Never mind A Gift from Woolworths! More
like a gift to her readers as Elaine Everest delights us all with yet another
book in this wonderful series. Once again I am privileged to be a participant
in her blog tour so let me welcome Elaine and see what she has to tell us this
time.
Starting to read A Gift from Woolworths
was like cosying up with an old friend. Several old friends, in fact. Your
characters are always so well-developed that we might have made the mistake of
thinking we knew all about them. Not so. There is much more to learn in this
book. But they are numerous. How then do you manage to ensure your readers know
it’s Maisie, Sarah, Freda or Betty? Or indeed any of the others who feature. Not
once did I have to flick back to the page before to check.
Thank
you so much for the warm welcome to your blog, Natalie. It is always a pleasure
to visit.
I’m so
relieved you didn’t have to flick back to check anything – breathing a big sigh
of relief here! I like to think I’m aware of my lovely readers as I write my
books so stepping into a new scene I need to say not only where we are but who
is in the scene. In fact I have a shopping list for each scene of what happens
and who appears. I recall in my early writing days of receiving first edits for
a book and my editor, at that time, writing in the margin ‘where are we
Elaine?’ Things like this stick in my head so the next time I start a new scene
I make sure it is clear. I treat each scene in a chapter as a standalone story
starting with ‘Freda walked into the kitchen,’ or ‘Maisie bellowed at her husband’
until it becomes second nature to explain to my readers what is I want to say.
I’m sure I get it wrong sometimes but I have a fab team supporting me at Pan
Macmillan and they will soon point out my mistake.
There are several threads running
through the book. I know you are a planner but can you tell us how you manage
to interweave all the stories so that in the end we are left with one of
Maisie’s beautifully finished garments rather than a tangled mess?
Good
question! Before I start to write a book I like to know what will happen to
each of my main characters so I write down each girl’s own story on individual
pages. Some of their problems start later in the book – sometimes extra ideas
come to me as I write! I then look at the war timeline as well as local and Woolworths
events. This means some of the girls’ stories start later than others as they
weave around a situation. Occasionally there will be an on-going storyline from
a previous book (Ruby’s on off marriage comes to mind) so I need to check old
notes and even read the previous book before I start to write. However, I do my
best to tie up every thread by that last chapter. A tick sheet is handy in
these circumstances.
I can almost touch the human spirit and
camaraderie that emanate from your Erith community. It’s obviously an area you
know and love well. What can you tell us about your personal connection to the
place that is as much a character in your book as any of the living and
breathing ones?
If
anyone asks me where I come from I always say Erith and nearby Slade Green even
though I’ve lived in Swanley for over twenty-five years. Visiting the area now
I know that my Erith no longer exists but it is in my heart. I think of it as
rather like Brigadoon and hope that perhaps one day the town I know and write
about with it’s Victorian buildings and many shops will return. These days the
area is just an extension of Greater London but dig around and there are
glimpses of the old town we love so much. Pop onto Facebook and visit the
groups set up by past school friends and locals and in an instant we are
talking about the past – the ‘good old days’ that we think of with so much
fondness. Currently we are chatting about St Augustine’s church where so many
of us have been christened, married and said sad farewell to love ones. The
London Borough of Bexley, where Erith now dwells, has a wonderful archive
centre and along with local libraries there is a wealth of old photographs and
information for us to view and discuss. At times it is as if the town I know is
there just out of reach…
You aren’t afraid to confront reality.
There are some harsh features and not everyone has a happy ending. Are these
aspects easier or harder to deal with when you are writing them?
I
write sagas so life isn’t always pleasant, although these days saga authors no
longer write the predictable ‘gritty clogs and shawls’ kind of books from
Catherine Cookson’s era. Anything could happen to my girls and has. Freda was
attacked by a boyfriend in one of the earlier Woolworths books which is
distressing for any young girl – I apologise now for putting poor Freda through
so many failed romances. Maisie’s terrible family secret – I do love a secret!
My girls and their families are normal people and sadly most people do
encounter sadness and harshness at times. At least I can also give them
happiness – one of the perks of being a writer.
Do you ever make yourself cry?
I
was going to say no as I hate it when writers put something on social media to
say they sobbed over their own words. However…
In one of my earlier books my three girls all faced the death of a parent. A
friend asked at the time if this was because I lost my own mum when she was
only forty. I put more than a little of my own grief into my girls’ stories in
that book – yes I shed a few tears.
Also, as I wrote the last chapter of A Gift from Woolworths and we reached the end of 1945 I felt as though my girls had grown up so much since we met them in 1938 and I was saying goodbye to them. At that time I wondered if there would be another Woolies book so I took an age to write that one chapter fearing the worse. Tears were in evidence then.
Also, as I wrote the last chapter of A Gift from Woolworths and we reached the end of 1945 I felt as though my girls had grown up so much since we met them in 1938 and I was saying goodbye to them. At that time I wondered if there would be another Woolies book so I took an age to write that one chapter fearing the worse. Tears were in evidence then.
It’s no secret that the war comes to an
end in this book, but our connection with your characters does not. Can we
expect another Woolworths saga from you?
I’ve
been promised by my publisher that we will return to Woolworths. I have such
plans for the girls for the late 1940s onwards. My publisher is holding two
outlines for more books and I’m looking forward to seeing what can happen, not only
to the girls but also their children – after all Woolies didn’t close until
2008. However, before then there will be new girls and a new series, which I
hope my readers will take to their hearts as they have with Sarah, Maisie and
Freda.
I have a short story in the My Weekly magazine at the end of November following
a Saturday girl as Woolworths closes and if you listen carefully you can hear
my girls…
Finally, A Gift from Woolworths will
make a wonderful present, not just at this festive season but at any time of
the year. Are you in a position to tell us what your next gift to your readers
will be? And when?
My next gift will be a trip to the seaside in May 2019 with The Teashop Girls. We are visiting Margate and Ramsgate on the Kent coast in 1940 and taking tea in the famous Lyons Teashops. We meet Rose, Katie and Lily and their friends from the Sea View guesthouse. I can’t wait to introduce you!
My next gift will be a trip to the seaside in May 2019 with The Teashop Girls. We are visiting Margate and Ramsgate on the Kent coast in 1940 and taking tea in the famous Lyons Teashops. We meet Rose, Katie and Lily and their friends from the Sea View guesthouse. I can’t wait to introduce you!
Elaine xx
And I can’t wait to meet them! Thank
you so much for sharing with us today, Elaine.
About A Gift From Woolworths:
Will the war be over by
Christmas?
As the war moves into
1945 the lives of the women of Woolworths continue. When store manager, Betty
Billington, announces she is expecting Douglas’s baby her future life is about
to change more than she expects.
Freda has fallen in love
with the handsome Scottish engineer but will it end happily?
Maisie loves being a
mother and also caring for her two nieces although she still has her own
dreams. When her brother appears on the scene he brings unexpected danger to
the family.
Meanwhile Sarah dreams of
her husband’s return and a cottage with roses around the door but Woolworths
beckons.
Will our girls sail into
times of peace, or will they experience more heartache and sorrow? With a
wedding on the horizon, surely only happiness lies ahead – or does it?
Links:
Twitter:
@elaineeverest
Author Information:
Elaine Everest, author of Bestselling novels The Woolworths Girls, The Butlins Girls, Christmas at Woolworths,
and Wartime at Woolworths was born and brought up in North West Kent, where
many of her books are set. She has
been a freelance writer for twenty years and has written widely for
women's magazines and national newspapers, with both short stories and
features. Her non-fiction books for dog owners have been very popular and led
to broadcasting on radio about our four legged friends. Elaine has been heard
discussing many topics on radio from canine subjects to living with a husband
under her feet when redundancy looms.
When she isn't writing, Elaine runs The Write
Place creative writing school at The Howard Venue in Hextable, Kent and has a
long list of published students.
Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and
their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent and is a member of the
Romantic Novelists’ Association, The Crime Writers Association, The Society of
Women Writers & Journalists and The Society of Authors.
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