Author Feature: Gillian E Hamer

Over the past few months Triskele Books has been home to a series of author features. Now, it is our great pleasure to focus the spotlight on one of Triskele's founder members, Gillian E. Hamer.

Born in the industrial Midlands, Gillian's heart has always yearned for the wilds of North Wales and the pull of the ocean.

A Company Director for twenty years, she has written obsessively for over a decade, predominantly in the crime genre. She has completed six full length novels and numerous short stories.

After completing a creative writing course, she decided to take her writing to the next level and sought representation. She is a columnist for Words with Jam literary magazine, a regular theater goer and avid reader across genres.

She splits her time between Birmingham and a remote cottage on Anglesey where she finds her inspiration and takes long walks on deserted beaches with her Jack Russell, Maysie.

Here's a little snippet from a recent interview when Gillian was asked about writing crime:

Why did you decide to write in your chosen genre(s)?

In fairness I think the genre probably chose me! I’ve read crime fiction all my life, from the Enid Blyton books I loved as a child, through every Agatha Christie novel in the village library, and onto modern day writers like Ian Rankin. It was written that I would crime! And I’m very proud of my current Gold Detective series. However, location has a big part to play especially in my first three books (The Charter, Closure and Complicit) which I call my spooky thriller trilogy. It was Anglesey and its fantastic history that gave me the content for these novels, different in each, but also in each I wanted to mix a modern thriller with the historical aspects. It sounds odd, I know! But I think it works

So, what makes Gilliam such a valued member of Triskele Books?

Liza Perrat: Suspense is Gilly’s forte, in her page-turning crime thriller novels. She also has an incredible knack for creating baddies so scarily well that sometimes I wonder what’s going on in her mind! She has also brought to life the island of Anglesey (off the north-west coast of Wales), for me. So much so that it’s now at the top of my to-visit list.

I appreciate that Gillian takes care of the financial aspects of Triskele Books. It’s great to have someone you can totally trust with the finances, providing summaries and reports of all our financial dealings.

Gilly is also our SM girl. That’s social media in case you were wondering! She shares all our blog posts, images and comments across a wide range of social media. And not forgetting her excellent, multi-tasking skills during our fortnightly #triskeletuesday Twitter chats!

Finally, I highly value Gilly’s critiquing skills. If something isn’t working in my story, she’s not shy about letting me know. No false compliments, just the cold hard truth, which is what every author needs to produce their best work.

JD Smith: Gilly is a hugely valuable member of our team. She's committed, forward-thinking, determined and passionate about our collective.

She's also a talented writer of not only crime but historical fiction, and I admire her enthusiasm for periods in history such as the Roman era which are close to my own heart. I love the weave of these time periods in her books. It gives them an edge that I find so often lacking in popular crime stories.

Catriona Troth: Gillian’s books are set on the island of Anglesey in northwest Wales, which also happens to be where my mother’s family are from. Her books are interwoven with the history, geography and myths and legends of Ynys Mon (the island’s Welsh name), and every time I open the pages, I am swept back to the lanes around my grandmother’s house, to the rocky coasts, the treacherous straits that separate the island from the mainland.

But don’t be fooled by the picturesque rural location into thinking these are ‘cosy crime’ stories. These novels are as gritty as the island’s often bloody history, and she doesn’t shy away from portraying Anglesey’s present day problems with poverty and drugs.

In Gold Detectives, eschewing the crime fiction stereotype of the ‘lone wolf’ detective, Gillian has created an ensemble of characters, with their own strengths, weaknesses and quirks. This is a team of believable people we get to know and like, and each book in turn brings another of the team to the fore.

Gillian is the director of a small business, and within Triskele, she acts is our finance manager, holding the purse strings and bringing her business head to ensure that what we do brings a commensurate return. She is also our Social Media guru, managing our Twitter and Facebook pages and juggling (with surely more than just the usual ten fingers!) several accounts simultaneously as we hold our fortnightly #TriskeleTuesday twitter chats.

JJ Marsh: When first planning Triskele Books, the author collective, we knew we needed a lot more than good writing.

Triskele works just like a small business - you need vision, commitment, strategy, vision and financial nous. Gilly brings all this to the table in addition to a creative imagination.

She works hard at everything she does and insists we all reach as high as we ought. Her books are beautifully crafted, her critical analyses are spot on and she ensures we all pull our weight.

She's a rare individual - a sharp business mind with a deep well of imagination. We'd be lost without her.


What readers are saying about Gillian Hamer's crime books:

"Once again, Gillian Hamer brings ancient history to life with beautiful, lyrical imagery."

"When you love a book as much as I loved The Charter by Gillian Hamer, you always approach the next book with trepidation. I needn't have worried - her latest, Closure, is even better. It begins as two separate story threads - a serial killer targeting students at Bangor University, and the work of North Wales CID to track him down, and the seemingly disconnected story of Jake, a child experiencing horrifying dreams triggered by a past life. The stories converge as the pursuit of the killer heats up, and the story - a superb mix of police procedure and the mysteries of reincarnation - builds wonderfully set against the beautiful Anglesey setting. The author very deftly weaves the different elements together, with well-rounded characters and a masterful building of tension, with some tremendous nail-biting moments. I really couldn't put it down, a fantastic read. We get to know the police team even better in this book, and this has the makings of an excellent series of which I eagerly await the next episode."

"This is the second book I've read by this talented author. Like her first novel, The Charter, Gillian returns to the familiar territory of the rugged Anglesea coast.

This is a darker tale than Charter and, in many ways, a more complex one as well. We have two separate but intertwining stories. The first features Helen West and her six year-old son, Jake, who is suffering from terrible nightmares. But are they more than that? And how can the be linked to the series of killings in and around Bangor University.

With great skill, Gillian draws these two very different threads together and gives us an extremely satisfying crime story with a spooky twist in the tale.
Rich in atmosphere, dripping with suspense and full of memorable characters, this is one you won't forget in a hurry."

"Hamer brings Anglesey alive, doing to the island what Rankin does to Edinburgh, what Dexter did to Oxford. She also gives us three-dimensional characters, with their necessary human failings and weaknesses. The tension never slackens, the suspense never falters. Here is a new crime writer with a new set of detectives. If you thought the world of crime-writing was already overcrowded, think again. Gillian Hamer is one to watch, and her novel is one to read."


"What a great debut to a new series. As with all the author's previous books, I could not put this one down. I stayed up late finishing it and was not disappointed ... I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a well written mystery and also highly recommend her other three books. They won't disappoint."

Connect with Gillian online:  

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Getting to know our Big 5 Winner ... Sophie Wellstood!

Winner of the Big 5 Comp - Sophie Wellstood

By Gillian Hamer.

Among the many hundreds of entries, long-list, short-list processes, there was in the end one winner, chosen by our head judge, crime writer Sheila Bugler. And that winner was Sophie Wellstood and the opening pages of her novel The Sky is a Blue Bowl.

Sophie will now spend 2017 working alongside the Triskele team to polish her novel to perfection and hopefully see it make its way out into the big wide world. We thought it would be nice to get to know Sophie a little, and introduce her to our followers right at the beginning of her journey.

So ... congratulations, Sophie, on winning our Big 5 competition! How did you feel when you heard the result?
Surprised, thrilled, and a little scared.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself away from writing?
I work in central London, teaching English to adults - a job I love. It's endlessly interesting and rewarding, and can be hugely creative. I also play piano and guitar with my Irish ceilidh-loving friends, go for very long walks in wild places, swim in ponds and spend a lot of time looking through a camera lens.

And a little about your writing?
Recurring themes seem to be wilderness, desire, alienation, abandonment, recovery, grief...all of which sound very grim on paper, but actually there's just as much humour I hope in my writing. Life really can be absurd, even in the midst of the most dreadful times. My unconventional upbringing gave me some of the darkest experiences possible, but also some of the very best, and I'm old enough now to be able to treat it a gift, rather than as a millstone.

I've long felt that my natural home is the short story and poetry, that novels were just too long and complicated and difficult (not that short stories or poetry are in any way 'easy'!). I still feel that to some extent. But after studying for two years at Birkbeck University with Jonathan Kemp, and then later with inspirational author and editor Debi Alper, I found that I could - and wanted to - push the boundaries of my comfort zones and go for it. Writing novels is still a ridiculously long and complicated and difficult process, but incredibly exciting.

The opening 10 pages of your novel connected with all of the shortlisting judges, and was the overall favourite of crime writer, Sheila Bugler, our head judge – what was your inspiration for the novel?
There was no one lightbulb moment as such, but after taking voluntary redundancy in 2010 from a role in Further Education, I thought I'd like to write a dark comedy based around the mysterious murder of an unpopular senior manager - kind of 'in the photocopy cupboard with a bottle of tippex' kind of thing. But that idea quickly proved to have no legs at all, and would likely be libellous anyway. So I began sketching out a very camp nod to the 60s and 70s girls own-style adventure stories I've always loved, and the seeds of The Sky... were sown. In fact, the matriarch of the novel, Edith, was originally named Enid as a direct nod and wink to Enid Blyton, and the seriousness (or lack of it) I then ascribed to the story.

However, as the imaginary world began to take shape - and all writers know this mad feeling - the characters began to shout and boss me around and would not be trivialised. The darkest and saddest of themes began to emerge, and I realised that yes, there is a lot of lightness and love and silliness to enjoy in the novel, but the monsters in the shadows have to be there.

What I was always very sure about, though, was that a same-sex love affair would be at the heart of the novel, and that I wanted to create people who would be as lovely and damaged and as conflicted as I could make them - whilst still being real and relateable enough to engage a reader. We will see! I may or may not have succeeded, but that's part of the whole crazy challenge of attempting to create an authentic, fictional world.

Why do you write?
Initially out of a pure love for reading - which I think if you experience as a child you're set for life - and just wanting to copy my favourite authors and poets. Then, through many solipsistic years, I produced reams of obsessive, angry, fractured woe-is-me stuff - but enough accidentally-nailed-it moments to realise that eventually words can say exactly the right thing in the exactly the right way. Now I hope I'm much more structured, more disciplined, more relaxed, and slightly less precious about it. Writing is what I love, and I hope I can produce reasonably professional and meaningful work, but the world won't stop spinning if I can't. The rejections hurt, though - I'm not that thick-skinned yet.

Which authors would you list as your inspiration?
How much space do you have?! Spike Milligan, Patti Smith, Maya Angelou, Tobias Wolff, Raymond Carver, Nancy Garden, Carol Noble, Debi Alper, Jonathan Kemp, Annie Proulx, David Sedaris, Denis Johnson, Alison Bechdel, Armistead Maupin, Alice Munro, Alice Walker, Sarah Dreher, Ellen Galford, Fiona Cooper, Keri Hulme, Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain, Sarah Waters, Sylvia Plath, Jackie Kay, Julia Darling, Ali Smith, John Cheever, Carol Ann Duffy, Joanna Cannon, Carol Anshaw...and of course, Enid Blyton. 

What did you know about Triskele Books before the competition?
Actually very little, other than what I learned online via Words With Jam.

Why did you enter our Big 5 competition?
I enter many writing competitions - the discipline and focus is important for me, and provides a sense of structure and involvement with other writers and the industry. You know you're being read, even if more often than not the outcome is crushing disappointment! With the Big 5 competition, however, the prize was - and is - an exceptionally generous and exciting opportunity which I knew immediately I wanted very, very much. I've not come across any other competitions offering such a well thought-out and genuinely life-changing prize, and could not be happier to have won.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
Hopefully the beginnings of a readership base, but prior to that, making the most of this unique opportunity to work closely with and learn from a team of people who are experts in their fields; to get professional advice and guidance and insight into all stages of the publishing process, especially the promotional and media-related side, which I find daunting and excruciating in equal measure.

In an ideal world, where would you like to see your writing career taking you?
I'm traditionalist enough to really want agent representation; to find the right person who gets what I'm on about and with whom I can set out my plans for at least the next two novels (the current, second one is plotted, half-written and will be finished mid 2017; the third is poking up little tendrils of ideas). I'd love to put out a collection of short stories and poetry, too - oh and all my children's stuff as well, and a couple of radio plays! But ultimately, I'd just like to find the right agent and have much more time to write.

Interview with Laurie Garrison of #Women_Writers

Interview by JJ Marsh

Laurie Garrison is the author of Women Writers in the 21st century; Science, Sexuality and Sensation Novels and much more. An academic for many years, she is now a digital marketer and runs the Twitter project, #Women_Writers, a monthly chat aimed at sharing information and experiences for women who write and Looking for Xanadu, an online resource for writers.

You state your mission as building an international network of women writers. How did this start and what is the aim?

Having come from the PC world of universities into working for myself as a provider of online courses and networking opportunities for women writers, I’ve been shocked to find just how much of a bias there is against women in the publishing industry. If women are going to overturn this bias against them (and other marginalized writers), we need to be organized about it. Raising awareness in itself could go a long way toward improving the situation. There are lots of small presses who write this into their mission and there are a lot of options in addition to traditional publishing now, but I’m not convinced these are widely known enough. They’re also scattered across multiple countries.

What I’d like to do is set up a network of international contacts so we can make sure the news gets out about any developments that might help women reach their writing goals or publicize any big successes of writers who might not have the backing of a big publishing house. I also want to act as an educator who empowers women to manage their own online platforms and make informed decisions about how they publish their work. #women_writers chat and my new course on online self promotion are the primary ways I’m doing this at the moment, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be expanding this in the next few months.

One of the way you’re attracting people to join the network is via your monthly twitchat #Women_Writers. What kind of topics do you discuss?

Some of our sessions are intended to discuss our favorite books and get lots of recommendations for new authors to read. Others are practical like our DIY Online Marketing session, which was geared toward the needs of women writers in particular. We also like to support other marginalized writers as in our session for Women in Translation Month. We just had Women Writing about Women for our September chat with Lesley McDowell, author of Between the Sheets: The Literary Liaisons of Nine Twentieth Century Women Writers. We like to have guest hosts as it brings in a different crowd and we’ve very open to suggestions for topics too. Above all, we make sure the atmosphere is fun and friendly - one that is conducive to meeting people and making some of those contacts that can be so important for writers when they need readers, editors, etc.

Looking for Xanadu is an incredibly generous resource for women writers. How do you find the time to keep such useful content up to date?

Glad to hear that it seems generous - I still feel like I’m just getting started with it! I always have far more ideas than I can accommodate. In terms of managing my marketing including the website, I think it’s taking up about 15 hours of my time each week. I’ve got a rough marketing schedule I follow each month and now that I see lots of results from my marketing work, it doesn’t feel like work anymore.

Can you talk about your focus in Science, Sexuality and Sensation Novels: Pleasures of the Senses? Did you set out to look at the writers, the readers or the scientific studies on female sensibilities and fiction in the Victorian age?

Basically, I looked at all of those things. Previous studies had documented the influence of psychology and medicine in the discourses of the sensation novel of the 1860s, which was an incredibly popular genre with some of the women outselling Dickens (who was also reviewed as a sensation novelist in the 1860s and makes an appearance in my book). I looked at the influence of several other sciences, starting with the interest in physiology in the reviewers’ reception of the novels, where they argued that sensation novels were far too physically stimulating for young women and might lead to reckless flirtation or worse. The less stuffy members of the Victorian press satirized this with a great deal of comedy, including a poem that deemed celibacy satisfactory as long as there was a good supply of sensation novels to enjoy. I also looked at mesmerism in The Woman in White, which was worked into a way of representing female same-sex desire by Wilkie Collins, and evolutionary theory in a novel by Mary Braddon, where her presumably mixed-race heroine succeeds in training the men around her to accept her sensational behaviour.

You seem to see the digital age as a great leveller regarding traditional gender imbalances. How do you think women can harness the opportunities available online?

There are so many opportunities for meeting people, promoting work, finding the services needed for self-publishing or self-promotion, but everything seems a bit scattered far and wide. The web is such a big place that there’s no telling whether you’re going to miss some really good resources. This is why we need central places like #women_writers chat and the hashtag to get the word out there and share our knowledge. Also, all of us as women writers need to get out there and start talking to each other.

What was your take on Kamila Shamsie’s call for A Year of Publishing Only Women? A realistic proposal or a way of opening debate?

I would love to see it happen, but I’m not holding my breath! What I like about her argument is that she addresses the fact that the bias against women is embedded in our culture in such complex ways that it can’t be simplified into a problem of decision makers deliberately choosing men’s writing over women’s or as Shamsie puts it ‘fair minded women vs. bigoted men’. I’ve spent a lot of years studying, teaching and writing about feminist theory.

Men and women are both trapped in the power structures of patriarchy and this argument goes right back to our first feminist theorist, Mary Wollstonecraft who pointed out that women were just as likely to adhere to patriarchal structures as men were. The only way to change this is for a large number of people to accept that there is a problem that needs to be addressed and then work together and work hard to change our culturally determined behaviours - in both genders. In the publishing industry, I’d imagine this to take the form of those in the industry working harder to get good submissions from women and women writers developing resilience in the face of rejection and learning to promote themselves and their achievements more. I’d see this as a much longer term solution than a year of publishing women though a year of publishing women would be a fantastic starting point!

Do you think women could learn more effectively in a female-only environment, such a Creative Writing MA geared to female learning styles, for example?

Well, we’d never find a Creative Writing MA openly stated to be geared toward female learning styles in the UK. That sort of thing would never make it through accreditation and other bureaucracy as it would be seen to be exclusionary. This is part of the reason I’m working for myself now: I simply could not be as innovative as I wanted in my teaching when I was a lecturer. What I’m setting up now are courses with a noncompetitive atmosphere where we can openly discuss the number of rejections writers are likely to get as well as the extent of criticism and revision involved in publishing and to have these discussions in an environment where they won’t be judged as signs of weakness. I want to see women writers build up resilience, meet their writing goals and think creatively about how to promote themselves, especially online. I’m marketing these courses to women mainly but any men who like the sound of this are very welcome to join as well.

What milestones do you hope to achieve in 2017, both personally and as a champion of women writers?

In 2017, I’d like to see a significant number of women on my online self-promotion course in autumn 2016 getting out there and succeeding with their online marketing and publishing goals. I’d also like to see our currently monthly #women_writers chat grow enough in attendance and collaborating partners that we can become a weekly chat. Personally, I’m hoping to get my business into a position where I can take a bit of a sabbatical in the summer to do some of my own creative writing.

Laurie is running a FREE webinar for Triskele subscribers on Tues 11 October 2016 at 6pm BST.

Male Romance Authors - Interview with Charlie Maclean

By JJ Marsh

This week we welcome Charlie Maclean, author of Unforgettable – a funny, thoughtful, touching contemporary romance with a premise similar to that of Sliding Doors. What if we could live two parallel paths resulting from the decision of a moment? see review here

Before talk to Charlie, let’s take a minute to look at the genre. Contemporary modern romance, with pastel-shaded covers featuring silhouettes in high-heels and glitter, is dominated by women. Both as readers and writers. Indeed, occasional foolish debates flare over whether or not men can even write romance.

Tsk.

Of course men can write romance, and women can write science-fiction and anyone can write in any genre. Your gender dictates what you can do with your body, not your mind.

Here are ten of my favourite contemporary modern romances written by men, just to prove my point. In chronological order of reading


High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby
What it really means when you make someone a tape

Scratch, by Danny Gillan
There's a love story at the heart of this, but it isn't the one you think

Man and Boy, by Tony Parsons
Coming-of-age, but it’s the adult who grows up

My Fat Brother, by Jim Keeble
Idleness won’t cut it when the Barron brothers meet love, tragedy and a penguin

Time for Bed, by David Baddiel
Observations on ego and obsession, with fabulous set-pieces and blistering lines

The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simison
Love as disruption told by an exceptional voice

Things My Girlfriend and I Argue About, by Mil Millington
The daily joys of cross-cultural married life with wickedly funny characters

The Humans, by Matt Haig
People and dogs as observed by someone who doesn’t do relationships

Us, By David Nicholls
Like Simison, Nicholls creates a character love changes for the better

Unforgettable, by Charlie Maclean
Tones of Shakespeare, but tragedy or comedy?


Over to our guest this week – Charlie Maclean...

 
Charlie’s debut novel, Unforgettable, is a sexy, gritty tale of present-day star-crossed lovers. 
As a passionate storyteller he has also drafted TV and films scripts. 
He lives between London and Brighton (UK) and is currently working on his next book, also a love story, this time set in Brighton. 

Details at charliemaclean.co.uk






Which work most influenced you when growing up?

Some early favourites were I Am David by Anne Holm and Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian.

Where do you write?

I have my laptop or notebook with me at all times. At home, my writing desk is a square card table with fold-out legs and a green felt surface.

Who or what had the biggest impact on your creative life?

Tough question! I’ve never had a writing mentor; my writing has developed from reading lots of books and feedback from editors.

How far are you influenced by other media, such as music, TV or fine art?

Film and TV are particular influences. I’d love to see Unforgettable dramatised.

Do you have a phrase that you most overuse?   

I always try to be original.

Which writers do you enjoy?

There are so many. I’m going to say two great favourites, Iris Murdoch and William Boyd.

Why do you write?

It’s something I’ve always done and always felt the desire to do. I love stories and trying to find some human truth through them.

What makes you laugh?

My dear friends.

Do you have a guilty reading pleasure?

Rereading my favourite books rather than ones from my to be read pile.

Which classic do you wish you’d written?

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

Which book impressed you most last year?

It didn’t come out last year but my favourite read was This Is How You Lose Her, the collection of short stories by Junot Díaz.

Would you share what you’re working on next?

My next novel – also a love story – this time set on the South Coast of England, in Brighton.

Wild card: What’s the best way of spending a Sunday morning?

A couple of hours of writing, a run, then breakfast with strong coffee before climbing back under the bed covers, ideally with someone special.

Meet the Editor: Catriona Troth

By JJ Marsh

There are many advantages to being in an author collective, the most valuable being the skills each member contributes. Many years ago, I spotted Catriona Troth on a writers’ critique site. Smart, perceptive, erudite, critical yet tactful, she was one of people I really wanted to read my work. In fact, it was Catriona who first had the idea of an author collective – a team based on mutual support. Unsurprisingly, she has now become a professional editor. We had a chat about how she does what she does so well.

What kind of editing do you do?

The first thing to say is probably that I am not a proofreader, or a copy editor. Nor can I give specific market advice. I am a structural editor, which is quite a different job.

My approach is to take a helicopter view of an MS and provide an overall report. In fiction, I am good at spotting where scenes need to be reorganised, say, and I will home in on inconsistencies and anachronisms. I do a close read of a manuscript, but I will typically make one or two in-line comments on average per thousand words – far fewer than proofreader or copy editor would.

I have also worked on a number of non-fiction proposals, helping authors to work out how to structure their ideas and present information. I spent twenty years writing reports based on technical data for a non-technical audience many of whom did not have English as a first language but who needed to understand the implications of the results. It gave me a good grounding in how to organise information so that it flows logically, and how to express it in a clear, concise and unambiguous way.

How would you describe a successful author/editor relationship?

The point of a critique is not to impose my vision on the manuscript. The story is and remains the author’s. Whatever suggestions I make must respect the author's own voice, style and intention. I always begin my report with the aspects I thought were strongest. And while I will be clear where my concerns lie, I focus on asking questions, offering reminders and suggesting developments, while encouraging the author to fill in the detail and find the solutions that work for them.

As for the author, they need to be able to take any criticism on the chin. But they also need to remember that the editor's view is just that - a view. If after they have listened to what the editor has to say and given themselves time to digest their comments, it still feels wrong, then they should stick to their guns.

Can you give some examples of your work?

Some of the aspects of a manuscript I focus on are:

• Overall plot arc / Pacing 

JD Smith’s powerful series of short novels about the Palmyrian warrior princess, Zenobia, are fast paced and packed with action. But occasionally the early drafts fell into the trap of repeating in dialogue things that the reader already knew, or dwelling too long on passages where not much was happening.

• Use of place

JW Hicks’s dystopian novel, Rats, is clearly set in a future version of Britain, but originally in no specific location. As a fan of the TV series, The Walking Dead, I knew how much that gained from being set recognisably in a devastated Georgia. I encouraged Hicks to ground the story in a landscape she knows well – the cities, mountains and valleys of south and west Wales.

• Character development / sketched characters 

Again in Rats, the main character's love for her pet ferret leapt off the page. But I didn’t feel the same immediacy in her relationship with her lover, Striker. I pointed out a few scenes where taking us in a little deeper would draw out Bit’s feelings and engage the reader.

• Voice, symbolism 

I hugely admired the virtuosity with which Barbara Scott Emmett created the ‘historical’ documents she threaded throughout her novel, Delirium, about a lost poem by Rimbaud. But when she wrote in the voice of Rimbaud’s teenage wife, I felt she let Rimbaud (and her own?) irritation with the young woman creep in, rather than fully inhabiting her mind.

I also encouraged her to bring out the full impact and symbolism of one shocking discovery along the trail of discovery.

• Consistency over a series 

Your detective, Beatrice Stubbs, has now appeared in four novels, set in different European cities. Beatrice is a good detective, but she has certain defined characteristics and eccentricities which readers come to love. I try to spot and point out whenever she veers away from those (such as when, as a noted gourmet, her response to an invitation to dine aboard a large cruise ship was less snobby than I might have expected).

• Fact checking

I am always fairly good at spotting where facts need to be checked, and will either check them myself or suggest that the author checks. But as my mother came from the Welsh speaking family and I know Anglesey well, Gillian Hamer has had a particularly hard time from me - querying everything from geology to how to give a dog commands in Welsh!

• Sources and copyright

I am very conscious of how important it is for authors to acknowledge their sources and to check copyright for quotations etc. Copyright law, and the concept of fair usage, varies between territories, so in this age of global publishing, it is particularly incumbent on authors to ensure that they remain within the law.



One of the manuscripts I worked with in most depth was the third book in Liza Perrat’s The Bone Angel trilogy, Blood Rose Angel, the story of a midwife battling the plague in medieval France. Early drafts of the novel suffered from two problems. First, Perrat’s passion for her subject had allowed her research to get in the way of the story. Secondly, there was a structural problem with the development of the plot lines. Rather than allowing a build-up of people and circumstances ranged against her lead character, Heloise, till she reached her lowest point, Perrat was either starting at too low a point (in one version) or allowing a normal, untroubled state to continue too long (in a second).

In this case, I offered a report covering:

• Development of particular characters
• Trajectories of particular plotlines (such as the progress of the disease, the impact of the disease on village life, the attitude of the villagers to Heloise, and Heloise’s relationship with her husband)
• Use of language to suggest a historical period
• Themes and symbolism
• Structure, pace and ending

In addition, I provided a marked up copy of the manuscript with specific questions that had occurred to me as I read, ranging from consistency re use of names to historical details such as when playing cards were first introduced to Europe.


How do you approach working with a new client?

If it's a writer whose work I don't know, I like to have an initial meeting (which these days can be via Skype) so I can understand exactly what the author is trying to achieve. After that, I am happy to offer an initial assessment of a chapter or two, just to be sure that we both feel we can work together.

For fiction, I would then read the whole MS and return a report that gives both an overview of its strengths and weaknesses and in-line comments pointing to specific issues.

The process for non-fiction can be more iterative, but my initial feedback is likely to include:

• an initial map of how might be presented
• suggestions for changes to the structure
• an assessment of any gaps
• some ‘friendly challenges’ about the ideas presented

What the clients say:

Liza Perrat: Catriona did a fabulous job of restructuring the entire plot for Blood Rose Angel. From an ill-defined, wayward storyline, she established a clear and solid plot arc, defining themes and symbolism. She also pointed out inconsistencies and anachronisms and told me to “cut the historical facts and concentrate on the story."

Gillian Hamer: Catriona's input into my novels has been invaluable from the first (The Charter). She has a natural editorial eye and sees things no one else would. She is encouraging and tactful, but also matter of fact when changes are needed. Consistency, story arc, accuracy and character development are only some things I rely on her for. Even if I don't always agree with every one of her suggestions, she always makes me think.

JJ Marsh: Every one of my books has benefitted from Catriona's gentle touch. Editing can be a particular kind of hell, as if you and your Precious are being beaten, slashed and made to do sit-ups. Somehow, Catriona makes the experience painless, almost like a therapeutic massage, from which you emerge clear-eyed and relaxed in the knowledge you have a far, far better book.

JD Smith: Catriona is more than a line-editor, she really gets to the heart of your book and the crux of the emotions between characters. She spots things no one else would, and really provides and indepth evaluation of the inconsistencies and narrative issues  my books face, not to mention making me check all my historical facts!

JW Hicks: Once Rats was, to my eyes, finished done and dusted I was reluctant to change a word. But Catriona’s illuminating editing removed the scales from my eyes and made me realise that my fictional future world needed grounding, needed deepening, needed to be made  ‘realer’.
That I achieved this, is all thanks to Catriona.   

To contact Catriona about editing, send an inital email to catriona[dot]troth[at]gmail[dot]com, with the subject line Editing Enquiry and some details about your MS.
For more information, see Library Cat Editing Services. 

Triskele Talks to Author, Linda Kovic-Skow

 
Interview and Review by Liza Perrat



Linda Kovic-Skow is the author of the French Illusions memoirs: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley and its sequel: From Tours to Paris. Today I'd like to welcome Linda to the Triskele Bookclub to talk about her writing of these fascinating memoirs.




But firstly, my review of French Illusions, which first appeared on Bookmuse:

French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley is the first of two memoirs based on the diary entries of the author, Linda Kovic-Skow. Back in 1979, when she was 21, Linda yearned to become a flight attendant. But this required speaking a second language, so she chose to learn French by becoming an au pair to a wealthy French family living in a château in the beautiful Loire Valley. Thrown in at the deep end, without knowing any French, Linda struggled to adapt to her new environment, not to mention certain difficult members of the family. And when she signed up for French classes at the university, and met another student, the handsome Adam, her life became even more complicated.

As an Australian living in France, I completely identified with the author’s predicament. Arriving here to take up with the Frenchman I’d met on holiday in Thailand, without a word of the lingo, I too floundered with the language, customs and traditions, yet immensely enjoyed the food, wine and history.

I felt I was reading the author’s diary entries a she was writing them, and as I accompanied Linda on her adventures and romances, I found myself sympathizing with her problems, and celebrating her triumphs.

By the end of the first book I felt I had truly come to know the author as a person; as she was then––a young girl struggling to find her way in a foreign country. Keen for more, I immediately purchased French Illusions Book 2, From Tours to Paris; which I also loved.

Highly personal and entertaining, as well as informational, I would recommend these stories for Francophiles and young girls thinking of becoming au pairs in France, or any foreign country for that matter.

Interview with Linda...

LP: Your story is very intimate and personal, so firstly, what decided you to write about your experiences?

LKS: In 2007 after my husband and I dropped our youngest daughter off at college, I went through a sort of mid-life crisis. I missed being a mom and I wondered how I would fill the void. Something was missing—but what? This prompted me to review what I like to call my "mid-life list." This is similar to a "bucket list," but instead of exploring things to do before you die, you refocus yourself, while you’re still relatively young, and figure out the things you want to do in your fifties. My list was short.

-Learn to play the piano

-Travel to Africa to see the elephants

-Travel to Tahiti and see the island of Bora Bora

-Write a book

At the time, I didn't own a piano and, with two daughters in college, I couldn't afford a trip to Africa or Tahiti. What about the last item on my list? If I did write a book, would it be fiction or non-fiction? What genre would I choose? The answers to my questions came to me in the shower (which is where many of my ideas seem to materialize, strangely enough). I decided to hunt down my diary from my au pair adventure in France and compose a memoir. I’d told the story on numerous occasions, and the reaction from friends and family was often the same: You should write a book! Now, I finally had the time. It took me three years and countless hours to write the first book in the French Illusions Series, and a few more to write the second, but now I can scratch another item off my mid-life list.

LP: What kind of readership is your story aimed at?

LKS: The simple answer is adult women. Set in the beautiful Loire Valley, my memoir will remind older readers what it was like to be young, adventurous and filled with dreams. Younger readers will relate to the difficult decisions women make as they transition into adulthood. My hope is that both of these groups will come away from my book realizing it's not too late to create your own memories. Go out and explore the world. Life's for living, after all.

LP: You obviously kept your diaries, to write the books, but did you have to fill in many details from memory, or did you have everything written down already?

LKS: I have to admit writing my memoir was a lot more complex than I initially imagined it would be. My diary offered a great outline of the events, but I had to create the dialog from memory and fill in hard-to-find data on the Loire Valley, the Loire River and the town of Tours from 1979. Internet searches produced most of the information and travel books supplied the rest. From the beginning, difficult questions emerged, such as how to deal with the French sprinkled throughout the book, and whether or not to italicize my thoughts. Oh, and I really struggled with how much detail to include in my own love scenes. I wrote and then rewrote these scenes until I could read them without rolling my eyes.

LP: Have you been back to France since this time? If so, did you see it in a different light?

LKS: In the summer of 2001, my husband, my two girls and I spent a month traveling through France, Italy and Greece. It was a trip of a lifetime for all of us, and this time, I didn’t have to worry about running out of money! After a brief visit to the Atlantic Coast, we traveled to central France and toured many of the towns and grand castles I’d missed during my first visit in 1979 and 1980. Each time, before we arrived at our destination, we would pull out travel guides and read the history surrounding the town or castle. It was a wonderful, magical experience for all of us. We stopped briefly in the town where I had been an au pair long ago, and my stomach clenched as memories surfaced. It was a relief when we moved on to our next destination.

LP: Have you kept up your French language skills? And if so, have they been useful at all throughout your life?

LKS: After I returned to United States in 1980, I took French Classes and joined conversational French groups so I could keep up with the language. Once I married and had a family, my priorities changed and I put aside my French studies. When I returned to France with my family in 2001, I noticed how quickly the French words returned. I still treasure a conversation I had with an elderly man in Paris as we discussed the merits of his beloved city. I’ll never forget the look of admiration on my family’s faces.

LP: Can you tell us about the publication of your books? Did you take care of all the publishing aspects yourself?

LKS: With French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley, I chose to publish my paperback through a self-publishing company. They helped create my book, giving me control over design, editing, and pricing while allowing me to retain all the rights to my book. Then, I contracted with an eBook publishing and distribution company to create my eBook, which I published using my own Limited Liability Corporation called Dreamland Press. They were a good match as well because they charged a fee to create the eBook, but they didn’t take a percentage of the royalties.
This year, when I published my sequel, French Illusions: From Tours to Paris, and the French Illusions Box Set, the process moved along at a faster pace. I went directly to a formatter to create my eBooks and covers. Once I had the files, I loaded them onto the various sales platforms. For my print book, I contracted directly to a wholesale book distributer who offered print on demand.

LP: Have you any other memoirs, or fiction, in the pipeline?

LKS: There is nothing in the pipeline right now, but I have a few ideas for future books. Before my mother passed in August of 2014, I recorded four hours of her recounting her life story. She was born in the United States, but her parents took her back to Croatia as a young child, and the family endured enormous hardships during World War II. I think this would make a great historical novel. I’m also considering another memoir about my unusual childhood, something like “Growing up Linda.”

Thanks so much, Linda for answering my questions and I wish you all the best with your writing.


BIO:

Linda Kovic-Skow is a best-selling author in travel in France. Originally from Seattle, she currently winters in Gilbert, Arizona, and spends summers on a boat in the Pacific Northwest Waters of Washington and British Columbia. She earned an Associate Degree in Medical Assisting in 1978 from North Seattle Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Seattle University in 1985. She has been married for 30 years and has two daughters. An enthusiastic traveler, Linda also enjoys hiking, boating, gardening and socializing with friends. “French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley,” was her debut memoir. The sequel, “French Illusions: From Tours to Paris,” recounts the rest of her adventure in France.

Retail link: Amazon

Social Media Links:

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Meet a Translator

Alma Edith Garcia 

Bilingual/bicultural from the U.S.-Mexico border, Alma has been a translator and proofreader for the past 15 years. She is a member of The American Translator's Association, the ITI, The Society for Editors & Proofreaders, the IAPTI, and The American Literary Translators Association. She holds a Master of Arts in Translation with an editing focus is from Durham University in England and a Master of Arts in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin. Her professional experience includes working in English and/or Spanish for clients in a variety of industries in the U.S, the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Mexico. Alma did an excellent job of translating Triskele author JJ Marsh's collection of short stories, Appearances Greeting a Point of View. JJ found Alma via the translation site Babelcube and was delighted with the result. Here, Alma talks about the skill of translation.

What do you consider the essential qualifications for a translator?

Ideally, growing up bilingual and bicultural to have both languages embedded into psyche, which facilitates making semantics and syntax “decisions” when translating a text.

Having a degree in the subject and professional experience translating a broad range of topics. Every text to be translated entails researching terminology, usage, content, and lexicon in itself. The vast majority of texts will include references to several other subjects, so being familiar with sources is a must. It helps to be inquisitive and know a bit about anything and everything.

I would add that being affiliated to industry associations is a plus to be “in the know” about translation and linguistics. Such affiliations are also beneficial in that they are reassuring to current and potential clients.

What practical issues might authors overlook when working with a translator?

The best collaborations are those where the author/client is available for any doubts that may arise throughout the translation process (this rarely ever happens, but just in case).

 Do you refuse work you think is not suited to you?

I do enjoy translating texts from certain fields more than others, but will accept all texts that come my way. I see it as a chance to learn something new, and who knows? I may come across a new favourite subject matter.
 
What defines the ideal author/translator relationship?

Aside from response to question #2 above, I would say that to a translator, it is an honour to be able to convey the author’s text in another language. An ideal relationship is one where the author understands that his/her work is very important to the translator, who makes it his/hers throughout the translation process.

Can you give an example of where a translator's skill enhances the author's intent?

I would prefer not to exemplify, but can explain as follows: I would say that it is when the translator has several alternatives to choose from to convey a thought in the target language, and opts for the one that is most familiar to the reader. To translate is to ensure that a text doesn’t sound foreign to the reader.

What about examples of failures where words and meaning clashed?

There are plenty of examples like that in translated texts in journalism, social media, in books even. I think it has to do with overlooking mistakes from being in a hurry and from tight deadlines.

Why do you work with Babelcube?

I like that there are so many different genres to choose from and that it is a platform where all parties involved are approachable.

Are you a writer?

I used to have a blog about introspection and reflections about every day life that had somewhat of a following, but came to a halt to focus on translating, editing, and proofreading.

Find out more about Alma here:
http://wellwordstudio.com/
http://www.babelcube.com/user/alma-edith-garcia

To find out more about Babelcube: http://www.babelcube.com

Polly Courtney, author of Feral Youth, in conversation with Catriona Troth

This month’s guest on BookClub is Polly Courtney, author of the remarkable novel, Feral Youth, written in response to the riots that broke out across Britain's cities in the summer of 2011.  

Feral Youth is the story of Alesha – a fifteen year old from Peckham in South London, living under the radar, dodging social services, gang violence and her alcoholic mother. It's the story of why so many young British kids took the streets, of why they were so angry.

Here she talks to Catriona Troth about the origins of the book, the young people who helped to inspire her, and how the book has been received.

Polly, where were you when the riots broke out in August 2011?  Did you have direct experience of them or like most of us, were you watching them unfold on your television screens?

I was at home in west London, glued to my Twitter feed, smelling the burning police cars in Ealing. I wanted to head into town and see it first-hand but things seemed to be moving quite quickly and I knew I’d be too late to catch the action, so I headed into town the next day. It was devastating; charity shops and family stores had been reduced to burnt-out shells.

When did you first start to think, there is a side to this story that no one is thinking about?

I watched and read the news, avidly, in the days and weeks that followed the riots. Everyone was talking about harsh punishments and blame, with many people focusing on the story of Mark Duggan, whose death at the hands of the police had initiated the protest that sparked the riots… but it felt as though nobody was asking why. WHY did so many young people take to the streets across the country? I don’t mean the looters, who inevitably took advantage of the mayhem in order to get their hands on free stuff; I mean the people who stood in the street, brazenly facing a line of police, chucking things, burning things, yelling obscenities. Why were they so angry? And even if many of them were just after a new pair of trainers, why were they willing to break the law and go to such lengths to get it? It felt as though there was something deeply wrong with society and nobody was talking about the real problems.

Tell us about the research you did before you began writing the novel.  Did you already have any contact with groups like Kids’ Company, or was this an entirely new world for you?

When the riots broke out, I was already looking into becoming a mentor for a young person at Kids Company. I had heard a lot about the support they give vulnerable children and I’d read Camila Batmanghelidjh’s heart-breaking book, Shattered Lives (recommended reading for anyone working with or bringing up children), but the training and matching process takes time, so it was only later when I actually started mentoring. One of the key pieces of research I undertook was going into schools and youth groups and small charities, talking and workshopping with young people about the way they lived their lives, their frustrations and their attitudes. I learned so much more than I’d bargained for – not just about the kids but about myself too. I was horrified to realise that I’d gone in with some preconceptions of my own, presumably borne out of media stereotypes and spin. I can’t say enough how grateful I am to the teenagers who helped me to shape Alesha’s view of the world.

What you found about the lives of these young people is profoundly shocking. To me, Alesha seemed closer to some of Dickens’ characters (like Tom the crossing sweeper in Bleak House) than anything I would expect to encounter in 21^st Century London.  But this is all grounded in reality, isn’t it? What was your reaction to what you discovered?

I was horrified at what I discovered. Politicians talk as though we are ‘one big community’, an empowered nation with a highly functioning society, but we’re not. There are people who fall through the gaps and some of them have no safety net – or if they do, they often don’t know where to find it. Homelessness is a massive problem, but not in the way most people think. It’s not all about ex-military servicemen on the streets around Waterloo (although that is a huge problem too); it’s about kids who sofa-surf, existing below the radar, living one day to the next with nothing more than the £2 in their pocket and nobody looking out for them. Some sleep on night buses to keep warm. I couldn’t believe the problem was so profound and so widespread.

You originally came into writing from the world of investment banking – which is about as far from the Alesha’s world as you can get.  What do you think now of a city that can spawn two such very different modes of existence? And what do you think we need to do to change things for Alesha?

I lived a grotesquely lavish life in the City. I got cabs everywhere, I ate expensive meals and I enjoyed all sorts of ‘perks’ from my employer. We lived in a ‘bubble’; the square mile was insulated from the rest of the world by money and we really didn’t have a clue how ordinary people lived – let alone those living in poverty. I’ve only realised the extent of the problem at the other end of the wealth spectrum in the last few years, so I can’t tell whether the wealth divide has widened, but it certainly feels as though most policies being put through by the coalition favour the already-wealthy and make life very hard for those at the bottom. I don’t think it’s a party-political issue, either. It’s just that the wealthy can speak up for themselves and therefore tend to control the agenda. The poor and vulnerable typically don’t have a voice in the mainstream media or society, so they are natural victims. Something I wanted to do with Feral Youth was to give the Aleshas of the world a voice.

I believe your agent didn’t take very kindly to your idea for a new novel.  Can you tell us about how [he/she] reacted when you first suggested it?

I believe my agent’s words were: “I don’t think it’s got commercial potential. I wouldn’t be able to sell it [to a publisher]. But I have a feeling you’re going to write it anyway.”

She was right; I wrote it regardless. I’m so pleased I did.

Were you still with Harper Collins at this stage, or had you already left your publisher?

I’d walked out a few months before, but I was already a long way into planning the novel that would become Feral Youth. The riots happened around the time I left HarperCollins, so I guess you could say I was feeling reckless… or maybe I was just desperate to do things on my own terms

.

Alesha’s voice in Feral Youth is incredibly strong, and it feels utterly authentic.  But it’s quite unlike yours and quite unlike the voice in any of your previous novels.  How did you achieve that and how difficult was it to sustain?

For real, blud! Yes, it took a while to get into Alesha’s head and learn her voice and I couldn’t have done it without a bunch of south London teenagers, who had a good laugh at my expense. It wasn’t just her language I wanted to get right though; it was her attitude and all the little things: where she hung out, what she thought of politicians, teachers, social workers… what made her smile, occasionally.

How big a risk do you think it was to take on a character so far from your own experience? And what would you say now to a novelist contemplating taking a similar leap?

They say you should ‘write what you know’. Well, I guess I broke that rule, but as soon as I knew there were real-life Aleshas out there, I was desperate to share her story with the world. I wanted people to care. I’m not sure I’m qualified to advise other writers, but I would say that the most important thing you can do is to write what you care about, even if it requires some research to get it right. Authenticity is critical.

How has Feral Youth been received so far?  Are you pleased with how things have gone?

I’ve been humbled. I was truly expecting a backlash, or rather, multiple backlashes: people telling me I had no right to write Alesha’s story, people saying I’d got it wrong, people disagreeing with the political implications. In fact, I’ve seen very little of that. The most emotional I’ve felt in a long time was a week ago, when I received a message (via a charity) from a 15-year-old girl from a not dissimilar situation from Alesha, telling me that the book had left her in tears and that it was the first book she’d read cover-to-cover.

And no regrets at your decision to go indie?

Not one. I’m back in control and it has never felt better. The audiobook has just come out and my next little project is Feral Youth the movie…

You can read JJ Marsh's review of Feral Youth on the Triskele Bookclub here.

Triskele Bookclub - House of Silence by Linda Gillard

Books that don’t fit the mould always appeal to me and this one is no exception. House of Silence is a tricky book to define. It has mystery, romance, skeletons in the closet, a decrepit family manor house and a fair few emotional truths. I read it in one weekend, completely absorbed by the world the author creates.

The characters are deftly drawn, with layers upon layers of personality, and each with a distinct voice. Considering there are several scenes containing four sisters, this is some achievement. Our protagonist is also more complex than even she realises, and her journey of discovery is as much about understanding herself as it is about uncovering long-buried secrets.

Another area where Linda Gillard shines is in dialogue. The early conversations between Gwen and Alfie fairly crackle with wit and intelligence. My personal favourite was Hattie, whose butterfly monologues flit from subject to subject with flashes of colour and beauty.

The expertly paced plot is full of surprises, not least the romantic twist, and just when you think you know what’s going on, there’s another development. The damaging effects of long-distant choices reverberate down the years, surfacing in the present to upset the fragile balance.

And as with all Triskele Bookclub choices, the entire novel is suffused with a sense of place. Both the Norfolk location, with windmill, sea mists and December chills; and Creake Hall, the seen-better-days Elizabethan manor, with formal gardens and draughty attics, are beautifully realised and atmospheric. The hall becomes a character in itself.

I was initially wrong-footed by the switches in point-of-view, but once I got used to this stylistic choice, I found it an interesting way to experience incidents from two angles. Reading House of Silence reminded me of several other well-loved books, such as Cold Comfort Farm, The Pursuit of Love, Janice Gentle Gets Sexy and The Little Stranger and was a delightful way to spend a weekend.

Review by JJ Marsh



Interview with Linda Gillard

Linda, location is a key feature of all Triskele Books, why is why we chose House of Silence for our bookclub read. Personally, I think your choice of setting works perfectly as backdrop to the story. But could you tell us a little about why you chose Norfolk?

I know the area well and lived there for many years, but beyond that, I think there’s a sort of literary north Norfolk landscape that exists in the mind of the general reader: isolated, bleak, flat, with big skies and artists’ light. I wanted to write about a family who don’t communicate with each other and never have. They spend a cold, emotionally harsh Christmas together, shut away in a gloomy, decaying mansion in a Norfolk backwater. Revelations change the family’s domestic landscape for ever and light is finally let in. The north Norfolk coast seemed just the place for all that to happen.

On a lighter note, the Norfolk setting allowed my hero live in a converted windmill which provided a great contrast to the Jacobean mansion.


You clearly have an ear for dialogue and excel at characterisation. I know you used to be an actor. How influential was that?

It’s been hugely influential. I actually see myself as not so much a novelist, more a failed screenwriter! I read drama at university, went to drama school, then acted professionally for some years, so dialogue, “voice”, how they portray character are all deeply ingrained in me.

I do very little dialogue attribution. I expect readers to be able to tell who’s speaking from the way the characters talk. I’m quite fanatical about tinkering with dialogue until it sounds right, until every character sounds individual. I hate it when I read books and all the characters sound the same regardless of gender, age or class. That’s just lazy writing.

Over the years I discovered a character’s “voice” was a lot to do with rhythm – the length of sentences, punctuation, elisions, the way people truncate sentences when talking, even the way they swear. I noticed in one of my drafts that everyone was cursing in the same way. People don’t. There’s a world of difference between “Blast!”, “Blimey!” and “My giddy aunt!”


On the same topic, do you think a theatre background informed your concept of structure? There is something classical about the way House of Silence builds to the dramatic third act. 

I think my theatre background has definitely influenced how I structure novels. I even write what are known as “curtain lines” at the end of chapters! (Something pithy or surprising that makes a good “exit” from the chapter.)

I think HOUSE OF SILENCE owes something to the 19thC plays of Ibsen and Strindberg, whom I studied at university. It’s not just that all the revelations come out in the final “act”, I also give the main characters a great big “soliloquy” in which they each talk about the past and what really happened (or what they think happened.) This is very much a theatrical device and I wasn’t sure it would work in a novel, but I couldn’t see how else to unravel my complicated plot.

I was also playing around with the Agatha Christie convention of Poirot gathering everyone in the library to hear the (false) revelations/confessions before the reader gets the real solution. I knew that worked in classic detective stories, so I thought I’d use it in HOUSE OF SILENCE which owes something to the English country house mystery.

One of the things which threw me at first was the switching between 1st person point-of-view to an omniscient narrator. It’s an unusual technique. Was it a conscious choice or did it simply develop that way?

I’ve done that in all but one of my books. (In STAR GAZING I have two first person and a third person narrator.) I settled on this narrative style because I get bored writing in just first person, listening to only one voice. But equally, I think third person narration is not nearly so effective for getting readers to feel what the characters feel, see what they see. So I devised a “horses for courses” style where I use whichever narrator will best serve the bit of the story I’m telling. Describing how my heroine feels sexually attracted to someone was probably best done in the first person. But I also needed to show scenes where she wasn’t present, scenes in which members of the family talk to each other about the past. That couldn’t be done in first person so it had to be an omniscient narrator.

This switching back and forth irritates some readers and they’ve complained about it in reviews, but I think this seamless combination of first and third narrators gives me the maximum flexibility and scope. In STAR GAZING I had a congenitally blind first person narrator heroine, so much of the book was told from her blind “point of view”. Even if I could have sustained that for an entire book, readers would have got bored with the lack of visual reference. So I had another first person narrator (the blind woman’s sister) and a third person narrator. I just used whichever I thought best for the bit of the story I was trying to tell. I suppose it must have worked because that novel was short-listed for two awards and won another.


A bond develops between two characters over quilting and material. (In fact, I joined in Gwen and Alfie’s Austen game by dubbing the book Fabrics and Fabrication.) The seamstress/unpicker is powerful theme running through this story. Is sewing a personal interest or was this an area you needed to research?

I didn’t need to do any research because I’m a quilter (or used to be before I started writing full-time.) Three of my novels incorporate patchwork quilts and textiles as part of the plot and two of my heroines are textile artists. (The other two books are EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY and UNTYING THE KNOT.)

I think there’s an affinity between constructing quilts and the way I write novels. I’m sure years of designing and making quilts fed into my writing. I guest-blogged about this for another indie author, Joanne Phillips. http://joannegphillips.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/guest-post-by-linda-gillard/ 

Something I noticed were the many moving truisms about grief, behaviour, family, love and trust. I’m curious as to whether you started out with the express intention of exploring those ideas, or whether they grew out of character interaction.

I don’t think I ever write about anything else! I hope I do it with a light touch – there’s always plenty of humour in my novels ­– but all my books are about love, loss, trust, family and friendship. Something that interests me is how much damage can be done by people trying to do “the right thing”. Everyone in HOUSE OF SILENCE acted for the best, but no one could foresee the long-term consequences.

I explored this in another novel, A LIFETIME BURNING, in which the main protagonists act “for the best” with catastrophic consequences. That novel definitely showed signs of my undergraduate study of Greek tragedy! With that book I set out to write something on a grand scale, a Greek tragedy set in suburbia, written in the style of someone like Barbara Pym. It was an experiment. I didn’t have a publisher when I wrote it and I was feeling brave. I just wanted to see if you could do something almost operatic in a novel.

The structure of that book is very complex because in addition to my first and third person narrators, it’s non-chronological. The story jumps back and forth over sixty years of an extended family’s life. Some readers dismiss the structure as random, but events and information are fed to the reader in a very precise way for maximum dramatic effect. A life doesn’t generally have a good dramatic structure, so I imposed one by manipulating the sequence in which events were narrated.

There was another advantage. I could cover sixty years of this family’s life and follow Elmore Leonard’s very good advice to “leave out the boring bits.”


You’re one of a growing number of traditionally published authors who have forsaken publishing houses to go it alone. What drove that decision?

I was an award-winning, mid-list author of contemporary women’s fiction when I was dropped by my publisher a few years ago. (“Disappointing sales” was the reason given.) After two years my agent still hadn’t found a publisher for my fourth and fifth novels. Editors liked the books, but said they’d be hard to market as they belonged to no clear genre. I had a modest but enthusiastic following nagging me for a new book, so I decided to indie-publish my fourth novel, HOUSE OF SILENCE on Kindle.


And has it been successful? 

Yes, very. I hoped to sell 10 a month, maybe 10 a week if the book really took off, but I sold 10,000 downloads in less than four months. Amazon acknowledged my success by selecting HOUSE OF SILENCE as a Top Ten Editor’s Pick Best of 2011 in the Indie Author category. I’ve since published four more indie novels (two backlist, two new) and I now earn a good living from them – something I wasn’t able to do when I was traditionally published.

I’ve proved I can earn more for myself than a publisher can earn for me, but the main issues for me were creative freedom and artistic control. Two of my traditionally published novels were sunk by unappealing covers and I’d had a title foisted on me which I hated. I was asked by editors to simplify my storylines and make my heroines more likeable.

For years I was told my books didn’t belong to any genre and were therefore hard to market. I wouldn’t accept that. I embraced the genre-mix and used it as a selling point. My tag-line for HOUSE OF SILENCE was “REBECCA meets COLD COMFORT FARM” and readers have told me that made them click. Mixing genres isn’t a problem for readers, just retailers.


HOUSE OF SILENCE is the first of yours I’ve read, but I know it won’t be the last. Does location play a key factor in your other books? If so, where should I start?

I’ve lived in the Scottish Highlands since 2001 and I’ve spent many of those years living on islands – Skye, Harris and Arran. Although I’m English, I’ve carved out a bit of a niche writing novels set in the Highlands and islands. STAR GAZING and THE GLASS GUARDIAN are set on Skye, EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY is set on the remote Hebridean island of North Uist.

Location is very important to me, both as a reader and as a writer – the area, even the actual building in which the story is set. UNTYING THE KNOT is set in Highland Perthshire, in a 16thC tower house that the cracked-up ex-soldier hero has renovated as a family home. The tower house is another character in the story, in the same way that Creake Hall is a character in HOUSE OF SILENCE.

I don’t think of myself as being very good at descriptive writing – I find it very hard – but creating a sense of place is something for which I’ve been praised. I’m also interested in creating interior landscapes, eg the sensory world of the blind heroine of STAR GAZING. A few of my characters descend into delusion or madness, where they inhabit their own world. In UNTYING THE KNOT the hero suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. At the climax of the book he retreats into a private world of flash-backs. Sometimes he believes he’s on a Falklands battlefield, sometimes he thinks he’s patrolling Londonderry during the Troubles.

I was trying to create a landscape within a landscape – one that’s imagined inside one that’s real. My hope was, the sudden dislocation of place would give readers an inkling of what it’s like to suffer from PTSD, a devastating mental health condition that isn’t widely understood and for which there’s little in the way of treatment.

So if you’re interested in Scotland, landscape, family stories, romance and mental health issues, you might enjoy any of my novels.

Thanks very much for inviting me onto the Triskele blog. It’s been a real treat to answer your questions. I love talking about the nuts and bolts of writing!



LINKS

WEBSITE - http://www.lindagillard.co.uk/

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/LindaGillardAuthor
AMAZON PAGE
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linda-Gillard/e/B0034PV6ZQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
US http://www.amazon.com/Linda-Gillard/e/B0034PV6ZQ/ref=la_B0034PV6ZQ_af?rh=n:283155,p_82:B0034PV6ZQ

BOOKS

HOUSE OF SILENCE
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOUSE-OF-SILENCE-ebook/dp/B004USSPN2/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1
US http://www.amazon.com/HOUSE-OF-SILENCE-ebook/dp/B004USSPN2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1363947061&sr=1-1

STAR GAZING
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Gazing-ebook/dp/B00550O0S8/ref=pd_sim_kinc_4
US http://www.amazon.com/Star-Gazing-ebook/dp/B00550O0S8/ref=pd_sim_kstore_31

EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/EMOTIONAL-GEOLOGY-ebook/dp/B0055T357G/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1
US http://www.amazon.com/EMOTIONAL-GEOLOGY-ebook/dp/B0055T357G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3

UNTYING THE KNOT
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/UNTYING-THE-KNOT-ebook/dp/B005JTAMQO/ref=pd_sim_kinc_2
US http://www.amazon.com/UNTYING-THE-KNOT-ebook/dp/B005JTAMQO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3

A LIFETIME BURNING
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-LIFETIME-BURNING-ebook/dp/B006VOL2WE/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1
US http://www.amazon.com/A-LIFETIME-BURNING-ebook/dp/B006VOL2WE/ref=pd_sim_kstore_4

THE GLASS GUARDIAN
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-GLASS-GUARDIAN-ebook/dp/B0088CQPOM/ref=pd_sim_kinc_2
US http://www.amazon.com/THE-GLASS-GUARDIAN-ebook/dp/B0088CQPOM/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1