1 – Can you start by telling us a little about your current book?
The series I’ve just started publishing is all about the backstage team of the Colosseum, in 80AD Rome. There’s nothing written about them in any history book and yet a similar sized stadium today employs 3000 people. The first in series is called From the Ashes and follows a man from Pompeii, chosen to manage the amphitheatre and put on the inaugural Games. But he’s just lost everything and everyone he holds dear in the eruption of Vesuvius and is dealing with his grief. So it falls to his scribe Althea to ensure the inauguration goes ahead and to help him out of the darkness calling to him. This first book follows a theme of fire and the following books will deal with the same team through water, earth and air. 2 – Are you a plotter or a panster?
Plotter! But I have a system where I write a synopsis to follow but it’s only about 200 words per chapter, which I then turn into about 8000 words, so it gives a lot of room for pantsing, you can wander off creatively but still have a path to come back to, so you don’t get lost. I think having a plot to follow means you can get through the hard middle part where you wonder if you’ll ever finish and also, if a particular scene doesn’t grab you there’s the opportunity to move past it and come back later rather than getting stuck. Works for me, anyway. 3 – Savoury or sweet?
I love savoury but I really like a little taste of sweet at the end of a meal. So both!
4 – Three books to a desert Island. Go!
· The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck. A masterpiece.
· Maskerade, Terry Pratchett, featuring my favourite characters from his books, the witches.
· Fingersmith, Sarah Waters: sharp clever writing and perfect relationships between all the characters.
5 – Star Wars or Star Trek?
Neither. 6 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Teleporting myself plus others anywhere. I have family in various countries and it would be nice to be able to just drop in for a cup of tea sometimes. 7 – Music or Silence when writing?
Music. Often from the era or country I’m writing about, if possible. Sometimes it takes a while to get used to it if it’s very different from what you’re used to, but in the end it becomes Pavlovian: you put the music on and it puts you back in your novel really fast so you can write. Sometimes the connection is less obvious: I found myself playing sea shanties on a loop recently which didn’t fit the Roman era I was writing about at all until it clicked: I was writing about the Colosseum being flooded and naval battles taking place, somehow the sea shanties were working really well with that in my brain! 8 – If you could live anywhere in the world, and take everything that you love with you, where would you choose?
I did love New Zealand when I visited many years ago, so I’d be happy there for a pretty long time. But I do like to see new places so maybe I could move to different countries from time to time for the fun of experiencing new cultures and places. 9 - Your favourite karaoke song?
Not sure I’d have the courage. I don’t drink and I get the impression alcohol is required…
In terms of songs I love, it would probably be an Aretha Franklin song and I think anyone trying to sing her songs for karaoke is not really going to make the grade, so I’m best off just listening. 10 – One piece of advice to an aspiring writer?
Write a lot, even just a small amount every day or week: you get better just by writing. I found this out when my PhD supervisor said my first draft writing of the PhD novel (written and handed to him with no revision at all) was better than my first novel which he’d also read, which had been redrafted several times and professionally edited. I couldn’t see my writing change for a long time, but other people could. 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?
I sometimes fantasise about taking that kind of money round to my kids’ primary school and just handing it over: the teachers are so lovely and they work incredibly hard with very small budgets, I’d love to see what they could do with some real money on the table, I think it would be inspirational. Rest of the money: probably travelling and house refurbishment, given my small children have wrecked most of my efforts in that direction. 12 – Horror films, yes or no? If so, any favourites?
Nooooo! I am such a scaredy pants. I put it down to a vivid imagination. I watched the very beginning of a horror film and freaked out about 5 minutes in when there was just a rat messing in a drainpipe, clearly just a warm-up… it was already too much for me. I do read Stephen King though, because I love his storytelling, although he frightens the life out of me. I live in hope he might switch genre… historical romance?! 13 - What are you currently working on?
The second book in my Colosseum series, Beneath the Waves. It’s about the very few times they flooded the Colosseum for naval battles and I’m enjoying the research. They had synchronised swimmers, way back then, and the logistics of it is really difficult to understand: they could both flood and drain it very fast, perhaps even in half an hour, which is amazing. I love taking the information available and then trying to think like a showman: what would look most spectacular? How do you make that happen?