Hello, Cathie - welcome to my blog on this rainy morning!
I'm delighted you've agreed to chat to me about your debut novel Secret of the Song, a time slip story set in Renaissance Naples and 21st century Devon.
MJ: What was the original inspiration for this novel?
CH: A few years ago when I
was in a small choir we were given a song to sing by Carlo Gesualdo, one of the
main characters in my book. I’d never heard of him. The music was difficult and
we all got very grumpy. Although the music was written back in the 16th century, it
sounded very discordant, almost avant garde. The choirmaster then told us about
Gesualdo’s notoriety. When I did some research into his life, I was hooked.
MJ: What particularly attracted you to writing a time slip
story?
CH: It was at the same
rehearsal that I first wondered whether madness could be somehow transmitted in
music such that it affected the musicians who performed it. When I think of
those ‘maddening’ tunes that seem to go round and round in the head for days on
end, earworms they’re called, then it seems quite likely. I thought I would
write a contemporary novel about a singer finding out about Gesualdo and then
wondering if a piece of music could be cursed, but when I read the witness
statement by young Silvia Albana, I was so taken by her plight, that I decided
to interweave her story. She was the seamstress and confidant to Gesualdo’s
wife, a princess who behaved so recklessly that she endangered both herself and
poor Silvia.
MJ: How do you work – are you a planner and are you most
definitely in charge, or do you let your characters guide you into their
stories and do you take your cues from them?
CH: I have a plan but it
isn’t very exact, although I do know what the big questions are that I’m trying
to answer. Writing a few chapters in order to really immerse myself in the
world helps me too, and I get to know the characters more thoroughly. That’s
usually when I pause and tighten up the plan.
MJ: As a classical musician and singer yourself, do you feel you
have a mission to encourage more people to take an interest in classical music
and – if so – was this one of your motives for writing this novel?
CH: I certainly felt I had
a mission when I trained to be a music teacher but that was quite a long time
ago. Now I think the best way to encourage anyone to do or enjoy anything is to
be passionate about it. I absolutely love singing the sort of music I have
written about and if I can enthuse my readers to go and listen to (or better still,
sing) any Italian or English songs written during Tudor times, it would be
fantastic.
MJ: Who is your favourite character in Secret of the Song?
CH: That’s very difficult
because I’m so fond of several, but I think it’s got to be Mollie. She’s the
precocious ten year-old daughter of Lisa, my contemporary heroine. There’s
considerable negotiation that goes on between mother and daughter. There’s one
particular scene I’m fond of where Mollie has a secret and Lisa is trying to
find out what it is, even though she’s always told Mollie that secrets
shouldn’t be revealed.
MJ: Do you have any tips for people starting to write a first
novel?
CH: Ask yourself what your
novel is about and keep asking until you can answer with confidence when
someone asks you. Try practising on already published novels.
Think about your plot
in terms of scenes. Start each one with intrigue and end with sufficient
jeopardy (not necessarily life-threatening) to make your reader want to turn
over.
Five quick questions
Do you feel more at home in a town or in the countryside?
I’ve lived in both and
while I’m now more at home in a city, I do miss having the breathtaking beauty of
the Devon countryside on my doorstep.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I love Devon so it
would have be here, and I’m not a great traveller, but a small pad in London
and perhaps the Dordogne, and somewhere near Florence, and maybe by the Med…
Who are your favourite composers?
I keep coming back to
Bach when I play the piano, but I have a very eclectic mix of music on my
phone. All sorts from the Renaissance period, but I also have Mozart, Brahms,
Puccini, and quite a few albums by Pat Methany, the jazz guitarist.
Do you feel any other writers particularly influence your
work?
I think all my reading
has influenced me, but I remember loving a book by Barbara Trapido and
thinking, she can turn the emotion on a pin. She could do funny and serious
equally quickly and yet it didn’t jar. Could I do that?
What’s next on the writing agenda for you?
Thank you, Cathie - it was good to talk. Many congratulations on the publication of this lovely novel, and here's to great sales now and in the future!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Song-Cathie-Hartigan/dp/1517114284/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
