Ask the Author: Derek Nudd
Answered Questions (6)
Derek Nudd
Perhaps not my own life but my grandfather's, yes. His work in Paris between the wars may well have had a covert element - there aren't enough pegs to hang a history on but a novel, definitely.
Derek Nudd
Tricky one. After a couple of days the only answer that bubbles to the surface is Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane. OK, Cyrano is fictionalised rather than fictional but the story cuts free from reality so I think it counts. To me the tale blends Latin panache with Nordic clear-eyed, hopeless determination in a uniquely appealing way. Which probably sounds horribly pretentious, but they do stick in the mind.
Derek Nudd
Looking through my father's letters home during the Second World War I began to realise what a treasure trove of insight, brilliant writing and caustic comment they were. I first started pulling them together and researching their context as a project for the family but was quickly obvious that we had something of much wider interest here. The rest, as they say, is history.
Derek Nudd
Some days you're flying, certain that humankind will hang on to your deathless words. On others you crawl through worthless excrement. Treat those two impostors with equal disdain - and have enough love left over to enjoy yourself.
Sometimes the only way to deal with a block is to put your head down and shove through it. I try to start writing - even if I throw away the first paragraph the next comes easier, and the next. If that doesn't work I go back and edit something I've already written, or a bit more research. Anything to move the job forward.
Sometimes the only way to deal with a block is to put your head down and shove through it. I try to start writing - even if I throw away the first paragraph the next comes easier, and the next. If that doesn't work I go back and edit something I've already written, or a bit more research. Anything to move the job forward.
Derek Nudd
The following is an extract from some thoughts I jotted down for the Female First website:
For most of us the fantasy of being the next rock-star novelist, economist or whatever won't happen. Strip away that picture and see what's left: inspiration? wisdom? immortality? Be honest.
Family and friends give us an easy ride, no-one else will. Understand the audience, what they know and expect. Genre-benders can be wonderfully creative but start with a disadvantage - readers aren't usually looking for them.
A synopsis structures the work and helps plan what to do by when. Reserve time, lots of it: to plan, write, step back and enjoy the view, and…
Research! Fiction should (usually) be plausible, non-fiction has to be true. The moment you catch yourself assuming something - check! Someone out there will gleefully point out any inconsistencies. Anyway, location visits are a great excuse to lift your eyes from the screen.
Edit, edit, edit. Then edit again.
Read your work out loud and backwards, give it to (patient, honest) friends, get a professional copy-edit, then read it some more. You will still cringe when you see it in print. Promise.
This is the difference between a happy hobbyist and a professional.
For most of us the fantasy of being the next rock-star novelist, economist or whatever won't happen. Strip away that picture and see what's left: inspiration? wisdom? immortality? Be honest.
Family and friends give us an easy ride, no-one else will. Understand the audience, what they know and expect. Genre-benders can be wonderfully creative but start with a disadvantage - readers aren't usually looking for them.
A synopsis structures the work and helps plan what to do by when. Reserve time, lots of it: to plan, write, step back and enjoy the view, and…
Research! Fiction should (usually) be plausible, non-fiction has to be true. The moment you catch yourself assuming something - check! Someone out there will gleefully point out any inconsistencies. Anyway, location visits are a great excuse to lift your eyes from the screen.
Edit, edit, edit. Then edit again.
Read your work out loud and backwards, give it to (patient, honest) friends, get a professional copy-edit, then read it some more. You will still cringe when you see it in print. Promise.
This is the difference between a happy hobbyist and a professional.
Derek Nudd
On 17th January 1944 Rear Admiral Rushbrooke, Director of Naval Intelligence, congratulated his CSDIC (Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre) team leader on handling the near-simultaneous influx of some 250 prisoners. They were survivors of two U-Boats, a torpedo-boat, a blockade-runner and the battlecruiser Scharnhorst.
I am writing a case study around this event; reviewing the five vessels' back stories, how and when the prisoners arrived at Latimer House, what happened to them there, the intelligence harvest, and what use might have been made of it. I will also be looking at some of the eclectic and irreverent personalities who made up the Naval Intelligence team at Latimer.
I aim to develop Helen Fry's important work on CSDIC by illuminating the detailed practicalities of day-to-day operations there. There are already some interesting insights coming out of the work!
I am writing a case study around this event; reviewing the five vessels' back stories, how and when the prisoners arrived at Latimer House, what happened to them there, the intelligence harvest, and what use might have been made of it. I will also be looking at some of the eclectic and irreverent personalities who made up the Naval Intelligence team at Latimer.
I aim to develop Helen Fry's important work on CSDIC by illuminating the detailed practicalities of day-to-day operations there. There are already some interesting insights coming out of the work!
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