magician Novercalis, Damon and his brother are tested by their King as he seeks to control the power they wield, fracturing the bond that has grown between Damon and Jessie.  And when he finds the answer to why he and Morgan possess this magic, it changes their lives forever.

Is there a character in your story that you enjoy writing the most?

I write about my main character the most, but I enjoy exploring the relationships between the characters, finding out what develops between them and why.  Some of my characters are fun because they are not human, they have feelings and talents that are beyond human and I can invent the why’s and how’s for myself, make my own rules for this world. 

What do you think about e-books? Do you read paper books or electronic? Which device do you use?

I use a Sony e-book reader.  I love the fact it allows to me carry hundreds of books around with me and this is a necessity when you are relocating every two or three years.  However, I miss the feel and smell of a real book and there are times when I will pick one off my limited bookshelf and re-read, just to feel the paper. 

How many hours a day or week do you write on average?

Most days I try to write for three or four hours.  In the weekend I can write longer, but after six I find my brain just needs a break. 

Could you tell us about your writing habits?

I function better in the morning.  Sometimes I get up very early to get words out that have been developing in the night, so that I don’t miss some of my ideas and thoughts.  So I try to write all morning and do my other jobs and errands in the afternoon.  I write every day to keep in practice as time permits.  Although when I write at home it is in solitude, with as much quiet as I can get in an apartment in the middle of Grenoble, there are times when a café and a bit of bustle (especially French bustle) is stimulating.  I try to find a book shop café where I can be surrounded by the smell and feel of pages and sip on great coffee, while strangers gesture and speak about me. 

What do you do when you get stuck in a plot?

The first thing is to get up from my computer and go and do something else.  Sometimes a solution comes while I am vacuuming or ironing.  But I also break my scene down, write a description of the setting, then put the dialogue together separately and read it aloud without any other words.  I try to make it sound real, rather than like the Queens New Year’s day speech.  I ask my characters questions, literally writing the question on a blank page and putting my head into their space, picturing actions between them and the setting.  I find then that what they feel soon begins to come with the pictures in my head, as it plays out like a movie.  I write the answers to my questions.  Then I analyse what the characters are doing as this is linked in a way with what they are feeling.  This gets written down separately.  Once these things come out, description, action and dialogue, I try to wind them all together to make the scene work. 

Do you have any editing tips?

For me, read what you have written many times, out loud if necessary.  Highlight things that sound ‘clunky’ and work on them until you are happy.  Some writers don’t have to do this because they are so practiced in their words that they write few sentences that do not flow, but I really need to read and re-read until I am happy.  Take out ‘ly’ words, try to pick nouns and/or verbs that give you the feeling you want in the sentence without embellishment.  Remove ‘he said, she said’ from dialogue if you don’t need it and take out anything flowery as it detracts from the story. My wonderful creative writing tutor said something that I really find helpful and that is to ‘kill your darlings’, ie: anything that you read and go ‘wow that sounds fantastic’ probably is too embellished and needs to be dropped. 

Have you done any creative writing courses? Did you find them useful?

I have just completed a creative writing course with the New Zealand Writers Collage and will go on to do the advanced course this March.  The material has given me a much better grounding in how to write creatively and has led to a re-think of some of the scenes I have already written.  My tutor was fantastic and the course notes well written.  For me it was very useful and very enjoyable.

Do you hope to be published one day?

I began writing the story for my own enjoyment.  I thought perhaps to one day share it with family and friends if they were interested.  It never crossed my mind to publish, I have been creating the story for the enjoyment of it, rather than the idea to publish and let the strangers read my work.  So the truthful answer is ‘I don’t know’.  But what is a book without a reader?

Thank you for your time Ann. I wish you all the best in your venture. Enjoy the journey! 

Interviewed 13/11/2012

Jane Riddell is a Scottish writer based in Edinburgh. She loves to travel and has lived in Australia, New Zealand, California and Grenoble, France.  Her new book Water’s Edge will be e-published by Thornberry Publishing next spring.

 

When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?

There wasn’t any particular defining moment, more a process.  I had been writing as a hobby for many years, but was never caught up enough in it to work on something for more than a couple of hours at a time.  During most of these years I  had a paid job, but often this was only for three days a week, so time wasn’t really a limiting factor.  When we decided to move to France, things changed.  I was unlikely to be able to work there because of my limited French, and reckoned that I would probably spend more time writing.  Several months before we left Edinburgh, during a Saturday afternoon at the gym, I found myself on the treadmill, listening to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas singing Dancing in the Street, and thinking:  I’ll give it a go at becoming a serious writer.

When we arrived in France, I found that I could write for longer chunks of time, and became quite productive in terms of finishing pieces of work, rewriting short stories and starting work on a new novel.

What do you write?

I write novels, short stories and life writing pieces.  In addition, I also enjoy producing health and educational materials, both of which I was required to do when I worked for the NHS.  I am also an enthusiastic blogger, with three writing ones on the go.  These range from serious to frothy to questionably deranged.

What is your preferred genre?

I would describe the novels I write as quiet fiction.  They are contemporary, aimed at a mid market female audience, and aspire to being literary.   Readers looking for adventures in submarines, serial murders, or large, blobby, tentacled creatures will be sadly disappointed.

With short stories, I range from humour to verging on the dark side of life.

What have you written so far?

The novels I have written are: Water’s Edge and Seychelles Song, (a Mills & Boon type story which I’d die if anyone read now).  I have also completed Chergui’s Child, but am currently rewriting it.  I have a second draft of another novel, but this will need a significant amount of work before it is completed.  And finally, I have the first 20,000 words of a novel that I wrote for my Masters in Creative Writing.  The feedback I received was that it contained some serious structural flaws, but I might revisit it at some stage.

Any favourites?

That’s a difficult question.  Writing a book is, for me, like being in a relationship.  When I finish working on a novel, I experience a form of bereavement.  There’s no excuse to be with those characters, their story, any more.  Then I become engrossed in my next project.  When I was writing Water’s Edge, it felt like this was the one.   At the same time, I still strongly believed in the storyline of Chergui’s Child, even though I knew the writing could be greatly improved.  In some ways, I think that Chergui’s Child has the most potential.  I’m not sure if this answers your question!?

Which character do you empathise with the most?

Another tricky question, but this is good, because it’s making me think.  Contrary to what many people believe, a writer doesn’t necessarily create a character who is like him/herself.  Most of my female characters have a few personality traits which I possess and therefore hopefully can write about in an authentic way, but I’ve never been in any of the situations in which my characters have found themselves.   Water’s Edge is relayed by four viewpoints - a mother’s and those of her three daughters.  Although I derived pleasure from drawing those characters, I don’t/didn’t empathise with any of them in particular.

What was your biggest challenge in your writing career?

The biggest challenge – an ongoing one -  is to keep submitting and dealing with rejections.  Picking yourself up from the ground and continuing writing are essential.  But not easy.   Even if you’ve been told that the reader liked your writing, the fact that you’ve also been told that she didn’t believe passionately enough in it to be able to represent you, is a killer.  I can remember a couple of occasions when I’ve experienced short bouts of despair and considered jacking it all in and doing something else.  Fortunately, I’ve emerged from that dire place and continued writing – not least of all because there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing, work wise. 

One tip I can happily pass on to writers (or anyone) is to keep a ‘stroke bank’.  This contains a record - either written or computerised – of all the positive comments you have received about your writing (or anything else).  Note the comment, what piece of writing it referred to, who made the comment and when.  Then when you’re feeling down about your writing, you can refer to this.  This is also a good way of tracking your progress over the years.  You can compare what people said five years ago, for example, to what they are now saying.

A lesser, but also an ongoing challenge, is dealing with the isolation of being a writer.  If you work in an office and something goes wrong, the chances are you’ll have at least one colleague who can console you.  With writing, when a rejection appears in the post, or by email, there isn’t necessarily someone around to whom you can turn for comfort and reassurance that you’re not wasting your time.

Where do you see the publishing market going?

E-publishing seems to be one direction.  Our lives are now so much connected to bits of electronic equipment – from computers to ipods.  E-publishers can take risks that conventional agents/publishers won’t because the e-publishing process is much easier and less expensive.  More writers can therefore see their work published.  Connected with this, a reader can afford to buy three or four novels online for the price of one book in hard copy.  Economically, therefore, e-publishing makes sense.  Environmentally too – all those trees that can remain as trees.

Do you have any advice for new writers?

There are many different ways to learn how to write.   Some people seem to have an instinct for telling a story, and telling it well.  Others, like me, have to learn how to do so.  ‘How to’ books are often maligned, but I’ve learned a lot from them about the craft of writing.  There are so many aspects to know about:  devising plausible plots and characters; how to write effective dialogue: how to convey the right amount of emotion – the list is endless…. 

If you have the chance to work with a mentor, this can be enormously enriching.  He/she will have the skills to communicate what needs to be said about your writing.

Exchanging work with fellow readers is also helpful, although there can be pitfalls: how do you know that someone is telling you what they really think about your writing?  They may not feel able to give negative comments.  Also, how do you know that their personality isn’t warping their judgement?   You have to consider carefully the nature of the person you are asking to read your work.  A small example:  a friend who writes novels and is always happy to comment on my work, commented that she thought it very odd that one of my elderly characters chose to keep her jewellery in an attic.   Inwardly I laughed when hearing this, remembering my mother hiding her jewellery in a saucepan, her reasoning being that a burglar is unlikely to check the pots and pans cupboards in search of valuable possessions. 

Reading a lot, and studying the book for techniques used - what works, what doesn’t – is another way of learning.

Perhaps another tip is to have more than one piece of writing on the go.  One morning you may not feel like working on your novel but can find enthusiasm for finishing the short story you began the week before.  This is one advantage of blogging.  When you’re not feeling particularly creative, you might still be able to blog about something that happened to you at the weekend, or some crazy idea buzzing around in your mind.  That way you can still exercise your writing muscles.  A proviso, though: excessive blogging can be a form of procrastination.  So can reading too many technical books….

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? What is your tip for overcoming them?

When I finished studying for my Masters in Creative Writing, I hit a block with my writing.  I knew I wanted to rewrite Water’s Edge, but every time I looked at it, I would think: ‘So what?’.  The energy wasn’t there.  At that point I had started my second blog, and for several months I spent time blogging.  I also read a good  technical book on writing, and, nerd that I am, made copious notes from it.  At the same time, I began working with a mentor, with whom I would meet or SKYPE every month or so.  She engaged with Water’s Edge, giving me some positive feedback as well as commenting on the weaker aspects of my writing.  Gradually, my energy and enthusiasm for the book returned.  That was a huge relief: at times I wondered if my passion for writing had been and gone.

Can you tell us a bit about your latest book?

Water’s Edge is a contemporary story about a family reunion which doesn’t go as planned.  Madalena invites her four adult children to Brunnen, Switzerland, to celebrate her hotel’s 40th anniversary, unaware that they harbour guilty secrets and anxieties that will play out during their visit.  As mentioned earlier, it has four viewpoints, each of the key characters telling their story.

I liked the idea of a family reunion where all is not as it seems, and the idea developed from there. Interpersonal relationships fascinate me, particularly family ones: the superficial interactions and what's simmering away underneath.  There’s so much scope for minefields: some of the mines will detonate, others are a constant danger.

The location, a Swiss lake, was probably inspired by Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac, although I wasn't aware of this initially.   

I believe you are going to be published soon. Could you tell us about your journey?

Last March I started submitting sample chapters of Water’s Edge to agents and a few publishers.  Although I received some positive comments about my writing, only one agent asked to see the full manuscript and ultimately felt she couldn’t represent me.  At that time I began to consider submitting to e-publishers.  Another writer I know had just been taken on by ThornBerry Publishing and advised me to try them, so I did.  Their response to my submission - the first two chapters and the last one - was very positive and they asked me to send the whole manuscript. 

Two weeks ago I heard that they would like to publish my book.  In the interim, I had heard back from a publisher who wanted to publish my book on the strength of initial chapters.  This made me suspicious.  On further researching, it emerged that what his company offers is more like vanity publishing – though this isn’t clear from the website.  Moral:  do your research properly! 

Since hearing from TBP that they wish to publish Water’s Edge, I have signed a contract, had my bio and a photo put on their website, and have started working on an author’s website.  I’ve also been thinking about blurb for the book, a jacket cover and acknowledgments.  Things are moving quickly, which is both exciting and scary, more the former, fortunately.

Finally, when is your book going to be available in the market and how are we able to obtain a copy?

Water’s Edge will be published online in March/April 2013.  It will be available on Amazon for a kindle download (I think).  I am waiting to hear more about other outlets/methods of downloading it.  I should probably be checking this out, but for the moment, it’s enough just to know that my book will be out there.

 

Thank you.  We wish you all the best in your writing career.

Thank you, Anjana.