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A Meeting of Friends

9/27/2015

I spent the afternoon yesterday in the company of the most delightful, if slightly barmy, bunch of people you could ever meet. Some of the authors and one top reviewer from the KU Forum decided that Derby was, for our purposes, the centre of the world, and we met in a fabulous pub just a hundred yards from the station.

We ate, we drank, we had fun and we munched chocolates. We also spoke about books and writing, of course, but mainly it was a group of people who, through the internet, were already mates, getting together for a natter. Authors are a very supportive bunch and many of those there helped me when I first ventured to write. Cameras came out and the above photo (courtesy of Alex Roddie) has appeared on Facebook, tagged here and there. I have one or two of my own, mostly of those unfortunates who happened to pass before my eyes when I had my camera switched on.

There's been a suggestion that we do this again and I really hope we do. Some people think we should make it an annual event and I'm up for that, too! A room full of creative types makes for a great afternoon. I hated having to leave.

Thanks to you all for your friendship and here's to the next time.

Thanks to Alex Roddie for the group photo.

3 Comments

Author and Illustrator Chat - Katie W Stewart

9/24/2015

2 Comments

Welcome, Katie, from half way across the world. How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I always loved story writing time at school. I didn’t really start writing seriously though, until after we adopted our second son. After three years of jumping through bureaucratic hoops, I missed the pressure of deadlines, so I took a writing course. I never actually finished it, but it did encourage me to start writing novels.

Your writing instincts go back a long way, then.
You’re known for your stories for Young Adults. I’ve read and loved them. Have you considered an adult novel?

I’ve always considered Treespeaker to be an adult novel, but apparently my writing style leads everyone to think that my stories are for younger people. That, and the fact that I don’t put in any ‘naughty bits’, not even swear words. I just write the way that feels natural to me, so my books will probably always be considered young adult…or kids’, if that’s what I’ve actually set out to write.

I’m an adult (I was going to say obviously but it maybe isn’t) and I love that series.
You’re also an illustrator and your work appears on some of my favourite authors’ book covers. How do you work? Paint? Something electronic?

Most of my work these days is done digitally. I have a nifty drawing tablet called a Cintiq 13HD, which allows me to draw straight onto it, just like drawing onto a piece of paper except that the eraser doesn’t make smudge marks and I don’t need white-out for mistakes. I usually use Photoshop, but I also have another great program called ‘Mischief’ which lets you do natural-looking pencil sketches (amongst other things) and I recently downloaded ‘Rebelle’ which does watercolour and oils quite convincingly. I’m still playing with that.

Wow! I think many of us wouldn't know where to begin with programs like that.
This new book is a departure in that the pictures are not just on the cover, but are an integral part of the book. How did you go about getting it printed?

Yes, this one is quite different from my usual work, although of course I’ve illustrated other people’s books – Rosen Trevethick’s Smelly Troll books for example. The printing part has been quite a learning curve. I didn’t want to go with CreateSpace for two reasons. Firstly, I’d tried to set up my own novels for print through CreateSpace and nearly went mad. In the end, a friend in England took pity on me and we came to a deal where she sets my books for print and I do her covers. The other reason I didn’t want to go through CreateSpace though, was that I wanted this book to be really well-printed with good quality ink on good quality paper. IngramSpark offered that, so I went with them. Unfortunately, they didn’t tell me that doing that meant that I could only get the books printed in the US, meaning slower dispatch times. From what I can gather though, the postage is not higher. The books are shipped to Melbourne and postage charged from there, so it’s not such a big deal.

To set a book for printing with IngramSpark, you need to know how to use InDesign. I didn’t. I had the programme through Creative Cloud, but I didn’t even know how to set up a document. Fortunately, my eldest son does and during his university holidays he very patiently led me through setting up the pages and bleeds and how to place pictures and text. He even found my ‘toolbox’ for me when I managed to lose it completely. (Thanks, Michael!)

And where can people buy this? Have you got a link we can use?

The book should be available just about everywhere, online and in the real world. I’ve even seen it on sale on a Dubai site! It’s print-on-demand which means it will only get printed as it’s ordered, but it’s available through all the major distributors and if it’s not in your local bookshop, they should be able to order it for you. Watch out for the price though. I’ve seen some pretty huge mark-ups.

If you prefer to go to go to Amazon, (where the price is what I set it as), the link is here. The price is slightly higher at Book Depository, but the postage is free from there.

Thanks for letting me ‘talk’ to you, Kath!

My pleasure, Katie. I've got two copies of your Famous Animals books because it's too lovely only to give to children. There's one here for me!
If you'd like to look at Katie's Amazon page it's here.

2 Comments

Author Chat - Marianne Wheelaghan

9/17/2015

3 Comments

Welcome to the Hot Seat, Marianne. The first book of yours that I read was The Blue Suitcase which is a fictionalised telling of your mother’s early life in Silesia. It’s a stunning story and is really thought-provoking. What made that switch click which made you decide to write it as fiction?

Thanks for the invite, I'm delighted to be here. Thank you too for your generous praise of The Blue Suitcase.

When I set out on the rocky road to becoming a writer I never once imagined I'd write a book about my mother – fictional or otherwise. You see, my mother was a very private person. You could rarely tell what she was thinking and she never talked about her early life in Nazi Germany. And while I was curious about her “mysterious” past when I was growing up, I never asked her about it – this was the 60s and 70s, not that long after WW2 and Germans were still very much the bad guys: the thought that my mum could have been a baddy made my stomach churn. As I grew older I lost all interest in mum's early life. It was only when I found her diaries and letters after her death that I discovered the truth about it. I became determined to tell her story, if only to right a wrong I had committed as a child in thinking that Mum could have been a baddy. But every time I sat down to write about her life I was stumped. Why? Mainly because writing about my very private mother felt like a huge betrayal. And on a seemingly trivial level, every time I wrote Gertrude, Mum's name, I squirmed: it was common knowledge she hated that name. Then there were the gaps. For example, Mum had nine brothers and sisters but there was virtually no reference to three of them in the documents. Plus, some letters and diary extracts were so old they were illegible, it was impossible to know what had happened for sure. You could say her early life was like a woolly cardigan the moths had been at, full of holes. Then I went to a talk by historic fiction writer Philippa Gregory. During the talk Gregory was asked why, given her historical background, she wrote fiction and not fact. She said she thought more people read stories than histories and she wanted as many people as possible to read her books so she wrote stories. That was my switch click moment: I would write a fiction based on the facts. Freed from the constraints of reporting the events exactly as they happened, I was able to distance myself emotionally from the retelling of my mother's life. I started knitting the diaries and letters and documents into a story, using the knowledge I had gained from extensive research to help fill the holes. And I knitted until it was finished. The writer Margaret Culkin Banning once said, “Fiction is not a dream, nor is it guesswork. It is imagining based on facts, and the facts must be accurate or the work of imagining will not stand up.” I like to think my work of imagining stands up. I'd also like to think Mum would have approved – after forgiving my intrusion.

Thanks. That’s really interesting and I’m sure your mother would have been really pleased.

More recent publications have featured Louisa Townsend, the ‘Scottish Lady Detective’ in two very un-Scottish settings. Again, what prompted this, rather than setting her to work in, say, Aberdeen?

Ha ha ha! I may eat my words, but I don't think I'll ever set a story in Aberdeen, it's too cold and windswept!
From when I was very wee I wanted to travel and used to dream of visiting faraway places, the further the better. It could have been in the blood: my Scottish granny worked as a stewardess on ship and went to Russia when she was 19, and my Scottish granddad was a seaman and went to such exotic places as Hawaii and Samoa – this was at a time when most people thought the world was still flat, well apart from the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson ;o). So, maybe it's no surprise that I ended up teaching in the Pacific, namely in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Kiribati – according to the World Tourism Organisation, Kiribati is the third most remote place in the world. The best and worst thing about living in a different country is that you are a foreigner. Best because as a non-native you don't have to fit in or follow customs as natives do – and are often readily forgiven when you get things wrong. Worst because you are far from home, looked upon as alien and can feel isolated. The really very best thing, however, that I found about living in other countries was how it made me see my life in new and fresh ways. Oops, I am digressing! I set my Louisa Townsend novels in these overseas places for a few reasons: firstly, I knew these countries well and enjoyed living there: they are quirky and interesting and I thought others may enjoy reading about such different places – especially in the case of Kiribati, because if global warming predictions are correct it may soon cease to exist. Secondly, I personally love reading stories set in foreign places, so it follows I would set my novels in faraway locations if I could. Thirdly, a surprising aspect of being a foreigner is that it can make you a little paranoid, it's that thing to do with feeling alien. Such feelings can lead to prejudices and misunderstandings until, that is, we realise that underneath we are all very much the same. Such feelings also lend themselves to drama and tension, which can be helpful when writing about murder ;) Finally, I am fascinated by identity and heritage and what makes us different as much as what makes us the same – maybe this is because I am of dual Scottish-German heritage, who knows? But by setting my novels in faraway places I'd like to think I am indirectly dispelling the idea that “differences” have to be a barrier. Something like that, anyway ;o)

What an interesting life – and you’re still living it!

Louisa gets results but, poor lass, she battles with her own nature. She has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It’s very convincing, too. Have you, or anyone you know, had experience of this, or did you just do plenty of research to make life difficult for her?

Yes, I know quite a few people who have some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder, ranging from only ever drinking out of the one cup and only eating off the same plate, to washing their hands repeatedly, to changing their clothes repeatedly, to cleaning manically. But I have one friend in particular who you could say Louisa is modelled on, but in this aspect only. I've also researched the disorder and am particularly fascinated by the strategies people use to keep their disability a secret while living functioning lives and often holding down very successful jobs. Plus, given one in four of us suffer from one kind of mental illness or another, it seemed to me about time characters in novels reflected real life a bit more. And, as you suggested, it's a handy device to make life that little bit more difficult for Louisa ;)

I really admire people who can find a work-around for something like that which would simply floor some of us.
Can you tell us what you’re currently working on and whether you have any other projects in the pipeline after that?

I'm working on the follow up to The Blue Suitcase. It's tentatively called The Brown Paper Parcel – I'm not totally happy with that title, though. The story continues where The Blue Suitcase finishes. It’s also based on real life events and set in the 1950s (my mum's diaries and letters etc carry on into the 80s!). The reader will discover what happens to my mother character in Scotland and to her family in Argentina and Germany. The reader will also get to know the Scottish family. Like The Blue Suitcase, it won't necessarily be a book for the bedtime table but there may will be lighter moments.

After that there will be another Louisa Townsend novel set in Papua New Guinea – but due to popular demand I am also considering writing a Louisa novel set in Edinburgh! Finally, there will be a third book in The Blue Suitcase trilogy, set in the 1980s.

I am also director of the online creative writing school www.writingclasses.co.uk and we have a new session starting on the 21st September, so I'll be busy organising the new session for a while.

Thanks for the questions, Kath, really enjoyed answering them.

And thank you Marianne. You can find Marianne's Amazon page here.

3 Comments

Author Chat - David Staniforth

9/3/2015

5 Comments

David, I first discovered you as a writer of fantasy fiction. You created a world in Fuel to the Fire which was different and fascinating. Most of your output is fantasy. What draws you to this genre?

Hi Kath. Thank you for inviting me. You’ve got it looking nice in here.

I’m pleased to know that you found the world in “Fuel to the Fire” fascinating and different. In those two words, you’ve kind of summed up what draws me to that genre. Fantasy is pure escapism. I re-discovered a love of reading for pleasure, after a ten-year absence, in my mid twenties through a series of novels by Piers Anthony, titled “Incarnations of Immortality”. After reading that series, I was hooked, read loads of fantasy titles and gradually ran out of ones that captivated me as much as that first series. I realised it was because the characters weren’t doing the things I wanted them to do, and the plots weren’t unravelling in a way that satisfied me. It was at that point I started writing my own stories.

I did consider writing other genres, I had stories in mind, but I continued with fantasy because I thought writing realism would be harder, with a need for research to determine actual facts. In many ways, however, I think fantasy is harder to write. Yes, you can invent your own rules, but then you have to be true to them if you want the reader to stick with the story. You can’t draw references from the modern world of reality: the sound of a jet fighter taking off, for example. But all that aside, it’s just great fun, especially the creatures, especially dragons. And writing about magic, that’s simply reliving childhood dreams.

You’re right – it’s not a lack of rules in fantasy, it’s a new set of rules – and if the reader buys in to it, which you want, you have to stick to it yourself.

You've branched out now into the realms of the thriller with Imperfect Strangers. What's the secret of keeping the reader on edge?

It took quite a few reviews for me to believe I had managed to keep readers on edge. I don’t know if I hold the secret. It may have just been a lucky consequence of the way I wrote that book. I certainly didn’t work to any kind of formula or guide: I don’t think I could write in that way.

Looking back analytically, though, I think a primary ingredient is creating characters that the reader cares about, even if they don’t really want to. The characters need to be believable and the impending threat needs to be credible. The narrative then needs to hint at a looming danger without actually giving. In that regard it’s not so much about what you tell, but what you don’t tell. Your last visitor, Mr Barrett (other than leaving traces of aluminium powder) compared writers to chickens. I’m going to compare readers to fish (please don’t be insulted) and the art of catching them. The writing needs a good hook with some tasty bait, that’s a given: the first line, paragraph, page needs to encourage them to bite. Once they’re hooked, that is when the hard work begins, with the need to keep alternating the tension (too much and the line snaps, losing its effect; too little and they get away and search for another hook). It might not be to everyone’s taste but I like a slow build up, with all the excitement ramping towards a steep incline in the latter 20% (that’s when you hopefully get the keep net out).

I originally wrote “Imperfect Strangers” in third person past tense, but for me the tension just wasn’t strong enough. I took the decision to re-write it in first person present tense, from the perspective of two main characters. I felt this worked much better. It allowed me to take the reader on a journey with each character and more closely align them with the character’s thoughts. It also allowed me overlap events and show each character seeing those events in a different way. Hopefully this causes readers to question the characters’ actions more than they otherwise would have done, feel nervous for them, and consequently be on edge.

You manage very well to get the reader on side with your characters in this. It’s horribly realistic, unlike some of those in your fantasy stories where bad is utterly bad!

From your covers which you design yourself, it's obvious that you have artistic or draughtsman tendencies. What's the story there?

I’ve drawn and painted as far back as I can remember. At school it was all I was good at. Getting an A for art every week was effortless. I came away from school at 16 with two ‘O’ levels: Art and technical drawing. I was useless at English and couldn’t spell for toffee (probably couldn’t spell toffee). I managed to get a job at a printer’s, working as a graphic designer. Years later, following redundancy, for some mad reason, I decided to take a BA in English studies; such was my desire to become a better writer.

I believe that love for the artistic plays a big part in my writing style, too. Many reviews mention the descriptive way in which I write. It’s true: I couldn’t do it any other way. I see images, and I write what I see.

As for the covers, creating them gives me as much pleasure as writing the words they hold.

It’s a gift. I wish I had it!

When I see reviews or comments on book groups it's obvious that you're being nagged by fantasy and thriller readers for more of their favourite. Where does your heart lie and do you think you'll try a third genre any time soon?

Funny you should mention that, Kath. As you know, I’ve recently published “Eye of Dominion”, a follow up to my “Alloria” fantasy novel. It was a long time coming for those that were waiting for it. I’m now writing my second thriller.

So, where does my heart lie? Firmly in the camp of both, is my answer. I honestly don’t believe there is a great deal of difference between fantasy and thriller. Fantasy can be just as thrilling as a thriller, if not more so, as some committed thriller readers will testify after giving “Alloria” a try. Thrillers, like fantasy are usually about the fight between good and evil, with good (for the most part) triumphing.

I’m not sure if I will try another genre. In truth I didn’t set out to write a thriller. I set out to write, a character study, a psychological literary book about people; it turned out to be a thriller. If I set out to write a horror it would probably become dark fantasy or a dark thriller. If I set out to write a romantic comedy that too would probably veer to fantasy or thriller. Those two genres allow me to explore human nature to the full, so for now, unless the characters take me to new territory, that’s me sorted.

Yes, you can find connections, can’t you? Funny fantasy is great and some gritty thrillers can make you laugh in places.
We know what you write but what do you read? Is it fantasy or are you more of a literary omnivore?

I’m definitely a literary omnivore, Kath. I’ve just taken a look at my bookshelf for confirmation. Yes there are a lot of fantasy books sitting there, but I also don’t like a great deal of fantasy (unpronounceable names turn me right off. Can’t be doing with it). On my shelf there are also a good smattering of thrillers waiting their turn to be read. I’ve a number of literary novels both classic and modern. There are plays and poetry books, and a few light-hearted books by Sophie Kinsella (my daughter’s, honestly. But I still enjoy reading them). I enjoy unusual, genre defying books too, like “The end of Mr Y” and “Mr Penumbra’s 24 hour bookstore”.

The biggest criterion for me, is writing style. If it flows well, and I can identify with the characters, I don’t really care what genre the book is. If I find the journey from cover to cover satisfying, I don’t even mind if not much happens. I’ve read quite a few books more than once, and the reason to return has been for the characters more than for the plot. The books that really speak to me have strong characters, ones that draw me to spend time in their company again, just like visiting old friends.

Thanks, David. It’s been great to talk to you - and to see what you look like, for once. Don ‘t go hiding that pic away! David's Amazon Author page is here.

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A Meeting of Friends﻿

Author and Illustrator Chat - Katie W Stewart

Author Chat - Marianne Wheelaghan

Author Chat - David Staniforth

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A Meeting of Friends