Ask the Author: C.S. Burrough
Answered Questions (12)
C.S. Burrough
Sydney, Australia, August 2021. Delta variant lockdown.
C.S. Burrough
Alconleigh, the setting of Nancy Mitford's 2 bestsellers "The Pursuit of Love" (1945) and "Love in a Cold Climate" (1949).
C.S. Burrough
It's winter here so too high a stack to list. This week I'm concurrently reading Ian McKewan's 'Enduring Love' (1997) and 'Honeytrap' (1989) by Anthony Summers and Stephen Dorril, each thoroughly engaging.
C.S. Burrough
The mystery of to where one odd sock vanishes in each laundry load.
C.S. Burrough
Catherine and Heathcliff, so tortured and intense.
C.S. Burrough
Thanks for that great question Nolan. Yes, I spend eons in libraries and on the internet researching. This novel I've just released took two years of research, a lot with the Imperial War Museums. I don't travel because there's no need to anymore in our 'information age', but I used to a lot, just to get the feel of places I'd then write about.
C.S. Burrough
If I talk about it at this stage it won't reach germination.
C.S. Burrough
Just start and keep going. Fix everything later, just get it done. Resist talking too much about it to start with or it ends up just a very long conversation and not a written piece. Discuss it with peers down the track, when there's something written to discuss. Other writes are excellent bouncing posts who enjoy the interaction for their own benefit as well as yours, but have special, subtle boundaries you learn to recognise. They may often be strongly opinionated and fiercely protective of their own creative ideas, but are always, ultimately, of your species.
C.S. Burrough
Knowing someone has read my imagination, that I've communicated something in a way I can't achieve in real time dialogue.
C.S. Burrough
By talking to other writer friends - who always have an opinion which, right or wrong, seems to shake my block and drive me back to the screen.
C.S. Burrough
I'm a compulsive reader and am fascinated by the formation of words on pages and conveyance of information by unique voices. Reading anything by favourite writer the late Jean Rhys urges me to follow in her storytelling path - the first time I read her was ghostly, like reading my own thoughts and ideas, it was like an epiphany, a calling. Her writing leaves me unable to resist following suit, even though my themes are quite different from hers. I also eat up historical non-fiction by the shelf load and then yearn to do something with all the knowledge I've consumed. Then again, sometimes years have passed when I've willingly written nothing. I must be ready, must have thoroughly worked my last project out of my system before embarking afresh on another.
C.S. Burrough
After rereading my old memoir some years ago, someone commented that I could maybe combine my fascination for historical detail with my theatrical background to pen an authentic theatrical historical novel. I had anyway been leaning away from novellas and serials, towards full-length challenges. Thus began Or Forever Be Damned, which grew and evolved from its seed, winding up with less theatrical emphasis than I had first envisaged and more the dimensions of a classic dramatic saga.
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