Category Archives: Writer Interviews

WRITERS ON THE ROAD: CHARLIE COCHRANE

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Imagine a castle. A castle that was confiscated by Henry VIII after he’d chopped off the owner’s head. A castle that may not have been “knocked abaht a bit” by Cromwell, but which went seriously downhill after the civil war. One that was restored in the 19th century and may—rumour has it—have been where they hid the crown jewels during World War Two. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Better still, it’s a place where you can stay because it’s now a hotel, so it provides a tremendous venue for an author who writes historical novels and who wants both inspiration and an opportunity for immersive research. That’s my story about why we’ve stayed there several times and I’m sticking to it.

There’s nothing better than experiencing the era you write about, albeit at several removes. Work a sash window and see how tricky—and draughty—they can be. Trot up and down a spiral staircase and discover how that fight scene you had in your mind could physically never work. Stand next to a thick stone wall and see how much cold the thing radiates. While none of the detail might make its way into your story, it’ll give you a clearer idea of what your characters experienced in their everyday lives and why, for example, people wore bed socks and night caps, because their rooms would have been so flipping freezing.

Research is little use unless it turns into or backs up a story, so inspiration for what that story will be is the other factor writers can find when on the road. The Cochrane family first stayed at Thornbury Castle back in 2006, which was just before I started work on my first murder mystery. I needed a family home for Jonty Stewart—one of my pair of amateur sleuths—and it was obvious that Thornbury had to provide the template for it. I could so clearly see the characters occupying the place in its new guise as The Old Manor, especially the glorious walled garden which is a little jewel of colour and tranquillity. That garden was the setting for some significant scenes, and the strange grey cat we encountered there had to be incorporated, especially when the staff said he didn’t belong to the hotel or to any of the local houses. This mysterious moggy became a ghost cat who had inhabited The Old Manor since the time of Shakespeare and may just have been the “harmless, necessary cat” the Bard refers to in The Merchant of Venice. A small thing, maybe, but the kind of element that can enrichen a story and provide a useful thing for your characters to chat about while you’re fleshing them out.

Real life occurrences can spark a fictional equivalent, too. That rumour about the crown jewels being stored at Thornbury Castle…where would you hide such valuables? In a hidden vault, surely. What else could you hide there? A body. All of a sudden there’s a story up and running. In my case, it inspired the cosy mystery The Case of the Undiscovered Corpse, which is part of my 1950s Alasdair and Toby series. (Imagine two actors who play Holmes and Watson onscreen and off and you’ve got the idea.)

I’d always advise aspiring authors to keep their eyes and ears open and their imaginations ready to be launched, whether they’re on their travels or simply in the local supermarket. So often I hear fellow authors talk about the tiny seeds—a snatch of conversation overheard, an interaction observed or a place visited—which have subsequently developed into full-grown stories. Be alert!

 

Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Undiscovered-Alasdair-Cambridge-Fellows-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BHLN5HB8

 

 

 

 

WRITERS ON THE ROAD: SUZANNE FORTIN

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When I first started out writing, my novels were all contemporary, so I didn’t need to do a great deal of research as most of the things I wrote about were within my own experience. However, when I moved into writing historical fiction and, in particular, the Second World War, research became one of the key elements. With so much information out there, it was important that I got my facts right.

Prior to this point in my writing, I had never been much of a historian. I moved into historical fiction by accident really, when my editor wanted me to expand on the backstory of one of my characters. I wasn’t sure if I could do it at first. Researching the Second World War seemed a huge task but the internet, friends, family, colleagues and the local library/bookstore have all been my assistants in helping me in this area.

Most of my novels have been partly set in France – a country that has been close to my heart for many years. Me and my husband first started visiting France in the early 90s and fell in love with the country and culture, so much so, that in 2003 we bought a cottage of our own to renovate in the Morbihan department of Brittany.

Little did I know back then how the area would influence and inspire my writing. Since then, I have found a wealth of information, a lot of which is widely known and many things that are smaller more personal stories of events during the occupation and the efforts of the local French Resistance who fought to disrupt the German war effort as much as possible, proving invaluable in the lead up to D-Day and beyond.

One of my research trips in Brittany took me to the Musée de la Résistance Bretonne in Saint-Marcel. It is, in fact, built of the very site that was once woodland where the local resistance group lived, trained, organised their attacks from and saw actual fighting as Brittany was liberated after the D-Day Landings.

Some of the displays within the museum have recreated scenes of the fighting as well as what every-day life was like under the occupation. All the displays are very detailed. There are some personal accounts, and these helped greatly to the authenticity of what I was writing, rather than just relying on well-documented war facts.

As with so many villages and towns within the area, memories of the war are never far away. On the edges of a village near to our cottage, is a small stone cross on the side of the road with the names of three local men engraved who were captured and executed by the Germans for being part of the Resistance. I have always felt a great sadness when I pass this memorial and initially it was hard to find out any information about the local men but over time this has become recorded online. Their personal stories have stayed with me and although not directly recounted in my writing, I hope I have managed to include the sentiment and acknowledge the sacrifice made by so many men and women in Brittany during the occupation.

 

 

Book link: https://bit.ly/3Z0ECxk

 

DIANE HARDING ON HER HARROWING MEMOIR, ALWAYS IN THE DARK

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My memoir ‘Always in the Dark’ tells of secrets, scandal and survival.  It is an extraordinary account of my bizarre homelife and is my search for answers from a family shrouded in secrets.  A mysterious tale of growing up, unbeknown to me, with my mother trapped in a menage a trois on a continent from which there was no escape, it tells of her selflessness, sacrifice and of putting others first.

After my parents emigrated post war, my idyllic and cosy childhood was ruined at the age of three after the arrival of a mysterious and glamorous visitor with my roller coaster existence and mother’s mental breakdown adding to my confusion during my formative years.

Although the first half of the mystery unfolded in the leafy suburbs of Cape Town, after moving to England at the age of fourteen the scandal continued to follow us around.  It was obvious my home life was a weird one and it was only after my mother’s death decades later that I rummaged through her secret box and discovered a wealth of staggering information I did not know about, the unimaginable circumstances cleverly hidden from me during my early years.  But I was a young child when it all began and the fact that I had lived my life to the point of naivety was beyond baffling.  But it was my mother’s life-long confidante, her sister Linda, who supplied me with many missing pieces of the puzzle and whose revelations helped clarify many of my childhood mysteries including the reason why I was to be an only child.

Making my heinous discovery was difficult to grasp and the realisation that I had lived through the trauma as the child of the victim equally upsetting; rage, bitterness, anger and a disbelief that my childhood had been dismantled by greed and my mother treated with such humiliation consuming me.  And because of the hurt and embarrassment my shocking revelation was not something I felt willing to talk about, least of all with my husband, a secret I kept from him for two long years.

The search for the truth sent me on numerous missions to talk with close friends and family only to discover that I was the last to know, hence the title ‘Always in the Dark’.

For too long domestic abuse has been a hidden issue and in order to raise aware of the horrors of coercive control I am now on a mission to encourage people to open up and tell their story which for me has been life changing.  It is a known fact that it is particularly hard for older people to open up and will experience abuse for twice as long before seeking help compared to those who are younger.  Writing my memoir has not been an easy ride but out of it has come great solace which has allowed me to come to terms with my past and move on.  I did not want to be someone with a massive grudge, determined never to allow my past to spoil my future.

This is a book about final freedom, my openness which I hope will help others to come forward and speak out and to understand that however traumatic a situation there is hope and a way through to happiness.  I am a firm believer that to experience the tough times gives us backbone in order to cope with what life throws our way.

 

 

 

 

 

WRITERS ON THE ROAD: PATSY COLLINS

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Hi! I’m Patsy Collins aka The Travelling Writer. Ten years ago I was a tour guide. That job kept me in one place but ever since being made redundant and becoming a full time writer I’ve spent a lot of time travelling – mostly in a campervan shared with my husband. We’re on the road for three months a year, so naturally I write in the van. So much so that I often refer to R’ten as the mobile writing retreat. She’s absolutely perfect for that. She’s also a pretty good photography base for Gary.

There are things about a campervan which may initially seem like disadvantages, such as limited internet access and restricted space, but are really the opposite. When we can go online it’s all too easy to ‘just quickly look that up’ and get distracted by emails, funny memes, brilliant opportunities to submit our work if we ever get it finished… If we have to go into another room to make a cup of tea, we don’t always return to the keyboard the moment the kettle has boiled. Even the limited power supply can be a plus, because it encourages me to get the words down straight away, rather than wasting battery power faffing about.

Sometimes the places we visit for Gary’s work inspire my stories. Sometimes we spend time in an area so I can write my novels and short stories ‘on location’. It’s really useful to be able to literally walk in my characters’ footsteps along the beach, up a mountain or through town. I enjoy seeing what they see, eating what they do, even sharing a few of their mishaps – my research has occasionally been more thorough than intended!

One of my six novels, Leave Nothing But Footprints, is actually set in a campervan, and that’s where it was written, even if it wasn’t always parked in the same country as Jess and Eliot took their own trip. Although the storyline is nothing like my own life, some of the small details are based on reality. I think they help make the story believable, and using them in a positive way helps me feel better about some of our mini disasters in the early days. Oh, and I might sometimes try convincing Gary to unleash his romantic side for the good of the current WIP!

Another book written entirely in R’ten is From Story Idea to Reader; an easily accessible guide to writing fiction, co written with Rosemary J Kind. We know each other well, but didn’t physically meet during the writing stage as when she was in England we were in Scotland, and when we came home she went to Switzerland. We did park the van on her drive while we worked on the promotion stuff though.

Having the van, and being able to go where we like has enabled me to deliver writing workshops and attend events which wouldn’t be practical if they couldn’t be incorporated into a working trip.

Of course the locations we visit provide distractions. We’ve parked up on beaches, in the depths of forests, at the foot of mountains, alongside rivers, in the grounds of a castle, in view of seals and otters or surrounded by wild deer … But I’ve been a writer for over twenty years now and have learned to accept the ups and downs which that entails.

If you’d like to learn more about me and my writing, then please visit patsycollins.uk where you’ll find links to all my books and lots more photos from my campervan adventures.

PUBLICATION SPECIAL: NEW BEGINNINGS FOR THE SURPLUS GIRLS BY POLLY HERON

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I have loved every Surplus Girls book and New Beginnings is no exception. I was drawn into Jess’s story from the moment she appeared on the page. Her position as a working woman with a responsible job, but absolutely no security of tenure when a man came along, made me really think what pioneers the career girls of the 1920s were. The suffragettes may have won us the vote, but the ability of women to prove themselves at work was just as important, although of course we had to wait another fifty years for the Equal Pay Act and even now do not have true equality in every workplace.

The history behind The Surplus Girls books is expertly and meticulously researched, from the big issues like these to the slang names for particular cakes. Each and every detail sings from the page, which is why you feel you are actually there, sitting on the slightly worn sofas of Wilton Road in a suitably genteel manner, chatting to old friends and new.

This is the book that pulls all the strands of the Hesketh sisters’ stories together into a really satisfying ending. No graduate of their school is forgotten in the final chapters, and Jess’s seemingly impossible dilemma is solved as well. A fabulous read.

 

The backdrop to the whole series is the place of women in the world of work, so I asked Polly Heron what sort of research went into it in order to create a variety of different employments in such rich detail.

 

The Surplus Girls series explores the predicament faced by many young women in the aftermath of the Great War. They had grown up expected by society to marry and become housewives and mothers. Then came the war – and a generation of young men perished. Many women lost their sweethearts or fiancés while others, without knowing it, lost the men they would have married had they ever had the chance to meet. This meant that many girls now faced a future in which they would have to provide for themselves, while being regarded as ‘on the shelf’ or ‘old maids’.

The world of work offered women far fewer opportunities than came the way of men. Moreover, a woman doing the same job as a man would typically earn one third less. It was legal to refuse to employ a woman simply because she was a woman and it was considered patriotic to employ a former soldier even if a female candidate would have been more suited to the job. During an interview, an unmarried woman could expect to be grilled about her marriage prospects, because should she marry, the expectation would be that she would leave in order to be a housewife. In plenty of jobs, marriage automatically meant dismissal.

In The Surplus Girls series, I have explored various jobs that would have been open to girls and women in the early 1920s. Each book has a different heroine whom the story centres around, but one of the things that links the books together is that each heroine attends a business school to learn secretarial skills.

I loved delving into the social history of the time and seeking out suitable roles for my characters – ‘suitable’ meaning appropriate to the time, not necessarily the right job for the character personally – as Nancy finds out to her cost in Christmas with the Surplus Girls. In the newly published fourth book, New Beginnings for the Surplus Girls, Jess makes a particularly interesting heroine, as she sees herself as a career woman, not an unfortunate surplus girl. She dreams of creating a successful working life for herself but has to cope with all the disadvantages that women faced at the time.

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: LINDA HUBER ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE UN-FAMILY

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I write psychological suspense, which isn’t well known for being a ‘cheerful’ genre. Although my books have their fair share of tension, I feel it’s important to include some warmer, happy moments too, whether it’s a touch of humour about something a child says, or an incident to do with a character’s relationship, or – as in my new release The Un-Family – their job. I think this helps to make the characters more real. Psychological suspense is basically about bad things happening to people, and readers are much more likely to sympathise with a character and cheer them on if they come across as realistic, rounded people, in spite of the tense plot and darker moments in the books.

In The Un-Family, Holly is a vet, having huge problems with her husband Dylan’s behaviour as well as smaller (she thinks) ones with his family. One day, however, she goes to look round a wildlife centre where she’ll be taking on some work from then on. Adam, the centre head, shows her round:

 

Holly looked in on a deer with a torn shoulder, a swan with an infected wound on one foot, and a hedgehog, who’d been stuck down a drain and needed fattening up. They walked on round the enclosures, which included two ponds, a home-made badger sett and a row of pens. Holly heaved a happy sigh – this would be such a great place to work.

A gaggle of teenagers on bikes was approaching as they arrived back at the main building, and Adam gave them a wave. ‘The after-school brigade.’

Holly watched as the teenagers dispersed around the buildings. ‘My niece Megan would love this. I’ll suggest she does a stint in the summer holidays.’

‘We always need volunteers. Okay, let’s go back in and sort out when you’ll be here next week. Then I’m heading down to the river to release a duck, now the water level has fallen again. Want to tag along? We’ll release you into the weekend when we’re done.’ He gave her his lop-sided grin.

Good, she’d be home well before Dylan arrived. With him away on his course, tonight would be their only opportunity to spend time with each other all weekend. Holly arranged her first shift for the following Monday and joined Adam in the centre’s green van, the duck in a pet carrier in the back.

He drove the short distance to the river, which was still full, but much less violent now. They walked along the bank to the place the duck had been rescued, and Adam stood back with Fred on his lead while Holly crouched down and opened the pet carrier. What a special moment this was, the first time she’d released a wild creature back into its natural environment.

She waited, motionless, then a yellow beak emerged from the carrier, followed by a beady eye, and three seconds’ flurry later, the mallard was swimming down the river, quacking loudly. Warm satisfaction spread through Holly. This was perfect.

 

Holly’s job turns into her main consolation as the plot develops, and as you can imagine, the wildlife centre provides many such lighter, human moments, and it also provides sanctuary for Holly later in the book. Does everything work out for her and Dylan in the end? You can find out more about The Un-Family on my website www.lindahuber.net

 

SUNDAY SCENE: SUE MOORCROFT ON CREATING HER FICTIONAL MIDDLEDIP

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Imagine a tiny village in Cambridgeshire, England…

It boasts one pub, one shop, one café and a garage. Just outside the boundaries stand a performing arts college and a posh hotel, and the Carlysle Estate and home farm snuggle around the village like arms.

I say ‘imagine’ because that’s what I did.

It began on a family car journey when I had a road atlas open on my lap. I loved the place names I was reading…Crowland…Eye…Whaplode Drove. For fun, I filled the gap between them by creating Middledip village and the nearby town of Bettsbrough. As we passed through the real-life village of Eye, I spotted a garage forecourt full of classic cars and mentally transferred it to Middledip village as MAR Motors, Ratty’s garage. A short, black, peacefully grazing pony in a roadside field became Snobby, Gabe’s cantankerous equine buddy. A few miles on, a stone pub looked just right to be The Three Fishes. A shop with one of everything in its window was perfect for Middledip, too, as was the village hall and playing field I borrowed. So Middledip took shape.

As we waited at traffic lights, I watched two women chatting. One, with long, strawberry blonde hair, looked awkward until children joined the conversation, and then suddenly she relaxed, smiling and laughing. That was when Tess Riddell was born – the first character to arrive in Middledip feeling lost and looking for a new beginning. (See Starting Over.)

Ten books on, I have a spreadsheet of characters that my brother maintains for me, because, although every visit to Middledip is a standalone story, I let earlier characters pop up so readers can see how they’re doing. There’s a spreadsheet for places, too, but I rarely need to refer to it because I just know that the cottages are stone, and there are also red-brick Victorian houses, like the neglected property that became The Angel Community Café. My hand-drawn map of Middledip (pictured) is probably the one item I’d try to save if my house burned down! A version can be found on my website here and you can click on the markers to discover where characters from various books live.

This year’s winter story is A White Christmas on Winter Street. As there was a foster carer in the village, Nan Heather, I wanted to bring back one of the children she had fostered – Sky Terran. I give Sky an overwhelming wish not just to visit the village but to truly be part of it, so let her buy a house on the corner of Winter Street. The Corner House has been neglected for so long that it can scarcely be seen behind an explosion of conifers and shrubs. Sky has the task of restoring it to order as part of the process of sorting out her life.

As ‘make friends’ is written at the top of her wish list, I provide her with every opportunity to find them, not just in Winter Street but via the pub quiz or grabbing a coffee at the community café where Christmas shortbread is in the shape of angels. I’ve been told by readers that reading a Middledip novel is like being in a Christmas movie – but I think it must be more like living in a snow globe because the village certainly sees an inordinate amount of snow and frosty wintry weather!

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: S L ROSEWARNE ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE RESCUE

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The Rescue is a novel about about second chances, written by a terrier called Moll, who promises her owner, Pip, to look after his wife when he dies.

I wanted to write about what happens when you lose your partner, and how it is terrible, but there can be plenty of life – and love – ahead. Moll was such a strong character, and kept me going through it all, so I felt she should tell this tale.

This scene is Moll’s introduction to the one and only time she has sex. It was quite a challenge to write – how do dogs feel about sex? The point of the scene is that she can understand how her owner, Suki, feels when she meets a man she is very attracted to but, for various reasons, doesn’t want to have sex with him.

 

Errol was a terrier/collie and a real flirt, with huge dark eyes and a wicked sense of humour, who lived in Penryn.

We met on the fields above the sea, and he gambolled over to me and ran away, back and forth, urging me to follow him. Which after a bit I did. He had a musky scent that drove me wild, and we had such fun that afternoon – racing down onto the beach, over the rock pools and back. I felt like a puppy again.

He made me bark with laughter, and nudged against me, and teased me and nuzzled my muzzle until all my cares and worries over Suki disappeared. When I was with him, I felt as if I was the most important bitch in the world.

Errol made me feel like a different dog. I noticed that I was walking strangely, swaying my hips a bit. My tail looked longer and I waved it upright, higher in the air. Even my coat looked glossy. Other male dogs started sniffing around me, but I wasn’t interested in them. I only had a nose for Errol.

Soon, Errol suggested going off in the bushes for a frolic. I wasn’t sure what he meant at first, but I had this overwhelming urge to, well, frolic, I guess, though I didn’t know what that involved. But I’d never had such a strong desire to do something like that with another dog. It was all I could think about for days, and I got so excited, lying at home, imagining what it would be like. Him sniffing my butt, then my ears, then…. I wasn’t sure what we’d do, but I knew we’d have to do it or I’d go barking mad.

So one day we sneaked off into the bushes – ‘we’ll have to be quick,’ Errol barked.

We were, and it was – well, not quite what I expected. It hurt a bit, but it was over very quickly, and all he did afterwards was bellow, then he scampered off. I could have done with a bit of a cuddle, paw to paw, and a nose-to-nose chat, but perhaps male dogs weren’t like that.

After my initial disappointment, I felt invigorated and emboldened. Desired. The experience went right up my nose. He was all I could smell for days. I got quite dreamy for a while, remembering his scent, imagining doing it again – but better this time. But he’d disappeared. I was barking to some other dogs who lived nearby, and then I heard he’d used the same chat-up to several other dogs, and my tail and my whiskers drooped. I felt a real fool.

 

www.suekittow.com