Category: Meet the Authors

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Meet the Author: House of Grace by Patricia M Osborne

Today we travel to West Sussex in the UK to chat with Patricia M Osborne about how Open University, poetry, George Orwell, playing the piano, a broken hip, researching, snuggling on the couch, a feeling of belonging, freewriting, and life on Mars come together as part of Patricia’s current and past life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m married, a mum to three and Nanna to six, and I live in West Sussex, UK. I’m a novelist, poet, and short story writer and I’ve even been known to dabble in scripts for stage plays, radio and screen. I have an MA in Creative Writing. When I’m not working on my own writing, I enjoy sharing my knowledge and act as a mentor to fellow writers.

In which genre do you write?

For my novels I tend to write historical fiction family sagas but for poetry, mainly narrative poems using myth and nature to tell mythical stories.

How many published books do you have?

I have six books published. Three of them are my trilogy, two poetry pamphlets and a third, co-authored – a poetry conversation. I have another co-authored poetry pamphlet coming out this year. When I look at my books, I can’t believe they’re mine as before 2017 when House of Grace was published, the idea of publishing a book was just a dream.

Where did the idea for House of Grace come from?

This is an interesting question. I was working on my final piece of work for my Open University degree which was a creative non-fiction life story. I suddenly realised it was too painful to write. I panicked. I was going to fail my BA degree at the final hurdle.

I started Googling story prompts for something to grab my muse when I suddenly remembered a character I’d created as part of my English GCSE. That isn’t as strange as it sounds. I had to leave school at fifteen to help bring in money for the family so when I was in my final year of my BA degree, I went back to college to do my GCSE English and Maths. It was through an English assignment after studying George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier that I created Grace, a coal miner’s wife. I had my character but needed more. TV dramas, Mr. Selfridge and House of Elliot provided great inspiration.

Can you play a musical instrument? 

I play the piano and the recorder but am rusty on both. I’d always wanted to learn to play the piano but it was only when my youngest was learning, and I’d reached the grand age of fifty, that I had the opportunity to do this. While I had a piano teacher I thrived, managing to play Grade 8 pieces. Unfortunately, due to breaking my hip, I was unable to get to the piano and later lost my piano teacher. However, I do try to make some time to sit at my black beast and gain relaxation from playing just for myself.

What is the most enjoyable aspect you’ve found through writing?

I’m not sure I can answer that question in one. So many enjoyable aspects. I love the research process where I get to learn so many wonderful things, I love the idea of transporting myself to anywhere and anytime I want to be, and I love becoming anyone or anything. Another wonderful aspect that I’ve found through writing is being part of the writing community. For the first time in my life, I’ve found a place that I really belong.

Do you journal write or keep a personal diary? Has this helped with your published writings? If so, how?

When I first studied creative writing with the Open University, I wrote a journal. I was never the morning pages person but night-time. I’d freewrite and if I didn’t know what to write I’d continue to write I don’t know what to write until something popped in my head. This exercise helped me get into a routine of regular writing. It’s something I don’t do these days but occasionally I go through my old journals and find a gem to create either a story or poem. I’d highly recommend this process for new writers, or old, who haven’t managed to find that routine for themselves yet.

What do you miss about being a kid?

I miss snuggling up on the couch with my late mum and late sister. Mum would get my baby brother to bed and then have time for us. We were allowed to stay up and watch Coronation Street, Emergency Ward Ten and a real treat on Sunday ‘Beat the Clock’ on London Palladium.

I also miss being free from worries and spending time with my late sister who was also my best friend.

What’s the clumsiest thing you’ve done?

I suppose that would have to be missing a step in a Bucharest metro while on a course with my MA university group. Missing that step caused me a broken hip, at the neck of the femur, and an operation in a third world hospital. I take so much more care now when walking.

If Mars or another planet was livable, would you accept a one-way ticket there? Why or why not?

Definitely not. For starters you’d never get me up in a rocket. I find it hard enough in a plane when I convince myself the clouds are snow and I pretend I’m on a coach, firmly on the ground. Apart from anything else I don’t think I’m ready to meet any aliens yet. And who knows what’s up there?

Do you believe things happen for a reason? Do you have an example from your own life to share why you believe this?

I definitely am a believer that things happen for a reason and a great believer in fate. An example of this is when I was caring for my late mum. I couldn’t get to my piano to play so I started to learn music theory. My piano teacher encouraged me to take this further with the Open University.

I enrolled for a music diploma and halfway through my course I took up the creative writing courses. If I hadn’t started playing the piano, I wouldn’t have started music theory, if I hadn’t started music theory, I wouldn’t have gone to the Open University and if I hadn’t done that then there would be no BA Humanities with Creative Writing and Music, no MA in Creative Writing, no House of Grace trilogy and none of my poetry books published or even individual poems and short stories that have appeared in magazines and anthology.

Yes, everything happens for a reason.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on ‘The Oath’ which is a late Victorian/early Edwardian set historical fiction novel and told in the point of view of two female protagonists. I’m also working on a variety of poetry projects, including a mythical poetry collection, one about life of the flamingo, and a co-authored poetry conversation with a fellow poet.

Tell us about House of Grace book.

House of Grace is not only my debut novel but the first book in House of Grace trilogy. It opens in 1950 with a sixteen-year-old protagonist leaving boarding school in Brighton. Grace Granville longs to be a fashion designer but her father, Lord Granville, has other ideas. He wants her to marry a suitor of his choice but agrees she can spend a holiday at her school roommate’s home in Bolton first.

House of Grace steps back to the 1950s and the reader travels with Grace through two decades as she struggles with family conflict, poverty and tragedy.

It was great having you be a part of MTA, Patricia. I loved learning more about you and your path to writing and becoming a published author. Wishing you all the best, with much success! – Camilla

Book Blurb

She was born into nobility. But with times changing, will she be allowed to marry beneath her station?

Brighton, England, 1950. Grace Granville has grand ambitions. So after finishing boarding school, the naive sixteen-year-old manages to convince her aristocratic father to allow her a short adventure to Lancashire. But her sweeping plans to become a fashion designer take an unplanned turn when she falls in love with a handsome coal miner.

Shattered when her domineering parent demands she return to meet the more proper suitors he has lined up for her hand in marriage, Grace desperately concocts a hasty way out. But the young noblewoman has no idea of the life-changing consequences her plan will set in motion…

Will Grace tempt fate and spoil her own future?

House of Grace is the enthralling first book in the House of Grace family saga trilogy. If you like strong-minded women, social conflict, and stories vividly told across fascinating eras, then you’ll adore this 1950s/60s journey back to the past.

Where can we purchase the book?

House of Grace may be purchased from Amazon as kindle or paperback (available to read FREE with Kindle Unlimited)

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mI0VXh

It may be ordered from any good bookstore or available from your local library on request. Signed copies available at discounted prices (UK only) from my website shop: https://whitewingsbooks.com/shop/

Where you can find me:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/triciaosbornewriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PMOsborneWriter
Linked-in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-m-osborne-43521b35/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patriciamosbornewriter/
Website: https://whitewingsbooks.com/

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Friday with Friends: A Writer Practices ‘Method Acting’ by Joyce Yarrow

A WRITER PRACTICES ‘METHOD ACTING’

I’ve often wondered why so many of us are obsessed by our unique spirals of DNA, to the point of spending endless hours searching through immigration and naturalization documents on Ancestry.com?

When I mailed my spit-in-a-tube to be analyzed, I told myself this venture was purely an exercise in “method-writing.” In the same way Marlon Brando inhabited Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar Named Desire, I would “become” Alienor Crespo, the protagonist of my latest novel, Zahara and the Lost Books of Light. Alienor goes to great lengths to research her family tree. As her creator I felt obligated to do the same.

On the evening my results arrived in my Inbox, I clicked the link with no premonition of what was in store.

I was not surprised by all the Eastern European yellow and green, with a small dash of blue for the Baltic’s and the UK. I was philosophical about finding 6 great aunts and uncles on my mother’s side who I had no idea existed. My detachment, however, turned to deep curiosity when I investigated my dad’s side of the tree and started the hunt for the orphanage where he’d told me he’d been raised. If I’d taken a selfie at that moment, more than a hint of fanatical purpose would have shone in my eyes. I didn’t leave my dinner to burn on the stove but I would have if given half the chance.

The next day, over morning coffee, I got on the phone with the nun in New Jersey who maintained the archives of what was once the Nazareth Trade School. While we spoke I was looking at an online record of ‘students’ in residence, my nine year old father’s name written in surprisingly neat cursive, ten lines down from the top of the page.


(Image from Ancestry.com)

“He was with us until he was seventeen, except for some time in an orthopedic hospital,” the Sister told me.

That made sense. My dad used to say that being in the hospital after he came down with polio was the best year of his childhood. The Children’s Ward was where he learned to play chess and was introduced to Shakespeare’s plays. We didn’t have many books in our house but without fail Dad read his copy of Hamlet once a year. Now that I’m older, I can appreciate the significance this held for him.

Grandma Anna had been unable to support three children on her own during the Great Depression. She had placed my father at the orphanage/trade school when he was nine years old. She failed to visit him for eight long years and when she came to pick him up she was using a different last name than his, recently married, and ready to reunite her family.

No wonder Dad was a quintessential outsider who, when he met my mother, told her that his own mother was dead. Not true and after I was born there was a family reunion of sorts. But I was never close with my grandmother. The trauma endured by my father had marked him for life and as a child I was not the more forgiving person I’ve become.

So there he was, or at least the ghost of him, behind the walls of the orphanage in the photograph. For the first time I tried to see the world through his eyes. Somehow this allowed me to love him in spite of his deserting me the way his own mother deserted him. Maybe that’s why, when I wrote Alienor Crespo’s story, I decided to give her the gift of seeing through her ancestor’s eyes. In the end she too finds meaning in the painful discoveries she makes while recreating her family tree.

Follow this link to read Joyce’s previous interview …

Meet the Author: Zahara by Joyce Yarrow

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Meet the Author: The Prisoner of Paradise by Rob Samborn

Today we travel to Denver, Colorado to chat with Rob Samborn about how Venice, the Doge’s Palace, Cloud Atlas, playing the guitar, selling leather jackets, skydiving, lying about his age, and living on Mars come together as part of Rob’s past and present life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a native New Yorker, I’ve lived in Los Angeles for twenty years, and now live in Denver with my wife, daughter and dog. In addition to being a novelist, I’m a screenwriter, entrepreneur and avid traveler. I’ve been to forty countries, lived in five of them (including Italy) and studied nine languages. I’m a restless spirit and can’t remember the last time I was bored. I am on a quest to explore the intricacies of our world and try my hand at a multitude of crafts. I’m also an accomplished artist and musician, as well as a budding furniture maker.

In which genre do you write? 

I write across genres since that’s the toughest to sell! In all seriousness, it’s what I love, I naturally gravitate toward cross-genre books, TV shows and movies, and I write what I’d like to read.

Tell us about your most recent book, and where we can purchase the book.

My most recent book, THE PRISONER OF PARADISE, is a commercial thriller blended with historical fiction and magical realism. It’s about a man on the brink of insanity who traverses present-day and Renaissance Venice to save his soul mate from a most unusual purgatory. It’s available at all major booksellers, including Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F8RYG2M

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to try?

Skydiving, without question. My wife and I had booked a skydiving experience outside of San Diego, California, but unfortunately it rained that day (one of the few rainy days they get), so it was canceled. Since then, we had a child so I’m reluctant to try a life-risking activity. But I plan on doing it one day!

Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?

I’ve been to Venice three times and I’ve found inspiration for different story ideas around every corner. It’s such a unique place – beautiful and mysterious. I was inspired to write The Prisoner of Paradise on my second trip to Venice, after seeing other paintings by Jacopo Tintoretto, located in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.

His paintings are so lifelike and imbue so much emotion, I couldn’t help but wonder who the models were. As the idea for a book about souls trapped in a painting germinated, I researched Tintoretto’s work and discovered his masterpiece, Il Paradiso, located in the Doge’s Palace.

In a glance, I knew it was the perfect painting. As I researched the room it was located in, along with the building and the history of the complex and the painting, the idea unfolded before my eyes. I visited the Doge’s Palace and Paradise on my third trip to Venice.

What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

Cloud Atlas. I find this movie to be remarkable in every sense possible and hugely inspirational and influential. Strangely, it’s very polarizing, as is the book, by David Mitchell. People either love it or detest it. I am very much in the “it’s one of the greatest movies ever made” camp.

Can you play a musical instrument?

Yes. I can play guitar and a little bass. I also sing. In fact, I was in a band one summer in Florence, Italy. It was me and two friends. I played guitar and sang, one friend played bongos, and one friend played clarinet. We were a folksy alternative rock/comedy act. By day, we sold leather jackets in the market and passed out flyers for our show. By night, we played in a few bars where we had set gigs. It was the best summer of my life. My first trip to Venice was that summer.

Can you share an interesting story from your childhood.

When I was six, my parents sent me to sleepaway camp for a month. I have a six-year-old now and the idea of sending her away for even a week is unfathomable. But, I had an amazing time and even had to lie about my age to make sure I didn’t get sent home. One day, a counselor was looking through some papers and asked me what year I was born. I had to do some quick math!

If mars or another planet was livable, would you accept a one way ticket there? why or why not?

Yes. It would be immensely difficult to leave my friends and family forever, but being that type of pioneer, the first in human history, is too great an opportunity to pass up. Not to mention, I’d have quite a bit of time to write!

It was great learning more about you Rob, and a pleasure to have be a part of MTA. Wishing you much success with future writings and all of your endeavors. – Camilla

Blurb:

The world’s largest oil painting. A 400-year-old murder. A disembodied whisper: “Amore mio.” My love.

Nick and Julia O’Connor’s dream trip to Venice collapses when a haunting voice reaches out to Nick from Tintoretto’s Paradise, a monumental depiction of Heaven. Convinced his delusions are the result of a concussion, Julia insists her husband see a doctor, though Nick is adamant the voice was real.

Blacking out in the museum, Nick flashes back to a life as a 16th century Venetian peasant swordsman. He recalls precisely who the voice belongs to: Isabella Scalfini, a married aristocrat he was tasked to seduce but with whom he instead found true love. A love stolen from them hundreds of years prior.

She implores Nick to liberate her from a powerful order of religious vigilantes who judge and sentence souls to the canvas for eternity. Releasing Isabella also means unleashing thousands of other imprisoned souls, all of which the order claims are evil.

As infatuation with a possible hallucination clouds his commitment to a present-day wife, Nick’s past self takes over. Wracked with guilt, he can no longer allow Isabella to remain tormented, despite the consequences. He must right an age-old wrong – destroy the painting and free his soul mate. But the order will eradicate anyone who threatens their ethereal prison and their control over Venice.

Where to buy the book:

Connect with Rob:

Website: https://robsamborn.com/
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobSamborn
FB: https://www.facebook.com/RobSambornAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robsamborn/

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Meet the Author: Shadow Pursuit by Alistair Birch

Today we travel to Oxfordshire, England to chat with Alistair Birch about how a dramatic social circle change, cooking, happy dancing, puzzles, paying it forward, the Liverpool Rock and Roll marathon, Barney Rubble, the Forest of Dean, the river Wye, and a simple picnic come together as part of Alistair’s current and past life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Alistair, and I’m a British author from Oxfordshire in England where I live with my second wife and stepson. I like to write thrillers, though I have been known to write comedy and rhymes, the sillier the better. I try to take a relaxed approach to life where humour and kindness are prominent. We aren’t allowed pets where we live, though we are allowed regular visits from George dog who we adore. I enjoy cooking and running long distance, though all the food I consume means I don’t run too fast.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?

I only got the writing bug in the last few years though I’ve always had a love of making up rhymes. At school, I didn’t really write, and I wouldn’t say that my skills with English language were all that good. This will probably have you scratching your head, thinking, why now? Simply, I am in a new and happier marriage and over the last 8 or so years I have changed my social circle dramatically. A few years ago, I felt frustrated and anxious that I didn’t know anyone in my local town despite having lived here for a few years. As though I’d flicked a switch, I decided to do something about the situation, which I did with surprising enthusiasm. Now I run marathons and I write books and I’m incredibly lucky to know some amazing people who are now life friends. I also have a desire to be better tomorrow than I am today.

What is your favorite time of day and why?

If it is a weekday and I have been out all day at my day job, then assuming she is home, my favourite time is 5:30pm when I walk in to see my wife. My head and heart always do a little happy dance when I see her at the end of a working day.

Have you ever had any Do It Yourself disasters?

Absolutely. I worked in a college and took advice from the on-site electrician ‘Rocket’ Ron. All I needed to do was drill a hole through a thick wall from a caretaker’s room through to a storeroom next door so I could wire up a phone socket. The sensible thing would be to drill low down at the skirting board height and feed the cable straight into the back of the box. Unfortunately, I took Ron’s advice. Picture if you will, me, aged around 20, standing on top of a ladder, drilling through a fifteen-inch wall. The heavy drill was above my head, and I could only grip it from one end as there wasn’t a second handle grip. I got more and more tired as the drill bit inched through the concrete. Suddenly my wrist knocked a button which put the drill onto an automatic always on setting. My grip slipped and the entire drill spun at high speed with me no longer holding it. Within a few seconds the lead wrapped itself around the tool which yanked it from the power socket, all the while I stood white as a sheet atop the ladder.

What is the most enjoyable aspect you’ve found through writing?

There are two things. I only loosely plot my books, so I have a start and an end, and a few characters figured out, but that is about it. I am what is known as a ‘Pantser’ as I write by the seat of my pants. My day job is in IT and I have a very logical brain. I am good at picturing things, and I enjoy puzzles. So, the first thing I enjoy is working things out as I go. Sometimes I may find myself a little stuck and that is when I  can form it as a challenge. The second thing I am proud of is I had help to improve when I started out and now, I have newbie authors approaching me for advice. I love paying kindness forward.

What is the most inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?

Another easy one for me to answer. I ran my first full marathon, by signing up just one week earlier, and with little training. It was the Liverpool Rock and Roll marathon and I had been chatting with a virtual friend called Rob. I’d never met him, though we knew each other from a Facebook group and on our messenger conversations I knew he was running this event and he was anxious about it.

He was running for charity, and he told me his medication was making him dizzy. I called him and after a conversation with my wife we booked me onto the race so I could run it with him. We had little money, and needed to pay for travel, the race, food, and accommodation, but it felt like the right thing to do. On race day we ran from Liverpool waterfront up around Everton and Liverpool football grounds, with Rob doing great but going too fast. I kept up but I kept telling him to slow down. After 8 miles Rob stopped with horrible shin pain. We slowed and managed to get to 12 miles when his race was done. At his request I carried on and completed the 26.2 miles. That wasn’t Rob’s day, but he did complete a full marathon the following year.

If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?

I would answer with The Flintstones. As a kid in primary school and some of secondary, I was given the nickname ‘Barney.’ Simply I looked and acted a bit like Barney Rubble, including the silly voice.

Describe the perfect solo date you’d take yourself on … where, time of day, weather, place, etc.

I love the peace and tranquillity of nature. I love mountains, rivers, lakes, the sea. I grew up in Gloucestershire so a walk in the Forest of Dean, along the river Wye is hard to beat, or maybe climbing the Malvern Hills in the middle of the day. A gentle breeze to take the edge off a warm sun, with a few cumulus clouds across a bright blue sky. To eat, just a simple picnic, bread, cheese, chutney, a little fruit and a bottle of water.

What are you currently working on?

I am almost between projects. I have just finished a draft manuscript for a new standalone psychological thriller which I started in July. This is set in a school, mainly in the early 1980’s. I need to get some beta feedback and submit this one, but friends have read chapters all the way through the writing process, and I have done basic edits as I went along. I am already happy with it. While I think about a little polish on this one, I may write a 1940’s wartime thriller. I have a friend I’d like to collaborate with on this one, so I’ve started those conversations.

Tell us about your most recent book.

My debut thriller, ‘Shadow Pursuit,’ hit the shelves on 18th October 2021. I took a piece of artwork called ‘The Great Bear’ as inspiration. Google it, and you will see it is an unusual map. For me as a thriller writer that offered an opportunity to hide secret information in plain sight. There are good guys in the security services, bad guys plotting terrible stuff and innocents caught up in between. Within each chapter I took the point of view of a character and went with it. So sometimes the reader is in the head of a bad guy and sometimes good. I tried to cram loads of fast paced action in and I left some threads hanging which I pick up in the sequel. I submitted the sequel to Dark Edge Press in the summer.

It was wonderful having you on MTA, Alistair. Wishing you much success with your books, and all you pursue! – Camilla

Blurb:

Samir El-Mudarini is deep undercover investigating a human trafficking syndicate when he is murdered.

Eva Merriman, a Metropolitan Police detective, is reassigned to the manhunt for El-Mudarini’s killer.

Sam Keplar wakes to an emergency call, sending him on a quest to save his brother.

Eva and Sam are brought together by the actions of a shadowy organisation that has slipped through the cracks of British society. And it is up to them to prevent the worst act of terror London might ever see while fighting for their own survival.

Publication date: 18th October 2021
Title: Shadow Pursuit
Author: Alistair Birch
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 258

Where can we purchase the book?

The book can be bought from Amazon, but it is also available in UK bookshops like Waterstones Etc. as well as Kobo, Nook, Apple and Google Books.

Connect with Alistair:

Alistair Birch Author

https://www.facebook.com/alistairbirchauthor

 

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Meet the Author: Dear Tosh by Ninette Hartley

Today we travel to to Dorset, England to chat with Ninette Hartley about how living in Italy, Maggie O’Farrell, Exeter University, Maya Angelou, a pony and carriage, Frank Sinatra, a dance teacher, Supertramp, the 2010 BBC TV Licensing campaign, and The Flintstones come together as part of Ninette’s current and past life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I returned to England in January 2016 having spent eight years living in rural Italy with my husband, actually we got married while we were living there. We are now settled in Dorset in a small cottage a couple of miles from Bridport. I spend my days, writing, reading, and walking the dog, she’s an Italian rescue dog and I think misses the warm weather — as do we!

In 2020 I gained an MA in Creative Writing from Exeter University and after graduating I completed my first memoir Dear Tosh and self published in May 2021. It’s about the loss of my twenty-seven-year old son. It’s a book for everyone about love, grief and acceptance. Learning how to come to terms with loss and that nobody is ever truly gone while they are still talked about and loved.

In which genre do you write?

I like writing creative non-fiction but I also write poetry, plays, short stories and flash fiction. I have completed a novel which is set in the 1940s and 50s. So as you can see, I definitely don’t stick to one genre.

What are you currently reading?

A book that I have known about for many years and only just got around to reading. Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is beautifully written I find myself lingering over every page and not wanting to rush to the end. The story of her life in Arkansas as a child is both heartbreaking and fascinating. What a wonderful woman she grew into. I was surprised to discover that this book is just the first in a series of seven. I’m definitely going to read all her other memoirs.

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried but you would like to try?

Well, I have driven and still do drive a pony and carriage. But what I would really like to do is travel around the UK for a week or two with a horse drawn caravan. I don’t want to be driven, I just want to drive myself and maybe take a friend along. I’m not sure how I would adapt to not having any en-suite facilities. I would just hope that the weather would stay fine. Maybe I should arrange to do it in Italy instead!

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?

This is so easy. Any Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Nat King Cole…any of those singers from the 50s. It takes me back to my childhood and my parents playing the Pye Black Box record player they had in our front room. I loved all of them and on top of that I also love all the songs from the musicals, ’South Pacific’, ‘Oklahoma’, ‘Guys and Dolls,’ the list goes on and on. Oh…and ‘Magic Moments’ by Perry Como. Then, moving on a few years, any ‘Beatles’ song will give me the goose bumps and then ‘Supertramp’ from the 70s. My older children remember me dancing around the kitchen playing the ‘Breakfast in America’ album.

As you may have guessed music plays a big part in my life and it was difficult to pick out just a sample of the songs and music that I love. For over 25 years I was a dance teacher, ballet in particular so I love all the music from the ballets too. I should move on to another question!

Can you play a musical instrument?

Oh…it’s another musical one! Well, I can play (very badly) the piano and the guitar although it’s been so long since I did either I probably couldn’t manage to do much. But I have always had a hankering to play the oboe, I love the sound that it makes, soulful and it pull at my heart for some reason.

I’m also very fond of the cello, at least I didn’t realise how fond I was until recently when I met an actual live cellist and he made the instrument sing to me. Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything untoward, my husband was there too and he has also developed a fondness for the cello now. My daughter played it for a while in her teens and I think one of the grandchildren might take it up.

What is the most amusing, crazy or inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?

A great deal of events both happy, sad, good and bad have happened to me during my life but one of the most exciting was in 1966 when I made a record ‘Push a Little Button’. It was written by my brother, Tony Hatch (you may have heard of him) and recorded on the PYE label. It was fantastic being in the studio, in a booth with earphones on singing the song with live musicians. A truly amazing thing for a fifteen-year-old. Sadly the record was a massive flop but it didn’t detract from the enjoyment of making it. However, there is a coda to this story. In 2010 the BBC decided to use the recording for their TV Licensing campaign. It still wasn’t a hit but I did have my 10 minutes of fame!

What’s a great piece of advice you’ve received recently.

Do not compare your writing to anyone else’s, ‘compare and despair’ was the phrase used. Write for yourself, to the best of your ability and don’t try to be someone you’re not. This goes for other areas of your life too, not just writing.

Always carry a notebook and writing implement, although these days many people make notes on their phone. Of course Hemingway is reported to have written his famous six word story on a napkin and there’s an interesting page on Barnes and Noble website which lists various surprising surfaces famous writers have written on, see here:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/10-surprising-surfaces-famous-writers-have-written-on/

Do you write a journal or keep a personal diary? Has this helped with your published writings? If so, how?

As my first publication was a memoir, my personal notes and diary entries were extremely useful. When I lost my son I began writing about things that were happening from day to day over the first year that he was gone. These notes were the basis of my book. I wrote him 27 letters, one for each year of his life. This year, January 2021 was the 10th anniversary of his death. The letters date from November 20th 2020 to February 1st 2021. As I looked back over the years before and after 2011, any notes I had made were invaluable.

If you could have three authors, past or present, around your dinner table who would they be?

Alan Bennet, Elizabeth Jane Howard and Maggie O’Farrell. To begin with I think they would all get on well together and there would be no horrible pauses in the conversation. I have admired Alan Bennet for some years, his ability to remain honest to himself, his sense of humour his wealth of experience as a writer in all genres.

Elizabeth Jane Howard, I only recently discovered and once I had I devoured as many of her books as I could, notably the Cazalet Chronicles, wonderful writing and once involved with the family, it’s impossible not to want to know what happens next . . .great characters.

Maggie O’Farrell, what can I say? I love her style of writing, her imagination, the structure she uses. I’m very excited about the prospect of my dinner party! I’d like to add one more and that would be Bob Mortimer. I’m currently listening to his memoir And Away and I think he would be an absolute must at the table!

What cartoons did you watch as a child?

I loved ’The Flintstones’ and ’Tom and Jerry’. Probably because of the slapstick nature of their antics. I was too young when I watched them to think about the animators and the writers who had created the series but when I think about that now, they were very clever people. I like the old cartoons better than any of the new ones that are around. Oh dear…am I getting on a bit?

Tell us about your book.

I think I’ve told you quite a bit about Dear Tosh already but I should add that it’s is selling steadily which is a good thing for a memoir written by someone who is not famous. The feedback and reviews have been very positive, which is gratifying.

Thank you.

It was wonderful learning more about you and having you on MTA, Ninette. Here’s to continued success for Dear Tosh, and much success with future books! – Camilla

Where to find the book:

The book can be bought from my website www.ninettehartley.com and it is available from Independent bookshops, also through Amazon, Waterstones. There is also an audio book narrated by me and an e-book. All available through the usual channels.

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Friday with Friends: The Pen is Mightier than the Sword, so my Keyboard is my Machine Gun – David Wake

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword, so my Keyboard is my Machine Gun – David Wake

Having just packed in the day job (advice to writers: never give up the day job) to write full-time, I find myself thinking a great deal about a previous day job. I used to work in computer science research. We were trying to invent the internet and, in hindsight, all the elements were there, but we never put them together. My field was the human-computer interface. I’m an SF writer, so thinking about technology is the new day job. (I also write steampunk with The Derring-Do Club adventures and ‘miscellaneous’ with Roninko and Crossing the Bridge, but the SF is I, Phone and the Thinkersphere series, although cosy mystery next.)

So, in preparation for the new lifestyle, I’ve been reorganising my office space v e r y s l o w l y. It’s ludicrous that now I’ve the time, I’m re-organising to be more efficient. Surely, when time is precious and shared with something else, that’s when you should be more efficient?

One thing I have changed is my keyboard. It’s a shiny (literally as there are lights under it) Ergodox split, ortholinear, tilted, customisable, ergonomic keyboard with thumb clusters.

“Excuse me, a what?” you ask.

Split, so you aren’t hunched over the keyboard straining your shoulders.
Ortholinear (or columnar) means you aren’t bending your fingers in weird ways.
Tilted for less wrist strain as you don’t have to rotate your hands onto the keyboard.
Customisable for those endless hours fiddling with the layout. For more, much more, see below.
And, finally, ergonomic, which is code for expensive.

Thumb clusters hold a collection of twelve keys pressed by your thumbs. It is insane that the right thumb, the most dextrous of our digits, is only used for the space bar and that the left thumb, the second most dextrous digit, is only used for the same spacebar. (It’s also insanity that we only use our thumbs on our phones.) My clusters currently have space, return, ctrl, backspace, home, end and dedicated keys for copy, paste and find – all just under my thumbs.

You can change what the keys do. If you don’t like the double quote there, then have it here. My writing has a lot of dialogue, I used to be a playwright, so having to press shift+2 is a strain on my little finger. The solution was to move it over the apostrophe (which is the US layout) and swap it with the semi-colon. You have to look at a keyboard to understand the improvement and these tiny, little refinements are a step backwards as my fingers no longer know where a key has got to. But slowly I shuffle forwards. It’s a massive rabbit hole and I don’t think a week has gone by that I haven’t changed something. Recently, I had to type an email address and I found that I didn’t have an ‘@’ key anymore! I’d removed it. I catch myself wondering if I really need those number keys. I could easily have written it as ‘shift+two’ above.

I’ve not had the nerve to switch from the standard Qwerty layout to Dvorak or Coleman-DH.

Lockdown had elements of a blessing in disguise and a chance to re-evaluate life. These changes will hopefully bring benefits. Just thank goodness, I didn’t go mad and start obsessively doing something insane. Oh, by the way, I also have a 46 key keypad to supplement the keyboard for shortcuts, volume control and all those keys I’ve taken off the keyboard.

My partner described it as ‘sharpening pencils’, that habit that writers have to avoid doing any actual writing.

Like most things, it’s a balance, of course. I spend my whole day here (well, no, there are actual pencils to sharpen), so I may as well make it as comfortable and efficient as I can. You should too. I’m not suggesting that you switch to an Ergodox (although I do), but, importantly, I’m advising you to look at your setup and how you use it.

Seriously, look after yourselves. That’s the moral of this ‘Friday with Friends’. You may not have carpal tunnel syndrome… yet, but now is the time to do something about it. So, get a better keyboard (office chair, computer screen, reading glasses… etc) as soon as you can.

Take care.

To see David Wake’s previous interview on MTA, go here:

Meet the Author: Plus Sign by David Wake

Connect with David:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/David-Wake-Author-287522215449564
Website: http://davidwake.com/
Amazon.com author page: https://www.amazon.com/David-Wake/e/B0034OBZRQ
Amazon.co.uk author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Wake/e/B0034OBZRQ

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Meet the Author: The Light in the Trees by Jeff Van Valer

Today we travel to Fishers, Indiana in the United States to chat with Jeff Van Valer about how neurology, the U.S. Postmaster, Bill Clinton, Raiders of the Lost Ark, marathons, a flooded kitchen, American Pie, shame, mountain biking, and Mars come together as part of Jeff’s current and younger life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Greetings. My name is Jeff Van Valer. I’m a novelist Camilla has so graciously allowed to participate in MeetingtheAuthors. I live in Fishers, Indiana, USA and work as a neurologist.

In which genre do you write?

Thriller, mainly. My fiction catalog (two books, but we have to start somewhere, right?) is made up of a duet of books, soon to be a trio. I want them to fit into the Psychological Thriller genre, because they attempt to fool–but never lie to–the reader.

My first is The Light in the Trees and is a coming-of-age story. Many automatically substitute Young-Adult genre for coming-of-age, but I don’t. The Light in the Trees isn’t a first-person-present-tense story told by a twelve-year-old. The story is of a middle-aged man’s, decades-old secret of escalating summer-camp mischief that turned deadly. He grew up quickly that summer. Hence the coming of age designation.

How many published books do you have?

Three. Two novels: The Light in the Trees and White Birch Graffiti.

One nonfiction book, The Devil’s Tricycle (it’s because, in my real job as a neurologist and sleep-medicine specialist, I’ve grown tired of talking to every migraine patient about the tricks our minds play on us–and our migraines–as we choose too much caffeine and can’t get enough sleep).

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?

For anyone still reading, you’ll notice a connection between The Light in the Trees and my own summer-camp experience. In the ’80s, at what is now known as the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, I wrote a hell of a lot of letters and my cabinmates didn’t.

In high school, I put to paper–while in class, of course–a lot of dreams I’d had. In college, my dad asked me about an $11 check I’d written to the “U.S. Postmaster.” That’s when he realized I’d been buying $0.22 stamps, fifty at a time.

In graduate school, a physical chemistry test looming overhead, I bought a copy of John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief instead of studying and began more prolific, regular reading. Ideas for “big-boy” stories came after that.

Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?

Bill Clinton. When he was the governor of Arkansas and running for president. Sometime in spring, 1992, when I saw this young, charming guy playing saxophone on Arsenio Hall, I knew he was going to win the election.

At the time, I was in graduate school and no-longer able to return to my staff position at camp. While almost physically ill with sadness, I had Interlochen on the brain as I watched Mr. Clinton play his sax. Soon, I thought, “Even this electable feller must have a skeleton in the closet.” Turns out he had two. Their names were Jennifer Flowers and Paula Jones. When the media got a hold of them, there was no burying the stories.

But what if the candidate had but one such skeleton, and just eight other, 42-year-old men knew the candidate’s secret? If they all lived in different states, their only connection being that they’d been cabinmates at a Michigan camp thirty years before, could the campaign machine take care of it before it reached the media? That’s what became White Birch Graffiti. The Light in the Trees takes place one summer thirty years previously, when those boys were summer at camp.

What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

This list is lengthy. Ready to fall asleep? Here we go… Nah. Let me just list the first two that pop into my head. These are tied for first among my all-time-favorite movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Shawshank Redemption. But there are at least dozens of movies which, when I’m running channels on T.V., will cause me to drop everything and watch.

Can you play a musical instrument?

Drums.

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?

“American Pie,” by Don McLean. I wasn’t anywhere close to being alive when that plane crashed in 1959, so this song hits me for another reason. It was playing one spring day between innings at a college baseball game when my instincts told me I was losing my first love to another guy.

What is your favorite time of day and why?

Morning. It’s quiet, and the coffee tastes good. I’m mentally sharp, and no one invades my zone of creativity.

Have you ever had any Do It Yourself disasters?

Oh, sure. I once replaced my garbage disposal. As the dishwasher ran that night, it flooded my kitchen.

What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?

The depths of my own shame.

What is the most inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?

My kids. When my first was born, I discovered how profoundly important I needed to be. For my second, same thing.

You are about to speak publicly to a group and read from your latest book. What song do you listen to before speaking?

“Subdivisions” by Rush. If you’re a Rush fan, you’ll understand. If you’re not, the mere mention of the band has probably just caused you to click past this interview.

Badly explain your hobby.

I sit on an uncomfortable wedge that tries to separate my pelvis. My feet move in unending circles, I gravitate toward dirt, rocks, stumps, and roots, trying to go fast, then wonder what a breaking bone sounds like.

List 3 interesting facts about yourself.

I’ve run two marathons.
When I was 29, I spent three hours riding my road bike and talking to the guy who inspired the movie, Breaking Away.
I’m 5’10” tall, and I have friends the same height. People call them tall and they call me short. Irritating.

What’s the clumsiest thing you’ve done?

This past summer, I screwed up a drop on my mountain bike and went over the bars.

At this stage in your life, what advice would your young self give to your more mature self?

Identify what makes you happy and go for it. There is no greater legacy to leave your kids.

What’s the last movie you watched and why did you choose to watch it?

No Time to Die, the latest James Bond installment. Because Daniel Craig is my favorite James Bond.

If Mars or another planet was livable, would you accept a one way ticket there?

Sometimes I would, but most of the time, I think I need to try my best with what’s here on Earth.

Do you believe things happen for a reason?

I don’t. “Fate is just the weight of circumstances.” (Rush lyric from “Roll the Bones.”) We respond to opportunities (if we recognize them) and build our futures on them. We’re not passively living a pre-written script.

If you could ask your pet three questions, what would they be?

Why are you so loyal to me? What can I do to be that loyal to you? How do you remain so 100% present?

Describe the perfect solo date you’d take yourself on … where, time of day, weather, place, etc.

A warm, sunny day in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wake up, coffee, pancakes-eggs-and-bacon breakfast, ride my mountain bike all day on any number and skill-level of trails, return for dinner and a beer, then roll gently around town in a cooling breeze, and head back to the Airbnb when I’m tired.

Sincere thanks to you for reading, and thanks, Camilla, for the opportunity.

It was great learning more about you, and having you on MTA, Jeff! Wishing you all the best and much success with your books! – Camilla

Where to find Jeff’s books:

amazon.com/author/jeffvanvaler

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Meet the Author: Behind the Curtain by Carolyn Mandache

Today we travel to Glasgow, Scotland to chat with Carolyn Mandache about how imposter syndrome, a ragdoll cat, Romania, penguins, Spain, empathy, cobbled streets, and a foam party come together as part of Carolyn’s past and present life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in Scotland with my husband, children and Willow the cat. My interests include travel and learning about different cultures, as well as being co-founder of a Glasgow restaurant tech. company called time2dine. Currently I am developing my skills in translating my teenagers’ modern day vocabularies.

What does your ideal writing space look like?

Clutter free with my laptop, notebook and pen to hand. I have photos of friends and family on my wall to keep me company, and inspire me. Living in Glasgow the weather is far from perfect, but I do enjoy the sun streaming in through the window when it makes a rare appearance! Recently I bought a gold deskplate which says “Thank God I’m Fabulous”, to counteract the imposter syndrome that I’m sure plagues many writers. Coffee in my favourite mug, and the occasional (not entirely unwanted) disturbance from my fluffy, friendly ragdoll cat.

What are you currently reading?

One August Night by Victoria Hislop. It is the follow up novel to The Island, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Fantastic author with real talent for bringing stories to life and making you feel like you are almost in Greece yourself when reading.

Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?

Behind the Curtain was inspired by my Romanian husband. I wanted to learn more about his life growing up under Communism until the age of 11, and the customs and culture. I found researching for the book fascinating and my debut novel is a fictional account of life from Florin’s point of view up until he met me and moved to Scotland.

List 3 interesting facts about yourself.

I met my husband at a foam party in Spain
I taught myself Romanian as I hated feeling like an outsider when visiting friends and family there
Very proud of my Glasgow accent, but I will avoid any kind of voice recognition at all costs!

Which would you choose? Penguins or monkeys?

Penguins since watching the TV series A-Typical about a teenage boy with autism and how he is so fascinated with penguins, sharing many interesting facts through his journals and drawings. I recently bought my son a book called The Penguin Lessons by Tim Michell, based on the true story of a young man who rescues a penguin. He loved the book and I have to confess that when I bought it for him I knew I’d want to read it after him.

Which of your personality traits has been most useful and why?

I am empathetic and capable of seeing situations from lots of perspectives. I believe this is a useful trait for running the business I own with my husband, to try make sure everyone on team is involved and happy. In writing, this trait means I can create believable characters, who will act in ways authentic to their own personalities.

What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?

St. Andrews, as I spent a lot of time there throughout childhood, and now enjoy visiting with my own children. Two beaches to choose from, and some of the prettiest scenery in Scotland, with cobbled streets and historic ruins. When it’s not too busy, some delicious ice cream from the famous Jannettas is always a welcome treat.

What are you currently working on?

I am pleased to say that quite a few readers of Behind the Curtain have asked when the follow-up book will be out and this is what I am working on. No title as yet, but this time I write from my own perspective, picking up from when I met Florin in Spain, and continuing with our lives together as a multi-cultural family…including our two weddings, dancing chickens and learning that animals also speak different languages!

Tell us about your most recent book.

I was motivated to write Behind the Curtain not only to learn more about Romania, but also to try to counteract the often negative press about Romania and immigration. My husband Florin and I are raising our kids to be proud of both their Scottish and Romanian roots, so I wanted the book to make people re-think Romania and attitudes towards immigrants. The timing for books like this seems right.

It was great learning more about you and having you be a part of MTA, Carolyn. I read The Penguin Lessons a couple of years ago, and loved it. Wonderful heartwarming book! Wishing you much success and all the best with your future books! – Camilla

Where can we purchase the book?

My book is available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble, as well as via my own website (UK only).

Book Trailer:

Connect with Carolyn:

https://www.carolynmandacheauthor.com/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0957698925/
https://twitter.com/carolynmandache
https://www.instagram.com/carolynmandache/

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Meet the Author: The Healer’s Betrayal by Helen Pryke

Today we travel to the north of Italy to chat with Helen Pryke about how a rescue cat, an early love of reading, a mum’s encouragement, private writing space, bad allergies, the flute, working in the garden, CS Lewis, and caves in Tuscany come together as part of Helen’s current and present life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Helen, and I’m a British author who’s been living in the north of Italy since 1990. I write historical fiction set in Italy, suspense set in the south of England, where I grew up, and I also write children’s books under the pen name Julia E. Clements. I live with my husband, two sons, and our gorgeous rescue cat, Pan.

How many published books do you have?

Quite a few! There are four books in my Healer saga (I’m currently writing the fifth). I’ve also published two suspense novels, a standalone women’s fiction, two short stories, and three children’s books. I’ve also published a few of my books in Italian. All this since 2016!

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?

I’ve always loved reading, ever since I was little, and used to write stories inspired by the books I read. My first story was published in the school magazine when I was 10, I still have the cutting! My mum always encouraged me to write, and often said I’d be published one day. My only regret is that she didn’t live to see it, she died when I was 18 from breast cancer.

What does your ideal writing space look like?

For the first time ever, I have my own study to shut myself away in and write! Pan usually supervises, curled up on a stool next to me, and I love having that space to myself. I need total quiet for writing, which isn’t possible when everyone’s home!

What are you currently reading?

I get through books very quickly, which is lucky as I have hundreds on my Kindle! My current book is Shadow Pursuit, a thriller by Alistair Birch, but that will probably change tomorrow!

What is your favorite season and why?

Autumn, although this year it’s been unusually warm and we’ve been inundated with insects, especially stink bugs! I hate the summer, as it’s very hot and humid here in Italy, and I get bad allergies in spring, and I don’t like being too cold either. I’m British, so I’m never happy with the weather!

Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?

In my Healer series, every book I write gives me the idea for the next one! While writing The Healer’s Awakening, one of the characters mentions an ancestor who was tried as a witch. It only took a few words to spark the idea for The Healer’s Betrayal, which takes place in Tuscany in the 1600s and tells us the ancestor’s story. It ended up being the longest book I’ve written so far!

Can you play a musical instrument? 

I can play the flute, and used to play the violin when I was younger. I’d love to be able to play the piano, but never had the chance.

What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?

Reading, or working in the garden. After living in an apartment for 8 years, we’ve now moved to a detached house with a decent-sized garden, so there’s plenty of work to do!

If you could have a fantasy tea or coffee date with an author from the past, who would it be and what would you ask them?

I’d love to meet CS Lewis, so we could chat about the Narnia books. I loved reading them when I was little, I still have my battered copies, and I’d love to know more about his inspiration for them, how he dreamed up the characters, and all the different stories.

What is your favorite time of day and why?

Six o’clock in the morning! It’s my quiet time, to sit down with a cappuccino and some biscuits, and do some reading, while everyone else is sleeping.

What is the most enjoyable aspect you’ve found through writing?

The amazing people I’ve met, some of whom have become close friends. Both authors and readers can be so supportive and lovely, and they keep you going when things are difficult.

What’s the most exciting thing you’ve experienced to help create a scene?

After I wrote The Healer’s Secret, my husband, youngest son, and I spent 4 days in Tuscany where it’s set so that I could make everything more authentic. One of the scenes takes place in some caves, so we took a guided tour to experience it for ourselves. It was wonderful for adding authenticity – the moment when they turned the lights out and left us in total darkness was spooky! And I found some steps leading down to who knows where, which sparked my imagination and helped me create a particular moment in the story!

I’m currently working on book 5 in the Healer series, which doesn’t yet have a title. It follows on directly from book 4, and features Morgana’s daughter, Gemma. She has to leave Italy to escape the witch hunts, and ends up… well, you’ll have to wait and find out!

Tell us about your most recent book.

The Healer’s Betrayal is book 4 in my Healer series. Each book tells the story of one of the healers in the Innocenti family, and this one is about Morgana Innocenti. It’s set in the 1600s, a time of superstition, when people believed in witches and witchcraft, and women were persecuted and burned at the stake. It’s available to preorder from every online retailer, and will be published on the 2nd December. I do recommend reading the whole series, as every book is connected and little details pop up that you’ll recognise as the series progresses!

It was wonderful learning more about your books and writing’s life, Helen! I’ve added The Healer’s Secret to my reading list! Wishing you much success with all you do! – Camilla

The Healer’s Betrayal:

In an era of superstition and fear, it’s dangerous to be a woman—and even more so to be a healer . . .

Morgana Innocenti was born on the cusp of the 1600s, on the cursed ground inside the Grove. Deaf since the age of eight from a childhood illness, and able to see shadows where no shadow should be, she has learned to face any difficulty with strength and determination.

But a three-hundred-year-old vow of revenge, and a terrible secret revealed on her grandmother’s deathbed, throw Morgana’s life into turmoil, and nothing will ever be the same again. To protect her family’s name, she must marry a man she hardly knows, and trust that she has made the right choice.

While she settles into her new life, rumours arrive from England of witch hunters who leave a trail of death and devastation behind them as they cross the country. When her daughter is born with the mark of the devil, Morgana lives in constant fear that they will come to Italy.

She has no idea that she is about to suffer the ultimate betrayal. Before, she had to marry to save her family’s name. What will she sacrifice to save her daughter?

Connect with Helen:

https://www.amazon.com/Helen-Pryke/e/B01MXCQ92L/
https://www.facebook.com/helenprykeauthor/
https://twitter.com/helen_pryke
https://www.instagram.com/helenpryke/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/meettheauthorsgroup

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Meet the Author: The Fenian by Mike Kernan

Today we travel to the west coast of Scotland to chat with Mike Kernan about how being a journalist, listening, reading, early retirement, winters in Tenerife, being a sucker for a story, being a grandad, Back to the Future, fishing, heart surgery, and Friday the 13th come together as part of Mike’s current and past life.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live with my wife Margaret in a small seaside town on the beautiful west coast of Scotland and think of myself as a grandad and writer – in that order. I was a journalist in newspapers and TV for more than 40 years, the last 20 as a national paper executive. I’ve been working on a couple of novels since taking early retirement four years ago but Covid focused my mind.

Without wishing to be over-dramatic, I decided it was now or never as I have underlying health issues and wasn’t sure if I would survive the pandemic. Finishing a book became my lockdown project and I published my first novel, The Fenian, in August 2020. The book has today received its 100th five-star rating and I am now working on the sequel. I also released a non-fiction book on angling, Fishing In The Sun, in November 2020.

In which genre do you write?

What a great start – a question I can’t answer! I’ve been asked this a few times about The Fenian, my first and only published novel so far, and I’m afraid I can’t pin it down. It’s definitely a coming-of-age story and the easy way out would be to leave it at that. But it’s also a drama, a romance, probably a saga, definitely a comedy and a tragedy. Overall, it’s just loads of hopefully interesting and entertaining people stuff – the good, bad and crazy things folk do to each other. Can that be a new genre – people stuff?

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?

Before the writing came the reading and before the reading came the listening. To borrow from the opening line of Goodfellas, as far back as I can remember I was always a sucker for stories. The earliest one I can remember was my grandfather telling me about catching an enormous pike in Ireland that trailed on the ground and tried to bite his face as he dragged it home. That, and tales like it, stuck in my head for, well, forever because I still recall it now.

I was able to read at four so my mum took me to the library and told me later it was as if I’d walked into my own Aladdin’s Cave. Apparently, I took home two books that morning and wanted to go back in the afternoon because I had finished them. The moment I knew I wanted to be a writer was when, aged seven, we were told to create a true story about our pets and my teacher read mine out to the class. It was a dizzying high which lasted until parents’ night when she discovered I’d made it up.

I’ve had book ideas in my head and in various drafts for decades but, cliched excuse, life and a busy career as a journalist kept getting in the way. I took early retirement four years ago and since then have been trying to make up for lost time.

What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?

I’m not sure how unusual it is, but I always start by writing the first chapter and the last chapter, then join the dots in a random way as the ideas flow. I need to know the root of the story and where it ends up so that I have compass points to guide me.

I wish I was more disciplined because this haphazard approach means that at some point, I have to shut myself away for a day (a few days more like) and make a giant chart of everything I’ve written and drag it kicking and screaming into some kind of order. I think my method – or lack of method – stems from a fear that if I don’t act on ideas for scenes or chapters immediately, I will lose the spark.

What does your ideal writing space look like?

This question saddens me because I haven’t been to my writing sweet spot for nearly two years and don’t know when I’ll make it back because of the curse of Covid. I like to escape the worst of the Scottish winter and flee to Tenerife, which has become like a second home. My wife Margaret and I have a routine of lazing on the hotel terrace after breakfast which, for me, translates into two hours of writing time. We go off and do the usual holiday stuff before returning to the hotel late afternoon. My wife reads and snoozes while I take the laptop and a glass of wine (OK, a bottle of wine) on to the balcony and either write or edit for another couple of hours in that brilliant Canarian light and warmth. We are tempted to return at New Year but we’re still wary about travelling due to other health issues.

What are you currently reading?

I have to admit to a bit of a nationalist streak when it comes to book choice. I’m always on the lookout for new novels by Scottish authors and this has dominated my reading in 2021. Highlights of the year have been Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan, The Less Dead by Denise Mina and The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong. I’m coming towards the climax of 1979 by Val McDermid. Like many people, I’m sceptical about books set in my own field but the 1970s newspaper world of the novel gets high marks for authenticity. And to put it simply with a good Scottish word, that lassie knows how to write a good yarn.

Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?

The Fenian started life as a short story which I planned to enter into a competition. It was inspired by a real-life experience about a couple split up by religious divide who then come back into each other’s lives many years later. A writer who looked at it told me I needed to flesh out the supporting characters a little, so I started adding memories of people and incidents from my own youth. It occurred to me that these back stories were just as interesting as the central plot and I realised I had a bigger-scale work on my hands.

What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

I’d love to get all intellectual here and cite a seminal black and white art movie made by a cult Peruvian director which uses washing dishes as a metaphor for life. But I have to admit it’s Back To The Future all the way for me. It’s not the best film ever made but it’s probably the most perfect in terms of story, performance and entertainment. It also means a lot personally because it was the first film I took my daughters, Lynn and Laura, to see in the cinema. I’ve probably read and watched more about the background to the film than is healthy and the three of us can still voice it all the way through. Definitely my specialist subject if I ever go on Mastermind.

What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?

Just when my wife and I had given up hope, my daughter Lynn finally got round to producing a grandson and he is now my No1 interest. I have pretty much stolen him and two-year-old Jimmy and I are now partners in crime. For the two days a week he stays with us, I’m off the grid – no writing, minimal social media, kids TV only and no checking headlines, which is tough on a news junkie. Other than that, I do a bit of fishing and write a column about it, as well as the odd university lecture though I’m trying to scale back on that.

What’s a great piece of advice you’ve received lately?

A fellow author told me that even if the ideas aren’t coming as much as you’d like, it’s important to always write something. The thinking is that you cannot change, edit, improve or polish a blank page. It is so simple but true and has been extremely useful to me.

Have you ever had any Do It Yourself disasters?

My only possible DIY disaster is that I’m forced to do any. I am completely useless around the house though my wife insists I’m that way on purpose. I’m really not. I have reached my sixties unable to put a screw in straight or wash windows without leaving them worse than when I started.

My argument is that people earn a living by doing these things and I would be stealing from them if I dedicated myself to learning their skills. Besides, I didn’t expect readers to write their own headlines when I worked in newspapers. (No, my wife doesn’t buy the argument either.)

What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?

I’m afraid to tempt fate by answering this question but OK, here goes. There is something magical that happens when I sit down to write – and I have heard other authors talk about this. I will have the seed of an idea for a scene or chapter and every single time, I worry it won’t go anywhere or that I don’t have enough material. Once I start, the ideas flow and it sometimes feels like it’s nothing to do with me – I’m just the conduit, which never ceases to surprise and amaze me.

What is the most enjoyable thing you’ve found through writing?

The biggest single bonus to publishing The Fenian has been the response from readers. I acknowledge I am fortunate in that I don’t have to earn a living from writing so the only reason for doing it is to have my stories read. But I had no idea how rewarding it would be to receive messages from people who had done just that then taken the time to tell me how the book touched them and triggered memories. This is especially true when the messages are from people who grew up in the era and the place where the story is set.

As if that wasn’t enough, a number of old friends and schoolmates from the time have got back in touch after picking up the book. They remember many of the incidents and characters which inspired episodes in the story. Just last month I met up with three old friends, two of whom I’d had no contact with for nearly half a century.

What is the most craziest thing that has ever happened to you?

By far the craziest and most life-changing moment came when I was awaiting surgery in 2015. My heart had packed in which was not surprising given my lifestyle of high-pressure job, lack of exercise, poor diet and heavy smoking. I was put on the waiting list for a triple heart bypass and had the worst conversation of my life when the cardiologist told me I probably wouldn’t make it to the first date I was given. She promised to push for an earlier op. A few days later, she told me that a superstitious patient had refused to have surgery on Friday the 13th and asked if I wanted the slot? Naturally I said yes and believe I was given a second chance which I have grabbed with both hands.

How do you prepare yourself to discuss your book?

I am not a natural when it comes to preparation. I didn’t get the results I should have at school because I never studied and instead relied on memory. It’s the same when I’m about to talk about my book. I think of it as being like my children – I know it intimately and should be able to answer any questions thrown at me. I’ve probably just jinxed myself and will forget a character’s name next time out.

What do you miss about being a kid?

Honestly? Without overthinking it, playing football in the street.

Share an interesting or funny story from your childhood.

When I was eight, we had a day off school – no idea why – and I was running home from the park at the top of our street when I was blocked by a crowd of people who were waving and cheering. I squeezed through, ducked under a rope and asked a woman standing in front of me for the right time. Someone grabbed me and took my name and address. That evening a reporter from a national newspaper came to our house and told my parents I’d walked up to the Queen, who was on a royal visit, and chatted to her. The story and my picture appeared on the front page next morning. I used an exaggerated version of this incident in The Fenian.

What are you currently working on?

I am three-quarters way through the sequel to The Fenian. It was written as a standalone and I wrapped up the lives of the characters in an epilogue which limited the possibility of a follow-up. I also have four completely separate novels on the go, ranging from final edit to partly plotted, so a sequel was definitely never on the agenda. However, the response from readers has taken me by surprise – as have the ongoing sales figures – so that made me wonder whether there might be another book there. I was concerned about trying to force it but once I gave it some thought, the ideas came pouring out. On one of my daily walks along the coast where I live, I came up with the beginning, the end and a rough outline. It is provisionally titled Stopping To Rain after a grammatical anomaly one of the main characters utters as a young child.

Tell us about your most recent book.

The Fenian tells of the crazy, funny, tragic and outrageous adventures of two lovestruck teenagers and their pals growing up in a Scottish new town in the 1970s. The couple are split up by a deathbed promise but unexpectedly come back into each other’s lives at the turn of the millennium. As they assess the effects of that promise, they face up to the biggest question of their lives: What if you got a second chance to put right your biggest regret?

It was wonderful learning more about you and having you be a part of MTA, Mike. I’ve added The Fenian to my “to be read” list. Wishing you all the best and much success with future books. – Camilla

Where to find the book:

Available from Amazon on paperback, ebook and Kindle Unlimited, and as an audiobook from Audible.

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