June 24, 2009
About writing novels and me
My first novel Taking Chances was published last year by Authorhouse. I started writing it shortly after I retired in the autumn of 2007. At the time I felt very disorientated after a life time of teaching, and suddenly there was no work to go to. Schools and colleges were re-starting after the summer, and for the first time I was not going back myself. Then almost miraculously I remembered what I had wanted to do for many years but had never had the time to work on – writing a novel. I was not sure if I could even write a page, never mind a whole book.
However, when I thought about it, this would not be my first attempt at writing. Back in the 1980’s I had been off sick for a couple of weeks, with of all things, a dental abscess – my face looked as if I had mumps.. The house was empty, my husband and children all out at work and school respectively; I was lying in bed feeling bored and uncomfortable. Suddenly I found myself grabbing an A4 pad and starting to draft the plan of a novel. Over the next few days I wrote a couple of chapters – I felt so excited.
I shared my thoughts with my now ex-husband and he pooh-poohed the idea of my writing anything. ‘Anyway, you’ll never get it published,’ he declared. I put my writing away in a box – I had no time to carry on with it as I had to go back to work. I did think about this novel over the years as it gathered dust…and when I finally left my husband in 1995 the abortive novel was left behind also.
So when in 2007, encouraged by my second husband, to start writing again, I tried to remember the plot of my original novel. I did recall some ideas, but did not feel inspired to carry on with exactly the same story. My original idea had been to set my novel mainly in Nigeria and interweave the lives of two English women married to Nigerians (as I had been) from very different backgrounds and situations. The novel was to have been called Beyond the Pale.
Taking Chances started with this idea in mind, and then developed of its own accord into a very different story. The story itself hijacked any other preconceived plan, and literally demanded to be written. It is about a mixed couple, Anna and Shola, who leave good jobs at a university in Nigeria, and set off for England with their three children in the 1980’s. They find themselves in Liverpool in Thatcher’s Britain, a time of economic depression and mass unemployment. Life was tough for everyone, but even more so for a mixed race family, totally ignorant of the area, and its social and racial problems. English Anna and her Nigerian husband, Shola, have to battle for the survival of their family, and face their own personal difference and failings, as parents and as a couple. The main protagonist is Anna and she has to suffer the break up of her family before she comes to some measure of self awareness and peace. This novel is available on Amazon or directly from the publishers, Authorhouse. (ISBN 9781434381576)
My second novel Loving on Borrowed Time once again draws on my own experiences in Britain and in Nigeria; this novel is set in the 1960’s, in Manchester and Nigeria. The Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70 forms a backdrop to the novel. The protagonist of the novel is Lia, a naive young student from a Greek-English background, who has a passionate affair with a married Nigerian postgraduate at Manchester University, finding the love she has always longed for, only to have to relinquish it. When Lia has to say good-bye to her lover, even the sunny skies of Nigeria cannot drive away the dark misery in her heart. Working in the war-torn West African country, she tries to forget him and make a new life for herself. There she meets another man, who offers her a chance of happiness. But will she take it, or has too much damage already been done? This novel is due to come out later this year, and is being published by Vanguard Press.
Since finishing this novel, I have been busy writing a third, which is now virtually complete. This time the setting is mainly in Britain, although there is a large portion set in Greece. The novel is entitled A Phoenix Life and is about a middle aged woman of Greek-English parentage. Her name is Zoe, and on the break up of her marriage, she sets out to discover her true identity, and to make a new life for herself. This involves a change of job and location, and a trip to Athens, her father’s birthplace, to experience what it means to be Greek. Her quest for a new man in her life mirrors her search for her Greek identity. I hope that this book will be published next year – 2010.
My mind is already buzzing with ideas for a fourth book. Writing gives me such a feeling of fulfilment, and although I would not claim to be a great or particularly gifted writer, I do have some interesting stories to tell… I am gaining confidence all the time.
I would love to have some feedback on Taking Chances. And of course, Loving on Borrowed Time, when it comes out.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Since I last wrote anything new on my blog, I have not been idle!
Loving on Borrowed Time was published at the end of July as planned: ISBN: 978 84386 537 7. It’s now available on Amazon as well as from the publishers, Pegasus/Vanguard Press. I am very pleased with it and would love to get some more feedback…. I had a review in the Greek/Cypriot newspaper, Parikiaki, 10 September 2009.
I finished A Phoenix Life, and I am now trying to sort out publication – not sure whether to stay with Pegasus or try another publisher… I have also been working hard on my fourth novel which will be entitled Throwing It All Away. I have just completed my first draft, but still have a long way to go with it. This novel is a departure from my first three in that has a very different kind of protagonist. While the others all have heroines with whom I can identify, Throwing It All Away has a rather unlikeable main character, though one with whom I can sympathise on some levels. It also has a historical aspect in that this character is born in 1910 in Suffolk, and lives through the Second World War in London, moving around Britain at various phases of her life. Instead of traditional chapters, the novel is broken up by changes in location – this arrangement seemed to fit the novel in a more organic way. I am looking forward to doing a lot more work on it.
I can’t finish this update without thanking my daughter, Clare, for helping me with some of the technical aspects of blogging! Clare, your assistance is greatly appreciated – thanks so much!
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