Ask the Author: Penny Grubb
Answered Questions (8)
Penny Grubb
So sorry this has taken so long to answer. I only just found it. I'm not very good with Goodreads. I need to see if I can get it to send notifications. But yes, that is the right order. An anomaly from when they were first published meant that those 2 books came out in the wrong order, but chronologically, The Jawbone Gang comes before The Doll Makers.
Penny Grubb
Thank you, Vicki. I've only just found your comment. I'm not very competent with Goodreads. I'm so pleased you are enjoying the books, and thanks for taking the time to say so.
Penny Grubb
The best thing about being a writer is never having to be bored. Even in places where no physical writing is possible, stories can be woven in the mind, whole life histories can be attached to passers-by, augmented by overheard snippets of conversation. Alan Bennett’s diaries are wonderful illustrations of the way a writer grazes on the minutiae of life. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n01/alan-ben...
Penny Grubb
The struggle can sometimes the other way when what I really want is NOT to be inspired to write. Like in the middle of the night when I want to sleep. Received wisdom is that a writer always keeps a pen and paper by the bed to scribble down ideas that strike in the small hours. It’s a good idea in theory and probably works really well for tidy writers with well-ordered bedside cabinets. My pen and paper are never there when I need them, so if the idea is really compelling I have to get up to write it down. Everything and nothing can become inspiration. Getting words on the page is a skill that can be learnt. The more you write, the more you see all around you just asking to be written about.
That said, I’m a great believer in using the subconscious to make the writing flow. I used to worry when I looked ahead and saw a bumpy plotline on the horizon, thinking I’d never make the leap from A to B seem credible. And each time as I approached the problem area, the solution would present itself. I put it down to my subconscious beavering away in the background. These days I identify the iffy areas in my ideas well in advance and hand them over to my brain to work on while I’m doing other stuff. I think it makes me absent-minded sometimes, but it’s never let me down.
That said, I’m a great believer in using the subconscious to make the writing flow. I used to worry when I looked ahead and saw a bumpy plotline on the horizon, thinking I’d never make the leap from A to B seem credible. And each time as I approached the problem area, the solution would present itself. I put it down to my subconscious beavering away in the background. These days I identify the iffy areas in my ideas well in advance and hand them over to my brain to work on while I’m doing other stuff. I think it makes me absent-minded sometimes, but it’s never let me down.
Penny Grubb
I’m currently working on a police procedural novel set mainly in North Yorkshire. I’m also working on the outline for a book set around a university researcher. And on the non-fiction front I’m writing up some work I’ve done on the use of critical and creative writing techniques in the education of health care professionals. I’m also working with a colleague from another university on a textbook on academic writing techniques.
Penny Grubb
edit at 12/12/16: Only now it occurs to me how quickly an answer like this goes out of date. My most recent book is now the next but two after the one I listed, and that won't be top of the pile for long as the next one is underway. Hey ho. Currently it's police procedural, Tiger Blood - sort of second in series from Buried Deep which was the one that followed Where There's Smoke. Complicated business keeping up sometimes.
My most recent book that’s actually out there is Where There’s Smoke (due out in paperback soon). It’s a standalone whodunit, but it’s also the 4th in a series. The germ of the idea came when I wrote the 1st, Like False Money, but I had no confidence in my ability to write about it. There is one oblique reference in Like False Money where the main character, Annie, has a stray thought about one day going head to head with one of the sleazier secondary characters. It took 4 books to get there.
The idea for Like False Money grew out of an overheard conversation in a village shop. Two elderly men were talking about funds being raised to buy new gates for the church. Innocuous enough, but for some reason I began to imagine the older of the two going home one night, on his own, slightly nervy about the dark and the isolation; of his relief at getting safely inside. And then... cue sinister music... There’s almost nothing of that incident in the book itself but it’s possible to see the strand running through it once you know it’s there.
Back to the question, my most recent book as in the next one due out (I’m awaiting a publication date) grew from two distinct strands; one was from reading some psychological research into the way people’s minds can be twisted by trauma inflicted by others; the second was simple curiosity about what would happen if a private investigator blundered unwittingly into the middle of a police enquiry.
And my most recent book as in the one I’m in the middle of writing comes directly from a love of intricate puzzles. 10,000 words of back story gave me the foundation from which to start. The book begins in a place that shows almost none of the real story, just the frayed edges and fall-out from crimes that people have tried to hide – the bits and pieces from which real investigations have to start.
https://www.fantasticbookspublishing....
https://www.fantasticbookspublishing....
My most recent book that’s actually out there is Where There’s Smoke (due out in paperback soon). It’s a standalone whodunit, but it’s also the 4th in a series. The germ of the idea came when I wrote the 1st, Like False Money, but I had no confidence in my ability to write about it. There is one oblique reference in Like False Money where the main character, Annie, has a stray thought about one day going head to head with one of the sleazier secondary characters. It took 4 books to get there.
The idea for Like False Money grew out of an overheard conversation in a village shop. Two elderly men were talking about funds being raised to buy new gates for the church. Innocuous enough, but for some reason I began to imagine the older of the two going home one night, on his own, slightly nervy about the dark and the isolation; of his relief at getting safely inside. And then... cue sinister music... There’s almost nothing of that incident in the book itself but it’s possible to see the strand running through it once you know it’s there.
Back to the question, my most recent book as in the next one due out (I’m awaiting a publication date) grew from two distinct strands; one was from reading some psychological research into the way people’s minds can be twisted by trauma inflicted by others; the second was simple curiosity about what would happen if a private investigator blundered unwittingly into the middle of a police enquiry.
And my most recent book as in the one I’m in the middle of writing comes directly from a love of intricate puzzles. 10,000 words of back story gave me the foundation from which to start. The book begins in a place that shows almost none of the real story, just the frayed edges and fall-out from crimes that people have tried to hide – the bits and pieces from which real investigations have to start.
https://www.fantasticbookspublishing....
https://www.fantasticbookspublishing....
Penny Grubb
Different people do things different ways, and there are loads of writing guides out there. Learn the craft, find out what works for you. I have a list of the things that helped me as a writer. It’s at http://www.pennygrubb.com/index.php/c...
Penny Grubb
I’ve always been sceptical about writer’s block. Of course there are times when it’s hard to write. There’s a deadline looming, I’m not in the mood, it’s lovely and sunny outside, I’d rather go and do something else, my mind’s just not on the thing I’m supposed to be writing. But when it comes down to it, if I’m a writer then I write. Most of the time I love to write, occasionally it’s hard, but I’m a writer so I do it. Compare with say a plumber. If I arrange for someone to come and repair my washer, I won’t be impressed if they fail to turn up because they decided to sit in the sun, or they weren’t in the mood. And I’ll be pretty sceptical if they tell me they can’t do my repairs because of plumber’s block. But of course writing can hard at times, and it takes practice. The importance of physically getting words on the page is underestimated. I mention this on my website at http://www.pennygrubb.com/index.php/c...
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