It’s a real pleasure to welcome Patsy Collins to the Reading
and Writing blog today as we’ve been blogging friends for some years now.
Patsy’s own blog is great for
keeping us up to date with free competitions and she has now taken over the
excellent womagwriter blog. But Patsy is also a well published short story
writer and the author of several novels and she has kindly agreed to share a
little about the inspiration behind her latest novel, Firestarter. First here’s
the basic story.
Firestarter
Alice has a fantasy. It starts with being rescued by a hunky
fireman, involves the kiss of life and ends in him not needing his uniform. At
the New Forest Show, Alice is offered an innocent version of her dream.
Reluctantly she turns down fireman Hamish's invitation.
Despite Alice's blameless behaviour, boyfriend Tony's
obsessive jealousy kicks in. Hamish wants to take Tony's place, but a hoaxer
ensures Alice already sees far too much of Hampshire Fire Service. The threat
of an explosive sprout surprise, her mum's baking, sister Kate's mind boggling
pep talks and the peculiar behaviour of Alice's boss Miles provide
distractions.
Is Alice really in danger? What is Kate up to? Can Hamish
possibly be as perfect as he seems? It takes Alice masses of wonderful food,
disgusting wine, smelly mud, red footed crows and steamy Welsh passion, but she
finds the answers. And rethinks her fantasy.
Firestarter is available from Amazon in your own country.
Welcome, Patsy – it’s great to see you here and thanks for
writing a guest post.
Thank you, Rosemary for inviting me to talk about the
inspiration behind Firestarter.
Inspiration Behind the Story
As is often the case with my stories, I don't know exactly
what prompted it. Maybe I just have fit, hunky firemen lurking in my
subconscious? *concentrates* Nope, can't see any more.
I do know I enjoy reading crime stories and that what we
read feeds our imaginations. My previous novels each included crime elements
and I was keen to write more in that vein. That explains the hoax calls to
Hampshire Fire Service. Obviously such calls don't make themselves. Once I
added a few suspects and worked out the motivation for the guilty character, I
had half the plot.
From the start I planned my lead character to have... let's
be tactful and say a 'strong interest' in firemen. To be fair, Alice hardly
ever drools in the presence of the emergency services, despite her sister's
claims. Alice recognises her fantasy for what it is and, although tempted,
doesn't throw herself at fireman Hamish.
Alice and Kate's relationship was inspired by mine with my
brother. We tease each other. We've got each other in trouble and fallen out,
but we know the other is there for us if we need them. Kate was a real help
when writing Firestarter. She stirred things up, gave Alice someone to
confide in and added humour. Even though we have to create them first, I
believe our characters can inspire us. As we get to know them we see their
limits and possibilities.
Both the main antagonists in the story would, I felt, work
hard to get what they wanted. One has clear boundaries which he'd only cross
under great duress. The other doesn't. Pushing one towards the edge and allowing
the other to wander freely across it and watching what happened provided plenty
of material.
My husband, Gary, and I have been together fifteen years but
I remember how I felt, in the months beforehand when he thought we were just
friends, and in the early stages of our relationship. He wore a uniform in
those days and there were good reasons for us to take things slowly. That
inspired the early stages of the romance in Firestarter. (We're both
maintaining a strict 'no comment' policy with regards to the activities at the
end of chapter 15.)
Gary also provided inspiration for the settings. We have a
campervan which is our mobile office. When possible, I write stories where
they're set. Gary's work means we spend a lot of time between Calshot and Southampton,
the New Forest, at Portsmouth Harbour and on the Welsh coast. It seemed
sensible to set the action in these places.
Both Southampton and Portsmouth are good for girly shopping
trips and eating out, which suits Alice. The locations are also excellent
habitats for birds and other wildlife. Spending hours in the van writing gave
me plenty of opportunity to observe them. (For those who don't know, writing
involves a lot of staring out the window.) The more birds I saw, the more
interested in them I became. The same is true of Alice, although in her case
knowing Hamish volunteered at a wildlife sanctuary between shifts with the fire
brigade was the inspiration for her first taking a look.
I'm now hoping I've inspired you to read Firestarter.
You’ve definitely hooked me, Patsy! Thank you.
Patsy Collins is a novelist and short story writer.
Hundreds of her stories have been published by magazines such as Woman's
Weekly, Take a Break's Fiction Feast, My Weekly and The Weekly News as well as
in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and Sweden.
Firestarter, a romantic comedy, is her fourth published novel.
It was written on location in Hampshire and the south coast of Wales.
You can connect with Patsy on her website; blog; womagwriter
