I’m thrilled to welcome Sarah Stephenson
to The Write Place blog. Sarah has been a member of TWP for several years and
her book, Dougal’s Diary, is
published today. Sarah agreed to be quizzed about her writing.
Welcome, Sarah. What gave you the idea
for your book?
The
moment I got him home I felt I should put him in a book. He was different from
dogs I’d had before; running into any house with a front door open, sitting on they sofa, almost expecting a cup of tea. And his favourite day was one spent at a fayre having his face painted by a collection of small children. He was a people's dog. Initially
I’d thought of a picture book with captions underneath. Then it struck me, I
have to go to classes. And would life-drawing really help with dog cartoons? So I changed tack, deciding to rely on
words.
Have you been published anywhere else?
Only as
a child in a school magazine, when aged 11 I’d had a week off school to dance in
Paris. My mother wrote the piece pretending to be me. This was nothing new. She
wrote all the compositions for my English homework, if she liked the subject
matter and was always furious if she got a poor mark. It was usually a spelling
problem. I copied it out, incorrectly.
How long did it take to write Dougal’s
Diary?
Ages:
more than two years. I write in long hand, first. It’s the only way my
imagination works, but then I can’t read my scrawl. I scribble everywhere I
can; on buses, in the car in traffic jams finding anything I can to write on, back
of envelopes, newspapers. In desperation, I’ve even phoned my land-line to
leave a sentence I’m sure I’ll never remember. So yes, I’m slow and chaotic but
am intending to improve my ways.
Tell us something about your route to
publication.
I’d been told it would be difficult to find a
publisher. Dougal’s story didn’t fit into any particular genre. It wasn’t sad, lost dog story, or homeless
man finds a dog that saves his life story. Nor a cat or children’s story - he
humps all dogs called Chester.
Well, I’ve never been lucky till now, except
once when my kids and I were staying in Ireland with an elderly relative who
didn’t feed us and I won a ‘guess the weight of a giant cake’ in a field at
boot-sale in Killarney.
I was
advised to send it to Crooked Cat publishing. They saw the first 50 pages and
asked for the rest. It was then I panicked, deciding the ending was boring, so pretended to be away
in some exotic location without internet connection It gave me extra time to
re-do it.
I
heard they wanted to publish it while I was cooking for a large lunch party. In
my excitement I screamed so loudly the family I was working for thought I’d
burnt myself.
Interestingly
Crooked Cat, which now has a cat logo, was originally short for crooked
category, set up for books that fell between the usual genres.
 |
| Sarah and Dougal |
What is the book about?
Can
he survive life with a chaotic owner and her eccentric friends, who according
to Dougal are madder than he?
Young
innocent and ready to face the world, Dougal arrives in Greenwich with high
hopes of stately home cuisine, four-poster beds and zero education.
His
arrival is a shock. He’s almost savaged to death on Greenwich Park (not his
fault), has a near death experience on the tow path (entirely his fault), is
banned from all children’s parties (his fault), loves the Olympics and
Wimbledon and thanks to Andy Murray becomes ball obsessed. He finds the Queen’s
jubilee a drag and watching Crufts a painful experience (who wants to watch
well behaved dogs?)And as for puppy classes, he’d rather truant.
He
worries constantly over his health and weight. Then when a foster puppy comes
to stay, taking his place on the bed and eating all his food, jealousy rears
its ugly head.
If he
misbehaves will he end up in Battersea, if he keeps his nose clean, could he
star in a local play, and as for his dreams of travelling on Virgin Atlantic,
can they ever come true?
What are you working on next.
We
are told to write what you know, so…
Having
spent the last twenty years working as a free-lance chef in Britain, Europe and
the States, in the homes of extremely wealthy people, it seemed both sensible
and fun to use my experiences.
In ‘A Recipe For Death’ Tilly Carey, having
just finished catering college, is called in an emergency by her new cooking
agency and asked to rush to Gloucestershire. She is to work for an old
aristocratic family. Their cook’s walked out and there’s a special birthday and
a funeral to cater for. She arrives with an assistant to an unwelcoming,
quarrelsome family, empty fridges and cupboards that haven’t have been cleaned
for decades. The numbers of the family begin to drop. Poison! Was it the
mushrooms? Who picked them? In order to clear her name and reputation Tilly must
find out what’s really going on. Who in the family can she trust? Can a young
man she met on a train be of any help? Will her interfering mother make matters
worse? If she doesn’t get answers soon, others are bound to die.
How can we buy your book?
It’s
available as an ebook from Crooked Cat Publishing and Amazon.
That
sounds wonderful, Sarah! Good luck with Dougal’s
Diary and all your future writing.
Sarah has a busy couple of months with two book tours and a planned marketing campaign. You can follow her here:
Join Dougal’s launch party here
Sarah’s Facebook page
Dougal’s Facebook page
