Ask the Author: Alan Williams
Answered Questions (10)
Alan Williams
I'm partial to a glorious, sun-drenched and never ending English summer, where the grass is green, the wheat fields golden and the sounds of leather upon willow, twittering skylarks and the ubiquitous cuckoo fill the air. Where the only way to cool down is to go for a dip in the lake... i.e. the sort of summer that only ever exists in fiction. So, I would time-travel back to the fictional worlds of A Month in the Country, A Room with a View or The Go-Between... or maybe Atonement. Of course, I would ensure that I was a well-rested observer, snug on my lounger with a cold drink in hand... well away from the psychological dramas playing out centre stage!
Alan Williams
I'm still working through 'The Brontes' by Juliet Barker. It's a big book - but a great read and endlessly revealing about a family I am fascinated by, but didn't really know - other than through assumptions that I had made. After that Julian Barnes' 'A Sense of an Ending' is on my list and - I must also finally get around to 'A Testament of Youth'... which I keep promising to read along with some E.M. Forster, which I always associate with summer in my mind, but they always seem to slip down the list. If I go away anywhere later in the summer I might look out for something location related, but nothing is planned as yet.
Alan Williams
Interesting question! Thinking about it, I have come to realise the the relationship between 'couples' of sorts drive most of my favourite books. Most of these seem to be 'odd' couples, such as Stevens and Miss Kenton in 'The Remains of the Day', Winston and Julia in '1984', Leo and Marian in 'The Go-Between' - or even Birkin and Moon in 'A Month in the Country'! I'm going to plump for Arthur and Doreen from 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' however. Not just because they come from my home town, but because their relationship has a redemptive quality that they may or may not be aware of. Each of them fights it at first, probably knowing that it is ultimately doomed, but the consequences of not being together are probably worse. In Alan Sillitoe's hands Arthur and Doreen are 'real people', believable characters who might have walked the saem streets as my parents. It is everyday life, 'kitchen sink' stuff - but they are embarking on an adventure together nonetheless.
Alan Williams
Hi Tracy. Thanks very much for the question(s)!
I am just putting the finishing touches to the first draft of my new novel. With a fair wind, I hope that it will see the light of day towards the end of this year,
With regard to your second question, yes, parts of it are set in and around Nottingham, but it will also travel a bit further afield... even more so than 'The Daylight Thief' did.
I am just putting the finishing touches to the first draft of my new novel. With a fair wind, I hope that it will see the light of day towards the end of this year,
With regard to your second question, yes, parts of it are set in and around Nottingham, but it will also travel a bit further afield... even more so than 'The Daylight Thief' did.
Alan Williams
It's never been a problem so far! (Touch wood)!
Alan Williams
The exhilaration of letting ideas flow and then seeing a tangible end product at the end of it and re-reading your writing and thinking "did I really write that"!
Alan Williams
If you don't do it you will regret it... life is too short. Just make the time and space in your life to write. Also talk to the important people in your life, tell them about your writing aspirations, you'll be amazed at how understanding, helpful and accommodating they will be.
Alan Williams
My second novel. Like my first it is historical fiction, but set over different time periods.
Alan Williams
I don't really need inspiration necessarily. I've always done it. Like most authors though, I need a good run at it to get into the groove. Once I've got an idea and a story worked out, I can just write until I drop.
Alan Williams
It was suggested by a story I came across whilst researching my family history.
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