Sue has won a Best Romantic Read Award,
received two nominations at the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards and is a
Katie Fforde Bursary winner. Her short stories, serials, articles, columns,
courses and writing 'how to' have sold around the world.
An army child, Sue was born in Germany then
lived in Cyprus, Malta and the UK. She's worked in a bank, as a bookkeeper
(probably a mistake), as a copytaker for Motor Cycle News and for a digital
prepress. She's pleased to have now wriggled out of all 'proper jobs'.
Thanks for inviting me onto your lovely blog, Sherry.
The book blurb is:
COME AND
SPEND SUMMER BY THE SEA!
WANTED! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages.
WHERE? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away
on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and – most
importantly – no problems!
WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their
cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break
from their traitorous friends.
WHAT
YOU’LL GET! Accommodation in a
chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside
walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.
PLEASE
NOTE: We take no responsibility for
any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your
life…
GET IN
TOUCH NOW TO MAKE THIS A SUMMER TO REMEMBER!
For many readers the nuts and bolts of
writing are a mystery, so to start I thought I’d include a few questions on
their behalf.
Q -
Before we talk about your new book A Summer to Remember,
please will you share ‘an average day in a writer’s life?’
A -
It really depends upon the day. Mostly, I’m at my desk at about 7.15 a.m. and I
begin with social media and emails. I eat breakfast at my desk. I work until
about 6.00 p.m. but several days of the week I take a break during the day for
a dance or yoga class or a piano lesson. I work about fifty or sixty hours a
week but those hours are flexible so if I want to do something on Thursday
afternoon I might work on Sunday to make up. I’m very deadline orientated but
not everything I do is writing or planning a novel. I also do promo, write
short stories and blog posts, update my website, keep my accounts and all the
other jobs that come with the territory.
Of course, there are many days where I’m
not sitting at my desk. I might be at a publishing event run by the Romantic
Novelists’ Association, SWWJ or Freelance Media Group. I also have meetings
with my publishers and/or agent or I have my own events at book shops,
libraries, festivals etc.
Q –
Did writing choose you or did you choose writing?
A -
It’s a compulsion rather than a choice so I guess it chose me. On the other
hand, you’ve got to want something pretty badly to persist through 150++ short
stores, 8 serials, 14 novels, a writing guide, three courses and dozens of
columns. I used to teach creative writing and appraise manuscripts to make
financial ends meet. I did that for twenty years before I could say I was
making my living as a novelist.
Q –
What is your favourite colour, and why?
A - I
can never choose between black, blue and purple. I have no idea why!
Q -
Do you plot your stories or do they evolve as you progress into the story?
Which comes first, your plot or your characters? And how do you meld your plot
and your characters together?
A - I
like to know a lot about my central characters and their goals and conflicts
before I begin. I have a lot of notes and maybe a bit of a mind map. I
sometimes pause at the beginning of a chapter and make notes about where the
chapter’s going to keep me on track but other times I just crash on with what
my head’s telling me.
My characters evolve and so it becomes
obvious how they’ll react to things or what’s making them tick. I’m a big
believer in characters having a backstory and that influencing the character
they are on page 1 and throughout the book. Sometimes something that seems
quite minor can have a big effect on the book. In A Summer to Remember,
for example, the tiny village of Nelson’s Bar is stuck out on a headland in
Norfolk and has no mobile signal and scant broadband. Who could communicate
with whom at what time really impacted on the story.
Q –
I know, from visiting your blog http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com
that you have set A Summer to Remember
in Norfolk. How do you choose the settings for your books?
A -
It’s usually just what seems right. I used to holiday in north Norfolk when my
kids were young. When I wanted somewhere for Clancy to run to when her life in
London imploded, that’s what came to mind. In contrast, last year’s summer
book, One Summer in Italy,
was sparked by a chef at a writing retreat I head up for Arte Umbria
in Italy. She told me how she picked somewhere different to work each summer.
Italy seemed the perfect place for a character to do the same and I wrote half
of that book on a writing retreat there. Further contrast: my winter book this
year, Let it Snow,
is partly set in Switzerland because a friend said if I wanted to set a book
there then she’d drive me and I could stay with her and her husband. I like to
travel so I said, ‘Yes, please!’
Q –
Tea or coffee?
A -
Tea. I’m afraid coffee is on my hate list.
Q –
Cat or dog?
A -
Dog. I haven’t had one since I was a teen but I borrow one from my son and his
fiancée sometimes. The dog is a bonkers Jack Russell and you might find him on
my social media streams under the name of Puppy-in-law.
Q –
In Just for the Holidays
you took a helicopter ride, ‘ for research’ and experienced what it’s like when
the engine stalls. Did you go to similar lengths while researching A Summer to Remember?
A -
I’d love to have something that exciting in every book! However, for A Summer to Remember
I did most of my research wandering around Norfolk in a heatwave. I’d never
been out on the salt marshes before and I loved exploring places like the old
harbour at Thornham and the reserve at Tideswell. I spent the evenings reading
what literature I’d collected during the day over a glass (or two) of wine. It
was a much more serene experience than the helicopter but intensely enjoyable.
I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to Norfolk, actually - I’m
afraid I moved the landscape about and split the salt marshes with a headland
that doesn’t really exist.
Q -
On an average, how long does it take you to write each story?
A -
As I write two novels a year I guess it’s around six months. It’s hard to
quantify because as well as writing those books I’m writing all the other stuff
I mentioned early in this interview and performing all those other tasks. I’m
always working on three books in any six-month period: writing one, editing one
and promoting (at least) one. I also take a couple of holidays a year. This is
why I’m deadline orientated - if one’s coming up I have to prioritise whichever
task it relates to.
Q –
What do you do to relax when you are not writing?
A - I
love and adore watching Formula 1 on TV, listening to its podcasts, reading the
news etc. I also love yoga, dance fit, FitStep and Zumba, hanging out with friends
or reading.
Q –
Can you tell us anything about what readers can expect in your next book?
A - Let it Snow
will be released as an ebook in September and paperback and audio in October.
It’s about Lily, who grew up in a family with two gay women for parents. She’s
in the village of Middledip to make contact with her half-brothers. She knows
her mum had an affair with their dad to get pregnant but they don’t know she exists.
She’s also heading up a project with a Swiss company and as part of that she
takes a village singing group, the Middletones, to perform in Switzerland.
Isaac’s in the village as relief manager at the pub because its landlord Tubb
has developed heart failure. He’s on his way to a new career in the great
outdoors after his relationship ends but he’s drawn back into his
ex-girlfriend’s life in a most unexpected way.
Q –
Summer, winter, autumn or spring – which is your favourite and why?
A -
Summer. I just love the sun! I love warmth and not being weighed down with
coats and boots. Maybe it’s because I was brought up for several years in Malta
and Cyprus?
Thank you Sue for joining us today.
It’s been my pleasure. Thanks for inviting
me along.
Twitter: @suemoorcroft
Facebook: sue.moorcroft.3 and
facebook.com/SueMoorcroftAuthor
Instagram: suemoorcroftauthor
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