What genre would you
say your novels fall into, or do they defy classification?
Apart from one crime novel, my work probably falls into the
category of general fiction with a metaphysical aspect. My first novel, The Man with the Horn, is about a woman
fascinated by the demigod Dionysos. The book loosely follows the myth of
Dionysos but in a modern setting.
My next book
The
Land Beyond Goodbye, features Australian aboriginal magic and what
might be called an epiphany experienced by the protagonist—the awareness that
there is more to life than is at first obvious.
My latest novel,
Delirium:
The Rimbaud Delusion, similarly references the epiphanic force, on this
occasion brought about by a Rimbaldian derangement of the senses and hypnotism.
What made you choose
that genre?
I am fascinated by the mystical experience, whether brought
about through drugs, fasting, religious fervour, hypnotic states, asceticism or
otherwise. This fascination often (though not always) leads to my writing being
classed as ‘metaphysical’. My interest
in the mystic state is non-denominational and I attribute no religious aspect
to it and, though I know personally that it can be experienced, I cannot be
sure it is real in any meaningful sense. I therefore continue to explore it in
its various forms.
I tried writing a thriller –
Don’t
Look Down – but I’m not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. I
find it difficult to stick to genre constraints as I tend to wander off into
strange byways. I’m just not self-disciplined enough, I suppose.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
Absolutely ages! I wish I could write quickly but as far as
novels are concerned it’s a slow-going process for me. I have to feel my way
into it and then write many thousands of words which will eventually be
ditched, in order to extract the actual book that I hope is hidden somewhere in
amongst them all. It’s like chipping away at a block of stone and hoping to
find the statue inside.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
Once I get going, I try to write at least something each day
even if it’s only a paragraph. I also spend far too much time researching and
reading around my subject as a way of not getting on with it. Somehow a book
always manages to come out of it – but I’m frequently astonished that I have
managed to write so much. I wouldn’t advise anyone to hold their breath waiting
for my books!
Where do you get your
ideas for your books?
Sometimes it’s a place – Australia, France, Germany or
wherever that I feel I want to write about and ideas will come out of what I
know of that place. Sometimes it’s a passion – Rimbaud, mysticism, Dionysos –
that I want to explore. Usually it’s a combination of place and passion. I also
like writing flawed characters – there aren’t really any heroes or heroines in
my books. I like writing about ordinary people who have somehow wandered into
extraordinary circumstances.
When did you write
your first book and how old were you?
My very first novel was called Lucifer’s Gift and it has long since been shredded and wiped from
memory (both electronic and human). I
wrote it in my mid-thirties – half a lifetime ago. I occasionally think I might
take the ideas for that novel (a young man having a nervous breakdown who chats
with a rather urbane devil) and rewrite it completely anew – but I don’t know
if I ever will.
What do you like to
do when you're not writing?
These days I’m very much involved in upcycling old
furniture. I have either painted or découpaged just about everything in my
house that will stand still long enough and now I’m getting commissions to do
things for other people. I suspect it’s because I haven’t yet got fully started
on my next novel and my creativity has to get out somehow.
What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
I’m not a planner and like to let the writing come naturally
so I’m often surprised at the turns a story will take of its own accord. I’m
also frequently surprised when I read things over after a break – sometimes I
don’t even recall writing particular passages. Creativity in general always
amazes me: where does it come from? how do we make it happen? I still don’t
know the answer – I only know it always does happen, eventually!
How many books have
you written?
Which is your
favourite and why?
My favourite is always the one I’ve just written! However, I
do believe
Delirium:
The Rimbaud Delusion is my best book yet. I can’t say it’s perfect
because nothing ever is but I put as much effort as I could into writing the
best book I was capable of at the time. It also has a claim to be my favourite
because it is centred around a missing manuscript by the French Symbolist poet,
Rimbaud. Like Andrea in the novel, I’m a bit of a Rimbaud fanatic.
As a child, what did
you want to do when you grew up?
I don’t know that I had any particular ambitions as a child
– I just wanted to grow up as quickly as possible to find out what would
happen. I was always interested in
writing and probably knew I would write in one form or another but I didn’t
know it was possible for me to be ‘a writer’. I just wanted to grow up and have
adventures – which I did. I exercised my pen writing home about them (heavily
censored, of course!) and realised I had a natural skill that I could develop.
What are you working
on now?
I have made a tentative start on a new novel but I haven’t
yet fully found the way in to it. At the moment I am simply doing background
research (in between painting furniture) and playing around with characters and
situations to see what gels. I don’t like to talk too much about new projects
as that tends to kill them off, so all I can say is that it may be about two
poets who lived 800 years apart and a dead man on a beach.
Bio
After many years travelling the globe, Barbara Scott Emmett
now lives back in her home town of Newcastle upon Tyne. She writes in a room overlooking
the river where she can enjoy the sight of colourful sailing dinghies, party
boats, kittiwakes and dark clouds rolling in from the sea.
She lives with her husband Sandy, aka crime writer Jimmy
Bain, and their cat Gizzie.
She has previously published three novels, a short story
collection and a book of poetry. Her latest novel
Delirium:
The Rimbaud Delusion was published in 2014 in association with Triskele
Books.
Purchase links for all books can be found at Pentalpha
Publishing Edinburgh
Twitter: @BSE_Writer
Published Books:
The Man with the Horn (Paperback – ebook available soon)
Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Home Page: Flash Fiction, Humour Verse
and Novel Opening Chapter and Synopsis Competitions
