Lucky 13 Interview With Flora Johnston

1 - Can you start by telling us a little about your current book?

‘What You Call Free’ is my debut historical novel and will be published in March 2021 by indie press Ringwood Publishing. It takes place in and around Edinburgh in 1687-8 and is the story of two real women and their search for freedom in a harsh and divided society. In a couple of early reviews it’s been described as ‘historical fiction of the highest quality’ (James Robertson) and ‘a literary page turner about one of Scotland’s most turbulent and least talked about periods’ (Cynthia Rogerson).

2 - Are you a plotter or a panster?

A bit of both. There’s a comfort in writing historical fiction – it gives a framework as there are certain events which I know are going to be significant throughout the book. Beyond that, I start writing and see how the characters respond to those events.

3 - Savoury or sweet?

Savoury every time – cheese, crisps, nibbles, anything like that! Preferably with a glass of wine.

4 - Three books to a desert island. Go!

Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon – my favourite book of all time. The Bible. The third one is quite hard but I think I’ll go for Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life and hope there’s an alternative ending to spending the rest of my life on a desert island!

5 - Star Wars or Star Trek

Neither, sorry.

6 - If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Time travel would be extremely useful for research purposes. Instead of spending hours trying to find out what a place would have looked and felt like a few centuries ago I could just pop back and see for myself.

7 - Music or silence when writing?

I quite like music when I’m at first draft stage, but need silence after that so that I can hear how the writing sounds in my head.

8 - If you could live anywhere in the world and take everything you love with you, where would it be?

The island of North Uist.

9 - Your favourite karaoke song?

Got to be The Proclaimers’ 500 miles. Not karaoke exactly, but lots of great memories of singing it at Murrayfield watching Scotland play rugby.

10 - One piece of advice to an aspiring writer?

Enjoy the creative process for its own sake. The road to publication is really hard but whatever does or doesn’t happen, no-one can take away from you the pleasure of using words to create something out of nothing.

11 - You win £1 million, but you must give half to charity. Which charity do you chose, and what do you do with the rest of the money?

If I can only choose one charity I’ll choose Alzheimer’s Research. Dementia took my gentle, clever, book-loving dad and I’d love to help find a cure. I hope I’d give some of the rest away too, but I’d also like to travel in Canada and to buy a log cabin somewhere beautiful and peaceful in Scotland.

12 - Horror films, yes or no?

No. I’m far too much of a scaredy.

13 - What are you working on?

My new novel is mostly set in Paris in 1919. I could do with a research trip but that will have to wait for now.