Bee Ridgway

Published November 13, 2013 | By Laura

Bee Ridgway is the author of The River of No Return which is her debut novel and was released by Michael Joseph in May 2013. Bee chats to us about her writing day, the character from fiction that she’d like to meet and her ideal dinner guests…

Hello Bee. Thank you for joining us. What’s your writing day like?

I either have a writing day or I don’t. A non-writing day is either a workday, or a day for doing errands, or for seeing friends and family – everything, in other words, that isn’t writing. A writing day begins with a cup of coffee, and ends with a bath. In between, for as many hours as I can cram in, I sit in my red chair in my office and I write write write write write. These are my favorite days, by the way. Nothing at all is as much fun as writing.

Can you tell us a little about your debut novel, The River of No Return?

The River of No Return is really a mash-up of many genres that I enjoy – I threw in everything that I like, and tried to make it all work together. In essence it is a time travel adventure novel with a romance at its heart, set in contemporary Vermont and London, and in London and Devon of 1815. A man named Nick Davenant is sucked forward in time from the Napoleonic Wars, just at the moment he is about to die on the battlefield. He discovers that time travel is controlled by a corporation called the Guild. The Guild tells him he can never return to his own time and place. Instead they provide him with plenty of money and set him up in 21st century America, where he sets about learning to be a modern man. But he pines for the girl he left behind – Julia Percy. Back in 1815, Julia is beginning to have some time-related troubles of her own. Her mysterious grandfather dies, leaving her in a pickle. The novel follows Nick and Julia as they learn more about the Guild and the dangers of trying to control history. Their love story is bound up with the adventures of a whole cast of time traveling characters from all across history. I had a ton of fun writing the novel, and I hope readers have just as much fun reading.

Do you plan or simply wirte?

I simply write. On days that I’m just pumping out the prose, I write until I reach a cliffhanger. Then I sleep on it, and in the morning I tend to know what to do next.

Did you edit as you went along or wait until a complete draft?

I would write furiously in a straight line one day, then edit what I’d done the next, then write furiously the third day, and edit the fourth. That was the first draft. Then, when I had to crack it open and change it from the inside out, the editing became much more intense. And much more rewarding. I adore editing.

Is there a character from fiction you’d like to meet?

Oh, plenty of them! But the ones I’d most like to meet are the ones who make stupid mistakes. Or at least mistakes that I think are stupid! I’d love to sit Jo March down and give her a piece of my mind.

Published by Michael Joseph, May 2013

Which book/author has made the most impact on you?

That’s such a difficult question! I have the great good fortune to be a literature professor, which means that I spend all my time reading or teaching about literature, and there are so many books that have changed me, changed my perspective, made me into a different person. But the books I teach don’t really have that much to do with the book I’ve written. The River of No Return really comes out of my pleasure reading. And of course I’m a huge Georgette Heyer devotee. My novel is basically Heyer fan fiction, deeply indebted to her sparkling Regency world. She is the Willy Wonka of popular fiction, and if I can have even half a gram of the charm and wit of a book like The Corinthian, I could hang up my hat and call it a job well done. But there are other influences in there, many of them children’s writers. Susan Cooper, whose The Dark is Rising series I read over and over again as a child. Her vision of time is incredible, and I adore the dark intensity of her characters and her prose. Entirely different than Heyer!

What makes you happy/sad?

Oh, let’s just stick with happy. A good book, a good meal, a good conversation, a good hike makes me happy. Experiences, basically – crafted things that I’ve either had the privilege to partake of (a book, a meal) or help make (a conversation, a hike). A good, long conversation with an eight-year-old makes me happy. That moment when kids are just full of beans, their imaginations going crazy – but they are also able to have a conversation and sustain it for a long time. Some of the most incredible, most wild-and-wooly conversations I’ve ever had have been with children. Looking at old photographs – anyone’s, not only my own. Teasing people who like to be teased. I’m a terrible tease. Hanging out with my older brother.

Which three things would you want with you on a desert island?

I’m assuming I can’t take my loved ones, right? And I can’t have electricity so I can’t have my computer with all my music and photos and writing? Hmm. Endless paper, endless pens, a ukulele. And I would sneak a kitten in, tucked into my ukulele case.

Who are your ideal dinner guests?

Anyone who loves good food, who can tell a good story, who isn’t afraid to put their foot in their mouth. You have to be willing to make a fool of yourself to have fun.

If you could visit one point in history, when would it be and why?

I’d love to see Tenochtitlan before the Spanish arrived. They described the city as greater than Rome, greater than any city they could imagine. I would love to see it in all its glory.

Five tips for new writers?

1. Add more characters. I learned this by researching why people think Agatha Christie’s novels are so beguiling. I found that more characters forces plot – and helps show the many facets of your main characters’ personalities.

2. Write every day to a cliffhanger, either emotional or action-based. It’s like not going to sleep angry after a fight. Don’t go to sleep bored with your writing!

3. Put animals in your book, and try giving them an important role in terms of plot. Animals change everything, and reveal human character in ways you might not expect. You’ll know what I mean when you do it.

4. When you show your writing to someone for the first time, tell them you don’t want criticism right away. Tell them to tell you what works first, tell them to find ten places that they loved, that surprised them, that stayed with them. Only if they are really good at THAT should you invite them to brainstorm with you about what else could happen (still not what doesn’t work, mind you – what else might happen). And only if they are good at THAT should you invite them to tell you what didn’t work so well for them. That’s a tough test and you might end up with only one or two people who are allowed to go there with you. And that’s as it should be. POSITIVE RESPONSE IS SIX HUNDRED MILLION TIMES MORE USEFUL THAN NEGATIVE. Protect yourself.

5. It’s called “voice” for a reason. Read your stuff out loud to yourself. When you’re stuck, go tell a story or a joke to your partner or your mother or your friend – remember that you are good at making the people you love take interest in a tale, good at making them laugh or gasp or shake their heads at you. Gossip with your loved ones. Let your spoken voice be free and your writing voice will follow with more honesty.

For more information on Bee, visit her website.