Today I am joined by Carolyn Steele who sounds like someone who is full of humour :)
Here is some more information about her before we get down to the nitty gritty and her interview :)
Hi Carolyn, thank you for accepting to be interviewed. As my
blog says ‘Complete randomness from a crazy author’ so expect the unexpected J
How
long have you wanted to be a writer?
Only
since I realised I was one, I really wanted to be a comedian and I tried
stand-up for a while but I wasn’t that good. When I started writing instead it
all fell into place. Writing is really funny if people titter once a page and laugh
out loud maybe once a chapter. That’s easier to achieve than a room full of
drunk guffaws so now I want to keep on writing.
I
like that way of thinking.
Have
you come up against any hurdles along the way?
Fewer
I think than people who were writing before the Indie explosion, we are less
cowed by the rules and the gatekeepers and that’s very freeing. I write books that cross
genres and nobody is telling me I shouldn’t. The only real hurdle is still needing
a day job. Oh and being a Brit when it comes to marketing, it’s just not polite
to brag eh?
LOL
yes so true. I suck at promoting myself. I don’t even know where to start. I don’t post
lots about my books when I have been told I should and I should be on different
fb pages shouting from the rooftops, but I just feel too cheeky.
What
would you say is the most difficult thing about being a writer is?
Believing
that you can do it. It’s hard to sit and write and use all that time up and
feel like you’re doing worthwhile work unless you keep on believing. Even when
good reviews roll in it’s easy to assume that the people who don’t review
actually hate your stuff. But without
self-doubt we won’t get better.
I love
it when I get people saying ‘OMG your books are amazing’ I still sit there and
think ‘wow’. Such an amazing feeling as I never expected that reaction. I think
I just thought people would say ‘Yeah that wasn’t bad’ lol.
What
or who inspires you to write?
Life,
it just amuses me and I have to write it down or I’d forget all the mad little
things that happen in a day. I love people and I’ve finally realised that you
can immortalise a person, a comment, a characteristic or an idea and once it’s
written it’ll never get lost.
If
your books are a series, how many books do you plan to have in your series?
Three
in my non-fiction series about moving across the Pond, then there will be a
novel which might just deserve a sequel. Then, I have some serious stuff to get
down.
Do
you have any other writing projects on the go, apart from your current series?
I am
sorta-kinda researching the novel while I get the last of the emigration series
written, but the older I get the harder it seems to be to multitask.
According
to Scientists no-one can multitask. We apparently just think we can. I know I
can drink hot chocolate, eat chocolate,
write and still find time to talk a lot of rubbish lol.
If
you could be any of your characters who would it be and why?
There
will be a character in the first novel who is based on a friend of mine, she
works quite high up in the UK Civil Service. She’ll be a subplot and I’d love
the life twist I plan to give her by the end of the book.
Sounds
interesting J Does she know?
What
genre would you say your books are in?
Currently
non-fiction, more travelogue than anything else with a touch of memoir and a
hefty dose of ‘ok I’ll go do this and have the disasters so you don’t have
to’. The novels will be political
satire.
Do
you have any favourite authors?
Bill
Bryson, Terry Pratchett, Christopher Brookmyre, mostly people who make me
laugh. People think I’m nuts but Anthony Trollope draws the funniest characters
I’ve ever read and he is another fave. There are women too, Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, writers of
character driven psychological issues. Recently I’ve discovered the work of
Laurie Boris through being on the staff of Indies Unlimited and I love her books
as well.
As a
Brit we have one burning question going around our country…………… Do you scrunch
or fold? ;) (toilet paper)
It
depends on the day and the mood, sometimes one sometimes the other. I am a
little too OCD for my own liking, I can’t write in a mess, for example, so if I
find myself folding too carefully I’ll scrunch to see if it’s too confusing.
I
thought my OCD was bad lol.
What
do you like to do besides writing?
I really
enjoy coding websites, which is starting to become the day job. It’s meditative
and relaxing. I also love comedy clubs
(in the audience these days) listening to BBC Radio 4 and making stuff. I’m a
sucker for traditional handicrafts and am a dedicated tatter, that’s a form of
lacemaking.
What
is your favourite cheese?
Sage
Derby, can’t get it in Canada, I miss it terribly.
Sweet
or savoury?
Always
savoury, except for Christmas pudding ice cream.
I
hate Christmas pudding. It is yucky. My husband loves the ice cream but it just
gives me the boke lol.
Would
you rather be attacked by one horse sized duck or 20 duck sized horses?
Hmm,
that takes some thought. A horse sized duck would be very clumsy, so I’d stand
a good chance of evading and weaving until it fell over, but then if I was less
nimble that I think I am that would be one heck of a nasty peck. Duck sized
horses, you could kinda swipe them out of the way maybe, and less of the
peckage, but they’d be fast and strong for their size. On balance, I’ll take
the big duck.
If
you had one wish that I could wave a magic wand and grant you, what would it be
and why?
I’d
like the chutzpah to get out there and sell books and the self-belief that
people will love them please. J
Well let’s hope your wish comes true J
