Q&A with Shirley Mann

 Welcome to The Comfy Chair blog... Shirley Mann, author of recent release, 'Bobby's War.' 

I am a journalist who worked for the BBC for most of my career,  for programmes such as Woman’s Hour and Countryfile. I then started up my own media company producing films for organisation such as Natural England and the National Heritage Lottery Fund. I was thinking of retiring when I thought it would be a really good idea to ‘just’ see whether I could write a novel. I have just been signed for two further novels so bang goes retirement. I live in the glorious hills of Derbyshire and have two daughters and a ‘granddog’ ( I know, say nothing!)  

 

1.     What was your favourite childhood book/author?
I absorbed all books but The Faraway Tree and The Water Babies have a special place in my heart.

2.    What inspired you to start writing and how long has it taken you to get to this point? 
I have always needed to write from when I would write stories for my sister and I – as the heroines, obviously- and I became a journalist for that reason but novel writing?-- Well, that only took me until I was 60 until I thought I’d give it a go.

3.     Describe your writing space - neat and ordered or creative chaos?
One day I will be neat and ordered but, at the moment, I move around the house taking my piles of rubbish with me. Sometimes, it’s on the sofa with a cushion on my knees under my laptop, sometimes at the dining room table but for some reason, hardly ever in the little office we have- that’s too much like a proper writer. Strangely the best place I have ever written was in the café at Ikea. No idea why but it worked really well and I love writing on trains. I often think all I have to do to finish a novel is to set off from Land’s End and go up to John O’Groats. That would do it.

4.     What is the easiest and hardest part of the writing process? 
Easiest is writing the words ‘The End’, the hardest is the bit beforehand.

5.    Which other authors are you influenced by?
All of them, I get something out of every writer’s style. Many of them make me feel completely inadequate, others make me feel I can do better- especially with endings. I hate it when they think it’s clever to keep you hanging.  I think I am aiming to create heroines like Georgette Heyer did- all with very different but distinctive personalities. I wanted to write novels that were an easy read but an intelligent read and oh, did I ever want to make sure they were page-turners? I read so much and so many different types of books but often it’s a chore to pick them up. I want to be taken away to another world but it has to be a well-written, well-researched world.

6.     What does literary success “look” like to you?
 People. I had a comment from a reader yesterday that said she stayed up until 1.30am reading my first book and couldn’t put it down. I get a huge kick out of people’s enthusiasm and when a 26 year old says she got through Lockdown with ‘Lily’s War’ because it made her realise what young people went through in the war, it makes me feel very humbled. I also want desperately to do justice to my parents, whose wartime romance started me off on this journey, and to the wonderful former WAAFs, ATA pilots and Land Army girls I interviewed- they helped me recreate their very personal war and told me wonderful details that aren’t in the history books. If I do justice to their legacy, I will feel I really have achieved something.

7.    How do you select the names of your characters?
Sometimes, they just come to me  because they seem to suggest themselves to me but graveyards are good!

8.    Do you hide any secret ‘messages’ in your book that only a few people will understand? 
I was about to say no, but the first one was based on my parents and for the family, I think there will be memories that I have that would have been lost. Certainly, in ‘Lily’s War’ my heroine’s parents are my grandparents and their house and life has now been immortalised in that book and I hope will allow future generations to understand what their ancestors were like.

9.     If your book was to be made into a film/TV programme, which actors would play which role? 
Someone asked me this question the other day and I thought maybe Lily James could be Lily ( and yes, it would be handy she has the same name) and I did think Andy Burnham could be Danny! Maybe a younger version might be necessary but he has all the attributes and certainly the twinkling eyes!

10.  What do you hope your readers take away from your book?
An escape from Covid and maybe an appreciation that at least, we’re not being bombed from the air for six years. But I really would like people to look again at old people and, a bit like the film ‘The Notebook’, realise that they were once young.

 

Lastly, Jenn (The Comfy Chair) likes to enjoy a good read snuggled up with a cup of tea and piece of cake... what cake or sweet treat would you suggest to accompany your book? 

 

Oh, I think a chocolate brownie but actually a chocolate brownie goes well with any book. It helps you get through some of the award winners that are sheer hard work but it also feels gloriously indulgent when you’re gobbling up the pages of a real winner. I hope people think my books are like chocolate brownies- delicious, fun but full of goodness.

Bobby's War
Release date: E book 29^th Oct and paperback 19^th March, 2021.

Red-haired Roberta, Bobby for short, is an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot. She has a frantic schedule delivering planes all over the country and flies everything from a Spitfire to a Wellington bomber. She navigates the country but when it comes to the secrets of her dysfunctional family, she finds that controlling a huge, four-engined bomber might just be easier than controlling her own life.

Available to purchase - HERE

Follow Shirley on Twitter - @shirleymann07
For more information - https://shirleymannauthor.home.blog/

GUEST POST: ‘Behind the Scenes of Being an Author’ with Caroline Roberts – A Writer’s Life

‘Behind the Scenes of Being an Author’ with Caroline Roberts – A Writer’s Life

Hi Jenn, thanks for having me here at The Comfy Chair and for coming up with this great idea for a blog post.

So, today is publication day for my new book ‘Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry’ (yippee!) and I’m delighted to be welcoming you all back to Primrose Farm.  


Behind the scenes - inspirations

The Pudding Pantry books are set near to my home in the glorious Northumberland countryside.

I’ve always been interested in farming life, and whilst out walking in the valleys and moorland, the characters of Rachel and her wonderful family - the four feisty generations of Swinton women who are striving to take their farm forward after personal tragedy - came to mind. We have several farming friends locally, who welcomed me to their homes with cups of tea and a smile, ready to answer my many questions about the practicalities and the emotions around working a farm in rural Northumberland. I loved touring the farms and meeting the animals.

Susan Green, who has a fabulous pudding company, The Proof of the Pudding, based at her farmhouse near to Alnwick, gave me a tour and great insight into the hard work and ups and downs involved in creating such a business from scratch. A photograph of a beautiful barn conversion in our local lifestyle magazine helped set the seed, too. I love the stone and character of old farm buildings, and could really picture the tea rooms coming to life in the story in the old barn.

Behind the scenes of a series

With regards to the series, there was always going to be Pudding Pantry books one and two, but there was so much more to say when I got to the end of the Christmas book, that it felt like ‘unfinished business’. I knew I needed to stay with these gorgeous characters - who felt very much like friends - a little longer, and so, book three ‘Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry’ was born. I’m so glad I had the chance to see the story play out further. The book was lovely to write and has a joyful feel, and a sense of achievement and of fulfilment both for the characters in the story and for me as the writer.

I hope you enjoy spending time at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry as much as I did. In fact, I wish it was a real place, so I could go there and chat over tea and scrumptious puddings with my friends. We could find ourselves a comfy chair at the Pudding Pantry!

Behind the Scenes - where the writing magic happens.

The first book in the Pudding Pantry series was written in the main in my conservatory, a place where I can look out across my garden and to the fields beyond. That view is inspiring in itself, and at the moment there are lambs and sheep in the field directly behind my house.

The latest book ‘Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry’ was created in my new writing room. I was finding I needed a space of my own to ‘go to work’, and get my head down and concentrate. So, I converted our small bedroom, adding a lovely wooden desk and investing in a good-quality comfy chair! (A necessity for a writer as well as a reader!). I love my Etsy picture: ‘Big stories start with little chapters’ that hangs in front of the desk – a reminder not to feel overwhelmed and to break down the story, working on it one bit at a time. That’s a good tip for any writer; to plan out the plot and then concentrate on the section you are on, so it doesn’t feel too much to work on at once, especially when writing something as long as a novel.

Here’s a video tour of my writing world. Come and join me …

  

 

From Jenn and The Comfy Chair....

Thank you Caroline for trusting me with such a fun, unique guest blog post. I'm thrilled to be able to celebrate your publication day in this way!

My Review:

I’ve been a big fan of this series from the start, its setting, the characters and the storylines the have drawn me and made me believe I am part of the community. Through all the ups and downs, loves and heartbreak, I’m a firm fan. I’m also partial to drooling about the amazing cakes and goodies littered through each book. I don’t need much encouragement to have a little treat whilst I read but this book should come with the caveat you MUST be eating cake whilst reading!

Rachel is getting married, the happiest of happy times and oh.. this book gives you plenty to enjoy. I don’t want to give you spoilers but watch for some surprises in this one. The hen party is full of fun as you would expect and best friend, Eve, is around as ever with her amazing crafty ways. I was worried for her in this one, she wasn’t the Eve we have come to know and love.

I was so happy reading the whole community mucking in to share in the happy event. It captures community life no end and that’s what makes this series very special. Whilst we focus on Rachel, her family and her friends are really important.

Caroline Roberts writes beautifully, bringing these characters alive and bringing us heart-warming stories. (Plus the sweetest cravings ever known!) She isn’t one to shy away from difficult storylines either, and touches on some sensitive subjects. I would love to go back again, see what life holds for Rachel, Eve and co. Plus I’m sure we could discover more yummy cake recipes!

This is without a doubt a five star worthy book, a fantastic read that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Author Q&A with Olivia Beirne -'The Accidental Love Letter'

What would you do if you received a love letter that wasn't meant for you?

Bea used to feel confident, outgoing and fun, but she's not sure where that person went.

Over the last few months, she's found herself becoming reclusive and withdrawn. And despite living with her two best friends, she's never felt lonelier.

To make things worse, she's become so dependent on her daily routine, she's started to slip out of everyone else's.

But when a mysterious battered envelope covered in stars lands on her doormat, Bea wonders if she could find the courage to open it.
It isn't addressed to her, but it could be... if you squinted... 


Thank you to Olivia for taking the time to answer the following questions for The Comfy Chair blog...

1.    What was your favourite childhood book/author?

I had so many, but I loved everything by Roald Dahl. I especially loved Enid Blyton, and was obsessed with the idea of going to boarding school, which was only heightened when Harry Potter arrived in my early teens. I loved any books about magic, and the Saturday morning treat in my house was to go to the library and choose a new book (after my Mum had spent a far more stressful morning trying to find the pile of books me and my siblings had left around the house, to return to the library).
2.    What inspired you to start writing and how long has it taken you to get to this point?

I know every writer says this, but I really have written all my life. When I was little I told my younger brother stories, and made my sister watch me act out plays with my dolls (and tell her off when she didn’t clap at the right time. Lucky her ey?) I toyed with the idea of being a writer as a teenager, but had absolutely no idea how to do it, so skipped off to University to study Drama instead. In reality, I spent three years making up plays with my friends and writing scripts, and wrote a play as my final assignment. Something in me was addicted to creating stories.

I started writing my first novel the day after I handed in my dissertation. It took me four years and three books to get signed by my Agent (the third book being my debut novel, The List That Changed My Life). I must have been rejected about one hundred times over the year, but something in me knew I had to keep going. I felt like it was the only thing I could do!
  
3.    Describe your writing space - neat and ordered or creative chaos?

Absolute creative chaos! One of the reasons I find starting a book so hard is because, to begin with, everything is so neat. The notebooks are empty, and there are no charts around my desk. I am a planner, and I have to be able to visualise my book before I start writing. I write my books on my laptop, but all of the planning has to be done by hand. My brain won’t work any other way.

4.    What is the easiest and hardest part of the writing process?

Hmmm. I guess the easiest part is when I get to write a scene I’ve had planned for months, whether that be a comic or serious, I get such satisfaction writing them. I can feel the fire ignite in my stomach. The hardest part is getting there, at the beginning I imagine these huge scenes… but know that they won’t sit until 40,000 words in. I write chronologically, so even if that scene is bursting out of my fingers, I know I need to write that 40k first. That can be very hard.
5.    Which other authors are you influenced by? 

That is quite a hard question, as I read such a variety of books and I take something away from every book I read which seeps into my own writing process. For example, I’ve just finished My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite which was absolutely brilliant, and had an incredible sense
of pace which is firmly sat in my mind as I plan my next novel. 

6.    What does literary success look like to you?

Someone enjoying my book. Obviously seeing my books in bookshops is 

super exciting, but any comments from somebody who has read my book 

and enjoyed them means the world to me. To me, that’s me doing my job well. It also blows my mind.
7.    How do you select the names of your characters?

With great, great difficulty. I am terrible at choosing names. Sometimes I choose names I adore (for example, there is a character in The Accidental Love Letter called Joy, which is one of my favourite names), and sometimes I pinch names from TV programmes and people I meet

8.    Do you hide any secret ‘messages’ in your book that only a few people will understand?

Yes! There is a moment between Gus and Sylvia which is a nod to my Grandparents and how they met. I’m not sure they’ll even notice, but it made me smile!

9.    What three words describe your book?

Trust. Love. Unity.

10.  If it was to be made into a film/TV programme, what actors would play which role? 

Maggie Smith would make a mean Sylvia!

11.  What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

That they’re not alone, and chances are the people around you who seem to have it all together are feeling the same way as you. It’s okay to ask for help. Most importantly, it’s okay to make repeated jokes about beavers (that’s mainly for my parents/grandparents before they disown me at the sheer amount of beaver jokes crammed in this book).

Lastly, Jenn and The Comfy Chair likes to enjoy a good read snuggled up with a cup of tea and piece of cake... what cake or sweet treat would you suggest accompany your book?

Jenn that’s exactly how I’d like my books to be enjoyed! I love cake, and I think I’d say a fat slice of victoria sponge. Or carrot cake. Or chocolate. Or all three with a small bit of battenburg?

The Accidental Love Letter - Available Here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  

Olivia Beirne is the bestselling author of The List That Changed My Life and lives in Buckinghamshire. She has worked as a waitress, a pottery painter and a casting assistant, but being a writer is definitely her favourite job yet.

You can keep in touch with Olivia through her website oliviabeirne.co.uk, or via Olivia_Beirne on Twitter, olivia.beirne on Instagram and /Olivia-Beirne on Facebook.