Please start by telling us a little about yourself,
including things like education, jobs, spouse, children, pets, etc.
I’ve degrees in computer science,
philosophy and law. I can’t imagine that anyone would be interested in my
personal life.
Tell us about your latest nonfiction book and what inspired
you to write it.
Years ago I worked for a large company which staggered under a terrible burden
of staff illiteracy. I took to posting little grammar bulletins on the
intranet. To make them palatable and fun for people to read, I wrote these
bulletins in the form of little dialogues between famous historical and
fictional characters. To my amazement, these bulletins were immensely popular
and I started to receive fan mail. The ones I originally wrote formed the
kernel of Grammar Without Tears.
Do you belong to any critique groups and/or do you have
other people read your work as you're writing it? Who's brutally honest and
who's a cheerleader? Which do you prefer?
I often ask my husband to read over new material. He’s brutally honest and has
a wonderful eye for detail. His feedback is extremely helpful. I don’t belong
to critique groups. It’s possible to waste one’s whole day in internet groups,
and writing is really a solitary activity.
Which authors have been the greatest inspiration to your
writing?
I’m not sure. There are certain authors whom I love and by whom I will read
anything at all: Jane Austen, Rumer Godden, Anthony Trollope. There are others
whom I particularly admire for a specific aspect of their work; Stephen King
springs to mind for his use of the narrative voice. However, these things apply
more to my fiction than to Grammar Without Tears, which is the only non-fiction
book I have written or plan to write. I don’t think any particular author has
inspired me with it, although of course I have borrowed characters from some, such
as Biggles and Algy, and Holmes and Watson.
Do you outline before you write or just dive head-first
into a manuscript? Do you maintain a schedule for writing, or is it
more haphazard?
That depends on what I’m writing. With the Grammar Without Tears dialogues, I
just drive straight in; at heart I’m a pantser. But certain things have to be
more completely planned. I particularly find with short stories that I
generally need to have a bit of structure in place before I start writing.
Where do you do your
best writing? (Ex: desk in your office, public library, under a tree in the
park, in front of a Real Housewives
TV marathon, etc.) Do you like music or some other background noise, or do you
need quiet?
I must have quiet. I find it very difficult to write against a background of
noise. A bit of traffic noise is okay, but music is right out, as are human
voices. This is why I rarely do the stylish writer thing of taking my laptop to
a cafe and working there. I did do that when my air conditioning was out of
order, but it wasn’t a great success, as within half an hour of my arrival the
cafe had a power blackout. I have a nice corner office with plenty of natural
light, and a great big desk with plenty of space for cats, and an espresso
machine not far away, and I like to stay there.
What are the best and worst parts of writing a book?
The best, the absolute best part, is when you start writing and get into the
flow, and it starts to take shape under your hands, and you realize it’s going
to be alright after all, that yes, your idea is going to work, and you haven’t
lost all your skills overnight, and it’s really going to happen. The absolute
rock bottom part of it is correcting proofs.
When you're driving
and you have a sudden, brilliant idea for the new manuscript you're working on,
what do you do? (Ex: pull over and fire up the laptop, keep driving while
scribbling on a McDonald's bag, tell Siri, etc.)
If the idea is really brilliant, I will pull over and jot things down in the
notebook I always carry. I never leave home without a notebook and pencil.
When you go to the
zoo, which animals do you visit first?
The big cats.
What are the top 5
titles in your Netflix queue? (Be honest.) Or if you don't have a Netflix
queue, which books are on your bedside table? (Again, be honest.)
I am sorry, but I’ve never even heard of Netflix. I am currently reading
Tears of the Giraffe, by Alexander McCall Smith, but it is not on my bedside
table. Nothing can be kept on the bedside table, because of Emily, my puppy.
Do you prefer to read
ebooks or print?
Definitely ebooks.
What do you enjoy
doing, apart from writing?
Quality time with my dog, and reading of course; I read everything. My hobby is
education. I do courses in all kinds of things. At present, I’m learning German
and ballroom dancing.
Where is your favorite
place in the world?
Venom Ponds.
Do you have any advice for people who want to write a book?
Yes. Make sure you can write a coherent page of English first. If you can’t, or
if you don’t see the point of grammar, you are not ready to be a writer.
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