Today I’m thrilled to interview the very talented, Rosie Garland. Years back, my first novel, Welcome to Sharonville, was shortlisted in the same Mslexia Novel Competition which Rosie’s book, The Palace of Curiosities, won – I wrote to congratulate her afterwards and a cyber friendship was born! Rosie’s writing career has gone from strength to strength since and she has more than just an exceptional talent for fiction – she’s also a poet and essayist, as well as being a singer with the internationally successful rock band, The March Violets. She is, in addition, an alternative cabaret star, performing under the name of Rosie Lugosi (I feel tired just thinking about all this!). I’m sure you’ll find her take on research and writing fascinating, as well as very practical (oh, and she’s funny!).
Welcome to the Book Diner! Can we take your order – coffee, tea or soda? Eggs sunny side up or over easy? Home fries, French toast or biscuit?
My own Chicago diner fave, Lou Mitchell’s
It all sounds good to me! I’ve recently returned from a trip to Chicago, where I officiated at the the wedding of ScaryLady Sarah and William Faith. (Yes, I’m an ordained Minister at the Universal Life Church, but that’s a whole other story.) [This almost makes me want to get remarried!] One of the many pleasures of visiting US friends is indulging my love of diners. A Chicago favourite is the Cozy Corner. Oh, those biscuits and gravy! Well worth travelling thousands of miles. [I also am American diner crazy – well, you can tell by looking at my website, right?]
When did you realise you were a writer?
There has been a thread of story running through my whole life, despite many knots and tangles along the way. What came first was being read to by my grandmother (everyone gets one decent grandparent, right?). [I certainly did – Welcome to Sharonville contains a lot of my gran’s stories!] I discovered the joy of being transported to other worlds via the magic of words. It wasn’t long before I started telling my own tales, starting with teeny books I created for my dolls.
Are there particular symptoms you think people should look out for if they suspect they may be coming down with Writer Syndrome and do you think there is any cure?
I’ll leave you with this…
Can you tell us about your latest project?
Thank you for asking! My next novel, The Night Brother, is due out in June 2017 with The Borough Press, who also publish The Palace of Curiosities and Vixen. I’m very, very excited. The Night Brother is set in the industrial heartland of northern England, Manchester. I’ve wanted to write a novel based there for a long time. I love the place, with its heritage, amazing architecture and radical history. 
The Palace of Curiosities is set in the 1850s and Vixen is set in the mid-fourteenth century. The Night Brother takes place in and around 1910, so yes, it’s another historical novel. I don’t have a problem with being called a historical novelist. I’ve been called a lot worse.
What inspired you to write it? Where do you generally draw your ideas from?
I’m fascinated by pretty much everything, especially history. It’s always been one of my great loves. This curiosity underpins what I write and why I do it the way I do. Having said that, I do not write non-fiction history books. I tell stories set in the past.
I am drawn to times when the world is on the cusp of massive change, specifically that moment before those changes take place. I view it rather like an indrawn breath, held and not released. Vixen is set during one such period of upheaval: the year the Black Death struck England. I wanted to capture that sense of a deadly force and its inexorable advance.
I am drawn to times when the world is on the cusp of massive change, specifically that moment before those changes take place. I view it rather like an indrawn breath, held and not released. Vixen is set during one such period of upheaval: the year the Black Death struck England. I wanted to capture that sense of a deadly force and its inexorable advance.
The Night Brother takes place when Europe is teetering on the brink of a World War, a time of new political movements, not to mention the struggle for women’s rights. I’ve picked a moment right before it all tips over into wild upheaval.
Can you talk to us about one or two of the characters from your latest work? How do your characters emerge?
The two central characters in The Night Brother are siblings Herbert – who prefers the nickname Gnome – and Edie. As in my previous two novels, the characters speak in the first person. I like to let my creations tell their own story, rather than getting in the way myself.
My characters emerge bit by bit and sometimes in the middle of the night! In the early stages of writing Vixen, I remember waking up at 4a.m.. It was almost as if someone had knocked on the door of my dreams, demanding to be heard. Luckily, I’m used to these interruptions, and keep pen and paper next to the bed.
My characters emerge bit by bit and sometimes in the middle of the night! In the early stages of writing Vixen, I remember waking up at 4a.m.. It was almost as if someone had knocked on the door of my dreams, demanding to be heard. Luckily, I’m used to these interruptions, and keep pen and paper next to the bed.
Is there a particular theme or message you’d like readers to take away from this book?
Dammit, Jim, I’m a storyteller, not a preacher!
What kind of writing process do you have? Are you very disciplined in terms of having a set work routine and doing a lot of planning, or are you more of a pantster? (You fly by the seat of them – Zinkologism.)
However many #mywritingprocess blogs I read, I’m inspired and warmed at the variety of creative strategies we use to get ourselves writing. I don’t think it matters at all if someone is a morning / afternoon / nocturnal writer, or whether you prefer a pencil, an iPad or grind your own ink from freshly-roasted walnuts.
It’s more important to find what works for you. I don’t have a single process. I’m pretty flexible. Let’s face it, there are 1000 ways to derail my writing (shopping, housework, TV, social networking, etc etc – let alone my inner critic screaming how useless I am). Anything that gets me writing and not putting it off is the secret.
However many #mywritingprocess blogs I read, I’m inspired and warmed at the variety of creative strategies we use to get ourselves writing. I don’t think it matters at all if someone is a morning / afternoon / nocturnal writer, or whether you prefer a pencil, an iPad or grind your own ink from freshly-roasted walnuts.
Do you write longhand or on a computer or both? Do you believe that writing method makes a difference to style?
I use both. In general (and rules are made to be bent and twisted), I draft longhand. I find I can splurge and create and fill notebook after notebook with scrawl. On buses, trains, in cafes, in bed – wherever. I use a computer to edit those rough drafts into some kind of sense. This seems to fit with Hemingway’s dictum ‘write drunk and edit sober’.
How do you approach research?
My attitude is that it’s vital, and like high-fat food, best taken in moderation. Of course, I need to research the period carefully. Of course, I care about making the details fit the time. I can’t have a fourteenth-century woman using an iPhone. But it’s vital to know when to stop.
The way I see it, the art of good research is when the reader barely notices its presence, only that everything feels right. Personally, I don’t care if an arrow is fletched with swan feather, eagle feather or magpie feather. I want to know who is shooting it, who dies, and why I should give a damn.
Tom Clancy summed it up when he said, ‘just tell the damn story.’
The way I see it, the art of good research is when the reader barely notices its presence, only that everything feels right. Personally, I don’t care if an arrow is fletched with swan feather, eagle feather or magpie feather. I want to know who is shooting it, who dies, and why I should give a damn.
How do you deal with autobiographical elements in your work? Do you worry about offending people or baring your soul too much?
I don’t use biographical or autobigraphical elements. I draw on this handy little thing called the imagination. It’s brilliant and completely free to download.
Nor do I set out to offend, like one of those comedians who rely on profanity for cheap laughs. However, if I worried about censoring every little thought that came into my head I’d never write a word. As a wise person once said, Don’t get it right, get it written.
I don’t use biographical or autobigraphical elements. I draw on this handy little thing called the imagination. It’s brilliant and completely free to download.
What’s your editing process?
At the beginning of a project, I focus on getting the ideas down, longhand, without stopping to edit, censor, or get details right. I love the mind-body physicality of holding a pen. I can draw arrows, write notes to myself, scrawl across the page unfettered.
The careful, detailed editing comes later. Here’s one small example of what I mean.
On page 14 of The Palace of Curiosities, one of the mudlarks yells, ‘It’s the Peelers!’
When I was drafting this chapter, pen galloping across the page, it occurred that I didn’t know if London police in 1854 were called Peelers or not. Did I come to a grinding halt, lay down my pen, type Robert Peel into Google and research London police history of the mid-nineteenth century? Nope. I opened brackets, wrote ‘check later’, closed brackets and continued writing. [This is very much like I go about things – I find researching before writing can lead to endless procrastination, but if you do enough research to fill the gaps which emerge during writing, the research is better targeted.]
Name one book you wish you had written and explain why it’s fabulous.
How long have you got? I’ve been asked that question a gazillion times and a snappy answer is impossible. Which is good. I’ve read so many inspiring books that there simply isn’t room to list them.
What advice would you offer to writers just starting out?
To quote W.P. Kinsella, ‘Read! Read! Read! And then read some more.’
I’d add some encouragement, rather than advice: Keep going.
Maybe you are one of those rare souls for whom everything falls into their lap from Day One. But for the 99.9% of the rest of us, persistence is a vital tool.
It helped me. My journey to publication was a bumpy and, at times, demoralising ride, with a lot of rejections. I was with a reputable London agency for twelve years, and gave them four and a half novels. But however hard I tried (and did I try), however hard I worked on editorial suggestions, nothing seemed good enough. Twelve years of can-you-make-it-more? Can-you-make-it-less?
I’d reached the stage where I’d pretty much given up on the idea of writing fiction. My agent stopped replying to my emails and my confidence was shot. I realised that if I was going to get anywhere it would be under my own steam. As a last hurrah, I entered a national Novel Competition. And won it. That was the turning point. Within a week, I had a fabulous new agent. Within a fortnight, she sold that winning novel – The Palace of Curiosities – to HarperCollins UK. The rest, you might say, is history.
Rosie performing – photo credit Arcane Sin
So, keep going. Keep sending out your work. Someone out there loves it; maybe they just haven’t seen it yet.
How do you handle the rejections and bad reviews all writers experience?
I have a vicious internal critic who never, ever says anything nice.
I’ve had to develop practical strategies to keep going despite the voice in my head. I can’t banish my low self-esteem completely, but I need to keep it at bay. The first thing was to give this undermining inner voice a name. I called her Mavis. It was liberating. No longer a terrifying demon, she transformed into a squeaky, thin-lipped, handbag-clutching creature. Much harder to take seriously.
I’ve had to develop practical strategies to keep going despite the voice in my head. I can’t banish my low self-esteem completely, but I need to keep it at bay. The first thing was to give this undermining inner voice a name. I called her Mavis. It was liberating. No longer a terrifying demon, she transformed into a squeaky, thin-lipped, handbag-clutching creature. Much harder to take seriously.
No, Mavis shows no signs of leaving me alone. She trots out the same old tune, the same old script. But now I recognise her rants. I’ve stopped believing her. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a positive side to all of her head-talk. It keeps me on my toes. With Mavis around, I won’t become one of those writers who think that every word is perfect. I work hard to make my writing as good as I possibly can.
I’ve blogged about Mavis on my website:
Who has offered you the most encouragement and support in terms of your writing career?
Supportive friends help keep me afloat. I am forever indebted to my wonderful friend, Jonathan. On my lowest days, he dragged me into Waterstones Bookshop, marched me to the Fiction shelf, shoved his hands between the books and made a space at the letter G. This is your place, he said. One day, your novel will be here. [I love this story!]
I am forever indebted to my wonderful friend, Jonathan. On my lowest days, he dragged me into Waterstones Bookshop, marched me to the Fiction shelf, shoved his hands between the books and made a space at the letter G. This is your place, he said. One day, your novel will be here.
If you could fly off to any era on The Book Diner Magic Time Travel Banquette, where would you go and why?
I have hundreds of time machines. Or, ‘books’ as I call them.
If you could choose to have a different creative gift, what would it be?
Well, I write poetry, novels, short stories, essays, songs, conference presentations. I facilitate writing and performance workshops. I sing in th post-punk band The March Violets; perform twisted cabaret as Rosie Lugosi the Vampire Queen and am developing a new act based on nineteenth-century English Music Hall. I’m an ordained Minister at the Universal Life Church and make jam and chutney. I’m not sure that I have the time to do anything else …
What plans have you got for future projects and events?
The Night Brother is out in June 2017, with The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins UK. I’ve just seen a sneak preview of the cover, which has a story all of its own …
The cover design commision for The Night Brother was selected for the prestigious 2016 Bridgeman Studio Award – a worldwide callout for expressions of artistic 
interest. What an honour that my novel should be chosen! There were almost 1000 entries from all over the world, of an incredibly high standard. I was deeply moved that so many artists wanted to see their work on the cover of my novel.
It was not an easy task to select a winning artist – but I’m happy to announce that Aitch, an artist from Bucharest in Romania was chosen. All the judges love her use of colour and bold imagery. You can read more about it here:
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/bridgeman-studio-award-winner-2016/
In the meantime, I have just had a new poetry collection out with Flapjack Press in December 2016.
http://www.flapjackpress.co.uk/
And, as I said above, I am developing a new musical act with fabulous multi-instrumentalist Eilish McCracken, who plays with Rose McDowall.
You can keep up to date by dropping by my website. You are very welcome to visit and check out what I’m up to:
Is there anything else we can get you?
It’s been a real pleasure! Thank you so much for asking such interesting questions and for being such a great listener.
Do you have any questions for The Book Diner?
What’s next for you?
I’m very close to finishing my next novel, piece of literary crime/seaside noir called Low Tide!
Thanks so much for joining us – please call again!
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