Diana talks to Margaret Skea

Hi Margaret, it is lovely to talk to you again. Thank you for doing the Diana talks slot this week!

First things first I am sure there is a question that you have always longed to be asked. Now is the chance. Ask your own question and answer it!

Q: Would you like to live in the century you write about?

A: Costume dramas give a romanticised view of life in earlier centuries and yes I’d like to wear some of the clothes and be part of some of the set pieces – Mary Queen of Scots’ arrival in Edinburgh for example. But life was only good for those at the upper end of the social scale and I’d probably have been a skivvy, and in that case, definitely not!

 

Your  latest book is  A House Divided . What made you choose this genre?

I grew up through the worst of the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland and so the issues surrounding living within conflict and the pressures that places on families, relationships and personal integrity is something that has always interested me. The folk in 16^th century faced many of the same kind of issues, so in that sense I was writing ‘what I knew’ at least in emotional terms, substituting swords and dirks for guns and bombs.

How do you get ideas for plots and characters?

Most of my characters were real people, so for them it is a case of putting flesh on the bones, while remaining true to what is known about them. However, my main character and his family are fictional but it was a relatively simple matter to think myself into the middle of the real life conflict in which my novels are set and allow my characters to react to the situation playing out around them. In terms of plot, the historical context provides the framework, and key events are historic, so there are constraints, but it’s both fun and a challenge to work within them and still manage to develop unexpected plot twists.

If, as a one off, (and you could guarantee publication!)  you could write anything you wanted, is there another genre you would love to work with and do you already have a budding plot line in mind?

I’d like to write a children’s book, that would become a classic, but I have absolutely no idea what it would be about, so I guess it won’t happen.

Was becoming a writer a conscious decision or something that you drifted into (or even something so compelling that it could not be denied?) How old were you when you first started to write seriously.

I always wanted to write (didn’t we all?) but life, the universe and everything, in the form of marriage and children and so on, intervened. I was far too old when I started seriously – I wish I had done it 20 years earlier. I may not have enough time to write all the books I want to now.

Marmite? Love it or hate it?

Hate it, definitely. And all the derivatives. This stems from when I was about eight and going to swimming lessons in the evenings at an outdoor pool. We weren’t supposed to go home until we’d drunk a mug of Bovril. When I could, I climbed up to the top of the tiers of seating and poured mine over the wall into the sea below. But sometimes we were too closely watched and I had to drink it. Yuk! (Oh Margaret!! That has really made me laugh. I would have drank your share willingly!!!)

Do you have any rituals and routines when writing? Your favourite cup for example or ‘that’ piece of music...??

Chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate. Chocolate + ginger, chocolate +  mint, for preference, chocolate + cranberry (at a pinch) and when all else fails plain dark chocolate. And silence. 

I promise I won’t tell them the answer to this, but when you are writing, who is more important, your family or your characters?

I’m pleading the fifth amendment on that one – if you can do such a thing in the UK.

Other than writing full time, what would be your dream job?

Toss-up between architect and antique furniture restorer.

Coffee or tea? Red or white?

Coffee. I don’t drink so it would have to be ginger beer (hot is rather nice, though the bubbles can go up your nose…)

How much of your work is planned before you start? Do you have a full draft or let it find its way?

I’m comfortable with a starting point and a finishing line, and allowing everything else to fall into place as I go along. But the last book I had neither start nor finish and that was tricky – the end I only discovered about 2 weeks before I wrote it.

If you had free choice over the font your book is printed in, what font/fonts would you choose?

Plain and simple – Galliard.

Not being familiar with Galliard (a source of shame for this letterpress seller,) I looked  Galliard up and find it a delightful font.

 

Imagine that you could get hold of any original source document. What would it be?

Some of Leonardo da Vinci’s original medical sketches.

Have any of your characters ever shocked you and gone off on their own adventure leaving you scratching your head??? If so how did you cope with that!?

I like to give them some freedom, and often they make use of it – as long as they tell me why and where I don’t mind…

How much research do you do and do you ever go on research trips?

Don’t get me started! I LOVE research. And I was fortunate enough to get a travel grant from Creative Scotland to go to Germany in April to travel around all the main Luther related sites. – impossible to estimate the value of being there – fabulous.  (Respect!!)

Fiction authors have to contend with real characters invading our stories. Are there any ‘real’ characters you have been tempted to prematurely kill off or ignore because you just don’t like them or they spoil the plot?

Well, I’ve had readers requesting that I kill off certain characters, but I’m afraid history is history and the baddies don’t always get their comeuppance, however unfair that is.

Are you prepared to go away from the known facts for the sake of the story and if so how do you get around this?

I have sometimes tweaked the facts – the ages of a protagonist / antagonist for example – but if I do such a heinous thing I always own up in an author’s note at the end of the book. By then I hope the reader won’t care, no matter how much of a purist they are.

Do you find that the lines between fact and fiction sometimes become blurred?

I’ve not had that problem – maybe because I am a bit OCD…

Have you ever totally hated or fallen in love with one of your characters?

I’ve got a few (real) characters I cannot bring myself to like AT ALL. But they’re fun to write none the less.

What do you enjoy reading for pleasure?

Books that are atmospheric / descriptive / thought-provoking /or simply cracking good stories and when I just need to totally relax the old favourite children’s books – the ‘Anne’ series or Swallows and Amazons for example.

What drink would you recommend drinking whilst reading your latest book?

Pass.

Last but not least... favourite author?

A definite pass, or you’d be here for a month – oh, ok then a starter for eleven – Rumer Godden, Daphne du Maurier, Winston Graham, Dorothy Dunnett, John Wyndham, Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, Dick Francis, LM Montgomery, Arthur Ransome, Gerald Durrell… fairly eclectic mix as you can see.

About Margaret:

Margaret Skea grew up in Ulster at the height of the 'Troubles', but now lives with her husband in the Scottish Borders.

Awarded the Beryl Bainbridge Award for Best First Time Author 2014 and Historical Fiction Winner in the Harper Collins / Alan Titchmarsh People's Novelist Competition for her debut novel Turn of the Tide, the sequel A House Divided was longlisted for the Historical Novel Society New Novel Award 2016. The third book in the series will be published in autumn 2017. She is passionate about well-researched, authentic historical fiction and providing a 'you are there' experience for the reader.

An Hawthornden Fellow and award winning short story writer - recent credits include, Overall Winner Neil Gunn, Chrysalis Prize, and Winchester Short Story Prize. Third in the Rubery Book Award Short Story Competition 2013, a finalist in the Historical Novel Society Short Story Competition 2012, shortlisted in the Mslexia Short Story Competition 2012 and the Fish Short Story and long-listed for the Historical Novel Society Short Story Competition 2014, the Matthew Pritchard Award, and Fish One Page Prize, she has been published in a range of magazines and anthologies in Britain and the USA.
New collection of short stories - Dust Blowing and Other Stories, including some of those from competitions mentioned above is now available. 

Margaret is also my hero for coming to my aid when I had a broken leg in Oxford. Not just once, but twice.    Thank you, my hero!

        
© Diana Milne January 2017 © Margaret Skea 26th May 2017

 

 

 

Sunday Wrap Up: Week ending Sunday May 24, 2014

Going back an extended bit this time round, we've got some great book showcased for you this week. As always, excerpts for each appear below with the links leading you to individual reviews in their entirety. Also as is usual, we take you round the world, this week making stops in Scotland, Venice and  Kenya, with a chat up happening in…well, wherever The Review's cozy, oversized sofa happens to be! So sit back, grab your fork and get ready to read! Oh and . . . remember to watch out for the link leading to the giveaway!

Lisl brings us to the story of a thunderstorm gone mad and what happens when worlds collide. (Sort of like warm air and cold air, perhaps?) 

A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage

Previously having read and enjoyed The Prodigal Son, third in The Graham Saga series, I approached this first book with assurance and excitement. It is, after all, where the adventures begin, where the rip in the veil dividing time(s) occurs, at least in the case of Alex Lind. From my previous reading I knew she’d gone tail spinning through time back to the 17^th century following a freak thunderstorm, though further details, of course, remained unknown to me. Reading the first sentences of the novel, I was very aware of my transition into the beginning, and that enticingly soon these details would be revealed. I am quite sure anyone who has ever read Belfrage’s Saga out of order—which can be done—will understand.

Belfrage delivers and then some—wasting no time in getting her tale going, readers recognize what Alex herself does not, and her responses to them artfully contribute to the flow and continuity of the story as the author inserts detail clues for readers’ benefit: “Sahara heat in Scotland—okay, that was an exaggeration, but it wasn’t far off” tells us where these events take place and the technique is used throughout the book, sparingly and subtly, also economically lending insight into players’ personalities. 

The most apparent location these hints appear would be in some of the dialogue, which informs readers of how much each character knows about various events. In this way and others, Belfrage weaves a complex story, pleasurable and fascinating to follow—and I do mean fascinating: there were a number of occasions that gave me pause as I stopped to consider implications, how something could work, what might it mean in reality, and so on. The author’s prose lends credence to such a possibility, too: described with verbiage so on target and believable, responses and consequences so plausible, not an extra or out-of-place word, it becomes real as readers as well are drawn into the vortex with Alex, mysteriously and frighteningly into another time and, really, another place.

This really is some serious business here! To get more ideas about what happens with Alex, read on!

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Lisl next brings us to the exciting waterways of Venice with her review of Sarah Bruce Kelly's Vivaldi's Muse.

Vivaldi's Muse by Sarah Bruce Kelly

Picture yourself a time traveller, having been removed from your 21st century comfort and familiarity to be placed alone in the middle of enchanting but unaccustomed surroundings: An 18th century Venetian street scene, rife with sensory stimulation in the song and smell of roast pumpkin hawked by one vendor, while another creates the captivating image and mouth-watering sensation of pear juice dripping down your chin, and the fiery melon hearts you long to reach out for.

Later you may recall the sumptuous smell of roast chicken as you settle into a hungry sleep and the outside chill seeps into your bones. You remember the gondolieri-filled canal, their bravado and charm as you were swept by the magnificence of a life in which all people, coarse and refined alike, appreciate opera as easily as they would the Carnivale introduced to you by the sweeping arm of the gondolier who piloted you to your destination. Magnificent and marvelous it all is, though you are periodically reminded by circumstance of your aloneness in the midst of strangers and their coldness—and the ways of one whose singular goal appears to be your failure.

Having read much of 18th century Europe, few of us would be prepared for such circumstances, and such is the bewilderment of Annina Girò, who is to become longtime protégée of Baroque composer and virtuoso violinist Antonio Vivaldi. Now, however, swept by her surroundings and captivated within the dream of becoming an opera star, the not-yet teenaged Annina perhaps frustrates the reader with her naiveté as much as this delights her tormenter and rival, Chiara Orlandi. Author Sarah Bruce Kelly keeps readers riveted not because we wonder if Annina will ever make it to Vivaldi’s studio, but how on earth it will happen—and brings us along for the ride as we share Annina’s ups and downs on her journey to stardom.

Your reading list will be incomplete without learning how Annina fares, so hop on over to the review to get started…

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Louise lets us listen in as she and author Margaret Skea chat about writing, research, and let's see what else…

Margaret is now writing a sequel to Turn of the Tide, and her working title is A House Divided.

Welcome, Margaret, to The Review's Author Interview.

You did a Blog Hop recently on Facebook describing your main character in your new novel. Your WIP, A House Divided, opens in 1597. What draws you to this time in history?

These books were always intended to be part of a series, so I have an overall story arc for the first three that cover the time period of 1586 - c 1607. Turn of the Tide finished in 1591 and I thought long and hard about when to pick up the Munros' story. There were several factors that influenced my decision to go for 1597.

1. Historical events (in the Montgomerie family history) that I intended to feature suggested the closing years of the 16th century.
2. Pinpointing exactly when to break into the story was more difficult. However, as Kate Munro is the main focus, I needed some years to have elapsed in order for her to have had time to establish herself as a 'wise woman', and I also wanted to develop the characters of the Munro children, particularly as they negotiated the transition from childhood to adulthood. 
3. The most difficult decision of all was the period that the book would span, and I'm still swithering about that one!

Do you have a special place where you like to write, and do you prefer to write at a particular time of day, Margaret? 

I moved all around the house while I was writing Turn of the Tide, following the sun - I find it very hard to write while cold - but now I have the luxury of a desk, beside a wall covered in post-it notes, maps, and photos of potentially relevant historic buildings. I have a small post-it note with a heading for each chapter stuck on the desk itself so that I can move them about as necessary and they are colour-coded according to who they relate to. The idea is that I can see at a glance the balance within the book. (That's the theory anyway!) As for time of day - I get up around 6.00 am and try to do some writing before breakfast. If I can do that then I can return to it later in the day when real life permits.

To continue listening in on the convo, click here.

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This review is very exciting for us because it represents the debut with The Review Group of our newest member, Babus. Celebrate with us by joining in for your chance to win a FREE COPY of this next book, so aptly reviewed by Babus. 

The Most Distant Way by Ewan Gault

“The most distant way in the world is not the way from birth to end.”

--Rabindranath Tagore

The significance of this quote becomes tragically apparent as you read through Ewan Gault's The Most Distant Way, which takes you on a journey through the eyes of Scottish 19-year-olds Mike and Kirsten, who are aspiring competitive runners sent to Kenya's Rift Valley to train at a high altitude training centre. They have been staying at an orphanage and farm set up by a former world class Kenyan athlete. They are a week from returning home at the start of the book with their majority of their experience of living and training in Africa behind them, but soon are faced with the perils of the country coming up to an election and they spend time in Nairobi and Mombasa on their return journey to the UK. Both Mike and Kirsten have emotional issues regarding their return to home.  Each chapter is told alternately from Mike and Kirsten's point of view. This threw me initially at chapter two as it occurred without notice but after chapter three I got into the habit of swapping heads at the end of each chapter. The characters Mike and Kirsten could not be more different and their differing approaches to their experiences is what makes this book affecting to read. Exposed to the stark poverty and lack of infrastructure in the country around them as well as enduring the rigorous training programme they are expected to excel in to make them better athletes, our two protagonists also hide insecurities of their own, which Gault explores during the course of the book. Mike is being coached by Kirsten's father who was a famed athlete and a famous coach known for getting results. Mike's own father is, unusually, not a past competitor in this sport and this has lead to there being much distance between father and son.

Read more about these intriguing characters AND for more details on the giveaway…because you KNOW you want to read this book!

Stay tuned in the coming week for some more great reviews and interviews!

Louise E. Rule interviews MARGARET SKEA for The Review's Author Interview

Welcome to The Review's Author Interview

The author who is joining us today is Margaret Skea, author of Turn of the Tide.

Product description from amazon.co.uk

Old rivalries - new friendships - dangerous decisions. Set in 16th century Scotland, Munro owes allegiance to the Cunninghams and to the Earl of Glencairn but befriends a member of the Montgomerie clan antagonizing William, the arrogant and vicious Cunningham heir. And antagonizing William is a dangerous game to play.

Also from the front of Turn of the Tide:

Margaret Skea was born in Ulster, and now lives with her husband in the Scottish Borders. Her degree in Linguistics at St. Andrews University was followed by a Ph.D on the Ulster-Scots vernacular, which led, in turn, to an interest in 16th century Scottish history. An Hawthornded Fellow and award winning writer: Historical Fiction Winner in 2011 Harper Collins and Alan Titchmarsh People's Novelist Competition, Neil Gunn 2011, Chrysalis Prize 2010, and Winchester 2009. A finalist in the 2012 Historical Novel Society Short Story Competition and shortlisted for Mslexia Short Story 2012, she has been long-listed in the Fish Short Story and Fish One Page Prize, and published in a range of magazines and anthologies in Britain and the USA.

During the Alan Titchmarsh Show in ITV, in which the People's Novelist Competition was featured, Jeffrey Archer, who was one of the judges, commented that the quality of Margaret's writing and research was outstanding, while Penny Smith, also a judge, particularly commended Margaret's use of dialogue.

Margaret is now writing a sequel to Turn of the Tide, and her working title is A House Divided.

Welcome, Margaret, to The Review's Author Interview.

You did a Blog Hop recently on Facebook describing your main character in your new novel. Your WIP, A House Divided, opens in 1597. What draws you to this time in history?

These books were always intended to be part of a series, so I have an overall story arc for the first three that cover the time period of 1586 - c 1607. Turn of the Tide finished in 1591 and I thought long and hard about when to pick up the Munros' story. There were several factors that influenced my decision to go for 1597.

1. Historical events (in the Montgomerie family history) that I intended to feature suggested the closing years of the 16th century.
2. Pinpointing exactly when to break into the story was more difficult. However, as Kate Munro is the main focus, I needed some years to have elapsed in order for her to have had time to establish herself as a 'wise woman', and I also wanted to develop the characters of the Munro children, particularly as they negotiated the transition from childhood to adulthood. 
3. The most difficult decision of all was the period that the book would span, and I'm still swithering about that one!

Do you have a special place where you like to write, and do you prefer to write at a particular time of day, Margaret?

I moved all around the house while I was writing Turn of the Tide, following the sun - I find it very hard to write while cold - but now I have the luxury of a desk, beside a wall covered in post-it notes, maps, and photos of potentially relevant historic buildings. I have a small post-it note with a heading for each chapter stuck on the desk itself so that I can move them about as necessary and they are colour-coded according to who they relate to. The idea is that I can see at a glance the balance within the book. (That's the theory anyway!) As for time of day - I get up around 6.00 am and try to do some writing before breakfast. If I can do that then I can return to it later in the day when real life permits.

Some writers do drafts in long hand first, and then edit as they transcribe to the computer. What is your preferred method of writing, Margaret?

I generally write straight onto my laptop - I can type faster than I can write, and much more legibly! But if I'm not actually writing when an idea comes to me I jot it down and add in to my 'wall'. Each day I usually start by reading through and lightly editing the last few paragraphs from the previous day, but if I see a major problem in what I've written I leave it to be sorted out at a later stage and try to keep going. Otherwise I'd never get past chapter one. However for main edits I print out the manuscript and work in longhand on the printed version - a little pricey on paper, but for me it's important to see the hard copy. I also like to read the manuscript aloud at this stage, and that is tricky from a screen. Especially as my laptop is a little 11" one, so the screen isn't huge, and I prefer to stand up to do that read through.

How important is an historical note addendum when one is writing a historical fiction novel?

I felt it important to have a very short -less than a page - historical note at the start of Turn of the Tide in order to place the book in its broader historical context. However there was some specific information - for example where I had tampered with documented history in order to fulfil the needs of the story - which I included as an addendum. It would have spoiled the story to come clean earlier, but with issues such as this I think the reader has a right to know. They may also be curious (I certainly am) as to the balance between fact and fiction in an historical novel, and an addendum is the obvious place to answer that question. But, although addenda are important I believe that they should be as short as possible.

Do you see these novels becoming a series?

As I said earlier, I've always had the desire to write a series about the Munro family, and I'm desperate to get them into Ulster and the private plantation of Co Down in the 17th century. There is so much fascinating history relating to the Montgomerie family that I can tap into to provide the backdrop to a continuing story. It was also a period of great change within society as a whole, so plenty of scope there, too. I hope I can do it, and them, justice. How far will I take them I'm not sure, but the temptation is to go at least as far as the English Civil War period (1640s).

Finally, I would like to ask you about your character Kate Munro. She comes across as a really strong character, with knowledge of obstetrics and gynaecology. How do you see this aspect of your character developing?

Hard to answer this without giving away too much of the plot, but I can say that she (and her daughter Maggie) will both continue and further develop their interest in medicine, regardless of any dangers that it will expose them to. There were female pioneers in the field of medicine at this period and I see no reason why Kate shouldn't be one of them!

Thank you so much for taking part in this interview, Margaret; it's been extremely interesting and most enjoyable.

Margaret Skea can be found here on Facebook.

Turn of the Tide can be bought from amazon.co.uk

If you would like to help Margaret Skea win the Peoples' Book Prize please vote for _Turn of the Tide_ at the link, thank you.

http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/finalist.php

Louise E. Rule is author of Future Confronted and can be bought from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com

Louise can be found on Facebook here.