Ask the Author: Beatrice Colin
Answered Questions (6)
Beatrice Colin
Hi Ashton
Thanks for the question! I'm working on a new book set in the early 1900s about a Scottish plant hunter and his wife. So far I've written about a third of it and am enjoying it! Who knew botany could be such an adventure.
Beax
Thanks for the question! I'm working on a new book set in the early 1900s about a Scottish plant hunter and his wife. So far I've written about a third of it and am enjoying it! Who knew botany could be such an adventure.
Beax
Beatrice Colin
Hi Nancy, thanks for asking the question! You're the first for this page.
I wanted to write about a city I know well but a time that I wasn't all that familiar with. The Eiffel Tower has always struck me as wonderful - you can see it from all over the city and unlike large building such as the Chrysler in NY or the Gherkin in London isn't just a huge office building, but a structure with no apparent purpose than to be looked at and to look from. So I was curious about it and when I looked it up found a great story that I hadn't expected, not only about the tower but about Gustave Eiffel the French engineer whose company built it. I love the late 1880s as they were a time of huge change, in art, design, politics and I really enjoyed researching it (and, of course, making trips to Paris).
Although I have written fiction set in the present I like writing about the past, digging up facts and ideas that I didn't know and exploring areas that I'm interested in. I want to learn something new when I write a book and writing and researching are always a process of discovery that will change my original conception. I do, however, always try to keep everything historically accurate. I know that readers won't know that if a character caught a number 16 tram to Jordanhill in 1886, for example, there really was a tram that went on that route but I want to make it as plausible as possible with my fictional character walking ghost-like through the past rubbing shoulders with real people. They didn't exist but they could have done. . .
Although they live in other times and other places, my characters are concerned with the same things that concern us all; love, sex, money, family and trying to make the right choices. In the past, however, some of it was so much more complicated and that's where the drama comes from.
Hope this answers your questions. Best wishes,
Bea
I wanted to write about a city I know well but a time that I wasn't all that familiar with. The Eiffel Tower has always struck me as wonderful - you can see it from all over the city and unlike large building such as the Chrysler in NY or the Gherkin in London isn't just a huge office building, but a structure with no apparent purpose than to be looked at and to look from. So I was curious about it and when I looked it up found a great story that I hadn't expected, not only about the tower but about Gustave Eiffel the French engineer whose company built it. I love the late 1880s as they were a time of huge change, in art, design, politics and I really enjoyed researching it (and, of course, making trips to Paris).
Although I have written fiction set in the present I like writing about the past, digging up facts and ideas that I didn't know and exploring areas that I'm interested in. I want to learn something new when I write a book and writing and researching are always a process of discovery that will change my original conception. I do, however, always try to keep everything historically accurate. I know that readers won't know that if a character caught a number 16 tram to Jordanhill in 1886, for example, there really was a tram that went on that route but I want to make it as plausible as possible with my fictional character walking ghost-like through the past rubbing shoulders with real people. They didn't exist but they could have done. . .
Although they live in other times and other places, my characters are concerned with the same things that concern us all; love, sex, money, family and trying to make the right choices. In the past, however, some of it was so much more complicated and that's where the drama comes from.
Hope this answers your questions. Best wishes,
Bea
Beatrice Colin
1. Writing is a process. The story unfolds one way or another not only in your head but also on the page.
2.Nothing you ever write is ever wasted even if it ends up being cut.
3.Try and write at least 500 words a day but not more than 1500.
4. Write for yourself.
2.Nothing you ever write is ever wasted even if it ends up being cut.
3.Try and write at least 500 words a day but not more than 1500.
4. Write for yourself.
Beatrice Colin
I'm working on a novel set in a Victorian garden in Scotland.
Beatrice Colin
I'm interested in history and the stories that haven't been told. At school we learn one version of history but there are an infinite number of other angles and personal stories. These change according to when they are written and who writes them. I'm rarely short of inspiration.
Beatrice Colin
I used to be a fashion editor for a newspaper and regularly visited Paris. I had a great-aunt who lived there too. I always used to avoid The Eiffel Tower as it is such a tourist trap. The last time I was there on holiday, however, it suddenly struck me that it is quite an extraordinary structure. I had no idea who built it and why. Once I had started to research it I realise that there was a great story there that hadn't been told.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Oct 19, 2017 07:09AM · flag