Ask the Author: Simon Miller
Answered Questions (8)
Simon Miller
I heard about what happened to somebody (Annie Fayol in EBOLOWA) and I just didn't believe it. EBOLOWA is my version of the truth: it's up to you if you're convinced or not - - I always want to leave you with a question to wrangle with. That's what teaching is all about - - leaving a door ajar.
Simon Miller
Same answer up there: you get a story which runs against the grain of what people think is true and tell them something different, a David and Goliath thing, taking on the official line. It's what inspired me to write my stuff on the Mexican Revolution and the English Culture of Land and Landscape - - kindling a bit of light that casts new shadows on an old wall - - I plan to do the same with Alison Uttley, an amazing woman who everybody got wrong - - but that'll probably involve another leap of imagination - - and another time.
Simon Miller
Marketing EBOLOWA and returning to my first unpublished book featuring Harry Kaplan and another real event - - in THE WRONG DOMINO.
Simon Miller
Get a story. Maybe the best writers in history can write without one but I can't see it. If you've got no story, you've got no start, and when you're blocked your story and the people/places/action inside it will come to your rescue.
Simon Miller
seeing your name on the cover and somebody saying they really enjoyed reading it - - and weird things like someone who knew you from way back saying they read it and were "amazed" - - shows how we can all get way beyond where we start from - - that was a great thing too.
Simon Miller
make a coffee, walk the dog, do a bit more research, edit the last bit that's a hassle and most of all, like Hemingway said, always stop when it's going well - - or nowadays, as they say, park on a hill (going down the slope) - - it really helps to pick up speed and not get blocked. Of course, that's just a draft and later you edit and polish a million times, so the cliché is right, no such thing as writing, only REwriting - - -
Simon Miller
Sandy - - thanks for this - - I blew it by not knowing the site - - will you get my answer now or will it just appear out of the ether? It's a tough Q. The biggest problem I had was making space for all the main four protagonists to grow a bit of personality and a back-story and still enter into the stream of the plot sufficiently to play their part and provide you with enough to carry you along. By the end the threads had to come together like a kaleidoscope, one final twist and the new pattern had all the bits in place and the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The parts were so hard to get them into the right shape to FINALLY FIT TOGETHER. Mad.
Simon Miller
Hi Di - - - FIRST rule of writing don't screw up by not answering - - JUST FOUND this part of the GR page - - OMG - - and it's 2 months, what kind of author-reader rapport is THAT?? Sorry. Anyway, the answer is The Wrong Domino got written, got shortlisted CWA Debut Dagger and then got torn in half - - with one half getting a total overhaul and coming out as EBOLOWA. Now, amidst marketing EBOLOWA, I start afresh on TWD and rewrite that one. The Maths tells you you have a unit and chop it in half and you have two halves (like a cookie) but stories are different, the two halves just crumble away into disarray when they're separated, like a relationship! EBOLOWA, thanks to all my attention, rose from the ashes a new and independent being --- TWD has been languishing, but will start to feel the warmth of affection any day. I'm touched you went looking for it on the strength of EBOLOWA. and apologies again for blinking on this GR facility. simon
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