Author Interview: Elaine Everest

My guest today is Elaine Everest. With publication of her new saga, The Butlins Girls, around the corner, I just had to ask her a few questions.

Thank you so much for welcoming me to your blog, Natalie. I can’t wait for Thursday and publication day.

You join me just days before publication of The Butlins Girls. Readers of your Sunday Times bestseller, The Woolworths Girls, will be eagerly awaiting another dose of nostalgia. For some it may be a trip down memory lane, but you aren’t old enough to have lived in the period you write about, yet your research and attention to detail are impeccable. How do you do it?

I was fortunate to have been born in the fifties when times hadn’t changed that much. I lived in a town which not only had a lot of history but also still has many people who love to talk about ‘the good old days’. My family loved to chat about what happened (and when) so I grew up listening to stories of the war years. The next step was to read about those times in books – who doesn’t love reading a book?

Did you pick the era or did it choose you? In spite of the hardship of those post-war years, it seems a much kinder and gentler age than the one we live in now.

Like many writers I’ve dabbled with other genres. I have a modern romcom collecting dust but although never picked up by a publisher it did help me become shortlisted in The Harry Bowling Prize. I’d been a fan of Harry’s for years as he wrote about the area where my Aunt Doll and Uncle Geoff had their pub and his writing resonated with me. Somewhere inside me there has always been that interest in times gone by. So, to answer your question I’d say that history and sagas picked me.

Can your readers look forward to more of the same? What else do you have in the pipeline?

I’m thrilled to say that readers loved The Woolworths Girls so much I’ll be returning to Woolies later this year. Old friends and new faces - it was a joy to write. Then in 2018…

You allude to your family’s history in the world of the travelling fairground. What stories you must have to tell. Perhaps a future novel?

My love of the fairground is a link to my maternal family and my mum who died when I was seventeen. She told us of the hard life she had as a child and the bullying because she was so different to fellow school children – that’s when she got to attend school due to travelling with the fair. She made us value education and aimed to having good jobs once we had our exams. The fair closed down after WW2 so I never experienced the fun of the fair. My granddad did still own the ground and some of the old-fashioned caravans, which I remember fondly. Brightly polished lamps, china, a fierce parrot that hated kids! It’s all there locked in my memory ready to use in stories. Oh, and the family link to Billy Butlin…

In addition to writing novels, short stories and articles, you also run a creative writing school The Write Place in Dartford, as well as being in charge of social media for the Romantic Novelists’ Association. How do you fit it all in?

It’s a case of making sure I do fit it all in and all part of being a full time writer. I often tell new writers that if they wish to earn a living and be thought of seriously as a writer they need to do more than write a novel. We have to learn our craft and that can take years. Short stories help us create a piece of fiction with a beginning a middle and an end – just like a novel but not quite as long. I love the time I spent writing more short fiction. I could think of an idea and write it in one day. My record from having an idea to making a sale is 36 hours. Feature writing pays well and authors have to pay the mortgage and eat! Both fiction and features helped me build relationships with editors whilst learning the craft of writing novels. Teaching classes for Kent Adult Education Services in Dartford and Gravesend came about after I won the BBC Radio Kent short Story Writer of the Year competition in 2003 and was invited to run a few classes. I later moved on to run my own classes and workshops as I preferred to make my own decisions. Being part of the RNA committee is an honour as I get to meet so many authors and also watch as new writers progress with their career – they have great parties too!

Many of your readers will know of your love of and association with the dog world. In the past you’ve written non-fiction books on the subject. Is there any genre, fiction or non-fiction, you would like to turn your hand to in the future?
I could talk for hours about dogs and the show world! I’m honoured to have been part of a world where people breed sound healthy dogs and do their best to promote new owners. I’ve sat on a few breed committees and done my bit to keep the positive side of our breeds alive. Even though I’m not quite as active in the show world as I used to be I’m still called upon to broadcast about dogs – usually when something nasty happens. It is down to us to wave the flag for responsible breeding which means closing down puppy farms and not promoting designer dogs.

As a personal friend, I know how wholeheartedly you throw yourself into everything you do. Outside of the writing world, is there an unfulfilled ambition?

Are you giving me three wishes? To be honest I’m living the dream. I have a fabulous literary agent in Caroline Sheldon and I’m with a wonderful publisher, Pan Macmillan. So, outside of the writing world… Hmm I love Cornwall and would really like to move there but it would have to be a very large house so I can run workshops and writing retreats. I can be found most days on Rightmove dreaming over houses in the two million pound bracket. I suppose I’d better write faster!

Links:

The Butlins Girls

Facebook author page

Twitter: @elaineeverest

Thank you for such interesting questions. Xx

I’m delighted, as I’m sure your readers will be, to hear that Woolies will be returning later in the year. In the meantime, very best wishes for The Butlins Girls. I may just have to book a holiday

The Wonder of Woolies - with Elaine Everest

Today I am delighted to welcome Elaine Everest. This was such an enjoyable interview to do – like taking a trip down memory lane.

Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Natalie.

Many of us will remember the iconic fascia that was Woolworths, sadly no longer a part of our high streets. What prompted you to choose them as one of your major characters?

I knew that my WW2 saga would be set in the town of Erith, Kent – Erith was situated in Kent at that time and true locals still think of it that way and not as part of Greater London. I knew that my main character, Sarah, would be starting work in the town and there she would make new friends and meet the love of her life. So where should I bring young men and women together in a place that would be recognised by readers? There were plenty of armament factories at that time but Erith was a thriving town with lots of busy shops. Coming from the area I recalled with fondness shopping trips to Woolworths in the sixties. We still had the original store with high counters and polished floors that had survived WW2 although it succumbed to a fire in the seventies. I’d been a Saturday girl at another Woolies store in nearby Dartford and the ideas started to form…

I appreciate that you wrote about an area in which you lived and were raised but you aren’t old enough to remember the events you describe, in fact you weren’t even born when they occurred. How did you undertake your research?

I grew up listening to stories of the area told by my family. In fact there is still a strong connection between ‘old locals’ of the town who meet on forums to chat and share memories of the good old days. To a writer this is a gift. Although we were never taught the history of WW2 whilst at school in the sixties, I’ve devoured history books to find out what happened. It fascinated me that the house I lived in when first married had survived both wars. Where better for the Caselton family to live than my old home? Local history archives held at The London Borough of Bexley were a great help, as was Erith Historical Society and the wonderful Woolworths Museum who came up with some gems about the Erith store that I was able to include in my story.

The Woolworths Girls tells the story of three friends, though one stands out as your main protagonist. Is this a theme you plan to carry through to your next book?

Yes. You will find this theme in many WW2 sagas. Three, four, even five friends who are thrown together in wartime sharing good times and bad.

Speaking of your next book, is it in the pipeline and what can your readers expect?

In The Butlins Girls, due for publication in Spring 2017, there are three girls thrown together at Butlins Skegness in 1946 just after WW2 ends as Billy Butlin reopens his well-known holiday camps. Molly Missons has fled Erith because of a family problem, aided by another friend who appeared in The Woolworths Girls. Each girl has her own reasons for being at Butlins which we find out as the story unfolds.

It’s been a long while since acceptance of your manuscript by your publisher, Pan Macmillan, to today’s publication. Can you tell us something about the process of assembling all the ingredients together to getting them onto the table?

These days authors seem to expect their novels to be published much quicker due to E-books and digital first. In truth it has always been the norm that traditional publishers contract books for the following year or even the year after that. Copy for The Woolworths Girls was filed at the beginning of last year and then the hard work began. Structural edits came first with the book being passed through each editing stage until Pan Macmillan and myself were happy with the book. Along the way I wrote the ‘end bits’ and I was included in the design of the cover – isn’t it lovely? My input was encouraged as models were chosen and the uniforms discussed. Then the PR team took over and that alone has been – and still is – another part of an exciting journey. As publication day draws near I’m already working on the edits for The Butlins Girls and planning my book for 2018.

You haven’t always written novels. What came before?

I’d always wanted to be a novelist but first, whilst honing my skills, I was earning a living with other forms of writing. I sold over sixty short stories to Women’s magazines and wrote prolifically for newspapers and magazines with features – my specialism was the canine world as it’s a big part of my life. I’ve been commissioned for, and written, three non-fiction books for dog owners and do continue to write for some of the publications. I’m called upon to broadcast about aspect of the dog world although I’ve given up my columns to focus more on my novels. Whilst promoting The Woolworths Girls it has been good to have the support of many publications and radio stations that I’ve worked for in the past. I also won, or was placed, in a few prominent writing competitions that not only helped me along the way to being a novelist but still look good on my writing CV. One was the BBC Radio Kent short story writer of the year and to this day the company have supported all my work, be it The Write Place creative writing school, charity anthologies such as Diamonds and Pearls which celebrated my thirty year remission from breast cancer or my books.

As a journalist and someone who runs a creative writing school, as well as being a novelist, how do you prioritise your time?

I have no idea! At times it can be hard to juggle everything. All I can do is make a list and try not to panic. However, my priority has to be my novels as that is my career. Everything else has to wait.

Finally, what do you do for relaxation – that is, if you have the time!
My relaxation is my dogs, or dog at the moment. Although I no longer sit on committees or write so much about the dog world I still like to get to dog shows and exhibit my Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry. I’ve been involved in dogs since the early seventies and like to promote the image of pedigree dogs as much as I can. These day we try to go away for the weekend and take in a championship show. It is so much more relaxed than the days we would drive to Wales, show a couple of dogs and then drive home all in one day – there again it's not always possible to do this on our motorways anymore. I’m hoping to have another puppy soon but not sure if it will be another Polish Lowland or my one true love – the Old English Sheepdog. I miss having them in the house.

Links:

Amazon

Twitter: @ElaineEverest

Facebook Author Page

Thank you, Elaine. Happy publication day and good luck with The Woolworths Girls.