[Interview] Tahlia Newland

Australian writer, Tahlia Newland has worked as a high school teacher and as a dance, mime and mask performer.

She has also written novels, scripts for theatre and short stories for children and adults.

In this interview, Tahlia Newland talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

In 1997, I began writing a series of children’s stories for my daughter (then 4 years old), but I didn’t think much of them, so I stopped. When the inspiration for my present YA series hit in 2007, I started again and couldn’t stop. Scenes from the story kept leaping into my mind demanding to be written, so I wrote.

Fairly early in the process of writing Lethal Inheritance, after some positive feedback on the story by an industry professional, I realized that the story was good enough and that if I could write it well enough, then I might be able to get it published.

As time passed, I became more and more determined to make it good enough. I had put so much work into it that I didn’t want that work to be wasted. I also discovered how much I loved writing and I knew that readers would enjoy the story and love my characters as much as I do.

I wrote passionately. I studied what made good writing, mostly via the web and library books. I revised and revised. I had a manuscript appraisal and worked on the weak parts, and I developed the ability to objectively criticise my own work. I also studied the publishing industry and researched how to make submissions, write a query letter, a synopsis and so on.

I sent submissions to every agent in Australia who was open for them, and by the time I was rejected by most of them, some of the others had opened their books, so I sent submissions to them too. It was in the second round of submissions that I got my agent.

Which authors influenced you most?

Garth Nix in his Old Kingdom trilogy and Stephanie Meyer.

I loved the drama in the Old Kingdom trilogy and the way Garth used of the third person to look into the minds of a variety of characters.

Stephanie showed me how far I could go with the love story and that the beauty of keeping language simple is that more young people can read it easily.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My personal experience of working with my mind has directly influenced this series, and my interest in eastern philosophy is reflected in the world view of the Warriors and the hidden realm in which the story in Lethal Inheritance takes place.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Mind, perception, the nature of reality and dealing with emotions as well as writing well enough to do my ideas justice.

I work at improving my understanding of what makes good writing, and constantly evaluate and revise my work in the light of this.

Do you write everyday?

Yes, I write everyday unless I have finished a project and haven’t started a new one. Even then I am likely to write something for my blog or maybe play around with a short story.

When writing, I begin by re-reading what I wrote the day before and making changes where necessary, but I don’t spend too much time on it.

Then I write whatever scene is uppermost in my mind. It won’t always be what comes next in the timeline of the story.

I end either when the scene is satisfactorily completed, or when I have to eat, cook, sleep or tend to the family.

How many books have you written so far?

Lethal Inheritance is finished and my agent is in the process of sending submissions to publishers.

I have written the second drafts of the following three sequels: Stalking Shadows, Demon’s Grip and Eternal Destiny.

How would you describe your writing?

Modern day fantasy with strong urban elements.

What would you say Lethal Inheritance is about?

When demons kidnap her mother, Ariel is catapulted into a mysterious realm in a hidden layer of reality. Stuck on a rescue mission she doesn't want, she must negotiate an intriguing and unpredictable world where demons who feed on fear are hunting her, and they’re aiming to kill.

She needs help fast, but can she trust the quirky old guide who says he can teach her how to fine tune her mind into a powerful weapon? And what is this volatile energetic connection between her and Nick, her enigmatic traveling companion?

How long did it take you to write the book?

Three years, but I also did the second draft of the other three books in that time as well.

Who is your target audience?

Young Adults (roughly 14+) and Adults who like the freshness and romance of YA fantasy.

What motivated you to start writing for this audience?

My daughter was 14 when I started writing, and I love that age group; they’re funny and sophisticated but still fresh. It’s an exciting age when everything seems possible, and it’s an age when stories of empowerment are very important, especially for young women.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Lethal Inheritance?

I loved it all, but it was difficult at first to know if the idea was good enough to be worth pursuing. I was also terrified of it not being good enough, which made early criticism difficult.

I dealt with this by working at becoming a better writer and I got a well-respected industry professional to do a manuscript appraisal. When the appraisal came back with rave reviews, I had the confidence to really get stuck into it.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy it all, but I love the initial writing when you immerse yourself in the fantasy world and get to know the characters. It’s a very magical time.

I also love it when the characters surprise you and when something new comes up during the revision process.

What will your next book be about?

Stalking Shadows will tell us what happens next for our heroine Ariel and her companion, Nick as they make their way up Diamond Peak in search of Ariel’s mother and the Master Demon.

Their challenges will require them to work with overcoming arrogance and jealousy; the dividing lines between friendship, love and intimacy; sorting out allegiances and re-defining opinions.

Related articles:

• The plot thickens: children's literature not just kid's stuff, By Linda Morris, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 11, 2011
• Chapter One, Lethal Inheritance, By Tahlia Newland, April 7, 2011
• Writer Wednesday Welcomes Tahlia Newland [Interview], By Julie Anne Lindsey, Musings from the Slush Pile, December 1, 2010

[Interview] Deborah M. Plummer

Deborah M. Plummer is the author of books that include: Helping Children to Improve their Communication Skills (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011); Helping Children to Cope with Change, Stress and Anxiety (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010) and Anger Management Games for Children (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008).

Formerly a clinical lead therapist working within the NHS, Deborah Plummer now lectures at De Montfort University, Leicester and runs workshops and short courses on the uses of imagery and issues of self-esteem.

In this interview, Deborah Plummer talks about her work:

What are the common causes of stress and anxiety in the children you work with?

For the last 15 years or so of my work within the NHS I specialised in working with adults and children who stammer. Although public awareness about the complex nature of communication difficulties is certainly improving, children who stammer still often experience a considerable amount of anxiety related to their speech, sometimes to the extent that communication becomes something to fear and avoid.

Many of the children I saw for therapy were also susceptible to other sources of stress. Teasing and bullying are perhaps the most publicised of the stresses faced by children with speech and language difficulties but there are other factors such as low self-esteem, coping with difficult family circumstances, coping with change, problems with friendships, hypersensitivity to exam stress, or a drive for perfection which can cause great frustration and anxiety.

Working with these children highlighted two important points for me - that stress is an inevitable part of every child's life, although the degree to which each child will experience stress will, of course, vary; and that children are remarkable in their capacity to adapt to stress and find their true potential if they are offered appropriate and timely support.

Can you describe one of the coping techniques featured in your new book?

The main emphasis in this and my other books is on fostering mindful interactions. We need to be very aware of the impact that our own ways of communicating can have on how a child views himself and on how he views the world.

So one technique is to help children to formulate their own solutions by pointing out the little successes, capitalising on their strengths, using solution-oriented language, praising appropriately and so on.

The other main orientation of my work is imagework.

What is imagework and how does it help with building self-esteem?

We tend to live our lives guided by the internal 'images' that we create about who we are and how the world works. The term 'imagework' was created by Dr Dina Glouberman, who leads imagework training courses internationally. It literally refers to 'working with images', although it is often image 'play' rather than 'work'! I think this concept of play is especially useful when we are helping children to utilise their imagination in a constructive way.

In relation to healthy self-esteem, let's say a child has a fear of 'being on show' and getting things wrong. If I asked this child to draw a picture that would show me what it's like to have such fears he might draw a time when he has experienced the fear or he might draw an animal or an object or just use colours to represent the fear. This is a fairly common strategy.

In imagework I would then help the child to explore the nature of the image in more depth. For example, I might encourage him to make up a story about the image and its 'opposite', and to explore how someone (or something) might move from one towards the other.

When a child comes up with an image that represents how he feels about a situation, he is tapping into something that goes way beyond logical thought processes. And when he realises that he can 'play' with these images and be creative in forming new images, then he can begin to take more control.

Imagework often triggers insights and shifts in perspective which may not come through logical thinking alone.

Children are naturally imaginative - it seems a waste not to use this capacity to support their emotional wellbeing.

What do you find most satisfying about the work you do?

I am currently devoting the majority of my time to lecturing and writing.

I am enjoying the opportunity of sharing concepts and strategies learned and developed over many years of working with adults and children in a therapeutic context.

I find it immensely satisfying to be able to engage students in exploring the psychological aspects of health and illness in a wider context (I teach students on health studies and public and community health degree courses as well as speech and language therapy students).

Frequent or prolonged periods of stress and anxiety can have far-reaching effects on physical health and emotional wellbeing. Practitioners working with children, young people and families therefore need to be skilled in assessing needs, addressing stresses and promoting resilience.

Occasionally I hear from social workers, teachers or parents who have used one of my books and they tell me about a breakthrough that they have had with a child - that is incredibly satisfying for me too - I love to hear how people are adapting the work for different needs and different settings.

You are currently working on a PhD proposal involving your titles what do you hope to find during your research?

The central theme of my books is that there is an identifiable set of criteria which will allow adults to maximise the potential for effectively supporting the emotional well-being of children. My thesis will be an exploration of these elements and will include an evaluation of how people are using the books in a variety of fields.

I am designing a questionnaire which will be available on my website. I am hoping that as many people as possible will take time to respond to this. Responses will be used to examine whether or not there is a specific or 'favoured' aspect of the approaches adopted in the books which practitioners find helpful, or if there is a certain combination of factors that appeals.

What are you currently reading in your spare time?

I am rediscovering books by James Hillman (e.g. Re-Visioning Psychology) - he has influenced my work for some time and I am thoroughly enjoying devoting time to re-reading some old favourites - his work with images and his love of language and metaphor are so incredible. I find new inspiration each time I read his work.

I am also reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin - an amazing book about the humanitarian vision of one man and his belief in the power of education to promote peace. Children are our hope for a more community-minded, peaceful future - we should be nurturing their imagination and emotional well-being in every way that we possibly can.

(c) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011


This article was first published in the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter in February 2010

Related Articles:

• 40 million children live in 'healthcare deserts', By Sarah Boseley, The Guardian, July 20, 2011
• Movement teaches parents to deal with anxiety from raising children, By Pooneh Momeni, The Daily Texan, July 17, 2011
• Chris Taylor [Interview], Conversations with Writers, June 27, 2011

[Interview] Renée Sigel

Renée Sigel was born in South Africa in 1960.

She worked as a fine art columnist for a major daily South African newspaper and as an arts and theatre editor for a lifestyle magazine before political pressure forced her to leave the country in 1994.

Her work includes the poetry collection, Sexions: Selections from life and love (Bewrite Books, 2005) and the poetry chapbook, Falling Slowly (erbacce press, 2010).

Her poems have also been featured in magazines that include nthposition, Voices in Wartime, The Other Voices International Project and Sam Smith’s The Journal.

Renée Sigel currently lives in Italy. In this interview, she talks about her writing:*

When did you start writing?

I never chose to write. It's very much more a matter of writing choosing me rather than me it.

It never came to my choosing or deciding to become a published writer: it happened literally out from under me as it were. I was very young when I was first published and it felt as though it was all happening to someone else in a way and yet during this process, I became very aware that I had a distinctive, if as yet, for me, undefined relationship with language.

It all began during my second year of high school. We had an extraordinary English teacher; I found her mysterious and enigmatic and even though I wasn't aware of it at the time, I realised years later, she was like a fictional character to me even then.

One lesson she gave us a creative writing assignment: we could choose whatever we wanted as a theme and were free to write a short story, an essay or a poem.

I decided on a poem and thought I'd write about a sunrise and I thought it to be neglected in poetry, so I wrote four lines with alternate rhyming. That was it. Nothing else came to be. The poem was done and for me there was nothing else there was to say.

A couple of days later, the teacher read a selection of the creative work to the class without saying who had written what and she cleverly handed the work back to everyone shortly before the end of class. Everyone filed out at the bell and she called me to her desk as the class emptied and the only thought I had was, "What have I done wrong now" - especially as she had read my poem among the others earlier in the lesson.

She gave me back the poem then and looked at me.

She asked if I had any idea what I wanted to do with my life.

I shook my head: I'd been dancing for as long as I could recall and that aside, I had no clue.

Her already deep voice dropped in tone and she said, "Well, whatever it is you do, even should you never do anything else, do one thing for me, never stop writing because it's what you were born to do."

I was dumbstruck. I think the look on my face was an instant glaze-over: she smiled and ushered me on my way.

I believed her blindly and have been writing ever since.

Several weeks later I was asked to write some poems in English and a piece on war in Afrikaans which was published in the school yearbook and the poems in a local arts paper.

So, suddenly, there I was, writing and being published at barely 13.

How would you describe your writing?

It's difficult to describe my writing as it doesn't fit into any particular genre, even as poetry.

I seek out the experiences and essences which we tend to overlook in making us human. My work is deeply sensorial: it's fearlessly sensuous but free of sentimentality.

I am a poet before anything else and language is both a canvas and a pinsel.

My novels tend to explore the complexities of identity and self.

As a critical essayist, I question everything that seems of consequence or that captures my curiosity. Someone once told me never to abandon my critical curiosity even if it made me less famous as a writer one day: he said, "The world has too many writers and not enough thinkers who write as well as you do, never give it up, the world needs your critical mind even though it doesn't know it yet."

It was a very charming compliment. I found that notion a very interesting one and it stays with me as a mental 'post it' note about relevance.

Who is your target audience?

I don't have a target audience and I've never written with a specific kind of audience in mind.

My focus is the the topic at hand: what is being asked of me by the text/subject and how I might do it the best possible justice.

I believe a work finds its own audience and that is the way it should be.

Marketing and advertising is derived by choosing and targeting an audience. That is not my job as poet, novelist or essayist: my job is to be true to what is being asked of me in the moment of writing any given piece. My responsibility and allegiance is first and foremost with language.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

All writing, all things artistic which derive deepest meaning are autobiographical in some way: not necessarily in the literal 'documentorial' or memoir sense, but experience is a continual growth of awareness and perception and it cannot but be personal in this way.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

To be true to language and the text. To never feel mastery over craft to the point where I lose my sense of awe and apprenticeship.

I believe we strive to be masterful with language, but we never master the craft: the instant a poet believes they've become the master, the art dies and intrinsic death and vanitas is born in its place and that is no longer poetry.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Lack of time ... How do I deal with it? Insomnia helps

Do you write everyday?

This question is asked of me often and always with the same kind of expectation of its answer.

I don't believe in forcing a write on a daily basis. I know it works a charm for many writers, but it isn't something that makes any sense to me. The work announces itself and when it does, I listen. There are spates of weeks of no writing at all and then the flood gates open, inexplicably and I can be writing solidly for months at a time. It comes to me when it comes, even in novel writing.

I could sit down punctually at 9 a.m. every day with the intent to write and I may well write pages: chances are most of it would be binned and almost all of that effort feel disingenuous. So I don't.

I listen to what the the text asks of me and when a piece is done, it's very clear.

Why does the flow or inspiration - whatever one wishes to call it, end? No idea ... it just ends and one is back at the beginning and I have to start over from scratch every time.

How many books have you written so far?

A lot of my work has been published online and I am in the process of collating these into a collection of essays.

I also have recently begun The Baobab Papers, a blog where much of my poetry is published.

Online my work has appeared in nthposition, Voices in Wartime and in The Other Voices International Project, among others.

My poetry has been published in Sam Smith's The Journal, two consecutive editions of Harvest International and World's Strand: An international anthology of poetry (Edition Cicero, 2006).

Sexions: Selections from Life and Love featuring the prose poem "Hottentot Venus" was commissioned by Sam Smith and published by Bewrite Books in 2005.

I have a children's piece for Narrator and Orchestra, Tomas und der Regenbogendrachen (Tomas and the Rainbow Dragon) published on CD by Tudor Musik. It was commissioned by Howard Griffiths, conductor and artistic director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and performed at the Friends of Placido Domingo Teddy Bear Concert, a benefit concert for disabled children.

Two of my theatre pieces were published by Trinket Productions before being banned during the 80s in South Africa during the national state of emergency.

Max & Moritz went on tour in Zulu and Not the Graceland was closed down within the first week of opening.

Of Love & Remembrance, a sonnet cycle was performed in Johannesburg and Zurich as set for voice and piano.

What is your latest book about?

My latest poetry chapbook is Falling Slowly. I wrote it over several months as it was in the aftermath of losing my closest friend to suicide.

It was published by erbacce press in the United Kingdom and is available from the publisher directly.

How did you chose a publisher for the book?

I had entered a competition and they asked to see further work. They liked the work and decided to create a chapbook.

The challenge of small independent presses is always getting the word out and finding effective ways to market a collection to a new broader audience. Independent presses do not have the advantage of powerhouse marketing departments or business relationships with major bookstore chains. Now of course the dynamics begin to change with the increased interest in e-book publishing.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

Falling Slowly was particularly challenging as I was dealing with a profound loss which occurred in one of the most traumatic of ways.

I dealt with the difficulties by finding a commonality of loss we all share. We all have to find our way between loss and living and this became the theme as the work took on dimension.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

It's always the writing, the process I enjoy most. It's frustrating, maddening, intoxicating, always some kind of struggle, some degree of agony ... but it's forever my oxygen.

What sets Falling Slowly apart from other things you've written?

It's a personal memorial to a superb human being who found the pain of living with herself too great to bear and it is testament to how much a part of me she will always remain.

It also affords me the opportunity to raise funds, awareness and share something of my experiences with those who suffer from clinical depression and affords me a chance to support other families and loved ones caught in the tragedy of a suicide.

I am on a lecture tour with readings from Falling Slowly with the aim of creating a more open public conversation.

In what way is Falling Slowly similar to your other works?

It speaks of the fragility of the human mind and heart and the resilience of our common spirit and shared experiences of living with loss.

What will your next book be about?

It is an erotic exploration inspired by the very beautiful fractal art photography of an ex-artistic director of French Vogue.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

When I receive emails from a reader/readers who express their thanks to me for giving them an opportunity to read an enjoy poetry, which they never normally otherwise read and tell me they have bought/ordered a copy of a collection. That for me is pure magic: I cannot think of any other more significant achievement for any poet.

*This article is based on an email interview with Renée Sigel which took place in June 2010

Related Articles:

• Manikongo to release second album, By Simbarashe Manhango, Newsday, July 15, 2011
• Hope's Poet: Interview with Dennis Brutus, by Shirin Shirin, YES! Magazine, February 25, 2010
• Joan Metelerkamp [Interview], Conversations with Writers, December 28, 2009

[Interview] Jason Kahn

Jason Kahn lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn and works as a medical editor for a New York-based cardiology research foundation.

He is the author of works that include the e-book, The Killer Within (Damnation Books, 2009) and the blog novel, Dark InSpectre.

His short stories have been featured in anthologies that include The Best Of Gryphonwood 2007 (Gryphonwood Press, 2007); Strange Stories of Sand and Sea (Fine Tooth Press, 2008); Christmas Fear (Static Movement, 2010) and Best Left Buried (Static Movement, 2011).

In this interview, Jason Kahn talks about his writing:*

When did you start writing?

I was headed toward a journalism degree my second or third year in college, so I knew then that I wanted to be a published writer. But it wasn't until the summer after my senior year that I discovered I wanted to be a writer. I'd been reading sci-fi/fantasy books since I was a kid, and during my senior year, my then-girlfriend, now-wife, said to me, "Hey, why don't you write one of those?"

Incredible as it may seem, the thought had never occurred to me before.

That summer I started writing, and haven't stopped since.

I began by writing a couple of novels. I had no idea what I was doing and they turned out to be way too long and extremely over-written. But I slowly revised and revised, and got them pared down to pretty decent shape. But then, after several rejections, I turned to the short story market.

It wasn't until I submitted a short story to Jim Baen's Universe that I really learned the craft of writing. The comments and feedback I received there were invaluable. I learned more about writing in a few months than I had in several years. That's where I got my first (and thus far only) professional short story sale, for a story called "Devil May Care".

Since then, I have had other short stories published in various places, and am continuing to write.

How would you describe your writing?

My current writing is best classified as dark, paranormal crime fiction. It's a series being produced by Abandoned Towers Magazine called Dark InSpectre. I'm writing episodes that are posted every two weeks.

Here's the blurb for the story:

In a near-future society where 'normals' fear and mistrust those with telepathic ability, Jack Garrett leads a special police unit of telepaths with the unique talent of contacting the psychic awareness of the dead.

Seven years after solving a notorious murder spree that culminated in the killing of his best friend's daughter, Jack starts receiving visits from the murdered girl. Determined to follow her paranormal clues, Jack uncovers a web of police corruption that threatens to end his career and his life the closer he gets to the truth.

As of my writing this, there are still five episodes left in the current story arc, but they've already been written.

I've already started writing the next story arc for Dark InSpectre, which I'm very excited about.

Who is your target audience?

My target audience always starts out with myself. What story would I like to read?

Hopefully, the story matches up with other demographics.

In general, I'd say I write for people age 16 and up, since that's my general frame of reference.

Which authors influenced you most?

Many, many authors have influenced me: Raymond Feist, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Leguin, Anne Bishop, Patricia McKillip, Steven Brust, Katherine Kurtz, Sheri Tepper, Fritz Leiber, David Eddings, Stephen Donaldson, Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman, and James Ellroy to name a few.

Early on, I would say Feist and Eddings influenced me the most as I tried to write fantasy-adventures, but lately, much more Ellroy as I've been writing more noir crime fiction.

I read several detective fiction authors as I worked on Dark InSpectre ... Raymond Chandler, Peter Lovesey ... and then I read James Ellroy ... The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, and many more ... I wasn't prepared, my mind exploded ... I could not put them down ... The first-person narrative style he uses in some of his novels and the way he illuminates the darkness that dwells the souls of his protagonists is very compelling. And his prose hits you like a hammer.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

My personal life has influenced my writing in both subtle and obvious ways.

First there were a few things from my childhood. On the positive side, a young friend of mine was instrumental in introducing me to sci-fi and fantasy books, which I read avidly and which formed the foundation and reference frame from which I write.

The negative side can best be summed up by the following anecdote: One day in fourth grade, the books we ordered through Scholastic came in. The boy who sat at the desk across from me took one look at the book I had ordered and said: "Jason, you're always reading such weird stuff!"

And it wasn't in a nice way.

That book was War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. I got this sort of reaction quite a bit, and it made me somewhat self-conscious about my reading preferences, which carried over to my writing, and still does to this day.

A way in which my personal life influenced my writing in an overt way derived from my inspiration for the Dark InSpectre series. It sprang from a dream I had, which turned into the first scene of the story. It involved the psychic ghost of a dead girl leading the main character, a telepathic cop (me in my dream), into a room with four prisoners (brothers) encased in blocks of semi-translucent material.

Yes, I know, very strange dream. But more important than the actual scene was the mood. It was futuristic and very dark and brooding.

I mulled over my dream for about a month as I wound a story around it. I saw it as a cross between L.A. Confidential and the psi-core of Babylon 5. And at heart it was a hardboiled crime thriller.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern, as always, is to tell a good story, no more, no less. Whether it's a high fantasy or a dark, sci-fi piece.

An idea will pop into my head and I've got to get it out and onto paper. Sometimes it will be pretty quick, sometimes it will take much longer.

It usually starts with the all-powerful "What If?" question. Then I flesh it out, saying, "Wouldn't it be cool if this happened?", "And then that?"

Pictures form in my head, and I try and relate them as faithfully as possible through words.

Each story is different, but the goal is the same. To provoke that indefinable wow! by the end of it. To transport the reader for a brief time and take them on a journey, whether to somewhere dark and scary or bright and airy, and to give them a hell of a ride while they're there.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

I'd say the biggest challenge is finding the time. Both to write and to just think about a story, to work it out in my head. I'm a news editor by day, and my job is extremely busy. I'm also a husband and father of two boys in elementary school.

I'll write whenever I can, but long stretches can go by during which I'm not writing. It can be very frustrating.

I go on business trips about four times a year, and I find that I can get a lot of writing done on the plane if I'm traveling by air. It's great getting a few hours of uninterrupted writing time during a flight.

Sometimes the writing itself can be hard. Not the "big scenes," those are usually pretty well thought out. It's the little scenes, the transitions, the mundane stuff. That can be extremely hard for me to write.

Do you write everyday?

I don't write every day. I wish I could, but time unfortunately does not allow. I write whenever I can.

A session will start with me at my computer, either at home or somewhere else (like with my laptop at my older boy's karate practice, for instance) and me typing away.

I'll review the last section I wrote and try and push on.

Either I've got the scene worked out already, or I have to muddle through, seeing where the story leads.

I'll stop when I have to due to time constraints, or if I'm at a natural breaking point.

How many books have you written so far?

A short story of mine, The Killer Within, was released in September 2009 as an e-book by Damnation Books. It is a paranormal crime thriller.

In terms of other fiction, the Dark InSpectre series is currently running, as mentioned above.

In addition, I have a fantasy short story, "Cold Comfort", coming out in the print version of Abandoned Towers Magazine in May 2010.

How would you describe The Killer Within?

For The Killer Within, here's the blurb:

When Metro City's number one crime family develops a drug that turns ordinary people into mindless assassins, detective Frank Arnold makes it his mission to bring them down. But things take a turn for the worse when the syndicate targets someone in the police department to carry out their next hit. Everyone's under suspicion, including Frank himself as he tries desperately to crack the case before his time runs out, permanently.

I chose the publisher because the story seemed like a good fit in terms of the genres Damnation Books was interested in. The whole electronic book concept, though, is pretty new to me.

The Killer Within is not available in print. It's solely an e-book that can be purchased from Amazon and a whole host of other e-book distributors. But do people really buy or read short stories as e-books? I honestly have no idea. I thought it was worth a try and was an interesting avenue for my work.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The only difficulty was finding the time to write, same as with any of my stories. Most of the time I deal with this by writing after my kids go to bed.

Unfortunately, this makes for some very late nights.

The Killer Within predates the Dark InSpectre. It represents my first foray into noir, crime fiction. I found it immensely enjoyable to get into the hardboiled detective mood and voice. I can't really explain it, it's just a lot of fun to write in that genre.

What sets the e-book apart from other things you've written?

Most of my writing has been fantasy or science fiction. The speculative element in The Killer Within barely qualifies as sci-fi. It's almost purely a crime fiction story.

The Killer Within is similar to the Dark InSpectre in that they're both hardboiled crime stories, but the Dark InSpectre is darker with a much more sci-fi angle.

What will your next book be about?

I have many other short stories on submission that I'm waiting to hear back about.

I can say, though, that the next story arc for the Dark InSpectre will involve a direct threat to Jack's unit and a drug that only affects telepaths.

*This article is based on an email interview with Jason Kahn which took place in June 2010.

Related articles:

• Interview with short story writer Jason Kahn, Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews, June 21, 2011
• Guest Interview: Jason Kahn, By Kelly A. Harmon, Moving on to Fiction, June 14, 2010
• Interview with Jason Kahn, Lily, October 16, 2009
• Blog Novels [Lists], Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2008

[Interview] Jen Bee

Jen Bee studied Creative Writing at a university in Wales.

On her personal blog, she describes herself as a "recovering student, future tea shop owner, practising telepathy by staring at blank pages."

She is the author of Sally Carter, a blog novel that follows the life and adventures of Sally Carter and Detective Hood.

In this interview, Jen Bee talks about her writing:*

When did you start writing?

Thursday 20th February, 1994 at 3:09pm ... No, I've been making up stories as long as I can remember, though only a few made it onto paper at first. It was just something I did, that and reading.

As I grew older the stories I read grew longer and so did those I thought up, which I then started to write down.

What made you want to get your stories published?

I wanted to write books like those I read, long before I understood what publishing meant. This is probably a good thing or I may have become too overwhelmed to go on. Now it's too late, I love writing, wherever it takes me.

I'm still going about reaching that end, working towards finishing stories, and next year, my final year of studying creative writing at uni, my modules will include E-publishing and Writing & Publishing 2.

I write and submit short stories to competitions and magazines and online. My current project is a blog-story, which I start posting from the June 1, 2010. It'll be updated fortnightly with short fiction, mostly, and some interviews, news stories, recipes, etc. too.

How would you describe your writing?

In general terms, the blog-story is a fantasy-detective series, hopefully quirky, humorous, and fun. As is my other stuff.

My aim is for it to be enjoyed predominantly by young adults, but also to be accessible to younger readers (my sister, 12) as well as older.

Which authors influenced you most?

Tolkien. Exactly how is a bit fuzzy, but I love The Lord of the Rings - to read, not write.

More recent influences include Neil Gaiman and Jasper Fforde, because they seem to just go ahead and write what they want without worrying about being too wacky, as I used to.

Have your own personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

I dread to imagine ... I'm sure my mum will spot something.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Currently, finishing uni. One thing at a time.

So far I've learned it can be a scary world out there for writers, so I hope to learn as much as I can before wandering into it.

Do you write everyday?

Yep. Notes, e-mails, Tweets ... Writing is writing and you never know where you may bump into an idea.

I do story writing too, mostly for assignments at the moment, and soon I'll have my blog story to keep up with.

I keep no schedule. If something needs finishing, I do nothing else until it's done, not even Doctor Who. When I'm not writing, I'm thinking of things to write, characters, ideas, stuff to change. Usually not on purpose.

How many books have you written so far?

Nothing finished yet. The aforementioned assignments take priority for another year.

My current project, which I'm publishing online in a blog, follows a Detective (Hood) on a slightly magical island, and a writer (Sally) who sometimes assists him. I'll be writing it as I go or else I'll never get started.

There have been no great difficulties so far. However, while this project kicked off a couple of years ago, it is really only now beginning.

Which aspects of the work you are putting into the project do you enjoy most?

Unexpected ideas. Writing. Happy feedback, because it's always good to have anything you've done appreciated.

What sets the work apart from other things you've written?

The style is similar to another project, which follows two adventurers trying to make a living, but the Hood and Sally stories are on a much smaller scale and, come to think of it, probably a bit darker too.

Also, I have a bunch of other ideas, similarish action-adventure-fantasy-comedy, different characters/worlds/etc.

Started a romance once, for an assignment, an adventure-romance, interesting experience, may look at it again one day.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I'll get back to you.

*This article is based on an email interview with Jen Bee which took place in May 2010

Related articles:

• New crime novel co-written by 26 authors, By Alison Flood, The Guardian, July 5, 2011
• Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature, By Lev Grossman, Time, January 21, 2009
• Blog Novels [Lists], Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2008

[Interview] Wilf Morgan

Wilf Morgan lives in Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

His books include a novella, That Time in Honduras (Eighty8Tales Press, 2009) as well as the novels, The Assassin’s Wedding (Eighty8Tales Press, 2008); The Cotton Keeper (Eighty8Tales Press, 2007) and Lost Angels (Eighty8Tales Press, 2006).

He is also the author of Dead Heroes, a free online serial that he publishes through the Eighty8Tales website.

In this interview, Wilf Morgan talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

Although I can’t remember when I actually started writing, I do remember some of my first stories being Star Wars tales featuring the figures and toys I owned at the time ...! There was one about Han Solo and Luke Skywalker flying the Millenium Falcon to the end of the universe where the stars stopped or something. And another about Luke and Darth Vader crashing on a deserted planet and being stuck together (I think Darth had actually hit his head and gotten amnesia so forgetting he was the baddie). Random stuff like that! So, yeah, pretty young, I think is the answer ...!

I decided from a very young age that I wanted to become a published writer – but the problem with that is you go through years thinking it’s really easy. All you have to do is write a full-length book. So I did this, expanding on a story I’d done in class called "The Year 2200". It was very long and written on various different types and styles of paper (this was the early 80’s – no home word processing yet!). And it was also a total Star Wars clone! (no pun intended). By the time I finished it, I was 10 or 11 – and I realised it was nowhere near good enough to be published. So I 'archived' it (in the attic) and started again on something else.

A few twists and turns aside, I’ve pretty much gone through that entire cycle several times until I got to what I consider my first 'proper' book in my mid-20s – Lost Angels. Unable to get it published (through the long and difficult 'sending to Literary Agents' process), I printed it myself (initially via Lulu.com) and sold it myself. I did the same with The Cotton Keeper, That Time in Honduras and my most recent printed work The Assassin’s Wedding.

This all ended up becoming a full-fledged self-publishing venture called Eighty8Tales Press behind which I put most of my ‘publishing’ efforts. I would still like to be published by a big publishing house but I’m happy doing self-pub for the time being. (It’s fun doing my own covers!)

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

My current work Dead Heroes is generally described as a thriller. But it has some extra-genre dimension to it that makes it harder to classify if you’re wanting to be more accurate.

Because I initially was a big sci-fi fan, all I wanted to write was science-fiction. I soon found that this limited the number of agents who I could send work to and so I expanded into crime (the genre, not the activity!) and general thrillers. So Lost Angels and The Assassin’s Wedding are in the same boat as Dead Heroes – they’re all thrillers ‘but’…

Dead Heroes is basically a modern-day Robin Hood story. Being from Nottingham, I’ve always wanted to do a Robin Hood story but since there are, like, a thousand of these (and mostly quite similar), I had to wait until I had a really good idea in order to make it worth doing – and, hopefully, unique.

Without giving away too much of the plot, it basically deals with Robin Hood and The Sheriff of Nottingham landing on modern-day Nottingham and continuing their centuries-long battle against each other. Ultimately, Nottingham – and perhaps the rest of the country – find themselves both prize and casualty in this war. On the one hand, it’s just this personal battle between these two individuals, whereas on the other hand, the battle contains concepts and ideals that affect everyone on the planet.

I try hard to balance the high concepts with some good old fashioned action (car chases and gun battles being the currency of choice!).

Who is your target audience?

I’m not entirely sure who my target audience is with any of my stuff – another obstacle to selling myself to literary agents!

Dead Heroes – like my other works – are simply meant as stories to be enjoyed by anyone who likes to get lost in a good yarn. I like to include some kind of concept or question to spice up the proceedings (in Dead Heroes that includes things like: what is the true nature of freedom, how much freedom would you be willing to sacrifice for less crime, etc). And I also like action and drama.

So, I suppose, anyone who likes thinking about some interesting ideas that might touch on their lives but also get swept into a good tale at the same time – that’s my target audience!

Which authors influenced you most?

I have very little influence from any authors – that’s not to say I don’t like any. I get inspired by certain people’s approach but not necessarily their style.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Only as mentioned previously – I originally moved away from sci-fi out of what I saw as necessity for improving my chances of finding a literary agent. In the end, this proved a fortuitous move as it opened the path to this more ‘genreless’ type of story I like to tell. Now, although this has probably actually harmed my saleability, it has made me tell more interesting stories, I believe.

But with the advent of affordable self-publishing, this is fine as it still gives me the ability to get my stuff out there.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The main challenges for me are simply forcing myself to write something every day. With all the other demands on my time – looking after kids, housework, day job – it’s all too easy to flop down in front of the TV at the end of the day and switch my brain off!

Related to that, I’d say forcing myself to write when what comes out is rubbish! You always want your stuff to be perfect and sometimes it’s just total trash. But if you force yourself through and keep churning out the trash, you can go back to it and make it better later. If you stop and produce nothing, you’ve just got the same problem facing you next time! Always a million times easier to write rubbish and brush it up than to write nothing and just get stuck.

Do you write everyday?

Dead Heroes has been good for me because it’s a weekly serial – so I’ve had to get into the habit of writing most days. Sessions are pretty much "power through, go back and re-write and enhance". It’s the same as when I’m writing a full novel except the cycles are extremely compressed with much less procrastinating!

A writing session usually ends when I have to go to bed!

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written four books so far, not including Dead Heroes. They’re all under the Eighty8Tales banner. They are;

• That Time in Honduras (2009) – A novella and prequel to The Assassin’s Wedding. It’s part action thriller, part love story and leads the reader right up to the start of The Assassin’s Wedding novel. It’s a story of love and revenge. Also, some pigs.
• The Assassin’s Wedding (2008) – A darkly humourous thriller about an assassin, Mike Shepard, who – against his own rules – falls in love and proposes. The story tells of the week leading to the wedding as Mike wrestles with whether he should come clean to his fiancée about his vocation. The week is made harder by missing persons, another assassin and a private eye with a penchant for flavoured vodka. Sometimes, Mike reflects, it’s all you can do to survive the happiest day of your life.
• The Cotton Keeper (2007) – A novella set in Sierra Leone in 1999 – the last days of the civil war. Femi is a young chimpanzee who is tired of hunting for food to feed his starving tribe. He embarks on a mission to find the mythical Cotton Keeper in the hope she will use her great wisdom to lead him to a place where he can live in well-fed and selfish isolation. Things never go so easy, though, as Femi comes into contact with the dreaded ‘Big-Walkers’ and their baffling conflict…
• Lost Angels (2006) – This is a dark and gritty crime thriller set in a fictional town called Lost Angels. Daniel, looking for somewhere to escape the hell his life had become, finds the off-the-map town. It’s run by a violent mix of criminals and politicians. Daniel rises through the ranks in a self-appointed mission to save the town from the corruption that oppresses its inhabitants – all the while ignoring the corruption in his own soul that led him to Lost Angels in the first place…

What is your latest book about?

Dead Heroes is a fixed-length serial updating weekly. It tells the story of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham arriving in modern-day Nottingham. They continue their centuries-long battle, each fighting to save us from the apparent tyranny of the other. It’s a battle of law and order versus freedom. Unfortunately, it appears that the very people each side hopes to save are also the ones they are willing to roll over in their quest for victory.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

Probably the most difficult obstacle in writing this book is simply the fact that it’s about Robin Hood – this is a topic that has been done to death and back. How on earth do you find an original angle?

I’m a firm believer that there’s always a way to achieve any particular creative angle, you just have to procrastinate long enough to come up with it! In the end, I think I have done just that but only reactions and comments from readers will tell me if I was right.

Without giving too much away, I tried to look at ways the original Robin Hood ideas could be extrapolated through the filter of modern-day concerns. In the end, the clash between freedom (Robin Hood’s eternal calling card) and controlled law and order (and extrapolation of much of The Sheriff’s traditional antics) seemed to offer a good deal of drama as well as topical relevance. Exactly what freedoms are we willing to give up in order to live in a safe, crime-free society?

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

This is the first time I’ve used characters and situations that I have not made up. It’s almost like writing fan-fiction except I’ve tried to take the originals and build new issues on top of the existing ones in order to give it its edge. But the fact I’ve had pre-existing concepts to start with makes things very different and a lot of fun!

What will your next book be about?

I haven’t decided yet – I have a few ideas.

I might do a short story collection.

I’m keen to write another story set in Sierra Leone as that is where my family is from. It certainly won’t be examining the violence and misery of the civil war, though. I touched on that with the Cotton Keeper but there are also many more brilliant books on this topic than I could ever write. But setting something fun and entertaining in Sierra Leone might be something a little more interesting and new.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Writing four books!

Actually, I’d say producing some significant piece of work every year since 2006. It certainly keeps me busy and it always helps people take you seriously as a ‘new’ writer if they see you’ve actually got a body of work behind you.

Related articles:

• Amanda Hocking, John Locke: poster children for self-publishing success?, By Husna Haq, The Christian Science Monitor, June 21, 2011
• Wilf Morgan [Interview], By Jamie Rhodes, LeftLion Nottingham Culture Magazine, October 16, 2009
• Reading, Writing and Self-Publishing: What's Your Experience of It?, Conversations with Writers, April 13, 2007

[Interview] Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor is registered manager of a residential home and a company trainer. He works with young people with attachment difficulties and delivers training on the subject to foster carers, social workers and residential childcare workers.

He is the author of A Practical Guide to Caring for Children and Teenagers with Attachment Difficulties (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010).

In this interview, Chris Taylor talks about his work:

How did you first become involved in working with children and young people with attachment difficulties?

I had a 15-year career in industry and, having worked through two recessions, I was feeling a bit jaded with commerce. A broken hip from a cycling accident gave me time to think about my future. My own children were young teenagers, and I believed I had something to offer adolescents, and that I would be motivated and rewarded.

I found a job as a 'house a parent' (it's 20 years ago, language was different) in a therapeutic community. I don't think I really knew what I was getting into. The model of working was psychodynamic, but attachment wasn't the dominant paradigm. Many of the children in the community had been severely neglected or abused. They were often traumatized and struggling to find an internal representation of safety. All this was then acted out in desperate and often self-defeating attempts to resolve their insecure past.

I'd read [John] Bowlby's work in the late 60s and I, as I began to explore ways of understanding the troubled and vulnerable children in the community, I began to think more deeply about how their attachment pattern was deeply intertwined in their difficulties and their presenting behaviors: their developmental pathway.

How does understanding attachment help childcare and social workers?

I think we have to caution against suggesting that an individual's attachment is a catch-all for their current condition.

Development is a pathway, and each individual is where they are because of a huge and complex array of innate and environmental factors acting on each other. However, that basic biological drive to be close to the primary caregiver for safety, comfort and reassurance is a powerful mechanism in an individual's early development. Although initially the attachment relationship is a descriptor of the dyadic relationship between child and caregiver, as the child becomes older, the pattern of attachment becomes increasingly an aspect of their individual functioning.

Our attachment history affects us all, and children who have had sub-optimal early care are likely to be anxiously attached and to carry this anxiety as a self-fulfilling prophecy into other relationships, developing behavioral coping mechanisms that may make them difficult to care for. If the caregiver is also frightening, the child cannot organize their coping strategy in a coherent way. Such a child presents a huge challenge to be adequately cared for.

Understanding attachment allows professionals charged with this task to unpack the child's adjustment and work out ways of responding to the child that answers their attachment need and switches of the child's self-defeating behaviors. Understanding caregivers' attachment history can give us insight into the kind of support they may need to adequate parent a trouble child.

Would you be able to tell us about your work in a therapeutic unit?

For the last 10 years, I have managed a four-bedded therapeutic unit. In that time, every child who has been resident has had some degree of attachment difficulty. The children (or young people) may access individual psychotherapy, but, helpful though that can be, therapeutic means something more than that.

The model is one of supporting and enabling development whilst challenging maladaptive coping mechanisms. We promote a holistic, planned environment that provides a secure base for the child to explore their past and current relationships in the here and now. Working as a symbolic attachment figure, the staff team provides the sensitive attunement to enable the child to begin to use information from both emotions and cognition in a flexible way, to gather a coherent understanding of their attachment history and gradually possess 'earned security'.

We also think about the staff's needs from an attachment perspective. The children we care for challenge the secure representations of their caregivers; support needs to be matched to the internal pressure exerted on the caregiver by the child's coping mechanisms. Adult attachment models provide a powerful framework for doing this.

What developments have been made in the area since you first started working with children with attachment difficulties, and what is your hope for the future?

Many foster-carers, residential workers and social workers are now hugely interested in attachment theory, which has become one of the foremost paradigms in child development. It is now more common to see at least an attempt to think about the child's current experiences in the light of their attachment pattern.

I think some fostering agencies have gone a long way in thinking about both the foster child's and the carers' attachment styles when trying to make placements. I also now see more placement decisions in residential care where the child's attachment needs are mentioned, but there still seems to be little serious thought about what to do with this. What this means is that there is often a description but little idea what may help, perhaps a vague idea that something therapeutic is required.

I'd hope that in the future we may continue to develop holistic, psycho-social models for promoting recovery; children develop anxious attachments in their first relationships, recovery takes place in supportive and enabling relationships and social environments.

I also hope that the resources careful and effective work requires are forthcoming; social area budgets are going to be under pressure, but these children deserve a chance to have useful and fulfilling lives.

What are you currently reading in your spare time?

I like to have two or three books on the go for spare time reading, and often my leisure interest reading rubs up against my work.

I'm currently reading Bedlam: London and its mad (Catherine Arnold). As well as unraveling historical social constructions of madness, it's an engaging social history from mediaeval to recent times.

I'm also reading Jarheads (Anthony Swofford), the author's account of living through the fear and boredom of the first Gulf War, and Opening Skinner's Box: great psychology experiments of the twentieth century (Lauren Slater). The experiments are familiar, but Ms Slater writes about them in a way that makes you think you were part of them.

(c) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011

This article was first published in the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter in January 2010

Related articles:

• How to build life skills for a lifetime: what the evidence says, By Deirdre Croft, Social and Emotional Development Blog, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), June 23, 2011
• What would Carl Jung make of 2011?, By Mark Vernon, BBC News Magazine, June 6, 2011
• Rhidian Hughes [Interview], Conversations with Writers, May 25, 2011

[Interview] Pam Inder

Leicester-based writer and former museum curator and university lecturer, Pam Inder is the co-author of seven books.

The books, which she wrote with Marion Aldis, include:  

• The 1844 Diary of John William Sneyd: Muskets and Mining (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1996);  
• John Sneyd's Diary 1815-1871: Thirty Pieces of Silver (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1998);  
• Finding Susanna (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2002);
• Susanna's Cookery Book: A Culinary Adventure in Staffordshire (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2003);  
• Finding Ralphy (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2006), and  
• Staffordshire Women: Nine Forgotten Histories (History Press, 2010).

In this interview, Pam Inder talks about her writing:

How did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t really have much choice about writing – I worked as a museum curator and writing catalogues, articles in journals etc was very much part of the job! However, the sort of writing I now do came about rather differently.

Back in the early 1990s, I did an MA in English Local History and became friendly with one of my fellow mature students, Marion Aldis, who was very interested in 19th century diaries. Some months after we finished the course – by which time I was working at Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent – I helped a colleague with a local history project she was doing with a group of students which involved them in looking at original documents.

One of the sets of documents they were given to work on was a collection of diaries (in Keele University Special Collections Library). The students hated them – they were quite difficult to read – so I spent quite a lot of time helping them with that part of the project and realised that the collection was actually enormously interesting – and no-one else was studying it. I contacted my friend – and we embarked on what became a 12-year project tracing the history of these North Staffordshire diarists. Fortunately for us they were an eccentric, quarrelsome bunch so their lives made interesting reading ...(I can talk about this at length!)

Fairly soon we realised that the material was worth publishing and set about looking for a publisher. We wrote to a number of national publishers – none of whom were interested – then we heard about a publisher (now retired) in Leek and he published five books for us based on the diaries.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

We write ‘popular history’ – for people who are interested in the same sort of things that interest us – the everyday lives of ordinary people, especially women, in the 19th century.

We both read a lot of history but I’m not sure there are many direct influences on our work. In some of our books – notably Finding Susanna, we incorporate quite a lot of the story of our research projects and our personal stories. Research is a form of detective work and the way we uncover information can sometimes be quite quirky.

We also have a lot of fun – we are both married women, not as young as we’d like to be, and going off on research trips together is very enjoyable, very different from the lives we lead as wives and mothers.

What are your main concerns as writers?

I suppose our main concern is, first of all, to do our research properly. What we write is always as factually historically correct as we can make it. The second concern is to try to make our subjects come alive – without relying too heavily on our imaginations. And the third is to write in a lively, approachable style. So much modern history is written in jargon.

Writing as a pair does help – we are quite critical of each other.

Do you write everyday?

I, personally, don’t have any particular process for writing. I’m busy – I write when I have the time, while dinner is cooking, while the kitchen floor is drying – whatever. I certainly don’t write every day.

How many books have you written so far?

• The 1844 Diary of John William Sneyd: Muskets and Mining (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1996) 144pp. Transcript of the diary with an introduction and a lot of illustrations.
• John Sneyd’s Diary 1815-1871: Thirty Pieces of Silver (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 1998) 264pp. Edited transcripts of some of his 50+ diaries with chapters describing the major events of his life. He was a clergyman who lost the family fortune in ill-advised mining speculations, had a fellow clergyman imprisoned for slander, quarrelled irrevocably with his eldest son. He was a charismatic, able, but deeply flawed man.
• Finding Susanna: the Story of Mrs Susanna Ingleby, née Sneyd 1831-91 (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2002), 379pp. A biography based on her diaries. The most colourful event of her life was that she married in 1860 to an abusive husband and left him after a mere six weeks. Thereafter she was a social pariah and ended up as housekeeper to her widowed brother (the one who was estranged from their father) bringing up his only child, her nephew, who grew into an extremely strange and eccentric adult. She was, however, the only member of the family who was remotely capable of managing money, and she spent her time bailing out impecunious relatives – including her youngest brother who was a clergyman who impregnated a teenage aidservant and was the subject of a Consistory Court hearing.
• Susanna’s Cookery Book: A Culinary Adventure in Staffordshire (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2003) 128pp. A collection of Susanna Ingleby’s recipes together with comments from local people (some of them her descendants) who tried the recipes out for us.
• Finding Ralphy (Churnet Valley Books of Leek, 2005), 288pp. The biography of Susanna’s nephew. He had a private museum, was a self-styled Knight of the Round Table, became Chief Druid for Staffordshire, conducted eccentric religious ceremonies in his private chapel, was a competent artist and a truly appalling poet – and totally eccentric.
• Staffordshire Women: Nine Forgotten Histories (History Press, 2010), 126pp. Very much the same sort of thing as I’ve described for Norfolk Women. Subjects included a pottery paintress, an heiress who endowed a school, a nail mistress, a housekeeper in a stately home and a factory owner.
• Our 7th book, Nine 19th Century Norfolk Women (title not yet decided) goes to press at the end of next month. To be published by Poppyland in 2011

How would you describe your latest book?

The current book is about 19th century Norfolk women and it takes the form of nine single-chapter biographies of ordinary women who led successful lives within the parameters of their social class. None of them are in any way famous – we aim to shine a spotlight on the lives of ordinary people. One was a governess who went to the Ukraine, one was a lighthouse keeper, one a fishmonger, one the matron of a lunatic asylum, one a farmer, one emigrated to Canada – and so on.

How long did it take you to write the book?

Its always hard to say how long something takes. The research for each chapter probably takes about a month – or it would if you could work at it consecutively – but that’s not how research pans out.

We got the commission for this book in October and it goes to the publisher at the end of July – but we’d already done some of the work in another context. So you could say it took 10 months – or three years – or twenty years if you include learning how to do what we do!

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

Poppyland, our publisher specialises in books on Norfolk which is why we chose him – but in the real world publishers do the choosing, not authors. The only disadvantage so far is that he is based in Cromer which is rather a long way away – time will tell what other (if any) disadvantages present themselves when he actually gets the mss!

What were the most difficult aspects of the work that went into the book?

There are always all sorts of difficulties – for this particular book we have had to discard several of our subjects either because someone else was working on them or because their descendants didn’t like us writing about them, for example.

My biggest difficulty probably this time was finding illustration of a particular small town in the Ukraine – you’d be amazed how difficult that was.

You deal with problems as they crop up - they are all different so there’s no simple answer.

What would you say has been your greatest achievement as a writer?

Single biggest achievement? Well, I suppose getting fairly esoteric material published at all was quite clever – let alone having (so far) had three separate publishers.

Most of the people we studied with write and do research – few of them have published.

Related articles:

• Summer Reading Challenge, Tamworth Blog, June 22, 2011
• Four must-read local history books - if you can find them, By Chris Upton, Birmingham Post, January 30, 2011
• Brian Wainwright [Interview_1], Conversations with Writers, February 1, 2008

[Interview] Max Gladstone

Max Gladstone lives, works, and writes in Cambridge, MA. He is the author of several novels which include Three Parts Dead, which is currently out on submission.

His short stories have been featured in magazines that include Space Westerns and On The Premises as well as in the anthology, The Book of Exodi (Eposic, 2009).

He also administers the blog Two Guys, Three Hundred Poems, where he publishes and comments on translations of the anthology of Tang poetry known as the 300 Tang Poems.

In this interview, Max Gladstone talked about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I began writing before I actually knew how to put letters together -- just a bunch of scratches filling my parents' old notebooks, one line at a time -- but if you mean writing stories, it started with a very simple vampire story typed out on an old suitcase Remington in my closet at the age of five or six.

From there, it was a short skip and a jump to wanting to be a published writer: I realized as soon as I started reading books that were worth remarking upon that I wanted to respond to the ladies and gentleman I had read, and the best way to do that was to write books of my own.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

In terms of genre, I write mostly in what John Crowley would call the genres of romance: science fiction and fantasy, with a bit of mystery thrown in.

I'm concerned about the degree to which American fantasy fiction concerns itself with the same issues as English fantasy fiction. It seems to me that we should be trying to do something different, and I've been trying to reach towards that.

I've spent the last year or two reading a lot of American fiction and trying to develop the voice in my writing. It's a very strange exercise, something like practicing Taiji Quan, where you have to be very conscious of the words you're writing and what they mean.

Who is your target audience?

I try to write for all intelligent people who like awesome stories.

Roger Zelazny has been an immense influence since I was a child, and a lot of my initial sense of the poetry in speculative fiction comes from him.

I also loved LeGuin's Earthsea books; her dragons are some of the best realized creatures (monsters? beasts? people?) in fantasy.

John Crowley's Little, Big has also molded the way I see fiction, though I didn't discover that particular masterpiece until college.

Recently, I've found non-genre authors the most moving and influential: Mikhail Bulgakov, Salman Rushdie, and Toni Morrison on the slightly slipstream side, and [William] Faulkner and John Steinbeck on the more traditional side.

East of Eden and Absalom, Absalom are particularly amazing, though in different ways.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Every writer is shaped by his personal experience, whether he admits it or not. I try to avoid directly copying events from my life into fiction, but my experiences in Asia (I lived in China, traveled in Mongolia, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan), and my travels in Europe and out west in the United States as a child gave me a wealth of experiences that are endlessly valuable in my work.

Bits of truth about life in China, and about the history of suffering there, show up from time to time in my work that's not set anywhere near China, for example. Certainly my sense of the pleasures and occasional torments of village life come from my experiences in China, and my students' discussions.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern, honestly, is that it's quite difficult to make a living as a writer, and that in the context of a full-time job I won't find time enough to get serious work done. So far I've tried to fight that with a rigorous writing schedule, and had some success.

My biggest challenges arise when the obligations of life get in the way of doing real, capital-W work, without being a huge loser to my family and friends. As far as challenges go, these are pretty simple, I guess.

I once met a farmer in rural China who made 100 kuai a month (about $12.50) from his crop; I said that seemed a very small amount and he said it was fine, that he made a lot less during the Cultural Revolution. He's been through challenges far greater than any I've faced in this life, and there are still tons of people in the world worse off than him.

Do you write everyday?

I write every day, though I don't have a set habit. I have an extremely portable word processor (an AlphaSmart Neo, if you're interested), that I carry with me while I'm writing, and if I have a few minutes I sit down and slam out a few sentences, a paragraph, a thousand words. The one-track mind is a great help to me there.

I've written several novels, one of which I'm submitting to agents as I write this; none of these have been published, though I have published a handful of short stories in small presses and magazines in the last two years: one short story of espionage and assassination, one about a group of Martian rebels, one about a dream-space-Viking invasion of Miami, and one about the travails of a Chinese doctor who discovers the secret to re-animating the dead (some of the time), all of which are linked off my website.

This year I'll be collaborating with Alana Abbott on a serial novel about fairy politics, gladiatorial combat, and political rebellion called Blood and Tumult, which should start appearing in fall on Baeg Tobar.

What is your latest book about?

My latest book is a sort of legal procedural with necromancers; it took me the better part of six months to write, and is currently in the submission stage of its life.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The query letter and plot synopsis were the most difficult parts of the writing process, though I did finally get the hang of them.

Essentially, you have to distill the book you've written to a few sentences. The problem is, if you could represent adequately your book in those few sentences you wouldn't have written a book, you'd have written flash fiction. So then you think about it as an exercise in marketing and flash fiction, and it's (mostly) okay. Of course, the success of that method remains to be seen -- fingers crossed!

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy writing the most. Putting one word in front of the other is great, especially when you feel that they're good words.

Revising is second-best. It's like whittling, only you're whittling your own child. Maybe it's more fun than that sounds.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Each of my books (and each of my pieces of short fiction, for that matter) have come out of different inspirations, and have been written in states of obsession with different topics. While writing this one, I spent a lot of time thinking about neural networks, religion, evolution, and finance, for example; previous books have been more concerned with Go, or with Genghis Khan.

I hope readers would say that all my books have interesting, well-defined characters, and a driving plot that consists of many wheels within wheels.

What will your next book be about?

The next project is going to be Blood and Tumult, an exciting project that I'm collaborating upon with Alana Abbott. I'm looking forward to collaborating with someone so experienced on such an interesting property as Baeg Tobar.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

So far, I'd say my most significant achievement as a writer has been persisting. Writers write, finish what they start, revise endlessly, and move on to the next project. That way (I hope!) the best story is always the next one.

Related articles:

• Dylan Birtolo [Interview], Conversations with Writers, April 20, 2011
• The Amazing Max Gladstone: Mystery Agent Success Story [Interview], Operation Awesome, April 15, 2011
• Max Gladstone, Out of Order Interview, Mystic Vision, December 6, 2009