NK Chats To…Kay Seeley
Hello Kay. Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your latest book, Troubled Times for Tilly and what inspired it?
Troubled Times for Tilly is a follow up to my first book, The Water Gypsy. Lots of readers asked me what happened to the little boy, Joey, and I wanted to know what happened to him too, so that was the beginning of Troubled Times for Tilly. It’s about Joey growing up straddled between two different worlds and not belonging in either of them.
Troubled Times for Tilly is part of The Water Gypsy Books. What are the challenges of writing a novel when it is part of a series?
The main problem is deciding how much of the first book to include. Obviously, the characters are the same, so their backstory is important, but I don’t want to include any spoilers for people who haven’t read the first book, nor do I want it to feel repetitive for readers who have. It’s a fine balance.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?
I don’t write every day. I tend to write in the morning and draft the next part of the novel in the afternoon. I often draft by hand and type up the next day. I don’t have a typical writing day.
What’s your favourite word and why?
Insight – the reorganisation of perceptions so that what was once seen as separate elements are suddenly seen as connected and relating to one another to form a whole. To my mind that’s what storytelling is all about – giving people insight into things they never considered to be connected.
From idea to finished final draft, how long does a writing project usually take you?
I write slowly so each book takes a year. I only write one book a year.
How do you approach the research and editing stages? When do you know when you’ve done enough of both?
I love research and finding out about things, so I probably do too much. For example, in Troubled Times for Tilly Joey is a Naval Cadet so I visited The Royal Naval College in Greenwich (part of which is now Greenwich University) to get a fee of the atmosphere of the place. I learned snippets of information that go into the book. As for editing – it’s never enough.
If you could witness an historical event, where would you go?
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NK Chats To…Hywela Lyn (Plus Giveaway To Win A Copy Of The Matchmaker’s Mare)
Hi Hywela. Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell us a little about your latest book, The Matchmaker’s Mare and what inspired it?
Thank you so much for being part of my blog tour, Laura. To answer your question, I usually manage to get a horse somewhere in my stories, even the Science fiction Romances, so it was natural that I should think about writing a novel with horses as a large part of the plot. I had written short stories about horses, and one, written many years ago, was about a witch’s pony. I’d been thinking about writing a ghost story, and the witch became a matchmaking spirit. I set it in my native Wales and gradually the other characters developed and, of course, it became a romance -I am an unashamed romantic! Neither the pony or the ghosts in the story are scary, in fact one of them is quite mischievous and the matchmaker has her hands full keeping him in check while trying to get the two main characters to realise they are meant for each other!
What’s your favourite and least favourite words and why?
Favourite – Romance. Naturally since I’m a romance writer. The world needs more romance!
Least favourite – Literally. It’s used far too much and often incorrectly. I heard someone on the radio the other day say they were ‘literally on another planet’. Wow – I’m surprised that didn’t make headline news! 😊
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing Rituals?
I don’t really have a typical writing day and I actually write better at night! I’ve always been something of a night owl. I like to have a clear head when I write and not have to worry about jobs I haven’t done, so it’s usually quite late when I start writing, and then I get so absorbed I lose all track of time! I don’t think I actually have any rituals, except I like to have music on low in the background.
From idea to finished novel, how long does the process take you? How do you know when you’ve done enough research and editing?
At least a year. I am not a fast writer. I mull it over in my mind for a long time before I start writing. I usually get the first draft done fairly quickly, after researching and making a lot of notes. I like to do the research before I start writing, so as not to interrupt ‘the flow’. Then I write and rewrite before I feel it’s fit to send to beta readers. Then I rewrite again, taking on board all the comments I feel are relevant. Then I give it a few more polishes before I feel I can submit it to my publisher. I find it very hard to know when to stop and never really feel it’s good enough.
Do you have any advice to combat writers block?
LOL – I could say a long ride on a horse works wonders! Of course not every writer is fortunate enough to be able to do that, but a long walk is just as good. Anything to clear one’s mind. Gardening perhaps, or even reading something not connected with what you’re writing at the time. I usually find that when I stop trying to work out the problem that’s causing the block, the solution will pop into my head when I stop thinking about it!
In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes new writers make?
by NK Chats To… Jason Powell
Hi Jason, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your book, No Man’s Ghost and what inspired it?
Hi Laura. Thank you for the invite. No Man’s Ghost is the story of two strangers. The first, Charles Davids: a probationary firefighter, starting his first week in his firehouse after graduating the academy. Charles is excited to be a firefighter but is worried that he may not be completely prepared. Sure, he passed the academy, but he was never really in danger there. What if he can’t cut it in real life?
The second is Alan Johnson, a poor excuse for a husband who gets kicked out of his home by his wife and her best friend for being a poor excuse for a husband. He decides to get revenge by calling in false alarms for fire in his now former apartment every night just to disturb her. If he can’t sleep there, why the hell should she? Alan’s path crosses with Charles’s when eventually he decides that fake fires aren’t enough.
Being a firefighter yourself (which is amazing by the way), did this help you with the themes and subject matter of the novel or did it add additional pressure/level of responsibly to the narrative?
Yes, and Yes. There’s a saying in the fire service that goes, “Let no man’s ghost return to say my training let me down.” When a firefighter is on probation, a lot of pressure is put on them to train and learn and work towards proficiency on the job, because once a call comes in, they’re an important part of the team.
Whatever function they’ll perform on that call is their responsibility alone. That can be an intimidating truth when you’re new. Members with time on the job know that, and it’s a balance trying to show the probie that, yes, you need to take your job seriously because the community and our own families need you to be good at your job, but also, you’re not doing any of this alone. There’s always a team to help you. I think the core of that lesson can be true for life as well.
I wanted to do the fire service justice by showing how important and serious a career it is, but I also wanted to make the story relatable. I think readers will find a lot of themselves and their loved ones in Charles and the other characters. Even Alan.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?
Don’t have one. I work 24-hour shifts at the firehouse that either start at 9am on one day and end at 9am the next; or it starts at 6pm the first day and ends at 6 the next. The days of the week that I work aren’t the same each week, either. If the 24 is busy, when it’s done, I’ll go home and go to bed for a few hours.
There are days when all my morning hours are on the truck and I don’t get time to write until the afternoon. Then there are days when I start my morning at home, and I’ll write until I go to work. On my days off, I write when I’m not tired. I try and devote a minimum of an hour to writing every day, but I don’t decide which hour that will be until the time comes.
From idea to finished book, how long did it take you to complete this novel?
No Man’s Ghost took 9 months of actual writing time. Unfortunately, I lost a good friend of mine at a fire we were fighting in Harlem during that time. For a few months I didn’t do anything productive. But after a while writing, felt like a path to peace, and it served as an enjoyable distraction. So, I started then stopped then finished. The time it took, not including the stop, was nine months.
What was your approach to the research and editing processes? How do you know when you’ve done enough?
by NK Chats To…Susan Ekins
Hello Susan. Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your book, HoodWink! What inspired it?
Where to start? Probably seriously in Norwich in 2018. My husband’s family are very much into get-togethers, and in 2018 all five siblings and their partners gathered there to celebrate various anniversaries and birthdays. In order to keep people’s noses out of their mobile ‘phones, I had produced a little guide book in which one of the characters mentioned was Saint William of Norwich. Except that he wasn’t a saint. I knew a little about him, because Benjamin Britten had set a ballad, entitled Little Sir William, to music. My singing teacher was quite right when she said it was a terrible song. Nevertheless, that had not stopped us performing it in recitals.
Why was it so terrible? For two reasons: one, the child is killed at Easter by the school wife with a little penknife. Worse, in the original story, set around 8oo years earlier, it was all blamed on the Jewish Community, who were said to have killed him in a ritual murder. The child was then declared a martyr. The man who had really stoked the flames was a certain Thomas of Monmouth, who wrote a book on the sufferings and miracles of St William. Later – but much too late to stop the hatred – they received orders to cancel the cult.
To this day, nobody knows who killed the little boy, but it certainly wasn’t the Jews. But I did become angry at all the fantasy and deceit, and this gave birth to the book. If Thomas of Monmouth could write a book, then so could I. There is a murderer, and at the end of the book the reader, having carefully followed the clues, finds out who it is. But unlike Thomas, I do not claim my book is the truth, but my way of showing how a community can be destroyed by lies, ignorance, and hatred.
What are the challenges when writing a book with historical and fictional elements combined? What do writers need to consider when writing a book like Hoodwink!?
Firstly, I would say do your research. Sadly there is not a lot of information on William, and most of that seems to have been invented by Thomas. Some of the characters in my book did exist, and are documented – though not in much detail. Make sure you have your background correct. In my case it was to reinforce or double check what I knew about the Monastic Hours, the seasons of the year, medicinal cures, food, even the flowers that grew here in that time. In other words, you have to live there and experience it.
From first idea to finished book, how long did this book take you to write? Do you have any advice about the research and editing process – like, when do you know when you’ve done enough?
It took about eight months, but that is not to say I sat at my computer every single day. It may be a strange thing to say, but when I sat down to write, it was almost as if I suddenly felt the urge to pay a visit to Brother Anselm, to Sheriff John, to Brother Dunstan. It was rather like dropping in on friends. I never forced it, although the book was carefully planned, with a time line. I finished it the day before Hamas invaded Israel. The research I have already mentioned above. To this one might add the Popes of the time and their fates; the second crusade, modes of travel. All dates were carefully checked, even to the dates of Easter for any particular year.
If you were putting together a playlist for this book, which modern songs would you include?
by NK Chats To…Stephanie Wood
Hello Stephanie. Thank you so much for joining me today and inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour. Can you tell us about your new book, Adorable April Afternoons and what inspired it?
Hello, and thanks for inviting me!
I have already written a series of holiday reads set in Greece, but that focuses more on the usual beach and party atmosphere of the popular resorts and I wanted to show what the smaller, less undeveloped islands also have to offer.
Adorable April Afternoons is the first in the GREEK RETREAT trilogy following Jessica, as she attempts to discover the kind of happy ever after which she hopes will create a successful future. She believes she needs the seclusion to make it happen, but the Greek hospitality and rich cultural heritage play a huge part in her search.
What were the challenges in writing this book considering it’s the first in a new series?
The main challenge in creating a new series is to be able to describe the location with some detail, without dumping all the information on the reader at once. In order to explain what the characters are doing and why they behave in certain ways, it’s helpful to have a good understanding of their current neighbourhood, but it can be tempting to reveal too much too quickly.
What’s your typical writing day like, do you have a favourite writing spot and any writing rituals?
When I first started writing more than twenty years ago, I had a PC on a desk overlooking my back garden and would always write in the afternoon. More recently, I frequently suffer from episodes of chronic fatigue syndrome, so I now have a laptop and just write in whatever space I feel comfortable at whatever time my body allows.
If you were creating a playlist for Adorable April Afternoons, which songs would you include?
by Book Club
