Author Interview: Mary Lay author of The Catching Up Series
Welcome Readers, to TheBook’s Delight. We continue our author interview series with Mary Lay, authorof the Catching Up series about an intrepid young woman finding herself in the1920s. Looks like lots of fun!
JMR-Welcome to theBooks Delight, Mary. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun andwhat does the perfect day look like?
ML- Hello Jeanie, andthanks for having me! I live in Cheltenham in the south of England, by myself. Forfun, gosh sometimes I wonder how I fit it all in – I love to travel,particularly on city breaks. I love steam trains, looking at and riding on them.The smell and the sounds remind me of my father. There are very few crafts thatI haven’t tried at least once; I always have three or four knitting and crochetprojects on the go at once. My other love is gardening; I am a RoyalHorticultural Society trained garden designer and have a passion for designingsmall spaces.
My perfect day wouldstart with breakfast: bacon, eggs and strong tea. Then a trip to a small townsomewhere in the Cotswolds to have a wander and look at the architecture. Lunchin a pub, then perhaps calling in to a garden centre on the way home. Thatleaves plenty of time to work on one or more of my projects before an earlybedtime. I am easily pleased!
JMR-What’s yourfavorite historical time period? Why?
ML- I have always beenfascinated by the 1920s. Everything was new and fast-moving, so many advancesin technology, and although poverty was still widespread, those who had a smallincome could still afford housing, food, clothes and trips to the cinema ordancing. My grandmother was in service during the 20s, at Wantage Hall which ispart of the University of Reading, and she often spoke fondly of the girls sheworked with there. It was her mother who was the inspiration for my novella ‘AWoman Like That’.
JMR-Who is yourfavorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what wouldit be?
ML- I have always beenfar more interested in social and cultural history than individuals who becamefamous. I would like to know more about the lives of the people who made thecountry function; the bricklayers, the railway men, the laundry workers,bakers, school teachers. If I could have half an hour with anyone who livedthrough the Great War, I would ask them to tell me about a typical day forthem.
JMR- How did you cometo be a writer of historical fiction?
ML- I have alwayswritten, but largely for my own enjoyment. Then during the pandemic, on my30-minute exercise walks, I began to think about the people who might havelived in the houses I passed, and the first novel in the Catching Up seriescame from those imaginings. I researched how one might publish work, queried afew agents and publishers, but ultimately decided to self-publish.
JMR- You describeyourself as a ‘magpie of learning’. How does this influence your writing?
ML- I really am! I loveto learn new things, formally and informally, when something catches myattention. If I need to do something, for example tiling the bathroom, I willlearn how to do it and then do it myself. I like to think I am observant, andthat helps to clothe the characters and places in my novels; understanding howsomething actually works, or how it was assembled gives a measure ofauthenticity to writing – this is important even in historical fiction.
JMR- Did you visitanyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest to yourcharacters?
ML- I do find it easierto write about places that I already know reasonably well and know some of thehistory of. Caroline’s story starts in Cheltenham where I currently live, butshe goes on to visit and live in various places that I also know well. I hadthought it would be difficult to write about somewhere that didn’t actuallyexist, but I’m giving it a go in my current project.
JMR-Mary, tell us aboutyour new series, Catching Up.
ML- Catching Up begins inthe final days of the Great War, with the death of Caroline’s older brother.The impact of his death causes Caroline to miss out on many of the activitiesthat a young woman in a middle-class family could expect to enjoy in thepost-war years. A church sermon brings Caroline to realise she is not honouringher brother’s memory by staying tied to the home, so she comes to anarrangement with her father for some funds and sets out to ‘catch up’ with herold school friends. She makes new friends along the way, some of whom showCaroline some aspects of life that she would never have otherwise known aboutor experienced. The series progresses through the 1920s and 30s as Caroline growsin confidence and her life takes some subtle twists and turns as she works hardto maintain her independence.
Though there is someromantic content, there are also some difficult situations for Caroline to dealwith. The other characters are representative of the various types of peoplewho lived and worked in England at the time. An off-shoot of the Catching Upseries is a collection of short stories featuring some of the minor charactersin the series, called ‘The Previous Adventures of…’
JMR-What projects doyou have in the pipeline?
ML- I have recentlystarted to write a novel which could become another series, also set in the1920s but this time in a fictional county between Dorset and Devon in the southof England. This first novel is centred around an inn and the charactersinvolved with it and the production of pear perry (similar to cider). As I’mwriting it, I am having to be strict with the secondary characters that theymay have to wait to see their own tales in print!
JMR- Tell our readershow to find you on social media and the web.
ML- The easiest way isthrough my website marylaystories.com particularly if you are looking topurchase a book in person or would like a signed paperback copy. Alternatively,a search on Amazon will find me, and my novels are also available on KindleUnlimited. Plus all of the major social media channels as @marylaystoriesalthough Twitter is my preference.
JMR- What question wereyou hoping I’d ask but didn’t?
ML- I was hoping youwould mention the covers for the Catching Up series, so that I could say howwonderful my designer has been to produce them from my extremely basic PowerPoint slides! I work with John at Chandler Design Associates in Norfolk. Iwanted a style similar to the old railway posters of the era, but with a modernfeel, and of course, each one must have a train included.
For the new project, Iwill be looking for a new designer, as these need a very different style. Ifany of your readers can recommend an artist, please do get in touch!
JMR- Thank you, Mary,for stopping by for a great chat. Your series looks like so much fun! Readers,I have included a link to Mary’s books below. Be sure to check it out.
