Full Circle? Answers on a postcard please
The discovery of a WW1 diary – coupled with some intriguing family stories – sparked the desire to write a novel based upon the diarist’s life. At the time I was still at school, studying Thomas Hardy, so perhaps it’s inevitable that the first part of that story, LOUISA ELLIOTT, should have emerged as a kind of homage to the great man, despite being written some 20 years after the original idea took root.
Set in 1890s York and Dublin, the plot of this big Victorian novel is driven by three main characters, and by the effect of past mistakes upon their relationships with each other.
An instant success, LOUISA ELLIOTT became a bestseller around the world, and was translated into several languages. But it also put pressure to bear on producing the second novel to a deadline.
In part, the sequel was the story I’d started with, the one I had always intended to write. In a more profound way, however, LIAM’S STORY in its present form needed LOUISA ELLIOTT to be written first.
It was originally intended to be one book and, in true Victorian tradition, I took time over telling the tale. But after almost five years, I was having doubts that it would ever be finished: I had to find a point where the reader could say farewell to Louisa, Robert and Edward. The tale could then be picked up a few years later to continue into the First World War and beyond.
Only as I started to plan the second book, did I see the difficulty. Had I continued in similar vein with LIAM’S STORY, it could have worked only if I’d been prepared to romanticise the whole thing. But I couldn’t do that: the truth was too important. With publishers waiting for a synopsis, I was in a quandary. In the end, the way forward came in a powerful moment of inspiration, with a plot connecting past & present, its roots in the writing of LOUISA ELLIOTT.
Beneficial coincidences had been the norm since the very beginning of my research. They led on like clues in a treasure hunt, for ten amazing years. The chain of events came to an end only with the publication of LIAM’S STORY in late 1991.
I’ve had isolated examples since, mostly amusing and only rarely significant. But after 21 years and three more books, two strange incidents brought ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ to the foreground again. Chance put me back in touch with Ned Hoste, who had designed the cover for the first edition of LOUISA ELLIOTT. I’m glad to say that working with Ned has opened doors to indie publishing and the digital world.
A little later, a signed hardback copy of LIAM’S STORY arrived via a book-dealer in the USA. In the States, the novel had been published by Wm Morrow under a different title, MORNING’S GATE. But this was a first edition published by Chatto & Windus in the UK. Even more peculiar, I had signed this book for someone in York. How it had gone to the States and then found its way back to me is another mystery.
The strangeness of it gave me a little shiver. The real Liam – the writer of that WW1 diary – had set the whole story in motion one day in York when I was just fifteen years old. Now, decades later, it seemed he was smiling at me again. A slightly quirky smile to be sure, as though he was saying, ‘Come on now, how many prompts do you need?’
The word COINCIDENCE was clear and inescapable – as were the links to those extraordinary events from years before. Clearly it was time to tell the story of how ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ came into being.
‘A WRITER’S TALE – of Life, Love, Luck & Coincidence’, will appear within the next few months. I’m considering using parts of it as a blog. What do you think?
Once upon a time, such questions were followed by: Answers on a postcard, please. Fortunately, in this digital age, you can leave your comments here…
Set in 1890s York and Dublin, the plot of this big Victorian novel is driven by three main characters, and by the effect of past mistakes upon their relationships with each other.
An instant success, LOUISA ELLIOTT became a bestseller around the world, and was translated into several languages. But it also put pressure to bear on producing the second novel to a deadline.
In part, the sequel was the story I’d started with, the one I had always intended to write. In a more profound way, however, LIAM’S STORY in its present form needed LOUISA ELLIOTT to be written first.
It was originally intended to be one book and, in true Victorian tradition, I took time over telling the tale. But after almost five years, I was having doubts that it would ever be finished: I had to find a point where the reader could say farewell to Louisa, Robert and Edward. The tale could then be picked up a few years later to continue into the First World War and beyond.
Only as I started to plan the second book, did I see the difficulty. Had I continued in similar vein with LIAM’S STORY, it could have worked only if I’d been prepared to romanticise the whole thing. But I couldn’t do that: the truth was too important. With publishers waiting for a synopsis, I was in a quandary. In the end, the way forward came in a powerful moment of inspiration, with a plot connecting past & present, its roots in the writing of LOUISA ELLIOTT.
Beneficial coincidences had been the norm since the very beginning of my research. They led on like clues in a treasure hunt, for ten amazing years. The chain of events came to an end only with the publication of LIAM’S STORY in late 1991.
I’ve had isolated examples since, mostly amusing and only rarely significant. But after 21 years and three more books, two strange incidents brought ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ to the foreground again. Chance put me back in touch with Ned Hoste, who had designed the cover for the first edition of LOUISA ELLIOTT. I’m glad to say that working with Ned has opened doors to indie publishing and the digital world.
A little later, a signed hardback copy of LIAM’S STORY arrived via a book-dealer in the USA. In the States, the novel had been published by Wm Morrow under a different title, MORNING’S GATE. But this was a first edition published by Chatto & Windus in the UK. Even more peculiar, I had signed this book for someone in York. How it had gone to the States and then found its way back to me is another mystery.
The strangeness of it gave me a little shiver. The real Liam – the writer of that WW1 diary – had set the whole story in motion one day in York when I was just fifteen years old. Now, decades later, it seemed he was smiling at me again. A slightly quirky smile to be sure, as though he was saying, ‘Come on now, how many prompts do you need?’
The word COINCIDENCE was clear and inescapable – as were the links to those extraordinary events from years before. Clearly it was time to tell the story of how ‘Louisa’ and ‘Liam’ came into being.
‘A WRITER’S TALE – of Life, Love, Luck & Coincidence’, will appear within the next few months. I’m considering using parts of it as a blog. What do you think?
Once upon a time, such questions were followed by: Answers on a postcard, please. Fortunately, in this digital age, you can leave your comments here…
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