Ask the Author: Claire Wingfield
Answered Questions (5)
Claire Wingfield
My first job after university in the UK was at a publishing house in Berlin. Whilst I wasn’t enamoured with my first office job, the city and the people I met there had a profound impact on me. At 21, I drank in every new experience and it wasn’t long before I dreamed in the new language! I was earnest in learning everything I could about this new country – a more diligent sightseer than I had ever been before or have ever been since. I would tramp to the furthest reaches of the city following a guidebook tip, eat in restaurants alone – and find even the most mundane experience fascinating. I also met some wonderful people – some of whom have inspired one or two of the characters in this book.
It’s now almost 20 years later and this book captures that incredibly special time in my life. I distinctly remember the pull between staying past the end of my contract and putting down roots there or returning to the UK. I have always wondered what would have happened if I’d stayed in Germany, so I suppose that was my starting point for Saving Francesca Maier – although many things have changed.
It’s now almost 20 years later and this book captures that incredibly special time in my life. I distinctly remember the pull between staying past the end of my contract and putting down roots there or returning to the UK. I have always wondered what would have happened if I’d stayed in Germany, so I suppose that was my starting point for Saving Francesca Maier – although many things have changed.
Claire Wingfield
I’m currently working on the sequel to 'Saving Francesca Maier', which sees Antonio’s sister Ingrid come to Edinburgh as an au pair, becoming embroiled in the secrets of the family she works for and caught up in their outrageous demands of her. The family is connected to Francesca’s mother Imogen, so we’ll also see how the rest of Francesca’s story unravels.
Claire Wingfield
Don't feel you have to have all the answers at once. Your work will have many paths, revisions and refinements. When you get stuck, share your work. Your reader's feedback and engagement will replenish your creative energy, draw your attention to more questions that need answers and spur you on. Don't be put off if feedback provokes a strong and not necessarily pleasant response initially - it can take some practice to get used to your words and ideas feeling 'under the microscope'.
Claire Wingfield
It's hard to pick one answer to this. I suppose the thing that sustains me is that my work is constantly reinventing itself. That creative and mental challenge is why I can never imagine myself not writing.
Claire Wingfield
I do something entirely different. I often get ideas when swimming, for example - which is frustrating as sometimes I have to get out of the pool early. I should just start taking a notebook to the poolside! Writing away from my desk is very important to me. It was one of the starting points of '52 Dates for Writers - Ride a Tandem, Assume an Alias and 50 Other Ways to Improve Your Novel Draft'.
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