Irene’s Comments (group member since Apr 17, 2011)

Irene’s comments from the Unknown Books? - Let's Read Them Club! group.

I wish I knew, Ellie - I'd bottle it!

;-D

But more seriously, I am deliberately vague about dates and places when I'm writing fiction. True, it gives readers the chance to stretch their own imagination a bit, but it's also because I've spent nearly half a century researching family history, where every detail has to be precise and exact if the final result is to be accurate.

Fiction is something I write for fun, and although I usually have a place in my mind (and even the accents of the characters, often) I rarely tell anyone else where the events are taking place.

If you enjoy them - that's enough for me!

I'm blushing . . . but nicely! Thank you, Ellie and Ice!

:-)

Just in case anyone didn't manage to get their copy in time, I've left the discount in place for a bit longer.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and of course I'll answer any questions you might have.

:-)

I'm still around, Toni - if there's anything you want to ask me, fire away. (If I don't answer you straight away, I will in the morning.)

The family history has taken up a lot of my time . . . I don't think I'd better admit how many years I've been up to the elbows in that!

"Flowers for Alys" is the most recent fiction title - published towards the end of last year - but I do family history things in between. Did a huge version of our Tree not so long ago.

Yes, there are plenty of hills in these parts! TV reception is terrible, but I'd rather watch the sun setting between the hills anyway.

The next book is always an unknown quantity. Sometimes I start on several ideas, in the hope that one will click. At the moment I have three beginnings amongst my files - I think I know which one will grow into a book, but I don't like to say too much at this stage, just in case.

If this one does make it, it will be more up to date than "Flowers for Alys". The most recent one yet, really, although I'm not sure I'll ever get quite into the computer age . . .

I'm always a bit vague about giving actual dates and places, and this one is no exception, but I think I'd put it somewhere in the mediaeval range.

When I'm working on family history I have to be so precise about names and dates and places - when it comes to fiction I like to leave a little bit of fuzziness around the facts. In that case it's the story that matters most.

The story does unfold over several years, but it moves forward through them, with the characters getting a bit older as it goes along.

No, it all happens in the distant past. I'm afraid I haven't got around to writing about time travel yet.

;-)

I have a lot of admiration for the people who lived then - the things they had to put up with, and yet they seemed to cope somehow.

I think women had a tougher time in many ways than the men of old, and it must have made them stronger.

Oddly enough, although it might not seem very likely, there was probably more of Me in "Flowers for Alys" than in the others. Some unlikely events in the book genuinely happened to me, not necessarily in quite the same circumstances or the same order.

Not really, no. I've spent many years researching our family history, so I've absorbed all sorts of events and personalities from that, and the story must have contained some things I've discovered there.

As always there are some events in the story which have references to people I've known, but as far as I know it didn't all happen to one person.

Well, except for that voice in my head. I must admit, I have wondered once or twice whether she was once on this Earth too.

Yes - but only if I had the power of veto!!! Most of my life is so tedious that it would send my reader to sleep. When I become rich and famous I shall of course produce the Authorised Version myself . . .

Love your library raft suggestion, Ice. Brilliant!

Oh Heavens . . . that's a tall order! Am I allowed The Bible and Shakespeare as extras? That narrows it down a little.

My instinctive reply would be a request for a very big, thick, blank notebook, to write my own . . . but I would get very grumpy with that on my less-inspired days.

Jane Austen, the Brontes, A S Byatt, Thomas Hardy, Barbara Pym, Antonia White . . . drama, poetry, fiction or fact - it's so hard to narrow down to just one book.

I don't suppose I'd be allowed a nice leather-bound set of Encyclopaedia Britannica, would I? No? A huge book of quotations would be lovely, too, because those snippets would remind me of all the poems that are in my head.

But - if I have to choose one single volume (sob!) I think (today) I shall plump for the wonderful "Jane Eyre". I first read it at the age of eight and, while I didn't understand everything in it, it drew me in to a spell of mystery and excitement which has remained with me. I still enjoy it, despite watching several different versions on television over the years.

I much prefer it to "Wuthering Heights" - Heathcliff is such a brute, and Cathy is impossibly selfish! - and even the terror of the Red Room might lessen if I were to be imprisoned there on a daily basis!

I'd better stop there . . . other books are knocking on my head, demanding to be let on to the Island too . . . !

Inspiration is important - I've never sat down to write something just because it happened to be Wednesday, or because the electric bill had arrived! But where it comes from is more complicated to describe.

I started writing at about four, but the first thing I still have is a poem I wrote when I was twelve. I saw something on the way to school which interested me, and again on the way home, and that turned into a poem.

One book was started when I was on holiday in a new place. The beauty of the location captured me and a story began in my head, so I wrote it down. Well, I wrote half the story, then put it away when the holiday ended. It was over twenty years later that I finished it!

Last year I was between books, struggling a bit, when a completely different story came to me, and this one came in the voice of the narrator. I could hear her voice telling me about her life, and I had to keep writing it down to find out what happened next! That book happened quite quickly, and was great fun to write.

There has to be a thought, an idea to be the initial spark, I think, but once it catches light my imagination takes over.

As far as technical skills go, language has always been a passion for me. I love words, the shape and the feel of them, and I'm one of those people who gets very annoyed about sloppy grammar. So anything I write tends to be polished to within an inch of its life! Although I will admit to being mortified once to discover one tiny spelling mistake, and I re-published that book in all three editions to correct that one missing letter.

Patience is something that tends to come with age, I think. I have brought up children (and animals of various kinds) and you have to learn to give them time to grow. Books can be more difficult - there are times when I wish I was a faster typist! It does get harder when you're nearly finished with a book, and you really, really want to put that last full stop in. A bit like the last stages of pregnancy - but neither can be rushed!

I was born in Yorkshire, but I didn't live there long. We used to visit relatives there, and I do enjoy going back, but I do that less nowadays. To all intents and purposes I'm Scottish now, having lived here for a very long time. For most of my life I've had a view of hills from my window, and I would miss them now.

If anyone wants to read at least a bit of my books before asking questions, you can download the sample chapters from Amazon, or go to Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/books/2108729... to read sample chapters and some other information.

See you later! ;-)

I like to keep everybody - including myself - guessing!

If it helps, there's an independent review of my latest, "Flowers for Alys", at this address:

http://oldenglishrose.dmi.me.uk/2011/...

I tend to write in the whatever-comes-into-my-head genre, to be honest. They're all a bit different from the one before!

Don't worry, Fredericka - I'm not familiar with Author Q&A Sessions! This will be my first, so if you do come along we can all learn something new together.

:-)

Thanks for your permission! 8-)

Yes, it is important to make sure which books are suitable for adults and which aren't, I agree.

I would say that "A Day to Go Gently" and "Wild Honey" are not suitable for children. They are about adult relationships, so they do have some adult content. I wouldn't think children would be interested in those anyway, although they might be suitable for older teens.

In "Gently" the relationship begins while the couple are themselves in their teens, and the narrator is looking back on her life from old age, so it might be of interest to a mature Young Adult.

"Flowers for Alys" was also written with adults in mind, but readers have commented that it would be suitable for the YA age group - the leading characters are quite young, and there are no love scenes. My only doubt about this one would be the fact that the beginning tells of a birth in some detail, but I don't suppose it's worse than some other books they might read!

"St James the Less" is a history book, suitable for anybody with an interest. In fact I have given copies to local primary schools, so that one can be regarded as "safe".

But if anyone isn't sure, I hope they would read the sample chapters first to be on the safe side.