Bev C. Harris's Blog
February 10, 2022
BEHIND THE CONSPIRACY
The story of Conspiracy of Cats (CoC) is set between Edinburgh and northern Tanzania. Edinburgh is my home town, so it was easy for me to write about it in a way I hope breathes some life into it for readers who may never have visited this beautiful city. Tanzania was a different matter entirely, because I haven’t ever been there.
Many years ago, way back when we brought home our very first PC, it came along with an Encarta disc. I spent a lot of happy hours sharing a chair with my daughter as we investigated the varied contents. That was the very first time I encountered Maasai warriors, their tribal finery and their semi-nomadic lifestyle. I found these beautiful men to be utterly compelling and used my local library to discover more. This is when the seeds of CoC were sewn… over twenty years before I sat down to write it.
The story, like the characters, developed and changed hugely over the years, always inside my head and usually as I lay in bed waiting for sleep. Inevitably perhaps I dreamed about Jos and Peter often. Especially Peter, who continues to show up in my dreams just begging for a sequel.
Fast forward to December 2013 and I was finally on a plane heading to Africa. South Africa was the destination and we arrived the day after Nelson Mandela’s funeral. The country was in mourning, but the welcome we received was warm and beautiful. The entire experience was a fabulous one.
We spent some of the holiday working in a rehab centre for wild animals. It was hot, it was tough, it was mostly about gruesome feeding routines and cleaning up the poop. Our room was right next to a small clan of hyenas, and close to the old lion who’d become a permanent resident. At night these two used to get into some sort of noise off. The hyenas would giggle, chatter and whoop, just meters away from our window. The lion would get into his low pitched rumbling roar, over and over. We were usually so exhausted it wasn’t long before sleep came each night despite the noise, but it was surreal lying in the pitch black, listening to these raw animal voices singing their wild lullabies.
I recreated some of the happenings we experienced there, for Peter and Jude when they lived with Henk. They were all raising Lulu the lion, rescued after poachers killed her mother and being readied for release back into the wild. They did the things we did. Day after day. The feeding rounds and the cleaning rounds. They were changed by the experience just as we were changed.
There is nothing more satisfying than working out that the gigantic lappet-faced vulture running up to me, flapping his truly enormous wings while shrieking loudly, every time I entered his enclosure, was actually trying to make me understand that he wanted a shower with the hose I’d brought in to assist in cleaning up the poop. Once I got the message this great big vulture used to turn his back on me, open his massive wings, and stand there while I cooled him off. After his shower he settled down and left me alone to clean. He was actually a baby, abandoned by his parents simply, because he fell from his lofty nest. A driver found him on the road and (bravely) brought him to the centre. He was less than a year old when I met him and, I like to think, we parted as friends.
My time in South Africa has never left me. The smell of the place, the colours, the views, the animals, the food, the wonderful people and the utterly amazing skies. It was these experiences that I mined when writing CoC. Memories that allowed me to create the environments that my characters move around in. Next time, I’ll head straight for Tanzania.
Many years ago, way back when we brought home our very first PC, it came along with an Encarta disc. I spent a lot of happy hours sharing a chair with my daughter as we investigated the varied contents. That was the very first time I encountered Maasai warriors, their tribal finery and their semi-nomadic lifestyle. I found these beautiful men to be utterly compelling and used my local library to discover more. This is when the seeds of CoC were sewn… over twenty years before I sat down to write it.
The story, like the characters, developed and changed hugely over the years, always inside my head and usually as I lay in bed waiting for sleep. Inevitably perhaps I dreamed about Jos and Peter often. Especially Peter, who continues to show up in my dreams just begging for a sequel.
Fast forward to December 2013 and I was finally on a plane heading to Africa. South Africa was the destination and we arrived the day after Nelson Mandela’s funeral. The country was in mourning, but the welcome we received was warm and beautiful. The entire experience was a fabulous one.
We spent some of the holiday working in a rehab centre for wild animals. It was hot, it was tough, it was mostly about gruesome feeding routines and cleaning up the poop. Our room was right next to a small clan of hyenas, and close to the old lion who’d become a permanent resident. At night these two used to get into some sort of noise off. The hyenas would giggle, chatter and whoop, just meters away from our window. The lion would get into his low pitched rumbling roar, over and over. We were usually so exhausted it wasn’t long before sleep came each night despite the noise, but it was surreal lying in the pitch black, listening to these raw animal voices singing their wild lullabies.
I recreated some of the happenings we experienced there, for Peter and Jude when they lived with Henk. They were all raising Lulu the lion, rescued after poachers killed her mother and being readied for release back into the wild. They did the things we did. Day after day. The feeding rounds and the cleaning rounds. They were changed by the experience just as we were changed.
There is nothing more satisfying than working out that the gigantic lappet-faced vulture running up to me, flapping his truly enormous wings while shrieking loudly, every time I entered his enclosure, was actually trying to make me understand that he wanted a shower with the hose I’d brought in to assist in cleaning up the poop. Once I got the message this great big vulture used to turn his back on me, open his massive wings, and stand there while I cooled him off. After his shower he settled down and left me alone to clean. He was actually a baby, abandoned by his parents simply, because he fell from his lofty nest. A driver found him on the road and (bravely) brought him to the centre. He was less than a year old when I met him and, I like to think, we parted as friends.
My time in South Africa has never left me. The smell of the place, the colours, the views, the animals, the food, the wonderful people and the utterly amazing skies. It was these experiences that I mined when writing CoC. Memories that allowed me to create the environments that my characters move around in. Next time, I’ll head straight for Tanzania.
November 1, 2021
Hallowe'en
I hope you had a wonderful Hallowe'en.
Being back in Scotland definitley enhanced this year's experience for me. In France, like the south west of England, there wasn't really much going on beyond the odd decorated shop and the endless spooky cakes and biscuits on offer.
In Scotland Hallowe'en is quite a big deal and as many adults as kids will dress up and play tricks. While working in the theatre, no matter what the show, the entire back stage crew would dress up. Our kids became guisers... people wearing disguises, They would wait until after dark and then go out guising. Having Hallowe'en decor or maybe just a pumpkin by your door, was a signal to the kids that guisers were welcome.
Hallowe'en parties are common, with dooking for apples to be followed by hands tied behind your back as you try to eat a treacle covered scone hanging on string dangling from the ceiling. After that, hands still tied, you must (sticky) face plant into a bowl of flour to find the hidden treats with nothing but your mouth. Safe to say you need to shower after these parties.
This year was my first Hallowe'en on the West Coast of Scotland and, as part of our new community, it was fantastic to see so many kids all dressed up and knocking on doors. We wore our own costumes for a Monsters Ball later on, and it was a great night. Of course we all ate far too many treats, but we'll have to wait until Christmas for the next all you can eat treat festival.
Being back in Scotland definitley enhanced this year's experience for me. In France, like the south west of England, there wasn't really much going on beyond the odd decorated shop and the endless spooky cakes and biscuits on offer.
In Scotland Hallowe'en is quite a big deal and as many adults as kids will dress up and play tricks. While working in the theatre, no matter what the show, the entire back stage crew would dress up. Our kids became guisers... people wearing disguises, They would wait until after dark and then go out guising. Having Hallowe'en decor or maybe just a pumpkin by your door, was a signal to the kids that guisers were welcome.
Hallowe'en parties are common, with dooking for apples to be followed by hands tied behind your back as you try to eat a treacle covered scone hanging on string dangling from the ceiling. After that, hands still tied, you must (sticky) face plant into a bowl of flour to find the hidden treats with nothing but your mouth. Safe to say you need to shower after these parties.
This year was my first Hallowe'en on the West Coast of Scotland and, as part of our new community, it was fantastic to see so many kids all dressed up and knocking on doors. We wore our own costumes for a Monsters Ball later on, and it was a great night. Of course we all ate far too many treats, but we'll have to wait until Christmas for the next all you can eat treat festival.
October 15, 2021
Older & bolder.
I'm a 57 year old woman who just had her first book published. Did I always want to be a writer? Absolutely. But I had to work for my living. I also had a child to raise and a home to look after. I did all the things working women and mothers do. My child just turned 35 so I don't really have to do much in the way of mothering these days.
These days I get some time to myself.
Time to myself wasn't a concept I was particularly familiar with until I was in my mid 40s. I met my husband around then. I also learned to drive and to ride. I've travelled quite a lot too. I worked at a wildlife rehab centre in South Africa, learned to sail on the Caribbean and spent time on an estancia in Argentina riding horses and herding cattle.
We also lived in France for a number of years. We got married there and spent three days in Disneyland Paris as part of our honeymoon. Determined to do something that scared us everyday, we rode all the rollercoasters multiple times. I think we got addicted to the adrenaline rush.
I may be getting older, but I'm also getting bolder.
When covid hit we were still living in France where lockdown was super-strict. I was freaked out by the media stoked fear as well as the isolation. My husband suggested I write that story I'd told him years before. I did, and, on 26th August 2021, Conspiracy of Cats was published. As you can imagine I'm over the moon about that. But my writing days are only just beginning. I'm working on getting the next manuscript ready for submission, and have a number of other projects simmering away.
We're back in Scotland now, living on the west coast where we have empty beaches and beautiful forests to explore with our dogs. Covid is still with us all, but I no longer fear it. We may all still be putting up with those travel restrictions, but no one can restrict the journeys that our books can take us on. For that I am eternally grateful.
Conspiracy of Cats
These days I get some time to myself.
Time to myself wasn't a concept I was particularly familiar with until I was in my mid 40s. I met my husband around then. I also learned to drive and to ride. I've travelled quite a lot too. I worked at a wildlife rehab centre in South Africa, learned to sail on the Caribbean and spent time on an estancia in Argentina riding horses and herding cattle.
We also lived in France for a number of years. We got married there and spent three days in Disneyland Paris as part of our honeymoon. Determined to do something that scared us everyday, we rode all the rollercoasters multiple times. I think we got addicted to the adrenaline rush.
I may be getting older, but I'm also getting bolder.
When covid hit we were still living in France where lockdown was super-strict. I was freaked out by the media stoked fear as well as the isolation. My husband suggested I write that story I'd told him years before. I did, and, on 26th August 2021, Conspiracy of Cats was published. As you can imagine I'm over the moon about that. But my writing days are only just beginning. I'm working on getting the next manuscript ready for submission, and have a number of other projects simmering away.
We're back in Scotland now, living on the west coast where we have empty beaches and beautiful forests to explore with our dogs. Covid is still with us all, but I no longer fear it. We may all still be putting up with those travel restrictions, but no one can restrict the journeys that our books can take us on. For that I am eternally grateful.
Conspiracy of Cats
