Gabriel Woods
asked
Lissa Oliver:
Hi Lissa What has inspired you to write Chantilly Dawns and Sainte Bastian?
Lissa Oliver
Hi, Gabriel,
I guess it was being a teenager and feeling a personal sense of loss when a jockey friend was sacked and relocated abroad. As I grew older, I wondered how that sense of loss must have been amplified for him. The best part of an author's journey is making that trip in someone else's shoes, and from wondering "what if?" a character and story emerges.
Chantilly Dawns ended, but I wanted my journey to continue, so I listened to a very minor bit-player from a previous book (Gala Day) who had been hounding me for a book of his own for many years! That's another aspect of life as a writer - imaginary people take up residence in your head and demand life! When they appear in print and other people "see" them, they are alive and no longer just my imaginary lodgers!
Anyway, I wondered about other characters and how the repercussions from the Chantilly Dawns plot might impact on their lives. And from that grew Sainte Bastien, a very challenging book to write.
As with your own work, Gabriel, my storylines can allow me to raise issues I feel are important and to explore different perspectives.
I guess it was being a teenager and feeling a personal sense of loss when a jockey friend was sacked and relocated abroad. As I grew older, I wondered how that sense of loss must have been amplified for him. The best part of an author's journey is making that trip in someone else's shoes, and from wondering "what if?" a character and story emerges.
Chantilly Dawns ended, but I wanted my journey to continue, so I listened to a very minor bit-player from a previous book (Gala Day) who had been hounding me for a book of his own for many years! That's another aspect of life as a writer - imaginary people take up residence in your head and demand life! When they appear in print and other people "see" them, they are alive and no longer just my imaginary lodgers!
Anyway, I wondered about other characters and how the repercussions from the Chantilly Dawns plot might impact on their lives. And from that grew Sainte Bastien, a very challenging book to write.
As with your own work, Gabriel, my storylines can allow me to raise issues I feel are important and to explore different perspectives.
More Answered Questions
Gabriel Woods
asked
Lissa Oliver:
Apologies Lissa, I just wanted to obtain a deeper understanding of what you write. Could I suggest from reading Sainte Bastien - and particularly Nero which I am reading now - that you have an interest in characters that are conflicted or contrasted? I am interested too if you would like to describe what theme you may have identified in my books.
Gabriel Woods
asked
Lissa Oliver:
I have observed in your book Chantilly Dawns that some characters lead a very wealthy lifestyle from birth. There is a contrast with an extremely interesting character called Marcel, to me a complex and very likable character, who acquired wealth through his own means from his work as a jockey. Can you tell me where the inspiration came from to write such a variety of interesting characters?
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Feb 13, 2018 02:05AM · flag
Feb 13, 2018 06:43AM · flag