Ask Sara - A Reader / Writer Q&A with Gillian Frost

PHEW! I lost track of time what with the new book launch, and so Ask Sara was a little bit delayed this time.

Ask Sara is my way of getting to know readers better and for readers to get to know me better. I ask one reader at random to ask three things about me and to tell us three things about themselves.

For this instalment of Ask Sara, the name out of the Facebook hat was Gillian Frost.

Gillian told us these three facts about her:

I live in Northamptonshire, my special interest is WWII aircraft and my favourite place in all the world is Oxford.

And here is what Gillian asked me:

What did you do before you became a writer?

Before I was a writer I was a psychotherapist, which I loved. I worked eclectically although I was strongly influenced by Eric Berne who developed the theory of Transactional Analysis (TA).

Studying most weekends to keep myself current and to expand on what I already knew was very satisfying and working with clients was an honour.

What struck me the most was that what worked the best for all issues was good old love, pure and simple. If I took the time to really listen to my clients, invest in hearing them then they became important to me through this nurturing love; love for my fellow man in that situation was easy. I believe the client feels this love and this can be an important catalyst for promoting healing and building self worth. I have a great deal of passion for the subject and for people in general and I could go on for pages on this topic. I think my background in psychotherapy has helped immensely with my writing.

What made you move to Greece?

My first visit to Greece was a last minute holiday with some fellow students. The moment my feet touch touched Greek soil I knew I belonged here and I began to think how I could live here. My return flight was a week later. I got off the plane and onto the bus and the rain was so hard we were just crawling up the motorway, stuck in a traffic jam. I wondered why I had come back and as soon as we arrived in my home town I went to the travel agents and arranged a flight back again the next day. I stayed until my money ran out and then commenced years of backwards and forwards depending on time and money.

Fast forward and my daughter is five and I am in a restaurant. My daughter was trying to be patient but the food was taking it’s time. She asked to walk round our table to kill her boredom. As there was only one other couple in the whole place (it was early, six o’clock.) I said it was alright, so she circled the table and talked to me.

The man at the next table said very loudly that if ‘People cannot control their children they should not bring them out.’ In that moment I knew I wanted my daughter growing up where she would be loved. I made the move to Greece so she could start school with all the other children (Greek children start school aged six, not five). I recall that she was at school on her sixth birthday and that her teacher made a real fuss of her.

Who is my favourite author?

This is so difficult, I can’t possibly say I have only one!

My first love was Thomas Hardy, a favourite who lasted for years, then the Bronte’s all took their turn. The passion in their stories was astounding given their secluded upbringing.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn has made a big impression on me and Antony Trollope is someone who I can read (his less political novels) again and again. His observations of human nature are so acute.

I also like to read non-fiction psychology.

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