Introducing Carol McGrath and The Handfasted Wife

Please find below an interview with the talented debut novelist Carol McGrath, author of The Handfasted Wife. The story, although based on research, is an imagined account of the life of Edith (Elditha) Swan-Neck. She is cast aside when Harold becomes King in 1066 but is the only person who can identify his body following the Battle of Hastings. Living amongst invaders, Elditha finds a way to protect her children and seeks a new future. The novel is a wonderfully evocative read, rich and textured, showing a woman’s resilience at a time of much uncertainty.

Welcome to the writer is a lonely hunter, Carol.

Thank you, Gail, for inviting me as a guest on your blog. It is an honour to appear here and to discuss my writing. 

How was your interest in writing awakened?

As a teenager I wrote stories and read voraciously. I was particularly interested in historical fiction and loved Anya Seton’s novels especially Katherine. These were the kind of stories I wanted to write. However, teaching history and having a family delayed my debut novel by years.

Tell us about your studies and how this supported your work

I began with Oxford Continuing Education. I studied for the two-year Diploma in Creative Writing which was delivered by well published tutors for poetry, prose and drama. My final submission on this course was a play about Edith Swan-Neck, Countess Gytha and two monks who came with Edith Swan-Neck to the battlefield at Hastings to recover King Harold’s body. Elditha’s story has haunted me for years. After this successful experience I progressed onto the MA in Creative Writing at Queens University Belfast’s Seamus Heaney Centre. There, I wrote a collection of short stories and a novel set in the Edwardian period. As a result, I was invited onto The Royal Holloway PhD in Creative Writing by Andrew Motion who was the external examiner on my MA. I have graduated at MPhil level. It is, otherwise, a long, long process. My studies enhanced my organisation, enabling me to write with variety and in varying mediums. In fact, I found my voice. However, a good university MA in Creative Writing is more about writing than about publishing your work. I think my MPhil took me further because I researched and wrote an academic thesis about Realism and Romance in Historical Fiction as well as writing a novel. I understand the genre better as a result. However, I would point out that my debut publication resulted from putting my work through a commercial critique with Cornerstones and the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme, as well as the university studies.

I love the way you’re able to draw upon the senses in your writing, creating a story with atmosphere and intimacy. What were the challenges in writing The Hand Fasted Wife?

Finding Elditha’s voice was tricky. She lived in a past so distant that there wasn’t much recorded about her. I took what I could glean from research about noble women during this period and then I stood in her shoes. First I wrote into the story using first person. After I felt closer to her, I rewrote the initial chapters in third person narrative. This way I could include the perspectives of Countess Gytha (Harold’s mother) and that of Harold’s sister, Dowager Queen Edith. However, every time Elditha was in a scene, I always reverted to her point of view. That way I remained closer to her, seeing events through her eyes and with her feelings. This enabled me to create the sense of intimacy which is important because it is predominantly her story, and I was sorry to leave her when the book ended. I loved writing this book.

What is your next writing project?

The next book follows the fortunes of Edith Swan-Neck’s daughter, Gunnhild, her elopement from Wilton Abbey and her love for two half-brothers, both important Bretons who came over to England with William of Normandy. The story of Gunnhild and Count Alan of Richmond was recorded in contemporary chronicles. Now that I am fictionalising it, I find it a wonderfully adventurous and romantic story to write.

Which authors do you admire and why?

I read widely and not only Historical Fiction. I enjoy Vanora Bennett because she brings such depth to her historical characterisation and because she writes with delicious descriptive detail. My favourite is The Queen of Silks set during the fifteenth century and about a female London silk merchant. I feel similarly about Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies. She is unique as a Historical writer. Her scenes and her dialogue are wonderful. The opening situation in Wolf Hall is unsurpassable in Historical Fiction for its grittiness and the resilience that surfaces in Thomas Cromwell’s personality later and that initially appears in Cromwell as a youth. Importantly, her extensive research is concealed well in her evocation of the period, her character development and in her fabulous depiction of the claustrophobic nature of Tudor court life. Finally, I do enjoy reading the Irish writer Sebastian Barry. His prose is achingly beautiful and On Canaan’s Side is currently one of my top favourite novels. 

Can you offer some tips for yet to be published writers?

The first tip is obvious; write the book you would want to read and write from the heart. Secondly, consider view point carefully early on; make the story ‘character led’ so that a reader cares about what happens to her/him/ them. Third, hone your writing and do not be afraid to redraft. Get the story down in a first draft to achieve flow then work it up or review it all carefully as you write. I do both. Significantly, know where your story will end so that you are clear about where you are heading. I recommend an outline, not necessarily too detailed, because you may find that you deviate from it as you write. Finally, if you can, have readers look at your novel before you submit to agents or publishers.

Thank you very much Carol for sharing your experiences.

If you would like to purchase a copy of  The Handfasted Wife visit Amazon or Accent Press. There is one free apple download of The Handfasted Wife from iTunes for the first lucky person to apply. Use the following code to access this:  XEMRRHEAH7H. It’s well worth popping over to Carol’s blog Scribbling in the Margins where you can find out more about this fascinating period of history and gain further insights into the life and loves of Elditha.

Things are looking brighter…

I received an email this week confirming that I’ve been accepted onto the Masters in Creative Writing at the University of South Wales. This is a part-time, distance learning, research degree which includes a creative writing project. Although my proposal still has to be passed by the Research Panel, I’m cracking on with ideas for the novel that will accompany the research. I’ll be investigating the child’s voice in adult fiction and putting together a manuscript written from a child’s viewpoint about the abduction of a sibling. I have to say a massive thank you to Carol McGrath who has offered considerable advice and support that has kept me focused and positive throughout the application process.

I am really excited about returning to study. The university only accepts eight students onto the course each year so I am fortunate to be one of them. Previous students include Emma Darwin (click here for Emma’s blog which is well worth a read) and Maria McCann.

Other good news is that I was successful in getting through the interview with an educational charity which will offer me the chance to work with schools on a part-time basis during 2013-14. I’m also building up my contacts with schools to deliver consultancy work and I’ve had some interest in a project that I wish to seek funding from the Arts Council to deliver.  All this activity means I’ve been incredibly busy and writing has taken something of a backseat. Now that I have a little free time, I will work on a piece of flash fiction to submit to the Bridport prize at the end of the month.  Other opportunities you might like to consider include:

• Dorset Flash Fiction Competition
• Upton Story Slam

What keeps you busy at the minute?

Some good news…

This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for, a piece of good news. There’s nothing like a little publishing success to get me refocused and positive. An article on the workshop I delivered at the National Association for Writers in Education (NAWE) conference appears in the current issue of Writing in Education, spring 2013. My name even features on the cover, although the print is probably too small for you to read it here. Also included in the journal is an interesting article on coaching for writers by Elizabeth Forbes and ‘Imaging the Story’ where Paul Houghton considers the role of the visual.

And, more positive news comes from Helen Pizzey at PURBECK! magazine who has included a review of Four Buses for the May/June issue of the magazine.

What keeps you on the tracks for writing?

Flash fiction workshops in Dorset

Dorset Writers’ Network, Winfrith Newburgh Village Hall

I was delighted to offer two flash fiction workshops locally on Saturday. The first was delivered at a fantastic event in celebration of Dorset Women’s Day, held at the Dorford Centre in Dorchester. The second was in the afternoon, working with some wonderful Dorset writers on behalf of the Dorset Writers’ Network. The content for each workshop varied slightly, but as an overview, I’ve listed some of the activities included.

• Definition of flash fiction

Not an easy task, but we did our best to come up with a definition by considering the length, the content, the structure, the process and the purpose of writing flash fiction

• Giving it a go – six word stories

Using models from the famous (Hemmingway and Atwood) and the not so famous (shortlisted entries to Fleeting Magazine’s 2012 competition) a variety of six word stories were shared to inspire participants. The resulting writing ranged from the sexually-charged to the humorous.

• Keeping it short

Using a piece of paper with a pretty picture prompt (a bit larger than a post-it note) participants produced pieces of flash fiction by drawing on the senses. Something about writing on a small piece of paper seems to focus the mind on careful word selection allowing participants to keep the writing short.

• Using stereotypes

This is a quick way into writing. Using prompts from the addictive television series ‘Come Dine with Me’ some useful characters sketches were drawn

• Putting yourself in the shoes of a photograph

By looking at a range of black and white photographs, participants were asked to imagine that they were the photographer and to write a short piece of fiction considering their relationship with the people in the photograph and to think about why the photograph was taken

• Making an origami book as a form of self publishing

This involved a demonstration and the distribution of a pre-prepared book containing one of my flash fiction stories.  If you want to know how this is done, you’ll have to attend one of my workshops in the future.

A big thank you to everyone who attended the workshops – you were generous in sharing your writing and it was a pleasure working with you. If you would like me to deliver a workshop to your writing group, please get in touch using the ‘contact me’ page.

Introducing Alison Morton and her debut novel Inceptio

I have great pleasure in welcoming Alison Morton to my blog. We met during a writers’ retreat in Portugal last year and I was hugely impressed by the quality of Alison’s writing and her commitment to see her novel in print. I’m delighted to say that INCEPTIO, Alison’s debut novel is published today.

 Tell us how you got started, Alison

An eleven year old fascinated by the mosaics in Ampurias (huge Roman site in Spain), I asked my father, “What would it be like if Roman women were in charge, instead of the men?” Maybe it was the fierce sun boiling my brain, maybe it was just a precocious kid asking a smartarse question. But clever man and senior ‘Roman nut’, my father replied, “What do you think it would be like?” Real life intervened (school, uni, career, military, marriage, motherhood, business ownership, move to France), but the idea bubbled away at the back of my mind.

I’d play with words much of my life – playwright (aged 7), article writer, local magazine editor, professional translator and dissertation writer. But I came to novel writing in reaction to a particularly dire film; the cinematography was good, but the plot dire and narration jerky.

‘I could do better that,’ I whispered in the darkened cinema.

‘So why don’t you?’ came my other half’s reply.

Ninety days later, I’d completed the first draft of INCEPTIO, the first in the Roma Nova thriller series.

Of course, I made the classic mistake of submitting too soon, but had some encouraging replies. Several rewrites later and I’d had some full manuscript requests, even from a US agent (INCEPTIO starts in New York)! I had replies like ‘If it was a straight thriller, I’d take it on’ and ‘Your writing is excellent, but it wouldn’t fit our list.’

I was (am!) passionate about my stories so I decided to self publish with bought-in publishing services. Using very carefully chosen high quality professional backing (editing, advice, registrations, typesetting, design, book jacket, proofing, etc.), I’ve found it a fantastic way for a new writer to enter the market.

How is an “alternate history thriller” different from a normal thriller? 

Alternate history is based on the idea of “what if”? What if King Harold had won the Battle of Hastings in 1066? Or if Julius Caesar had taken notice of the warning that assassins wanted to murder him on the Ides of March? Sometimes, it could be little things such as in the film Sliding Doors, when the train door shuts and Gwyneth Paltrow’s character splits into two; one rides away on the train, the other is left standing on the platform.

The rest of the story, or history of a country, from that point on develops differently from the one we know. In my book, Roma Nova battled its way from a small colony in the late fourth century somewhere north of Italy into a high tech, financial mini-state which kept and developed Roman Republican values, but with a twist. It’s really fun working this out! But you really have to know your own timeline history before you can ‘alternate’ it. The thriller story then takes place against this background.

Stories with Romans are usually about famous emperors, epic battles, depravity, intrigue, wicked empresses and a lot of sandals, tunics and swords. But imagine the Roman theme projected sixteen hundred years further forward into the 21^st century. How different would that world be?

So what’s INCEPTIO about?

New York – present day, alternate reality. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice – being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother’s homeland in Europe. Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen safety, a ready-made family and a new career. But a shocking discovery about her new lover, the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus who rescued her in America, isolates her.

Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to rely on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it…

And next? I’m polishing up PERFIDITAS (betrayal), the second book in the Roma Nova series before it goes to the editor. You can find INCEPTIO on Amazon UK  and Amazon US

You can read more about Alison, Romans, alternate history and writing here:

Blog: http://www.alison-morton.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter: @alison_morton

2012 Tour of Independent Bookshops in Dorset: The Awards

My tour of independent bookshops during 2012 took me from the far east of the county to the far west with several stops in between. It was a pleasure driving through the gorgeous Dorset countryside with a new bookshop as my destination.  I’ve decided to honour each of the shops with a ‘best of’ category, hoping this might tempt you to visit.

Best of bookshops for atmosphere: Serendip, Lyme Regis

Situated in the seaside town, this bookshop is a must for all visitors.  Once inside, the atmosphere tempts you to linger, with great lighting and eclectic background music.  Step further into the shop and you’ll find seating for comfortable book-browsing.

Best of bookshops for views: Avon Beach Shop, Christchurch

It’s not often you’ll find a comprehensive range of books for sale at a shop perched on the edge of a beach.  Through the shop window, you get glimpses of the bay and there can be no better place to choose your holiday reading.  Mind you don’t get sand between your toes!

Best of bookshops for use of space:  Imagine Books, Weymouth

Tucked away on a charming little street, only yards from the seafront, Imagine Books contains a host of surprises.  As you meander through the rooms, linked by an internal courtyard, you’ll find a large range of products for sale.

Best of bookshops for location: The Book Shop, Bridport

Directly opposite Buckey Doo Square, where the weekly market sprawls across the pavement, you’ll find Book Shop. Right at the heart of the town, Book Shop does what it says on the sign, sells books to customers in a straightforward and efficient manner.

Black Pug Books, Wimborne

Victoria Sturgess, in the bookshop

Black Pug Books has been open in Wimborne every Thursday, Friday and Saturday since October 2012. As a newcomer to the town, Victoria Sturgess has made her mark on the popular thoroughfare by opening a bookshop full of ‘loved and used books’ at 24 West Borough. Sitting in Victoria’s front room, it is a pleasure to be surrounded by a hand chosen collection of out-of-print books. The shelves groan at the sheer weight of choice and I was delighted to purchase ‘An Outpost in Papua’ by Arthur Kent Chignell an account of missionary work in the early 1900s.  Anything written about Papua New Guinea interests me, owing to my experience of living in Wabag, Enga Province during the 1980s.

Victoria has always wanted to run a book shop and began purchasing books that would form the stock three years ago.  Paperbacks are a sideline (along with LPs, cigarette cards and magazines) and these are displayed in a wheelbarrow that is set outside the front door whenever the shop is open.  Victoria encourages customers to knock on the door to gain access outside normal opening hours or you can telephone ahead for special visiting arrangements.

The Next Big Thing: Paula’s Secret

I’ve admired the short stories and flash fiction written by Angela Williams under the name of Susan Carey for sometime time now.  Like me, Angela’s work has featured on the 1000 words website and her story was chosen for inclusion in the National Flash Fiction Day e-anthology for 2012. Angela lives in Amsterdam, and is a member of Writers Abroad. When she shared information about the group’s annual anthology on her blog, it gave me a chance to think back to my expatriate days in Papua New Guinea and I submitted a story that was accepted for publication in ‘Foreign Encounters’.  I was delighted when she tagged me in ‘The Next Big Thing’ blog chain and I answer the questions below:

What is the working title of your next book?

My latest novel started life as ‘First Time Mums’ but then graduated to the new working title of ‘Paula’s Secret’.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I started work on this manuscript during the summer of 2012.  I’d written a couple of pieces of flash fiction about those first few months after childbirth, when relationships shift to give priority to the baby and I thought there was mileage in the idea.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a romantic comedy and I’m new to this genre. I met Allie Spencer at a story slam in Shaftesbury and when I read a couple of her books and some others, I thought I’d like to give it a try.

Which actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Paula is the main character, previously dotty about her dog but once Baby Boo arrives, she refocuses her attention. She’s juxtaposed with her best friend Kirsty, who is also a new mother and struggling to use the same methods that brought her success in the workplace to become a model parent.  It’s the different approaches to parenting that bring humour to the novel and I guess Ann Hathaway would be a good lead.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Kirsty struggles to make the most of family life with her new-born and when Paula won’t reveal who is the father of her baby, Kirsty decides that bringing her best friend’s family together is her next priority.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I won a competition during 2012 to have sixty copies of my fiction collection ‘Four Buses‘ printed, so I know all about the rewards and pitfalls of self publishing. It may sound mad but getting the book into print isn’t my priority at the moment. I’m much more concerned with getting the writing to the best possible standard.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The first draft took five months and it’s currently in a drawer waiting for me to gather my wits and tackle it again.  I’m planning to begin the rewriting at the end of January, then I’ll be going full pelt ready to submit a decent draft to the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme at the end of August.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I haven’t read many books written about new mothers although when I was researching titles I came across one or two.  ‘The Hand that First Held Mine’ by Maggie O’Farrell is a good example of how the arrival of a baby casts light into the shadows of personal experience. But I can’t begin to compare ‘Paula’s Secret’ to such an accomplished novel and it’s not in the same genre, anyway.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Getting positive comments on the short stories and flash fiction that I’ve written has encouraged me to try writing with strong themes, on a bigger scale.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Floosie the Husky-cross dog has a significant role in the story!

I’d like to tag a wonderful writer of historical fiction, Carol McGrath, who is hugely knowledgeable about the medieval period. She’s a great on-line friend, tweeting early in the mornings and her blog Scribbling in the Margins, provides posts from all over the world. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with Carol during a writing retreat in Cornwall and another which she hosted in Portugal. Carol is an attentive listener and when I share my writing, her feedback is erudite. She’s a great companion, story-teller and adventurer. I can’t wait to read her first novel, which she wrote while undertaking post-graduate studies at the Royal Holloway University. ’The Handfasted Wife’ will be published in 2013.

 

A bit about Wabag, Papua New Guinea

I was minded to think of life in Papua New Guinea when I wrote the story called Big Wash which was published in the Writers’ Abroad anthology titled Foreign Encounters. The story details the eccentricities of expatriate life and is based on my experiences of living in Wabag, Enga Province in the early 1980s.

Something about the Highlands of Papua New Guinea has never left me and The Mountain by Drusilla Modjeska took me right back to Wabag. Although I don’t own any of the bark cloth that is mentioned in the book, I do have one of these:

This is a kina shell necklace, made from Gold Lip Shell and drilled with two holes to allow it to be worn.  When the Leahy brothers first discovered the Highlands during the 1930s, their search was for gold which the Highlanders willing exchanged for pearl shells. These shells are valued all over Papua New Guinea but particularly in the Highlands where contact between tribes traditionally brought the shells very slowly from the coast to the mountain valley.

Papua New Guinea currency is also called the kina but the shells continue to be used in traditional ceremonial payment.

I also have one of these:

On the road with ‘Four Buses’

Here I am signing copies of ‘Four Buses’ which was launched in Dorchester on Saturday.  I was delighted to have friends and fellow writers join me for the event, where I read a few stories from the collection and sold copies of the book. It was great to have friends who travelled from London and Cambridge to spend the launch with me, and a local friend who hurtled back for a wedding in Stafford, so keen to get her copy of ‘Four Buses’. I was thrilled when she emailed me today, saying she’d read the collection straight through in one go, and loved the way the stories were, ‘not spelled out yet were so clear.’ It’s good to accept praise from someone I really respect.