My special guest on this sunny autumn afternoon is Elizabeth Ducie, whose first
novel Gorgito’s Ice Rink was
published in October 2014.
Welcome, Elizabeth
– sit down and have a coffee and a ginger biscuit!
The first thing I noticed about Gorgito’s Ice Rink was its lovely cover. I know you had some input
there, so could you tell me how you came up with the concept for the cover? What
does it say about the book?
Yes, it is beautiful, isn’t it? In many ways, I see Gorgito
as Russia’s
answer to Zorba the Greek and the original concept was to have a sketch of the
man himself, with the skater and the buildings in the background.
Unfortunately, while the artist captured the character well, it looked more
like a children’s book than an adult’s novel. So I turned to Berni Stevens for
help. I searched her website for examples of a suitable style and came up with
the silhouette format. We started out with Gorgito on there as well, but
decided having him in the title was sufficient and ended up with the final version,
with which I am delighted.
When you started writing Gorgito’s Ice Rink, did you have a
master plan or did you start the story and see where it would take you?
Gosh, it’s seven years since I started, so it’s hard to
remember. I certainly didn’t have a master plan right from the beginning. I
think I wrote it in three main chunks and then integrated them. By 2010, I had
the first five chapters written and knew what the end would be. So I had A and
Z, but no real idea of how I would get from one to the other. At Exeter
University (where I studied for an
MA in Creative Writing), I learned to write film treatments (a scene by scene
outline) and this helped me map out the main storyline. However, I came up with
Gorgito’s back story quite late in the day; and the third strand, Emma’s story,
right at the end.
You’ve travelled and worked all around the world. I can tell
from reading your book that you have a special affection for Russia
and its people. What is so compelling about Russia
and the Russians?
I worked in Russia
from 1993 onwards, so just after the fall of the Soviet Union.
So I had the privilege of watching that huge, fascinating country move from one
major political and economic system to a different one. It was interesting to
watch changes occur, not at the macro, but at the micro level; changes in
facilities in hotels, levels of service in shops and so on. The Russian public
face is quite a stern one; someone once told me you didn’t smile in public as
you never knew who you were standing next to. However the private face is
friendly, generous and fun-loving. I’ve had some wonderful times and made some
great friends in the past 20 years.
You’re involved in organising an annual literary festival in
your home county of Devon.
Please could you tell us something about it?
In 2011, Chudleigh Writers’ Circle ran the first Chudleigh
Literary Festival. It was just one day, with writers’ workshops in the morning,
guest speakers, including the wonderful Ann Widdecombe, and an open mic session
in the afternoon. In 2014, our fourth annual festival encompassed a one-day
workshop for history writing; a day of general workshops for writers; a ‘meet
the authors’ supper; a choir performing Charles Causley’s poems; guest speaker
Tony Hawkes; a day of poetry workshops for the children in the Primary School;
and an associated poetry competition. We are nowhere near as big as Dartington
or Budleigh Salterton - and I don’t think we would want to be, as our focus
remains a festival for Chudleigh, rather than a festival in Chudleigh - but
we’re still growing and have some exciting plans for 2015.
How do you organise a typical writing day? Or isn’t there
such a thing for you?
I try to write every day, although it doesn’t always work
out that way - and I write nothing at all in July and December. I am very much
a lark, rather than an owl, so if I’ve got anything I must finish, I will
attack that first. I generally write in the mornings and leave the afternoons
for marketing and non-writerly activities. I’ve also started writing more by
hand, when I’m away from home - and find that sometimes flows better than words
on the screen. I am lucky enough to have an office across the garden which has
been converted for me to write in - but I’m just as likely to be found writing
at the dining table, especially if it’s raining.
What are you writing now?
I’m using November and NaNoWriMo to write the first draft of
my second novel. I’ve learned a lot in the past seven years and I hope that
this one will be out by this time next year, rather than in 2021. This one’s
also based on my travels and centres on counterfeit drugs in Africa.
How would you like your fiction-writing career to develop?
I hope to publish a growing portfolio of works, both novels
and collections of short stories. But my first writing experience was in
non-fiction and I expect that to continue in parallel, especially my books of
business skills for writers.
Five quick questions:
- The
best evening – in or out?
Definitely
in, but surrounded by friends, all eating drinking, laughing and chatting together. (Mind you, if it’s at a
friend’s house, so we don’t have to wash-up
afterwards, that’s even better. Not sure if that qualifies as in or out).
- Favourite
non-writing activity or hobby?
Apart from
the aforesaid evenings with friends, I love discovering new restaurants. Michael and I rarely take
overseas holidays these days (we did too much
travelling on business over the years and anyway, when you are doing a job you love in a part of the world you
love, what is there to go on holiday from?)
but we enjoy searching out fine dining establishments
and treating ourselves to the odd
overnight stay. When we were in Kent,
and just a short distance from London,
we were spoiled for choice, but now
we’ve moved to the south west, we
are gradually eating our way around the country house hotels of the region.
- Most
precious possession?
I want to
say my husband, Michael, but he might object to being classed as a possession. So I think it would have to be
my data stick which contains all my writing
and travels everywhere with me.
- Most
evocative piece of music?
Can I be
greedy and have two please? Firstly Meditation
from Thais by Massenet; I saw
this performed by two beautiful dancers in the theatre in Chelyabinsk
years ago and have never forgotten the sight. And secondly Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, which
I’ve seen performed many times in UK, but
most memorably in St Petersburg at 2pm in the afternoon, during their City Day celebrations, with red
white and blue fireworks against a deep blue sky
in brilliant sunshine.
- So,
if you ruled the world, you would – what?
My youngest
sister frequently says “When I’m Emperor of the World I will...” and always ends the sentence with an
eminently sensible solution to one of today’s
problems. So I would hand over Executive Power to her and go back to writing. (But I would suggest that she made
voting in elections compulsory. Women
fought so hard to get the vote, we shouldn’t waste it. And I would ban party politics, so everyone in public
office had to go with the the wishes of their
constituents, rather than the views of the whips.)
Thank you, Elizabeth, it’s been great to talk to you!
Elizabeth is on
Facebook and Twitter –
You can buy Elizabeth’s
novel here –
.jpg)
