OUR
WRITERS MEAN BUSINESS OUR
WRITERS MEAN BUSINESS 
How did you get started in your writing?
I’ve written stories since I was a little girl of about 5
or 6, but because we didn’t have much paper in our house I used to
write ideas down on my granddad’s rizzlas then make the stories up
in my head. Then I wrote stories in all the white space in my colouring
books. As I got older these developed into longer stories and novels. As
an adult I wrote for fun whenever I wasn’t working. I wrote several
short novels for my sister when she was living abroad and craving an uplifting
read – she printed them out and read them in the bath! Several of
my novels were written purely for my own amusement and have never been (and
will probably never be!) seen by a publisher. I only thought of trying to
be published much later. Writing is a source of tremendous enjoyment for
me – a real passion that I can’t live without – so being
a published author is the absolute cherry on the cake. If I couldn’t
be published, I would still write. And if I couldn’t write my stories
down, I would simply go back to making them up in my head, as I did when
I was little.
What was the last book you bought?
Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. I love her adult fiction
and was intrigued to see that she’d written a children’s story.
So far it lives up to her usual thoughtful, brilliantly researched standard.
Which books would you take to a desert island?
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The most
fantastic book I’ve ever read.
A Place in the Hills by Michelle Paver. A stunning, evocative love
story with deliciously dark elements.
Of Marriageable Age by Sharon Maas. A truly memorable, exotic fairy
tale.
The Hornblower series, C.S. Forester. All of them, please. The characters
are superb and the plots are gripping.
The Illiad and The Odyssey, Homer
These become more beautiful with each reading:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Just too wild and windy to leave
behind.
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Oh please, can I??!
The Arabian Nights translated by Richard F. Burton. Magical.
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler. Awesome powers of observation,
I love her characters.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Gets better
with re-reading.
Colloquial Lithuanian The complete course. Otherwise I’m
never going to be able to speak to my mother-in-law.
Who are your heroes?
The obvious choice, Jane Austen’s Darcy isn’t much
of a hero for me – far too self-absorbed and foppish for my taste.
A hero should just grit his teeth and get on with the job, like Hornblower
or Sharpe. Or even Lawrence’s Mellors, who managed to get on with
several jobs all at the same time. Or he should be so passionate that he’s
actually dislikeable, like Heathcliffe. In the real world (but very dead)
I’ve always been fascinated by the lives of John Donne, the poet and
philosopher and Richard F. Burton, the linguist, translator and explorer.
Also very dead but probably rather sexy in a terrifyingly territorial kind
of way was Alexander the Great – but he did bat for the other side
and you have to know when you’re onto a loser. Archaeologists make
good heroes – they’re not forever checking their hair or their
bank balances. Probably the most impressive hero of all time is Odysseus,
but he did waver a bit with those saucy wenches who held him up on his way
home which is not quite so heroic (I’ve always wondered if he told
Penelope)..
Tell us about your latest book?
Falling Into Place is a story about mothers, sisters,
and rediscovering a lost love…
It’s a romantic story at heart, but it’s also very much about
family and the relationships between us in families that change shape over
the years. In Falling Into Place, my main characters are two sisters, Ginny
and Charlotte. When she became pregnant at university at the tender age
of nineteen, Ginny gave up all chances of a career to have Marie. She has
dedicated herself to being a good mother – but now Marie is a teenager
herself and going off on her gap year. Ginny must redefine herself. Sister
Charlotte has meanwhile travelled the world and sucked the marrow out of
life. When they come together again in their late thirties, there is bound
to be conflict before their relationship can be resolved. To add to this,
their mother Jane seems alarmingly unperturbed when their father leaves
home – is she just in shock? Then Ginny’s world is turned upside
down when Marie’s father, who she hasn’t seen for eighteen years,
walks straight back into her life, still as engaging and handsome as he
was when she knew him all those years ago… As in all my novels, in
Falling Into Place I enjoyed exploring the intricacies of relationships
between family members and friends as well as between men and women. There
are both serious and humorous elements to be found in my novel, as in my
other books, and as one of two sisters I particularly enjoyed writing about
sisterly relationships.
And what’s in the pipeline?
I’m currently developing plots for two more novels which
follow my favourite themes of families, friends and lovers. I’m also
working on some children’s fiction, one of my first loves, and I’m
writing two plays for radio. I’m an avid radio listener, and I always
think there’s so much scope for imagination when you paint your own
mental picture. Also in the pipeline, due out in July 2005, is a new baby…
Where do you get your ideas from?
A simple thing can produce an idea. Something somebody tells you,
an overheard conversation on the bus, watching people going about daily
life, little anecdotes that you laugh about, an object in an antique shop,
something left lying on the ground…
How do you go about doing research for your book?
My novels focus very much on the human story, so I tend to want to get that
down as I picture it first and add technical detail later. But it is crucial
to be accurate about research; it matters to the credibility of your characters.
One of my most enjoyable books to research was Shooting At the Stars
where Caroline, my main character, is a physics teacher and amateur astronomer.
I delved into the world of astronomy with a certain amount of trepidation
but utter fascination, and it opened my eyes to many things I’d long
wondered about. In Rising to the Occasion my heroine, Cathy, is
sent to a number of international cricket matches by her quirky grandfather
and I based her experience on my own trips to test matches – but as
I love cricket that was definitely fun. All research is stimulating and
educational. One of the things I love about writing is that it does give
you a chance to enjoy plunging into different worlds. I am aiming to bring
my love of history into my next novel – that’s research I am
really eager to get stuck into!
Why did you approach the Darley Anderson Agency?
I approached the Darley Anderson Agency because of all the agents
I had read about, Darley Anderson seemed the most encouraging to new writers.
I received very good responses to my initial submissions and felt heartened
that I was on the right track…The Darley Anderson Agency seems to
have a knack for developing new talent and bringing out the best in its
writers!
What advice do you have for people hoping to find their first publisher?
Be professional and listen to advice. Research your market well
and be able to define your place in it. Be prepared to be flexible. Write
with your own voice, but let your characters speak for themselves. Most
of all, enjoy your writing and the story will shine through.
February 2005