Author Inspiration: Gilly Stewart

I’m delighted to welcome Scottish-based author Gilly Stewart to the Reading and Writing blog today. Gilly lives down in beautiful Dumfriesshire and her lovely début novel, Sunshine Through the Rain is now published by Accent Press. Gilly kindly agreed to share the inspiration behind the story. But first a little about the book.

When your family need a favour, you can't refuse, can you?

Ellen is settled in Edinburgh when one day her sister begs a favour: can she come and look after her farm and three children while she has a much-deserved holiday. Ellen loves her nieces and nephews, but the animals are a bit of a worry…

After a manic yet fun weekend, her world is shattered when a freak accident kills her sister and leaves her as the children’s legal guardian. Ellen never asked for children, nor to run a farm, but now she's in charge of both. Desperately juggling her responsibilities, Ellen is driven to find a compromise between her old life and her new: one the children will accept, and that will allow her to keep something of herself as well.

Into the mix is thrown their neighbour, handsome, brooding Kit. He’s more than willing to help out on the farm, but not so willing to open up to Ellen …

Inspiration Behind the Story

What happens when you are stuck on a farm, alone with two young-ish children, trying to cope with both them and the animals, and feeling like you haven’t got a clue about either?

This was the position I was in a few years ago and it was what sparked the writing of Sunshine Through The Rain. Of course, my situation wasn’t as drastic as Ellen’s. I only felt like I was a single parent – my husband was home occasionally! And they were my own darling children. I hadn’t been landed with them due to a family tragedy, as happens to Ellen. But my own position presented me with that question writers so love: what would it feel like if …? If you were in this position, but it was worse? If it interrupted your own carefully planned life? If you had no choice but to cope with something so outwith your comfort zone?

One thing I definitely shared with Ellen was the not-knowing-much-about -animals. Believe it or not, despite owning 4 dogs and 3 cats I’m not really an animal person. And farm animals were definitely not my thing. They were big, and unpredictable, and there were lots of them and only one of me. The incident with Ellen and the horse actually happened to me more or less as I described it. It was scary and I was so worried about the horse, but I was also thinking ‘why I am being left to cope with this?’ I was watching the action in my head, making a scene in a book even as I lived through it.

My oldest son is much better with the animals than I am, and although he isn’t like Angus in any other way I did use this unexpected competence in a teenager as part of Angus’s character. I think it makes a nice contrast with the much less useful adult.

And the inspiration for Kit? Well, I’d had him in mind for a while. He is based on a footballer I’ve always had a soft spot for, one with shaggy hair and dreamy eyes but also a real warmth (I won’t name him!). He was perfect for Ellen’s new neighbour. It wouldn’t work if he was a farmer, but he needed to know a lot about animals. Bingo! Kit was a vet.

I hope people enjoy reading Sunshine Through The Rain as much as I enjoyed writing it. As with so many things we write, it’s a version of what could have been my reality. And they say write what you know – (mis)managing a farm was something I certainly knew about!

Sunshine Through The Rain is available from Amazon UK and US in e-book and print.

Gilly Stewart was born in Lancashire and lived in Yorkshire and Cheshire until the age of 15, when her family moved to South Africa. At 21 she moved to France, and then tried Zimbabwe before finding the perfect country: Scotland. She has had many jobs including au pair, cleaner, teacher and accountant, but her first love has always been writing. She has had four romantic novellas published under the pen-name Gillian Villiers and in March 2015 she published her first Young Adult novel Music and Lies under the pen-name Gill-Marie Stewart

Sunshine Through The Rain is her first women’s contemporary novel and is published by Accent Press. They will be bringing out her second novel, The Lost Woman, in July 2015.

Gilly lives on a farm in rural Dumfriesshire with five chickens, four dogs, three cats, a husband and many, many books. Her two student sons deign to visit occasionally.

You can connect with Gilly on her Website, Facebook, or Twitter @GillStewart2 

Author Inspiration: Jenny Harper

It's a pleasure to welcome back to the Reading and Writing blog author Jenny Harper who is based in Edinburgh. Jenny obtained a publishing deal with Accent Press last year for her lovely Heartlands series of novels, which is going from strength to strength. Her latest novel is People We Love and Jenny kindly agreed to share the inspiration behind the story. First a little about the book.

People We Love

Her life is on hold – until an unlikely visitor climbs in through the kitchen window.

A year after her brother’s fatal accident, Lexie’s life seems to have reached a dead end. She is back home in small-town Hailesbank with her shell-shocked parents, treading softly around their fragile emotions.

As the family business drifts into decline, Lexie’s passion for painting and for her one-time mentor Patrick have been buried as deep as her unexpressed grief, until the day her lunch is interrupted by a strange visitor in a bobble hat, dressing gown and bedroom slippers, who climbs through the window.

Elderly Edith’s batty appearance conceals a secret and starts Lexie on a journey that gives her an inspirational artistic idea and rekindles her appetite for life. With friends in support and ex-lover Cameron seemingly ready to settle down, do love and laughter beckon after all?

Inspiration Behind the Story

I wish I could say that the whole inspiration for People We Love arrived in a blinding flash, but the truth is, it didn’t. I knew the story – that heroine Lexie Gordon’s life was on hold after the death of her brother – and I knew that she was an artist. I knew there was a love triangle, and that Lexie was struggling to rebuild her life and prop up her parents. But the aspect of the book that readers seem to be really enjoying only took shape as Lexie’s character crystallised and gained depth in my mind.

It came to me that Lexie – a quirky, passionate, arty character – loved vintage clothes not only because of their great design, and the quality of the stitching, but also because she felt that they still held something of the character of their former wearer. The idea that ‘shoes tell stories’ should have been obvious to her, but this notion only comes to her when she uncovers elderly Edith’s poignant secret.

I won’t reveal any more – except to say that understanding this is the key to many things for Lexie: to working through her grief, to rebuilding her career, and to learning about what defines herself.

So in the case of People We Love, I suppose it’s a case of ten percent inspiration, ninety per cent perspiration! Although I do hope it comes across as inspired and inspiring.

Many thanks for that interesting insight into the story, Jenny.

Jenny's four books are now available on Amazon - just click on each title!

People We Love

Maximum Exposure 

Loving Susie 
Face The Wind And Fly 

Jenny Harper is the author of four books about Scotland and Scottish culture, a history of childbirth, and The Sleeping Train for young readers. Her Heartlands series of novels set in the imaginary town of Hailesbank, in East Lothian, marks her return to fiction. When she isn't writing, she enjoys walking in the Scottish countryside or anywhere warm, and travel to Europe, America and India.

You can find out more about Jenny on her Website and on the Blog she shares with other writers Novel Points of View.

Author Inspiration: Gilli Allan

I'm delighted to welcome lovely author and artist Gilli Allan to my blog today. Gilli was recently taken on by Accent Press who have reissued the first novel, Torn, in a three-book deal. It is a realistic portrayal of a modern woman’s struggles with life and love. Gilli very kindly agreed to write about the inspiration behind the story, so I’ll gladly hand over to her once I've shared a little of what the novel is about.

Torn

Jess has made a series of bad life choices and all have let her down. Escaping London, she sets out to recreate herself in the idyllic countryside, and this time she wants to get it right!

She wants to lead a responsible, tranquil life with her young son Rory, but soon discovers stresses which pull her in opposing directions – conflict over a new bypass, between friends, and worst of all, between lovers.

Educated, experienced, and pragmatic, James is a widowed farmer whose opinions differ from, and enrage, Jess. His young shepherd, Danny, is an uneducated and inexperienced idealist. Jess is attracted to them both, and realizes if she wants her idyllic countryside life to survive, she must choose her Mr Right.

Torn is available now from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Welcome to the Reading and Writing blog, Gilli, and thank you so much for being a guest who writes her own post!

What Inspired Me To Write TORN?

For me inspiration is never a single bolt from the blue. I am an “into the mist” writer, and the process of coming up with a new story is usually uncertain and haphazard. The initial idea can emerge from anywhere - something seen, heard, read or remembered - and on the face of it, it might seem insignificant; often, under examination, it can fade and crumble. But sometimes an idea grows stronger, as one thought prompts another, like the links in a chain.

The original seed for TORN was a momentary impression on a car journey, which imprinted itself like a snapshot in my mind's eye. I was the passenger and had just a split second to register a turning on my side of the road. A narrow lane sloped steeply down to the centre of a village which the main road had apparently been upgraded to by-pass.

I bet those villagers were pleased to have the main road re-routed, I thought. Followed swiftly by, but I doubt the people who lived along this road were so delighted! I went on to reflect that life is rarely black and white. There are always two, or more sides to every story. 

I began to think about a woman, Jessica, who arrives in a small hamlet in the English countryside. Only after settling-in does she discover that a contentious bypass to the nearby market town is planned. On its own this sounds like a pretty thin and boring storyline. I agree. It is, until other threads are added, pushing the by-pass theme into the background. 

The first thing I needed was an explanation for why Jess had made the move away from London. The memory popped into my head of an altercation I’d witnessed, between a man and a woman, on the pavement of London’s SW16. I suddenly knew that Jess had a ‘past’ and was escaping an abusive relationship. But surely her instinct might then be to lie-low, avoiding social contact? If so, there wouldn’t be much of story there. So I decided to make her a single mother. For the sake of her young son, she has to interact with the local community. Inevitably she begins to build friendships, but the friends she makes have opposing views - not just on the subject of the bypass but about life in general - which pull her in different directions. Jess wants to put her past behind her, to devote herself to being ‘just a mother’, but she is attracted to two very different men. Will she resist temptation?  

So TORN is a cocktail. The primary ‘inspiration’ of the bypass is the basis of the plot, which is then enriched and deepened by many more ingredients - some of which are based on personal experience.  After all, if in doubt about where next to go with a story-line, what better than using a real memory to trigger a variety of “what if....?” directions? There was my son’s grumble about an unfairness at his nursery school; a night-time drive through a country town just before Christmas; an incident recounted to me by a friend who had taken her young child walking on a local hillside; that warring couple previously referred to, and many, many more. But all these memories and experiences have been nipped, tucked, tailored or embroidered until they are no longer recognisable as autobiographical... But then I would say that, wouldn’t I?

Thanks so much for such an interesting post, Gilli – it’s fascinating to see all the elements that have gone into the development of such a strong story.

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood, a hobby only abandoned when real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge, but after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon Art College. She didn’t work on any of the broadsheets, in publishing or television. Instead she was a shop assistant, a beauty consultant and a barmaid before landing her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. It was only when she was at home with her young son that Gilli began writing seriously. Her first two novels were quickly published but when her publisher ceased to trade Gilli went independent. 

                 

Over the years, Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the community shop in her Gloucestershire village. Still a keen artist, she designs Christmas cards and has resumed book illustration. Gilli is particularly delighted to have recently gained a new ‘proper’ publisher - Accent Press. TORN is the first book to be published in the three book deal and Gilli confidently expects to become an ‘overnight success’ any day soon.

You can connect with Gilli on her Blog, Facebook and Twitter