The guest on my blog today is contemporary novelist Christine
Stovell.
Christine lives in rural West Wales and leads an
interesting life, combining home-making, family, writing novels and poetry and
short stories and running with – ease? Let’s find out!
Thank you for popping round, Christine. I’ll just put the kettle on and fetch the biscuits.
Ah, lovely - essential nutrients! Thank you so much, Margaret, for inviting me
to your blog and making me so welcome.
Then we can get down to business.
Eek!
Your latest novel is called Follow a Star, and I
wondered if this might be a good description of your own life? Do you
personally follow a very special star?
I would steer a little wooden boat across deep seas by starlight for my
husband, Tom, and my two daughters… oh, wait a minute, I have! Seriously, they are my guiding stars who mean
everything to me.
You write novels, poetry and short fiction. Do you have a
favourite kind of writing? How do you respond to the challenges of each writing
style?
My work, in whatever form, is simply my attempt to make sense of the world. The challenge is to set those thoughts and feelings down in words that will chime with readers. My novels always begin with a strong image in my mind’s eye, like a
‘still’ from a film. With Turning the
Tide it was seeing Harry, a troubled young woman, sitting alone by the side
of creek. Move Over Darling, started
with the heroine Coralie looking out of her workshop at the snow and Follow A Star began with May, her rucksack slung over her shoulder,
hoofing it down a lonely road.
What made you decide to return to Little Spitmarsh, the
setting of Turning the Tide, to write Follow a Star?
I love faded seaside towns anyway, but Little
Spitmarsh and its inhabitants are very real to me. I miss the place and the
people when I leave it behind and can see myself returning for a third visit.
What about the running – does that help you with your
writing, or is running an escape from writing?
They complement each other, but what I’ve
learned from both is that half-marathons and novels are just a series of small
steps.
What's your favourite part of the novel-writing process -
planning, writing the first draft, editing?
I’ve learned that there’s always a point when
I become very frustrated that the words I’ve written don’t match the ‘perfect’
vision in my head, so the trick is to press on through that difficult first draft.
By then, I’m so deep in the world of the novel that it isn’t always easy to
look at it objectively - which is when I’m grateful to my editor and the chance
to make it the book it should be. I suppose the bit I
like best is having written – the satisfaction of completing a long piece of
work!
What are you writing now?
Enough to keep me busy for a very long time! I’m writing my
fourth romantic novel, I’m working (very
slowly) on building a poetry collection, I’ve got the opening chapters of a
much darker novel about friendship and betrayal, and I’d also like to complete a
non-fiction project I’ve started.
When anyone new to writing fiction asks you for advice, what
do you say?
Write only if you’re
completely and utterly in love with what you’re doing - that way you’ll stick
with it. Besides, if you don’t love your
work, why should the reader?
How do you manage to juggle all the things you do – any
tips?
As above really; if you love what you do,
you’ll find time for it … which is why my garden currently resembles a small
jungle!
Five quick questions:
Favourite time of day?
Whenever I catch sight of the sea beyond my
window.
Most precious possession?
My health.
Biggest regret?
I wish I’d taken my writing seriously sooner
and that I’d started running earlier as both have brought me so much
satisfaction and joy, but, hey, maybe everything happened at the right time for
me.
Future writing ambitions?
To see one of my novels adapted for film or TV
… ohpleaseohplease!
Happiest moment?
Still to come, I hope! You get one chance, one life. Yesterday's gone, forget about it. You have this precious new day, so live it.
