My very first blog post! I'm still learning. I hope to add pictures and live links soon.
I’ve been invited by historical fiction author, Judith Arnopp, to join the ‘my lovely blog hop’ series. Writers were asked to comment on each of the six headings below.
You can visit Judith's blog. Go to:
http://juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot.co.uk/
First memory
I think it is of my sister holding a wall mirror while my dad was trying to take a picture of my reflection in it. I was less than two, but I do seem to remember my dad shouting at my sister to hold the mirror properly, and that she was crying, then struggling not to, and trying desperately to smile for the camera. I remember feeling sorry for my sister, who would have been around four at the time. My dad worked as a photographer as an ‘extra’ job. He specialized in babies and children. Something tells me he didn’t shout at his customers’ kids and expect them to smile.
Books
I’ve loved them since I was little. They were a great escape sometimes, from the chaos and fear of my childhood. They also were just plain fascinating. I can’t remember a time I didn’t love them. I read before I started school, and didn’t look back. There are times, as an adult, I tire of them for a very short while, but it’s usually more like tiring of non-fiction, but still reading fiction, and vice-versa. I’ve always got something on the go.
As a child I particularly remember Noddy and Big Ears, by Enid Blyton. I was too young to know that a “Gollywog’ was a black person, so the racism passed over my head. I loved the little motorcar, Policeman Plod, the cozy little village. What a fabulous, kind, caring dream world it all seemed!
Later, after we’d moved from England to Canada, I loved the Bobbsey Twins series (ditto on the racism) and then Judy Blume, because she was one of the first authors to write honestly about family, or so I thought. Her books were upbeat but not at all fake, and it made me feel good to know there were other children out there who did not live in a Beaver Cleaver world.
Now I love historical fiction, ‘quality’ crime fiction - usually with a woman detective, or ‘unofficial’ investigator, classics like Dickens and the Brontes, good general/literary fiction, and world fiction, particularly books set in India or Japan. There is something fascinating to me about other cultures.
Libraries or bookshops?
I love both, but I find the atmosphere in a good bookshop - usually an Indie - more welcoming. Perhaps that’s because, in addition to working as a writer and editor, I was a librarian for many years. I am too aware of the back-room politics, stressors and squabbles behind the public façade. But I still like libraries very much, and think they are essential and worthwhile. However, in Canada these days they have a tendency to ‘dumb down’ their collections, and while I approve of appealing to popular tastes, I know they cut their spending on high-quality non-fiction and research materials. These are also essential to libraries; they will never be replaced by the Internet, and they bring in users, too. I do not think it would be the end of the world if budgets were cut and libraries decided to go back to primarily supporting research and education, rather than trying to become all things to all people, and neglecting titles that don't circulate widely. It's become a bit too much of a numbers game for my liking.
When I go into a little Indie bookstore, with wood slat floors, say - the kind you used to find in bowling alleys - with a few easy chairs set out, and a wonderful array of books of all kinds - I love that! I have to be careful, though - if I go in, I will buy something, and I have far too many books on my overcrowded shelves at home already.
Learning
I was a daydreamer in elementary school, but I was also incredibly curious about the world around me. I still am. The report from my first form teacher in England said, “Sheila is curious about absolutely everything.” I must have driven her mad, but she was very nice about it!
I am curious about absolutely everything still. That’s why the Internet is both a godsend and a trap. I can look everything up instantly, and sometimes I can’t stop. But for both my novels, The Girl in the Box and Stolen, it was an absolute godsend. Couldn’t have done either - especially Stolen - without it, though I haunted libraries, too, of course.
As for formal education, I have an Honours B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Toronto, a Masters of Information Science, and I’ve taken courses in history, creative writing, philosophy, psychology and religion.
Writing
Writing novels is hard, very hard. Poetry is easier. So is non-fiction. But my heart belongs to novels, and I hope to start a sequel to Stolen sometime soon. I can’t churn things out, though I wish I could. It will be a two-year commitment at least. And by that time, my readers could easily have forgotten all about Stolen.
I’ll never be able to do what self-published authors are advised to do: write series quickly, or develop a ‘brand’ for myself. I write in a lot of different genres, and for different age groups. If I didn’t, it would take all the fun out of writing for me.
Until Stolen, all my books were traditionally published. Stolen came very close to finding a home, but by the time it did (with a small publisher in the States), I had decided to experiment with self-publishing. It’s a lot of work, but extremely gratifying, too. I love being able to choose my own cover, not having to wait years until a book comes out, and I find I’m not doing any more promotion than I did as a ‘mid-list’ author with publishing houses.
I also had an agent once upon a time, but although I’d like to have another someday, I can’t say that she did me all that much good, in the long run. I’ve placed all my work myself, to date.
What’s your passion?
In addition to writing and reading, I love animals, plants, art, crafts, travel, my lovely son, ruins, water especially lakes and rivers, Buddhist meditation, British TV and probably a thousand other things! I’ve taken many art courses, and used to sell arts and crafts at fairs and also had group art shows in galleries in Toronto. These days, I mostly like to work in pencil. I used to make feather earrings and carpetbags; also patchwork kimonos and soft-sculpture necklaces. Ah, youth!
Currently, I contribute to animal sanctuaries, and draw donkey notecards for The Donkey Sanctuary in Guelph, Ontario. I also participate in a drum circle, which I love.
Thanks for inviting me, Judith. I now pass the baton to two talented novelists whose work I enjoy, Hannah Methwell and Marina Neary.
I’ve been invited by historical fiction author, Judith Arnopp, to join the ‘my lovely blog hop’ series. Writers were asked to comment on each of the six headings below.
You can visit Judith's blog. Go to:
http://juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot.co.uk/
First memory
I think it is of my sister holding a wall mirror while my dad was trying to take a picture of my reflection in it. I was less than two, but I do seem to remember my dad shouting at my sister to hold the mirror properly, and that she was crying, then struggling not to, and trying desperately to smile for the camera. I remember feeling sorry for my sister, who would have been around four at the time. My dad worked as a photographer as an ‘extra’ job. He specialized in babies and children. Something tells me he didn’t shout at his customers’ kids and expect them to smile.
Books
I’ve loved them since I was little. They were a great escape sometimes, from the chaos and fear of my childhood. They also were just plain fascinating. I can’t remember a time I didn’t love them. I read before I started school, and didn’t look back. There are times, as an adult, I tire of them for a very short while, but it’s usually more like tiring of non-fiction, but still reading fiction, and vice-versa. I’ve always got something on the go.
As a child I particularly remember Noddy and Big Ears, by Enid Blyton. I was too young to know that a “Gollywog’ was a black person, so the racism passed over my head. I loved the little motorcar, Policeman Plod, the cozy little village. What a fabulous, kind, caring dream world it all seemed!
Later, after we’d moved from England to Canada, I loved the Bobbsey Twins series (ditto on the racism) and then Judy Blume, because she was one of the first authors to write honestly about family, or so I thought. Her books were upbeat but not at all fake, and it made me feel good to know there were other children out there who did not live in a Beaver Cleaver world.
Now I love historical fiction, ‘quality’ crime fiction - usually with a woman detective, or ‘unofficial’ investigator, classics like Dickens and the Brontes, good general/literary fiction, and world fiction, particularly books set in India or Japan. There is something fascinating to me about other cultures.
Libraries or bookshops?
I love both, but I find the atmosphere in a good bookshop - usually an Indie - more welcoming. Perhaps that’s because, in addition to working as a writer and editor, I was a librarian for many years. I am too aware of the back-room politics, stressors and squabbles behind the public façade. But I still like libraries very much, and think they are essential and worthwhile. However, in Canada these days they have a tendency to ‘dumb down’ their collections, and while I approve of appealing to popular tastes, I know they cut their spending on high-quality non-fiction and research materials. These are also essential to libraries; they will never be replaced by the Internet, and they bring in users, too. I do not think it would be the end of the world if budgets were cut and libraries decided to go back to primarily supporting research and education, rather than trying to become all things to all people, and neglecting titles that don't circulate widely. It's become a bit too much of a numbers game for my liking.
When I go into a little Indie bookstore, with wood slat floors, say - the kind you used to find in bowling alleys - with a few easy chairs set out, and a wonderful array of books of all kinds - I love that! I have to be careful, though - if I go in, I will buy something, and I have far too many books on my overcrowded shelves at home already.
Learning
I was a daydreamer in elementary school, but I was also incredibly curious about the world around me. I still am. The report from my first form teacher in England said, “Sheila is curious about absolutely everything.” I must have driven her mad, but she was very nice about it!
I am curious about absolutely everything still. That’s why the Internet is both a godsend and a trap. I can look everything up instantly, and sometimes I can’t stop. But for both my novels, The Girl in the Box and Stolen, it was an absolute godsend. Couldn’t have done either - especially Stolen - without it, though I haunted libraries, too, of course.
As for formal education, I have an Honours B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Toronto, a Masters of Information Science, and I’ve taken courses in history, creative writing, philosophy, psychology and religion.
Writing
Writing novels is hard, very hard. Poetry is easier. So is non-fiction. But my heart belongs to novels, and I hope to start a sequel to Stolen sometime soon. I can’t churn things out, though I wish I could. It will be a two-year commitment at least. And by that time, my readers could easily have forgotten all about Stolen.
I’ll never be able to do what self-published authors are advised to do: write series quickly, or develop a ‘brand’ for myself. I write in a lot of different genres, and for different age groups. If I didn’t, it would take all the fun out of writing for me.
Until Stolen, all my books were traditionally published. Stolen came very close to finding a home, but by the time it did (with a small publisher in the States), I had decided to experiment with self-publishing. It’s a lot of work, but extremely gratifying, too. I love being able to choose my own cover, not having to wait years until a book comes out, and I find I’m not doing any more promotion than I did as a ‘mid-list’ author with publishing houses.
I also had an agent once upon a time, but although I’d like to have another someday, I can’t say that she did me all that much good, in the long run. I’ve placed all my work myself, to date.
What’s your passion?
In addition to writing and reading, I love animals, plants, art, crafts, travel, my lovely son, ruins, water especially lakes and rivers, Buddhist meditation, British TV and probably a thousand other things! I’ve taken many art courses, and used to sell arts and crafts at fairs and also had group art shows in galleries in Toronto. These days, I mostly like to work in pencil. I used to make feather earrings and carpetbags; also patchwork kimonos and soft-sculpture necklaces. Ah, youth!
Currently, I contribute to animal sanctuaries, and draw donkey notecards for The Donkey Sanctuary in Guelph, Ontario. I also participate in a drum circle, which I love.
Thanks for inviting me, Judith. I now pass the baton to two talented novelists whose work I enjoy, Hannah Methwell and Marina Neary.