I’m late with posting this. However, I’ll be taking the month of December and beginning of January off from posting author interviews. Since the website launched in May 2019, we’ve shared two to four interviews per week.
2020 will see many more author interviews, along with the addition of book blogger interviews. I’m quite excited about adding this new feature of interviewing book bloggers.
Stay tuned for an announcement as to when the contact form opens for book bloggers and authors to submit for interviewing.
Until then, I’ll be busy launching and marketing my latest book, ‘Words of Alchemy’. This beautiful book has just been published, with the official launch happening in mid January 2020. Here are a few fun photos of myself and the proof book.
Please let me know if you would like to help spread the word about the book or if you are aware of any bloggers who would like to host a guest post, interview, excerpt, or has time to review the book. Go here to learn more about the book …
Top Three Countries With the Most Traffic to Meeting the Authors in November 2019:
Thank you for taking the time to read more about these authors and sharing the interviews on this website. A great deal of work goes into these interviews by the authors and by me. Deep gratitude! –Camilla, Founder & Host
Here are a few suggestions on how to further support these authors:
Comment on the interview
Share the interview using the social media buttons
Click through to learn more about the author and their book(s)
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for more suggestions. Thank you!
Meeting the Authors has had an incredibly successful beginning. The website launched in May 2019 with interviews from the get go. It has been a pleasure to meet such a wide and diverse group of authors from around the world.
Thank you for being a part of the MTA launch and thank you to those who have asked how you can help. Here’s to many more fun and quirky interviews in 2020! – Camilla
(Lovely Word Cloud Created From Content On This Website)
For those interested in helping to support this website, here are a few suggestions:
Comment on the interviews that you enjoyed reading
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Authors are not charged to be interviewed on this site. They have worked incredibly hard creating these books. Writing the book is only a piece of the process. The book must be edited and designed and formatted for printing as a book. There’s no relaxing once the book is ready to be birthed to the reading world! Marketing the book and keeping the momentum must be stepped into vigorously. This is my small way of helping.
Thank you for the support for the service this website provides!
Top Three Countries With the Most Traffic to Meeting the Authors in August 2019:
Thank you for taking the time to read more about these authors and sharing the interviews on this website. A great deal of work goes into these interviews by the authors and by me. Deep gratitude! –Camilla, Founder & Host
Here are a few suggestions on how to further support these authors:
Comment on the interview
Share the interview using the social media buttons
Click through to learn more about the author and their book(s)
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for more suggestions. Thank you!
Top Three Countries With the Most Traffic to Meeting the Authors in July 2019:
Thank you for taking the time to read more about these authors and sharing the interviews on this website. A great deal of work goes into these interviews by the authors and by me. Deep gratitude! –Camilla
Today we welcome James Gault as we travel to Bize-Minervois in the South-West of France, discovering how the local social group, Emily Bronte, being tone deaf, and the Western Isles in Scotland add a different twist to James Gault’s life and writing style. Leave your superstition at the door and let’s get this plane in the air …
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am Scot who worked for some time in Prague and I now live in a little village called Bize-Minervois in the South-West of France, near the historic town of Carcassonne, retired from work and enjoying the sunshine and writing.
In which genre do you write?
I have to own up to this – I’m a bit all over the place when it comes to genres. My first fiction book was a comic novel for teenagers (Teaching Tania) then I wrote a philosophical novel (Ogg), but my last two books were political thrillers (The Redemption of Ann Petrovna and Best Intelligence), and the one I’m working on now is a tragic love story with some political content. I don’t recommend this scatter gun approach, but I write what comes into my head, based on what is concerning me, and making money or even creating a following is not a big concern for me.
How many published books do you have?
4 novels, one book on literature and several English Language textbooks
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
More than 60 years a ago, as a kid. In my previous careers I’ve always written something – letters to specialist magazines, articles, textbooks (as a teacher) or just reports on the work I was doing before that (It and management) When I retired, I found time to write more or less full time.
What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?
I have a kind of obsession about being DIFFERENT. I don’t see the point in doing just what others have done before you.
What would you choose as your mascot, spirit animal, or avatar and why?
I’m not in any way superstitious – so I don’t have any idea. I guess that makes me a bit boring?
What does your ideal writing space look like?
A big big table where can I leave a mess but still find things – I’ve got a great ability to concentrate and shut things out when I’m working, so the actual physical environment doesn’t have much effect on me.
What are you currently reading?
Just finished rereading Of Mice and Men and started a detective novel by a Scottish author called William McIlvanney, who was a teacher at my old school and became a top name in Scottish Literature.
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
I’m on the committee of a local social group here in France for mostly ex-pats and do most of the IT for them.
If you could have a fantasy tea or coffee date with an author or famous person from the past or present, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Emily Bronte, and I would ask her if she really did have an affair with the Brussels professor on whom she based the character in Villette and to whom she wrote all those ‘love’ letters?
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?
How hard it is to market yourself. I was brought up as a Scottish Presbyterian where the worst thing you could do is to boast, and I feel guilty talking about myself.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve done or experienced to help create a scene or plot?
??? I’ve had a quiet life. The strangest things happen in my head.
Do you journal write or keep a personal diary?
No, I am lazy. I just trust that inspiration will always come when I need it.
What is the most inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?
Two very best things – my first published book and winning a prize for a short story I wrote. Sorry, that’s not a very imaginative response from a writer but there it is.
You are about to speak publicly to a group and read from your latest book. What song do you listen to before speaking? What do you do to prepare yourself?
I’m tone deaf, so music doesn’t work so much for me. I just rehearse what I’m going to say over and over in my head, and then of course I say something completely different.
What do you miss about being a kid?
My gran. She was the one I would always go to with my problems ( and I had a lot then).
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
I would be Dennis the Menace from the Beano – I like to stir things up and cause mischief.
If you could turn into one of your characters for a day, which one would it be and why, what would you do?
This is a total fantasy but I would choose the character Michael from The Redemption of Anna Petrovna. The novel is set in a post-communist country where corruption permeates all the business and ruling classes, and this character is the fixer who makes everything happen for the powers that be. He is also the one that gets the girl. He is nothing like me, but it would be nice to be so successfully manipulative and get away with it for just for one day.
What’s the last movie you watched and why did you choose to watch it?
It was a recent Star Wars movie I went to with my grandkids – The reaction of the children was more entertaining than the film, to be honest.
A penguin knocks on your door and is wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he there?
It’s too bloody hot in this country – Got any free space in your fridge, pal?
Do you believe things happen for a reason?
I believe events are a result of certain preconditions which logically lead to them. I also believe that often we don’t understand these preconditions, but I don’t turn to fantasy to replace them. Like I said before, I’m a bit boring.
Which of your personality traits has been most useful and why?
The ability to concentrate although it drives my wife crazy.
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
In my home country of Scotland, any of the Western Isles (on a day when there’s no rain) for their beauty and tranquility. Here in France where I know live, Avingon during the festival in July for the music and drama.
Describe the perfect solo date you’d take yourself on … where, time of day, weather, place, etc.
I’d do something I used to do but I’m too old now. I’d take a little private plane from our local airport and pilot it myself to one of the Scottish Islands and enjoy a few days in the sun and on the beach before flying back.
Tell us about your most recent book.
The most recent is Best Intelligence. It’s political thriller with a big surprising twist at the end. The hero is a cynical Glasgow policeman who leaves his job and moves to France because he feels he is wasting his time. But he picks up a pretty girl hitchhiker and finds himself mixed up in a web of mystery and intrigue.
Thank you James for being a part of MTA. It was wonderful to learn more about you. I have a quirk about doing things different also and I, too, don’t say half of what I practice saying when speaking in front of others – HA! All the best to you! –Camilla
Where we can find it the book:
The e-book and paperback are available on Amazon at:
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
Today we welcome A. E. Walnofer as we travel to Southern California to discover how white-barked aspen trees, plantar calcaneal regions, Jane Austen, and The Black Swan replenish and massage Walnofer’s days. Grab your tea and get comfortable.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I live in Southern California, but wish I was established in the Pacific Northwest where the mountains are green and the rivers actually have water in them.
In which genre do you write?
Historical fiction
How many published books do you have?
Two, but I got an idea recently that just might turn into a third! I’ve actually got 47,000 words of another story written but I’m rethinking it before I surge forward with it.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
Before I could read or write, I was composing stories. My mom recorded me on a cassette tape telling a tale when I was three. It’s pretty cute!
What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?
Hmm…well, when I’m writing, I spend A LOT of that time at the computer telling myself to focus instead of going into the kitchen to get something to eat. Pretty inspiring, huh? 🙂
What would you choose as your mascot, spirit animal, or avatar and why?
Never considered this before. Can I choose a tree? They’re not sentient, but they’re beautiful and replenish our oxygen supply. Yeah, I’m going to say my mascot is a white-barked aspen tree with green leaves that flutter in the breeze.
What are you currently reading?
I recently finished “London” by Edward Rutherfurd. Wow, what a massive and amazing book! I got the ebook version so my wrists wouldn’t break after a half hour of reading. I highly recommend it for any Anglophilean history buffs.
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
I work as a physical therapist assistant all week long, which doesn’t leave much time to write because there are always more upper traps and plantar calcaneal regions to be massaged.
If you could have a fantasy tea or coffee date with an author or famous person from the past or present, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Perhaps this answer isn’t very original, but I’d love to talk with Jane Austen. She was such a clever and talented woman.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve experienced to help create a scene or plot?
Oooh, I like this question. I wish I had some hilarious or crazy story to answer it with. I’ll simply say that last fall, my husband and I went to the UK to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. The whole time I was there — walking on the ancient walls of York City, gazing on the site within the Tower of London where Lady Jane lost her head, sipping tea at a 500 year old pub called The Black Swan, sampling 20 different cheeses in the Yorkshire Dales — I was trying to imagine what it was like to be there way back when. To be in a place where you can feel the wind in your face, smell the scent of the trees, run your fingertips over the moss covered rock walls, instead of just imagining it, is a magical experience and helps you formulate details for your stories to make them come to life.
If you could turn into one of your characters for a day, which one would it be and why, what would you do?
I think I’d have to be Madge from “With Face Aflame” so I could sing beautifully to a crowd of people, and so that I could understand her heartache a bit better.
Do you believe things happen for a reason?
I don’t necessarily think things happen for a reason, but I see how we can learn and grow because all sorts of things happen.
Which of your personality traits has been most useful and why?
I’m fairly in tune with what’s going on with the people who are around me — whether it’s at work, at the movie theater or in my own kitchen — how they’re all interacting with each other verbally and non-verbally, how they’re feeling about themselves and each other. That has served me well because it helps me write scenes where a lot of emotion or meaning is conveyed through a simple look or a two word sentence between characters.
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
Oh my goodness. There are so many places I want to go or want to return to. I HAVE to go back to Yellowstone before I die. Everyone should see that place. There are lots of places in Washington State and Oregon that I want to visit. Then there are national parks in Canada that are calling my name. Pretty much any lush place with temperate weather and gorgeous trees is on my list.
Tell us about your most recent book.
“With Face Aflame” was published in April, 2018. Set in England in the 1680’s, it’s a historical, body-positive, coming of age tale about a young woman with a large birthmark on her face.
If you’re in to poetry, visit my site at aewalnofer.com and get your fill of it there. Thanks for reading about me and my work!
Thank you Aimee for joining us on MTA. It was incredibly interesting to learn more about you. I’m a tree lover and adore the sound of the aspen leaves blowing in the wind! I love that your mom recorded you telling a story. I did that too when my kids were younger. I’m so happy I did this as these are beautiful memories to have. All the best to you! –Camilla
Here’s the blurb:
Born with a red mark emblazoned across her face, seventeen-year-old Madge is lonely as she spends her days serving guests and cleaning rooms in the inn her father keeps.
One day, she meets an unusual minstrel in the marketplace. Moved by the beauty of his song and the odd shape of his body, she realizes she has made her first friend. But he must go on to the next town, leaving her behind. Soon after, while she herself is singing in the woods, she is startled by a chance meeting with a stranger there. Though the encounter leaves her horribly embarrassed, it proves she need not remain unnoticed and alone forever.
However, this new hope is shattered when she overhears a few quiet words that weren’t intended for her ears. Heartbroken and confused, she flees her home to join the minstrel and his companion, a crass juggler. As they travel earning their daily bread, Madge secretly seeks to rid herself of the mark upon her cheek, convinced that nothing else can heal her heart.
Set in England in 1681, With Face Aflame is the tale of a girl who risks everything in hopes of becoming the person she desperately wants to be.
It’s only $2.99 on Amazon and if you belong to the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, you can read it for free! My first novel, A Girl Called Foote, is also available on Amazon for $2.99, so feel free to check it out, too!
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
Today we welcome Sue Bentley as we travel to Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of the UK. Join us as we discover how Daisy Meadows, the Northamptonshire shoe trade, mixed-media, being self-taught, and Hay-on-Wye contribute to the fairy tale of Sue’s writing life. Get comfortable and slip into your imagination. Let’s go …
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I live in Northamptonshire a County in the East Midlands of the UK, where I was born. I write in different genres. My series of children’s books are contemporary. But my books and short stories for Young Adults and Adults can have contemporary, historical or fantasy backgrounds – or a mixture. I enjoy a certain darkness and suspense in the books I read and my own books often contain these elements.
I have written around 80 books, plus a number of short stories, under various pen-names as well as my own – Sue Bentley is my own name. As Lucy Daniels I contributed to the Animal Ark series and as Daisy Meadows I wrote some of the early Rainbow Magic books. Having ‘cut my teeth’ and learned a lot about writing to length and making every single word work for its living, I wrote my Magic Kitten, Magic Puppy, Magic Ponies and Magic Bunny series – around 60 titles. They are all still in print and sell very well around the world.
For the past five years or so, I have been writing novels for Young Adults, which like Harry Potter are read by many adults.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
Subconsciously I always knew I’d be a writer. I’ve been obsessed with books and reading since, forever. I went straight from school to work in a public library. It was the perfect job for a bookaholic. I immediately read everything on the ‘Restricted’ list! Each book had a big red stamp on the title page – very dangerous and exciting! I don’t think there is such a thing as a ‘Restricted’ book any more.
What does your ideal writing space look like?
My ideal writing place looks like my study would if it were better organised. I love my room – every writer should have one of their own. It’s quite large, with a desk and work space at one end. There’s a reading space and table and chairs at the other end, and far too many books. I still love actual books for research, there’s nothing like flipping pages and making notes – but I use on-line resources too. At the moment books are stacked all over the floor. It drives me mad. I’m constantly in a state of trying to sort them out and get more bookshelves. I will be doing it at any moment…but I have a book to finish writing first.
Do you have a current work in progress?
My work-in-progress (WIP) is entitled Frozen Charlotte and is a Victorian mystery inspired by the shoe trade in Northamptonshire. I am enjoying researching it and spend a lot of time at the local Records Office and visiting people in the shoe trade.
You are about to speak publicly to a group and read from your latest book. What do you do to prepare yourself?
When about to speak publicly or read from my latest book, I’m usually fairly relaxed and looking forward to meeting readers. I scrub up a bit, so I feel I look my best and that helps me feel confident. No one wants to see me in my tracksuit or pyjamas, which I might stay in all day when I’m fully immersed in my WIP. But when appearing at Althorp Literary Festival a couple of years ago, I was suddenly struck by the most awful stage fright. I think it was the weight of history associated with the place. We live fairly close and the whole tragedy of Princess Diana dying was so terribly poignant. I’m not a great royalist, but she seemed to embody something we all related to. I stood by as the funeral cortege passed within yards. I had dreadful anxiety for an entire week before my Althorp event. On the day I took some Rescue Remedy – which I swear by for all kinds of emergencies great and small. Once I was there, I had a wonderful time, meeting readers, fellow authors and Earl Spencer was a most generous, warm and charming host. That year Althorp had their first ever Children’s Literary Festival. My event centred on my Magic Kitten series, and the lovely Bernie Keith from BBC Radio Northampton was my wing-man. The event was voted a great success. Phew – the relief! I’d probably be just as nervous if I was invited back, but would do it again in a heartbeat.
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
When I’m not writing or marketing my books, I’m thinking about writing, making notes for the next book or researching it. I love to read for pleasure whenever I can and always learn something new from every book, which I’m sure translates to my own writing. Writing is what I do, and what I am. I’m hard-wired to make sense of the world through the written word. Even in the early days writing was never a hobby for me. I make my living from writing and, like most successful authors, have completed a long apprenticeship. I am entirely self-taught, did not go to university. So I’m living proof that anyone can become a writer.
In a conversation with a published author, he told me he was not going to write any more as he had, ‘other hobbies to take up his time’. I had to resist telling him to, ‘wash his mouth out with soap!’ I’m sometimes asked if I’m still writing – fair enough if I haven’t seen someone in a while – but my pet hate is reference to my ‘little hobby.’ (It’s the ‘little’ that really gets to me) I doubt if anyone ever asks a plumber, ‘You still fiddling with taps and wash basins, mate?’ or a brain-surgeon. ‘Still messing about inside people’s heads?’
I’m also a sometime artist in mixed-media, but I’m a writer first and foremost. I’m sure if I cut myself I’d bleed words – it would be a paper cut, obviously!
What do you miss about being a kid?
I suppose the sense of freedom of living in the present. The lack of worry about this complicated and troubling world. I love children; their innocence, their honesty, the joy they take in every new discovery. I hope I’ve retained some of that. I do find joy in simple things like a butterfly in the garden and along with The Other Half (OT) laugh at the absurdities of life.
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
I love the UK in all its aspects. I am a very English writer and feel a strong sense of place. I do love the green and pleasant hills and forests of my homeland, Wales, Ireland and Scotland also have such individual beauty. I’m particularly fond of Dorset, with its rolling countryside and Jurassic coast. We visited Lyme Regis recently, a favourite of mine where we scoured the beaches for fossils washed in on the tide. I found one small perfect Ammonite in the wet sand, while the dark cliffs sulked behind me and leaked trails of blue-ish clay onto the beach. Those cliffs are scary and prone to rock falls, but the wild seas, wind and rain are exhilarating. I also love Hay-on-Wye. It’s my perfect town where every shop is either a book shop, an antique/vintage shop, or a café. Bliss. I simply browse for days.
If you could turn into one of your characters for a day, which one would it be and why, what would you do?
If I could turn myself into one of my characters for the day, it would be either Flame the Magic Kitten from my children’s series. Or Aledra from my novel, Second Skin. Both characters have special abilities, so I could have a brilliant adventure travel to the bottom of the sea with Flame or fly beneath moon with Aledra. How wonderful, before I then returned to writing.
My new novel Second Skin, was recently published, Summer 2019. It’s the first book in a new series, entitled Bridge of Fire. I adore its beautiful book cover!
Thank you Sue for joining us on MTA. It’s been wonderful getting to know you through this interview and connecting on social media. My daughter, Lillian Darnell, loved (and still does) the Rainbow Magic books and the other children’s series you mention. I am incredibly inspired by your path to success! Thank you for sharing with us! – Camilla
Book Blurb for Second Skin.
Young-Lady Aledra Jewel-Wing is Drakkoni, one of a race of shape-shifters who rule over Esra, a wild and beautiful continent. Aledra has grown up on a remote farmstead, is about to meet her estranged father; the commander of the king’s army. When attempting to save a life she rises into her fearsome soul-double, and soon becomes a fugitive, on the run from her father and a pitiless bounty hunter.
We Other, published by Endeavour Media is out now. It’s a dark re-working of the fairy-tale tradition. I’m in love with its wonderful new book cover for the Anniversary edition.
Book Blurb for We Other.
Jess Morgan’s life is chaotic. When a shocking new reality cannot be denied, it’s clear everything she believed is a lie. Life on a run-down housing estate with her alcoholic mum and violent boyfriend becomes the least of her worries. A dark and powerful destiny awaits that will test her to the limit.
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
Today we welcome Wendy Holden as we travel to Suffolk and learn what dogs, Goldie Hawn, Ganesh, a woodland cemetery, and The Wacky Races mean to Wendy. Slip on your gardening gloves. Let’s go …
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a British author, originally from London but now living in Suffolk, three hours north east of London, near the sea. I was a journalist for almost 20 years, including time as a war correspondent, and have been writing books full time for 22 years. Have more than thirty titles published, ten of which are bestsellers.
In which genre do you write?
Non-fiction historical and war biographies mostly but also fiction, humour, celebrity memoirs and novellas. I have written two bestselling books with the actress Goldie Hawn and I wrote Lady Blue Eyes with Frank Sinatra’s widow Barbara.
I also love to write about dogs, who are one of my great passions. I wrote the number one bestseller Haatchi & Little B, about a disabled boy and his three-legged dog, and Uggie: My Story, about the canine star of the Oscar winning movie The Artist. I also wrote Mr Scraps, the little dog with the big heart, a novella about a dog caught up in the London Blitz –
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
I always wrote poems and kept a diary but wrote my first school play when I was six years old. It was called The Queen’s Birthday Cake and featured a naughty knave who switched the baker’s flour for cement so that the Queen broke a tooth when she bit into it.
The play won a schools’ competition and was put on by the drama students so my career path was set. It was not as if I ever had a choice. Writing comes as naturally to me as breathing.
What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?
I’ve worked with Goldie Hawn who introduced me to meditation and to the Indian elephant god Ganesh, who is said to remove obstacles on your life’s path.
Twice a day, I stop writing and meditate for 10 minutes, slowing my breathing (and my thoughts) and then I rub my little Ganesh’s feet for good luck.
What would you choose as your mascot, spirit animal, or avatar and why?
My two adorable German wire-haired pointers, Eli and Huxley.
What does your ideal writing space look like?
The one I work in now – upstairs in our 17th century oak-beamed cottage with green-painted walls. I write at my grandfather’s leather-topped desk with my father’s oak desk to one side and am surrounded by the framed book jackets, photos, cartoons and art that mean the most to me.
What are you currently reading?
Educated by Tara Westover and The Pianist of Yarmouk
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
Walk the dogs on the beach, read, garden, cook, entertain friends, travel, and paint.
If you could have a fantasy tea date with an author or famous person from the past or present, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women whose character Jo I immediately identified with. I have been to her house in Concord, Massachusetts, and see the tiny table where she sat and wrote longhand and I would love to invite her to tea and ask her how a young woman with very little life experience from a rural background was able to conjure up such vital, life-changing characters.
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?
How much of myself comes out in the books I write, even when they are about other people. There is something of everyone in each of us and when you really focus on someone you often realise that the nature of the human condition is universal.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve done in researching for a book?
I found myself deep in a woodland cemetery in rural Poland on the edge of dark hunting for the grave of someone I was writing about in quiet desperation. I found it just as the light was fading and then had to feel my way back to the car and civilisation.
Do you journal write or keep a personal diary?
I did up until my teens but I found that I have such a visual memory so that I no longer needed to.
What is the most inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?
Meeting my husband and accepting his marriage proposal three weeks later. I was 19 and we have been happily married ever since.
You are about to speak publicly to a group and read from your latest book. What song do you listen to before speaking and what do you do to prepare yourself?
I do ten minutes deep breathing to clear my mind of clutter. I remind myself to talk slowly and take deep breaths in the pauses. If I were to listen to any music it would be Paul Simon’s Late in the Evening and I would have a dance to loosen myself up.
What do you miss about being a kid?
My dearly departed parents who were my greatest champions and blessed me with a happy childhood, from which I emerged feeling invincible.
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
The Wacky Races. I wanted to be Penelope Pitstop, but I also loved Mutley.
If you write non-fiction or memories, what fictional character would you invite into your story and why?
Jo from Little Women so that I could spend time with her and tell her how much she inspired me as a girl.
What’s the last movie you watched and why did you choose to watch it?
Tolkien. It was on locally and we went because I love films about writers. I was much more impressed than I’d expected and gave real insight into his life and inspirations without hardly mentioning The Hobbit (of which I am not a great fan). It is a lovely, well-rounded film.
A penguin knocks on your door and is wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he there?
He escaped from the local zoo when his keeper went for ice cream and accidentally left the gate open, so the penguin waddled off down the road looking for something to eat.
At the seaside, he accidentally caused a commotion outside one of those stores that sells everything from joss sticks to water pipes, backed into a hat stand and a sombrero dropped onto his head.
Hardly able to see, he staggered on and – lifting his beak – detected the unmistakable scent of fish. Padding up to my front door, he tapped his beak on it and made his little penguin cry so I opened the door with a fillet of sole in my hand.
Before I knew it, he had snatched it from fingers and gobbled it down in one. He has lived with me ever since. We have called him Charlie because he looks and walks like Charlie Chaplin in his little penguin suit.
Do you believe things happen for a reason? Do you have an example from your own life to share why you believe this?
I always have and I always will. Whenever one door closes for me, another opens, often taking me in a direction I never expected and which excites and challenges me.
If you could ask your pet three questions, what would they be?
Why don’t you ever get a cold?
What do you dream of when you twitch and whimper?
Why can’t you live as long as us?
Which of your personality traits has been most useful and why?
Resilience and fearless optimism
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
Suffolk, England, which is why we moved here having had no previous connections. Endless beaches. Huge skies. Fabulous stars. Great seafood. Lovely people. Old-fashioned atmosphere. What’s not to like?
Describe the perfect solo date you’d take yourself on … where, time of day, weather, place, etc.
Umbria, Italy. Early autumn. Watching the sun set over the golden hills and ripened vineyards with a chilled glass of prosecco in my hand.
Tell us about your most recent book.
I have three books out this year:
A relaunch of my novel The Sense of Paper. A Novel of Obsessions, it is set in Suffolk and is full of passion, secrets and lies. Please see the trailer —
One Hundred Miracles, a memoir of music and survival with Zuzana Ruzickova, published by Bloomsbury UK and several European publishers. The remarkable story of a Holocaust survivor and internationally renowned musician who not only lived through the war but under Communist ant-Semitic rule for decades. This is my first Holocaust book since writing my international bestseller Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance and Hope
A Woman of Firsts, the woman who built a hospital and changed the world with Edna Adan Ismail, to be published in this month. The story of the ‘Muslim Mother Teresa’, an indomitable force of nature who survived great hardship and civil war only to return to her ravage country and create something wonderful.
Thank you Wendy for being a part of MTA. It was incredibly interesting to learn more about you, your history, and writing style. I am a Goldie Hawn fan, as well as having a mindfulness and meditation practice. I found your interview to be deeply moving. And, oh my goodness! I LOVE the short story you created with the penguin question! Thanks again! –Camilla
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
Today we welcome Jeremy Smith as we travel to Oxfordshire, England to learn how The Forgotten World, Cthulhu, an octopus, and Warwick Davis fit into Jeremy’s writing life. Grab your flashlight. Let’s go ….
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I live in Oxfordshire, England only about 5 miles from where I was born and grew up. I did venture away to college for a few years and then to London to work but, as the saying goes, “there’s no place like home”.
In which genre do you write?
I write contemporary fantasy for teen/YA.
How many published books do you have?
I have three! A Rhyme of Dark Words is the first in the Tilly Hart series and is available on Amazon as is Rise of the White Witch (Tilly Hart book 2). The third in the series, The Witchfinder’s Betrayal, was published on 30th June 2019.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
I guess I realised I wanted to be a writer when I was about 7 years old and got my dad to type up my personalised version of The Forgotten World. It took him quite some time using just one finger on a clunky old typewriter!
What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?
I like to insert references to Cthulhu into the Tilly Hart books. They’re not too difficult to spot if you know what you’re looking for.
What would you choose as your mascot, spirit animal, or avatar and why?
I would have an octopus because they can change colour and fit inside a jam jar.
What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading, “The Revenant Express” a Newbury & Hobbes investigation by George Mann.
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
I go to pub quizzes and also play computer games. I once appeared on the ITV quiz show, “Tenable” where I had to answer a question about kedgeree! It was all worthwhile though as I got to meet the actor Warwick Davis who I’m a huge fan of.
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?
That I can write a whole book. I still can’t really believe I’ve done it – three times!!
What’s the strangest thing you’ve done or experienced to help create a scene or plot?
I walked through a graveyard at midnight. As one of my character’s observes in Rise of the White Witch, “Why does it always have to be when it’s dark? ………. We never get to be anywhere spooky when it’s light”.
Do you journal write or keep a personal diary?
No, just in case it falls in to enemy hands.
What do you miss about being a kid?
The freedom of endless summer days and the excitement of Christmas.
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
I would choose the world of Scooby-Doo so I could solve mysteries with my dog, Jack, and eat a stack of burgers without putting on a pound.
A penguin knocks on your door and is wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he there?
‘I’m sorry about the sombrero, I couldn’t find my bowler.’ He’s come round to visit the walrus.
If you could ask your pet three questions, what would they be?
Where are my slippers? Why did you eat my dinner? Do you want to go back to the dog home?
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
I love Oxford for the dreaming spires, coffee shops and museums.
Describe the perfect solo date you’d take yourself on … where, time of day, weather, place, etc.
A trek in the woods on a golden, autumn day, with a flask of coffee and a cheese sandwich.
Thank you Jeremy for being a part of MTA. It was wonderful to learn more about you and your background! –Camilla
Blurb for A Rhyme of Dark Words:
Tilly Hart is grieving for her mother when she moves to the ancient village of Witheridge. Finding friendship and love, she also finds a place steeped in witchlore and the legend of a beast that stalks the moor. Supernatural events and a hidden diary guide her to a village lost in time, a place where magic exists and demons walk the land.
With her newfound friends and the deadline of Halloween drawing near, she sets out to prevent an ancient evil destroying all she loves.
Being both the hunter and hunted, she discovers she can control magic. But magic is an addiction that can lead to evil.
A Rhyme of Dark Words has been longlisted for the 2019 Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
