I am delighted to welcome Martin Gore, author of The Road to Cromer Pier, to The Heart of Romance today, and congratulation on your upcoming release of The Road to Cromer Pier.
I am a 62-year-old Accountant who semi-retired in 2015
to explore my love of creative writing and travel.
When I was nine years old I told my long-suffering
mother that as I liked English composition and drama I was going to be a
Playwright. She told me that I should work hard at school and get a proper job.
She was right of course.
I did write ten chapters of a novel on 2000, drawing on
my upbringing in a council house, and childhood holidays to Cromer, but I
wasn’t convinced that it was working as a novel, and work commitments took
over.
The opportunity to rekindle my interest in writing came
in 2009, when I wrote my first pantomime Cinderella, for my home group, the
Walkington Pantomime Players. I have now written eight, Beauty & the Beast
being the last, and my all time favourite. When I get time I’m working on a
ninth, Camelot.
As a writer though my focus is on the audience. Be it a
play or a novel I’m an old fashioned writer I guess. I want you to laugh and to
cry. I want you to feel that my stories have a beginning, a middle, and a
satisfactory ending. When I write I seem to disappear into another world and
become completely self-absorbed. It’s a great feeling.
The Road to Cromer Pier, will be released on 29th June
2019. The support I’ve received from Cromer Pier Theatre has been outstanding,
and I’m planning to launch the book on the day that the Summertime Special Show
starts.
There is a play version of The Road to Cromer Pier
available for am-dram groups. It is available royalty-free at present, with
donations to the hospital charity:
Q
– Martin
thank you for joining us here today. I gather you have a deep-seated interest
in Amdram and have written scripts for many successful plays. What persuaded
you to diversify into novel writing, and do you enjoy it as much as you do your
script writing?
A
very interesting question. Most of my play writings have been pantomimes, and
to hear people laughing at what I’ve written is just fantastic. My first comedy
play, He’s Behind You, was performed script in hand to great reviews, but was
rejected by Hull Truck Theatre as it required too many actors (six). The financial
constraints imposed by theatres limits what you can write, so writing novels
gives me greater freedoms. The reviews of Pen Pals were really touching, particularly
ones from people who commented that my novel resonated with their real life experiences.
I guess I like both mediums, which is why The Road to Cromer Pier is available
as both a play and a novel.
Q
–
Please will you describe your writing environment for us, and did you create
the space specifically for writing or do you write on the dining room table, or
corner of your living room?
A
-
I have to write in silence, so when I retired we built a garden room with a desk,
a chair and an old settee. It has pictures on every wall of beautiful places
I’ve been to, both in the UK and abroad, and views over open fields. It does
help me to concentrate and go into my writing world.
Q
–
Did you choose to write in the genre or did the genre choose you?
A
-
They definitely choose me! One of my biggest problems is that my work doesn’t
fit a specific genre. Drawing a lot on my younger experiences in the sixties and
seventies they could be historical fiction, but they also feature current
events. They feature families, but broader than blood relatives, so not
entirely family sagas. They touch on business and politics, but mainly the
human impact that these have. They are stories about love and relationships, but
are not quite romantic fiction. I’d be interested to hear what genre your
readers think that they belong in!
Q
–
Tea or coffee?
A
- Tea
at home. I make all of the tea in our house. Black coffee at work. Probably as
there were some disputes over ownership of the milk!
Q
-
I gather from some of your fb posts, that you spent many happy childhood
holidays in Cromer and that was your incentive for writing The Road to Cromer
Pier, do you set all your books in places you know well. Do you organise
holidays to visit places you want to write about?
A
-
I might be 62 but I’m only just getting started as a novelist, so writing about
what I know makes sense to me. The Road to Cromer Pier started out around
twenty years ago when I was working long hours. It draws on my childhood
holiday experiences there, and some of the locations are real. The Cromer Pier
Summertime Special show is the only full season end of the pier show left in
the world, so doing justice to the lives of the imaginary cast and crew was a
big challenge, and I doubt that I could have done it without the invaluable support
of the management of the theatre.
Pen Pals could really have been based anywhere, but the
mill towns of Yorkshire gave it a really nostalgic feel, and there were places
I could go to build the picture. Much of the descriptive detail of the mill area
is drawn from Magdale in West Yorkshire, where some friends live.
If I’m on holiday I write in the early mornings. I
remember completing one pantomime while in Bellagio on Lake Como, in an
apartment with a stunning view of the lake. Must try that again sometime.....
Q -
Car or motorbike? And which model?
A
-
An old Skoda Octavia 4 x 4 to tow our caravan, which doubles as a writing room
when we visit locations. As I have had ear problems since childhood I’m not safe
on two wheels!
Q
–
Has anyone said they’ve seen the play –and- read the book, and if so did they
go on to share which they liked best? :-)
A
-
Not as yet. I’m hopeful that I’ll get the play version of The Road to Cromer
Pier performed by my home group in Walkington early next year, but I’m very
receptive to any Amdram group who wishes to perform it, free of charge. I only
ask for two tickets to see it performed, and I’m happy to help with staging
etc.
Q
–
Writers have a reputation for forgetting about the ‘world outside’ when
writing, have you ever forgotten an appointment because you have been so immersed
in your writing?
A
-
No, but I really do know the feeling well. I certainly inhabit the world I’m
writing about, and suddenly mentally wake up quite some time later. I’ll freely
admit to shedding a few tears at one or two of the really poignant moments in
my books.
Q
–
What do you like most about writing a script and why?
A
-
I just love the challenge of making people laugh when I write pantomimes, and
generally do sound at the back so I get the audience point of view directly. I
wrote a scene involving two mermaids in Peter Pan which worked so well that
many of the cast turned up at the back to watch each night. Really proud of
that.
Plays are very different. My favourites, such as Ladies
Day and Calendar Girls mix a heart-warming story with comedy. That’s a real
challenge, and one I’m still mastering. My first effort, He’s Behind You,
worked well though, so I think I’ll crack it given time.
Q-
What do you like most about writing a novel and why?
A
-
That you are not limited in terms of cast size and the problems of staging it.
I also love to go to places which I can then draw on in my stories. The canteen
scene in Pen Pals came from a closed factory I visited in Wakefield, where the room
had been emptied of furniture, but it was otherwise left as it had been. You
could almost hear the chatter of the staff who had long since departed.
Q
–
What do you least like about writing (both novels and scripts) and why?
A
-
Editing must be the worst! I am a comprehensive school kid, so my spelling is okay
but my grammar is certainly not great. I have editors and beta readers of
course, but it is still my responsibility to check the final version page by
page, and I just don’t have the attention span!
I guess in plays it is when I’ve written something
which simply doesn’t get the laughs that I think it should. Everyone’s humour
is different of course, but hearing a gag fail in each of eight performances certainly
doesn’t amuse me....
Q
–
And how do the two compare?
A
-
Oh editing must be the worst.... There are so many rules and more than one
interpretation quite often, so you need to be consistent. Nightmare!
A
-
No pets. We are away a lot so it’s not such a practical proposition for us. We
had pets when the kids were young, but we are empty nesters now.
Q
–
Where in the world would you most like to visit and why?
A
-
We visited Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand last year, and we have a long holiday
in California this year. India strikes me as a remarkable country, and is
certainly on the list. Next year is our fortieth wedding anniversary, so I
think Sicily is favourite for 2020. We just love Italy, so maybe I’ll write
some stuff out there. Pen Pals featured Florence, so why not?
Q
–
Which destination have you enjoyed the most so far?
A
-
I think South Africa would get my vote. Stunning scenery, amazing history and
stunning wildlife safaris as the sun came up.
Q-
What is the nicest thing one of your readers have ever said to you?
A
-
A reader who was adopted said that I had got the feelings of an adopted child
towards the birth mother spot on. That really was the hugest of compliments and
touched me a great deal.
Martin, thank you so much for taking the time to share
your answers to these random questions, and I wish you every success when The Road to Cromer Pier releases.
My pleasure. I’m just loving this journey I’m on at present, and really hope
that readers enjoy what I write.
"Local author,
Martin Gore, launches novel in tribute to Cromer Pier theatre.
‘The Road to Cromer Pier’
– A Tale of Lives, Loyalty & Luvvies."
The Wells family
has run the Cromer Pier Summertime Special Show for generations. But it’s now 2009
and the recession is biting hard. Owner Janet Wells and daughter
Karen are facing an uncertain future. The show must go on, and Janet gambles on
a fading talent show star. But both the star and the other cast members have their
demons. This is a story of love, loyalty and luvvies. The Road to Cromer Pier might
be the end of their careers, or a new beginning.
Twitter @martingore
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