I'm thrilled to welcome Cathy Mansell to the blog today. It's always a pleasure to talk to this delightful lady.
I’ve not long
finished reading ‘Where the Shamrocks Grow’. You covered a huge amount of
history in this wonderfully inspiring book. Can you tell our readers something
about your research?
Although
Where
the Shamrocks Grow is a work of fiction, some aspects are loosely based
on my mother's life, my great aunt and my experience of New York.
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I
love research and when I was writing
Where
the Shamrocks Grow it was a great excuse to go back to my roots. I walked
the streets of Dublin that I remembered as a child, visited Dublin's National
Library where I researched the upstairs/downstairs of the period. Scrolled down
many Dublin newspapers printed in the 1920s and 30s. The history of the Irish
Civil War I recalled from my school days and researched what I wasn't sure of.
American history had always fascinated me because of my great aunt who lived in
the Bronx before, and during the great depression. We never met, but I tried to
imagine how she might have felt when she lost her savings in the 1929 crash.
It would seem
that all your books are set in Ireland.
You’ve lived in England for many years. What prompted you to set your work in
the land of your birth?
I've
asked myself this question many times, Natalie, having lived so long in
Leicester. For some reason, I've never
been inspired to set one of my books here. Maybe one day. Ireland to me is
inspirational, the people, the landscape, the history. Besides I was brought up
there, worked and went to school there at a time when I was an impressionable
young teenager. I seem to have an affinity with
Ireland, Dublin in particular.
Inspiration to write comes easily when I'm there.
You haven’t
always written novels. What did you do before and when and why did you change?
When
my first husband died from leukemia in the
70s, I found comfort in writing short verse. I then progressed to writing
articles on bereavement to give consolation to others going through the same
thing. To my surprise these articles were published in National magazines. I
found healing in writing so I then wrote my life story for my children. It went
for a second read at Arts Council England,
and I was encouraged to carry on writing.
This, in turn, gave me confidence to have a go at writing a
full-length novel. Then in 2003 when I
had finished writing and editing Where
the Shamrocks Grow, novelist, Jean Chapman encouraged me to join the Romantic
Novelists Association's (RNA) New Writer's Scheme. It proved to be one of the best decisions
I've ever made. With support from the RNA, and other supportive groups, I am
now a published author writing my fifth novel.
Can you tell
us about your working day?
My
working day has changed over the years. When I started writing first, I had lots of time to write. Usually
from nine in the morning and on and off throughout the day, sometimes working
well into the night. I thought time was my own.
But
that is never the case when you have family and grandchildren. I adore spending
time with them, and they are all
supportive of my work. When I have time off, I find myself working later and
later into the evening. I start at nine but rarely get to my writing until the
afternoon. Promotion and networking take
up half of my writing time. Most authors
will identify with this, but as we want to sell books,
it becomes part of the working day and night.
Where is your
favourite place to write – and why?
I
am fortunate to have a fantastic working place. My husband, Dennis, calls it
the crow's nest. It's a small attic room in the roof of the house that he
converted some years ago. It overlooks fields and trees. I can be completely
alone up here with my characters.
I
love it because no one likes climbing the ladder,
and it keeps the grandchildren away from my computer. I've been working up here
in my special place for years now and have become quite good at climbing the
ladder. Some days it is the only exercise I get.
Do you have
any favourite hobbies outside of your writing (not that writing can be called a
hobby)
I
used to like gardening and decorating,
but that fell by the wayside. I love
reading and read most genres apart from science fiction. I have a passion for
good drama, live or otherwise. Can’t get enough of it.
Your most
recently published book, ‘Where the Shamrocks Grow’, has received excellent reviews. Is there another in the pipeline?
Yes,
I'm currently writing another romantic suspense set in Dublin and Birmingham in
6os. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my publisher, Tirgearr Publishing,
will like it. It's always a bit nerve racking when you start a new book,
wondering if the story will engage readers.
Your
publishers, Tirgearr Publishing, are
based in Ireland. Is this a coincidence?
Yes,
in a way. When the situation arose to submit work to them, I thought they might
be the right publisher for me as my work was set there. As it turned out, my publisher is from California and her
husband is a Cork man. I love this combination. It was a right decision.
Cathy is an experienced writer of romantic fiction.
Her early work was stories and articles published in national magazines.
She organized an anthology of works funded by Arts Council England, appeared on
the TV show Food Glorious Food 2012
Nowadays,
Cathy writes novels set in Ireland, depicting the lifestyle and hardships of
families in those days. Some of her characters become wound up in intricate
criminal plots.
She lives in Leicestershire with her husband, where
she writes daily in her ‘Loft Study’
Thank you so
much for sharing, Cathy.
Links:
Ryan Donovan presented himself to me even before I
put pen to paper or, more correctly, fingers to keyboard. The hero of Safe
Harbour is handsome, as all heroes should be, tall and very Irish. I
kind of wish I could meet him in real life (I’m not telling my husband that). He
came to me as a fully formed character and I didn't change him. He would never have allowed it.
I had a similar experience with Guy Ffoulkes, the
hero of Honey Bun who will make himself known to you in the near future
when the book is published on Amazon towards the end of March. His identity was
set, his occupation, critical to the plot, fitted him like a glove.
So in my work in progress why was I having so much
trouble with Joel/Max/Adam? The first draft is finished and, as the edits
altered the structure of the story, so did they change his personality. But was
I doing the editing or was he? Turns out it was him. It was as if he was saying This isn’t me. How dare you put me in this
situation/put these words into my mouth? He won every time. Well, you don’t
argue with your hero do you – not unless you’re the heroine.
