October 2011

Sheila Mary Taylor

 

Welcome to the E-bookmuncher e-book author interview, Sheila. Delighted to see you here…

 

Without further ado, let’s  get the ball rolling….

 

Tell me a bit about yourself and the things that make you tick.

I think my Aberdonian parents, both serious academics and writers, despaired of me, as the things that turned me on as a youngster, unlike my two studious sisters, were far removed from their serious world of academia.  Cape Town was a paradise to grow up in. Mountain climbling, surfing in the glistening waters of the Indian Ocean, roller-skating, riding, hunting – and parties galore.  You name it, I did it all, although probably the thing I loved best was dancing, and until I was twenty-three when I met my husband-to-be on a visit to the UK to meet all my relatives, I wanted to make ballet my career. But being surrounded by wall-to-wall books from an early age, and listening to music almost non-stop as my father played his classical records so loud that it was like having an orchestra in the house, was bound to have an influence on me. Yet it was only when I got to the more sensible age of thirty or forty, that these two strong influences would change my life. So now it’s reading and listening to music that make me tick. And of course writing, which I started lamentably late.  And yes, I still dance.

What do you like to do when you are not writing or working to promote your books?

I’m addicted to walking every morning on a gorgeous mile-long beach near our house in Cape Town, where I live from November to May. It’s always different: different colours, different sky, different sea, different shells and jelly-fish, and different people to gaze at.  In England I walk along the River Bollin and in Menorca it’s a little crescent-shaped beach I can see from my study windows. Twice a week in Cape Town I prance around with another twenty-odd like-minded women – girls, we call ourselves – who all belong to the worldwide Fitness League, and we dance to anything from Elvis to Mozart. It’s a laugh a minute, but very serious when we perform once every five years in the Fitness League show at the Royal Albert Hall. Awesome! Oh, and I nearly forgot reading. Reading, reading, reading. And watching wonderful films on the telly. Oh, and a glass of the inspirational pale pink blanc-de-noir wine that only the South African wine growers know how to make. And I never miss a ballet or an ice-skating performance or a music concert. And live trad jazz.

What is your favourite genre for reading?

It used to be Romantic Suspense. Rebecca and stuff like that. But I love most good genreless fiction. Writers like Ian McEwan, William Trevor, Carol Shields . . . And since joining Authonomy a couple of years ago I discovered a plethora of genres that I love to read that I used to think I hated. So now it’s almost everything, except horror, vampires and really, really gory crime.

Which two authors have influenced you most as a writer?

Difficult. You can be inspired by an author and crave to reach their level of expertise, so J.M. Coetzee, the South African Nobel Prize winner, and twice winner of the Booker, has to be number one. His sparse prose, sometimes harsh but always eloquent is never less than stunning.  Way back, before I started writing, I used to devour Joy Fielding’s psychological thrillers, so no doubt she must have influenced me.  I can’t rule out Jane Austen and of course my mother, Dora Taylor, but oops, sorry, you said only two . . .

Describe the moment you decided to pen your first book?

That’s an easy one. I think that like most writers I had always wanted to write. But in my case I thought you had to have an MA in English Lit like my Mum had, so I didn’t think I’d be able to do it.  The moment I started to write, not my first book, but just to write, was when my youngest son Andrew was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a teenage cancer that in 1984 meant almost certain death. I sat at his bedside, jotting down the unbelievably dramatic events that unfolded before my eyes. As the weeks, months and years passed, I found this to be cathartic. I don’t know what made me do it, but there was an inner compulsion that made me record almost every minute of that traumatic period of our lives, though I never expected it to become a published book. Then once I started I couldn’t stop.

Tell me a little about the research processes involved in your writing?

First of all I believe in trying to experience personally as much of what happens in the novel as I possibly can. Like going to the places I depict in the novel. Like actually taking part in my characters’ activities. For example in researching Pinpoint I attended many trials in the Manchester Crown Court. I visited police stations and was even smuggled in to an interview room at Strangeways Prison when a solicitor was interviewing a murder suspect. I also enrolled in a self-protection class. I drove to the areas I didn’t know, walked through them and breathed in their air. Spoke to people I didn’t normally meet. But generally speaking, for those things I am unable to do myself, I believe in going directly to the highest authority available to give me first hand information. You’d be amazed how willing people are to help you when you say you are writing a novel. And don’t forget your tape recorder.

What was the trickiest bit of writing your latest book?

Creating the character of the so-called villain. I had no knowledge of a person like Sam Smith. I had to imagine what he felt, what his aspirations were, what his motivations were for committing the crimes he did. In the end I felt I knew him, and could understand why he was like he was. But it wasn’t easy, and sometimes I wondered how on earth I could have given him the words he spoke and the despicable deeds he performed.  Imagination is amazing, and we writers should always give it full rein, and never hold back when that inner voice is dictating. Creating the character of Julia was not easy either, because I had to give her a very valid reason for being terrified of seeking police protection.

Tell me a little about your writing disciplines – most productive time of day, background music, daily word targets, tea or coffee, lucky pants… that sort of thing.

I’m pretty disciplined when it comes to setting aside time to write. If you don’t you will never get a novel written. But the strange thing is that very soon it isn’t a case of setting the time aside. You just automatically find yourself in front of your computer because it becomes second nature and it’s something you want to do more than anything else. My best times are early in the morning. As I’m lucky enough to have two summers every year – one in Cape Town and the other in Europe – the early mornings are nearly always light, so getting up at 5.30 or 6 a.m. is no hardship. These are the best hours of the day, when the mind is fresh and unencumbered by everyday interruptions. I stop at about 8.30 or 9, and then my second writing time is usually from about 3.30 till 7 p.m. I don’t set word targets, and in any case so much of writing is editing which I really enjoy. Then I love to have my favourite music playing – Mozart or Beethoven, or classical Spanish guitar music like Rodriguez – and never anything with lyrics. My wonderful husband, Colin, always seems to know when my tongue is hanging out for a cup of tea or coffee, and he always brings me a glass of ice-cold pink wine at six p.m. 

Tell me about your experience in getting your e-book to market.

My luck was in when I met Tim Roux on Authonomy. A fine writer himself, ex-barrister, a marketing expert and now managing editor of Night Publishing, he invited me to submit my manuscript. Thank goodness he liked it, and as they say, the rest is history. How lucky can you get!

What’s in the pipeline?

“Counted” – a complete revision and update of my previously published memoir about my son Andrew’s brave battle against teenage bone cancer, which was called “Fly With a Miracle”, using my married name, Sheila Belshaw.  This will hopefully be released in November this year, with it’s new  title  “Counted” – by Sheila Mary Taylor, which is my writing name from now on. When it was published ten years ago there were no e-books, so I felt that a far wider audience would be reached by having the book re-issued digitally as well as in paperback. Not only did I want to share with readers the dramatic journey we as a family travelled through during this terrible time in our lives, but I hoped that describing Andrew’s bravery and positive attitude would be an inspiration to other teenagers and adults who suffer from this ghastly disease. And as I’ve been told that the book reads like a thriller, I hope it will appeal to all readers.

Hot on the heels of this will be something very different. A contemporary romantic novel – The Nightingale Will Sing - set in Menorca where I live part of the year.  The main character, Lari, is a ballet dancer whose career has suddenly ended when she breaks both ankles in a skiing accident. She has also just broken her engagement, so all Lari wants is to bury herself in the peace and calm of Menorca, where she has come to sell the beautiful but neglected old family mansion she inherits when her hermit uncle dies. But Menorca offers the very opposite of peace and calm – especially when she meets Marc Ortega, an art dealer from Madrid who is intent on buying the neglected old mansion. Why, she wonders?  And what is it about Marc Ortega that she finds so irresistible? 

My work in progress, almost complete, is even more different. Entangled – as you can imagine – has three main characters whose lives are inextricably intertwined: a surgeon, his physiotherapist wife whose IVF treatment fails, and her patient, Alana, a dancer whose ailment ultimately requires surgery.  Wow! There’s conflict! Set in London and Menorca (I can’t stay away from Menorca! Or dancers!), the story is loosely based on the theme of the ballet – Giselle – but that’s all I’m going to tell you now, because to talk about one’s work in progress is often to dissipate the thoughts that are still in their embryonic form.

E-bookmuncher thinks that giving e-books away for free sends the wrong message to consumers. What are your views?

I think giving e-books away for free is an excellent way for an unknown author to kick-start a readership. But the trick is to state that the freebies will only be on for a very limited time, clearly defined. When a price is then attached to the book, it should start as low as possible, and then build up gradually. 

If you could be a character from any book in history, who would it be and why?

I’m a romantic at heart and my favourite book of all time, published in 1958, is “The Mountain is Young” by Han Suyin, (who also wrote A Many-Splendoured Thing). Set in exotic Khatmandu, the main character – Anne Ford – is a writer in search of herself, who falls in love not only with Khatmandu, but with the irresistible Unni.  Every time I read it, I wish I was Anne.

Plug your latest book in ten words or less.

We all have the potential to commit a crime.

As E-bookmuncher wishes to encourage authors to help each other, which standout author and book would you recommend that I approach that fits the criteria on the E-bookmuncher.com blog site.

I would say Jessica Degarmo and her novel “Six Weeks” and  Tom Winton and his debut novel – “Beyond Nostalgia”.

Thank you so much for interviewing me. I am very proud to be included in your excellent E-bookmuncher site. May it go from strength to strength.

It has been our pleasure, Sheila. We hope you get continued and well deserved success with ‘Pinpoint’, and we look forward to reading ‘Counted’ in the near future.