I've been honoured to be selected as an Author-of-the-Month by my publishers. One of the perks of this is to record a video describing the background to my latest novel, The Fire Portrait - and the spark that inspired it. This video will appear on the publishers' website and on their social media and marketing platforms.
So, what is it that sparks the imagination? What leads us to write a book, invent a new way of making a vaccine, design a beautiful garment, or find a solution to an intractable problem? Certainly, experience in a particular field gives you a head start, but I suspect that ultimate success has more to do with persistence than genius. The genius is in the original idea, but the key to bringing it to fruition is all about keeping going and not giving up. We usually only hear about great scientific discoveries at the end of many years of research, or applaud diplomatic breakthroughs after many months - or years - of painstaking negotiation; or cheer new telescopes being blasted into space after decades of intricate work.
For me, it took fifteen years of writing practice before my first novel was commercially published. That certainly illustrates the point about keeping going and not giving up!
And the original spark?
It has come from the landscape and people of the country of my birth, South Africa, plus the intriguing and often turbulent history that runs through it. I feel incredibly fortunate to have lived through a period of huge change and, from my small vantage point, to write about it.
Click on the video below!
My father was a survivor from the Dorsetshire. Would love to meet you. Riveting writer.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela.
ReplyDeleteI listened to recordings made by the Dorsetshire survivors at the Imperial War Museum. Very poignant... and that helped me to write about David's fictional experience. Bx