I am thrilled to present an interview with prolific author Sue Barnard
What genre would you
say your novels fall into, or do they defy classification?
My novels are all, to some extent, cross-genre. If I had to group them under one single
umbrella, I think the description would have to be “Romance with a Twist”. Having said that, three of my novels (The Ghostly Father, Never on Saturday and Heathcliff)
probably fall more comfortably into the category “What If…?”
Two of my other novels (Nice
Girls Don’t and The Unkindest Cut of
All) could be classed as romantic intrigue, whereas my most recent novel (Finding Nina, which is part-prequel,
part-sequel to Nice Girls Don’t)
stubbornly refuses to be pigeonholed.
What made you choose
that genre?
In the case of the “What If…?” genre, it would be more
accurate to say that it chose me. My
first novel, The Ghostly Father, is a
re-telling of the traditional Romeo & Juliet story, told from the point of
view of the Friar, but with a few new twists and a whole new ending. I’ve always loved the story but always
wondered why it had to end so tragically, and I wrote The Ghostly Father in response to the prompt Write The Book You Want To Read.
The book I’ve always wanted to read is the alternative version of Romeo & Juliet – the one in which
the young lovers don’t fall victim to a maddeningly preventable catastrophe. Why, I asked myself, should there not be such
a book? And the answer came straight
back: Why not indeed? And if it doesn’t already exist, then go
ahead and write it.
Since then, I’ve been inspired to write two more books in
the same vein, both written in response to existing works of literature. Never
on Saturday is a time-slip romance novella based on an old French legend,
and Heathcliff is an exploration of
what might have happened to Wuthering
Heights’ famous anti-hero during the three years when he disappeared from
the original story.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
It takes me bloody ages to write anything. If procrastination was an Olympic sport, I’d have
enough gold medals to need my own strongbox at Fort Knox.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
I wish I had one. I
envy those writers who can dedicate a particular time each day to their craft,
and sit down and write to order. I can
only write when I feel inspired, which can be at any time of the day – and
frustratingly, I often find my best ideas arrive when I’m away from my laptop.
Tell me something
about yourself your readers might not know.
I once appeared on a TV quiz show during which I did an
impromptu impression of Dad’s Army’s
Captain Mainwaring.
When did you write
your first book and how old were you?
I wrote the first draft of my debut novel in 2012, and it
was published in 2014. I was pushing 50. I’m not going to say from which direction.
What do you like to
do when you're not writing?
I enjoy reading, walking, gardening and travelling. My other interests include family history
(which inspired Nice Girls Don’t and Finding Nina) and the theatre (which
provided the setting for The Unkindest
Cut of All).
I’m currently working (very slowly) on a sequel to the latter.
I also enjoy birdwatching, but only to the extent that if I
see a bird I like to know what it is.
There are people who will happily travel the length and breadth of the
country in order to see a particular bird.
I’m not one of those, but I do admire their energy and dedication!
What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
The length of time it takes to produce them. I found out the hard way that writing a book
is nowhere near as easy as the experts make it look.
How many books have
you written?
To date, I have six published novels, plus a small
privately-published poetry pamphlet.
Do you Google
yourself? What did you find that affected you most (good or bad)?
I’ve never tried this until you mentioned it. I’ve just looked, and found that there are
several other Sue Barnards out there. I
wonder if any of them have Googled themselves and found me. I hope they weren’t too shocked.
As a child, what did
you want to do when you grew up?
As a child, the notion of “growing up” seemed so far in the
future that I never really gave it much thought. As an adult, I’ve come to the conclusion that
growing up is definitely overrated.
How many unpublished
and half-finished books do you have on your computer?
Four that I know of (one novel, one novella, one short story
and one poetry project). Other than
that, goodness only knows what lurks in the murky depths of my hard drive. I haven’t dared look.
Sue Barnard is a British novelist, editor and award-winning
poet whose family background is far stranger than any work of fiction. She would write a book about it if she
thought anybody would believe her.
She was born in North Wales some time during the last
millennium. She speaks French like a
Belgian, German like a schoolgirl, and Italian and Portuguese like an
Englishwoman abroad. Her mind is so
warped that she has appeared on BBC TV’s Only
Connect quiz show, and she has also compiled questions for BBC Radio 4's
fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz.
This once caused one of her
sons to describe her as "professionally weird." The label has stuck.
Author and Editor at Crooked Cat
Books and Ocelot Press
NOVELS: The Ghostly Father Nice Girls Don’t The Unkindest Cut of
All Never
on Saturday Heathcliff Finding Nina
POETRY: Variations on an Apology
Critique Service for Writers
Writing Competitions
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