Tuesday 23 August 2016

The Popish Midwife Book Tour

One of the best things about having written a book? People reading it. And enjoying it!
One of the worst things about having written a book? Finding those people who're going to love it!
So, this is where a book tour comes in...

The Popish Midwife
Annelisa Christensen
In 'ye olde days', I would have had to wait for my publisher to organise a book tour. I'd have to load the car with books, prepare for reading, and signing (and hopefully having enough to sign I'd get hand-cramps holding the pen ;-) ). I might have turned up and there were loads of folk waiting for me, or I might arrive and find every seat empty, and the only people around were some half-curious readers looking for their next book on the shelves, wondering what was going on, and when it would start... not realising it should've already started (wow, I hope that never happens to me!)

Annelisa Christensen displaying The Popish Midwife in the Wine Rack, Wadhurst, arranged by
manager & ex-bookshop worker, Tara Lawlor

And, say you, as an author, do have a reasonable turnout, and those who've heard of you are interested in your book, and what you have to say about writing it, and researching it, you'd have to speak to an audience... of actual people! I don't know about you, but I've never been a big one to speak in front of big groups. Funny, really, because I was made Head Girl at school, and had to frequently make announcements to a whole hall full of students and teachers. And I've done plenty of things since, where I've spoken in front of groups.

One of the biggest (and, now, I think bravest) things I did was to have my head shaved off for cancer research in front of the whole school. No, I didn't have to speak then, but I spoke in front of everyone several times to let them know why I was doing it  (in this post, I changed the name of my best friend, Julia, at the time, for her privacy). The students were marvelous, and were so moved, they all went out with their collecting pots and dug deep in their pockets for spare change every break time! - all in all, over a thousand pounds was raised!)

Annelisa Christensen before, during and after
head shave for cancer research

Anyway, I digress. The point is, I've had to stand up in front of a lot of people many times, for one reason or another, but it still makes me nervous. I still have the memory of me, a painfully shy student at university, having to do a talk about my project in front a lecture theater of students. I can still remember the sweaty palms, the glazing eyes, the coughing when I started talking. I asked for a drink of water, and choked on it. The shame as, scarlet faced, I rushed out of the lecture hall. The further shame when the professor later found me and told me I should do a course in public speaking. Yeah, don't know why I felt bad about that, but I did. Maybe it was because I'd embarrassed myself in front of a lot of people and would rather forget about it, or maybe it was because I somehow felt inferior, because I had failed to do what everybody else in that room had done. 

The memory of that talk (or lack of it, as it turns out) still rears up every time I think of standing in front of people. Do I feel judged? Yes, I guess so. All eyes are on you and everything you do, from stuttering or forgetting what you were saying to unconsciously scratching your bum! For a short while, you are the bug in the jar.

Public speaking -
like a bug in a jar


So, I've been dreading, a bit, my first real book shop talk. I'm sure I'll get used to it. However, I am really, REALLY, looking forward to doing a virtual blog tour - how amazing is this! I can reach out to readers anywhere, focusing on the audience who'll like The Popish Midwife, and who love a good historical fiction based on a true story. I can find the folk who love to learn a bit about history, while being entertained at the same time. I can chat to people, answer questions, without actually standing in front of them - I could even be in my PJs with a glass of wine and who would know? (oh, unless I did a video interview, of course - I'd put my day clothes on then... ;-) )

The tour is just coming together, dates not yet finalised, but I would love to have you along to keep me company on my first step into the book-book tour world. The tour is being organised (even as we speak, by the wonderful Amy Bruno (@HFVBT). Please say hi to her! :-)

From October 17th to November 11th, please come and say hello. My itinerary will be posted at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours soon - watch this space!

I'm posting a Mister Linky, in case any visitors to Script Alchemy are having their own virtual blog tour and would like to share...


Tuesday 16 August 2016

Interview: Paul Crampton (Author)

Today, I've invited Paul Crampton to interview with me. A highly respected expert on historical Canterbury and author of novels, Paul - kind and affable and an absolute gentleman - tells about his books and how he deals with depression and anxiety whilst writing them. It's a pleasure to invite him along and get some answers to a few questions I've been dying to ask!

Paul Crampton: Novelist and expert on Canterbury
Hi Paul.  Before we talk about your latest book, let's hear a little about yourself. Tell me, what are your passions?

I love the history of Canterbury, of course and the cathedral in particular.  I’m passionate about music: classical, jazz, folk and, my schoolboy love, prog-rock! I also love my garden, where I grow wild flowers and old roses.  And then I have my modest orchard, which is only three years old but doing well.

What's prog-rock? I've never heard of that :-D

Prog-rock is short for progressive-rock, which was a name given to classically influenced album bands in the early 1970s, such as Pink Floyd.

Lol that's me showing my ignorance :-) I believe, as a local historian, you occasionally give people tours of some of the old sites in Canterbury. You're a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, aren't you! Did I hear you say you also have your own weekly column in the local newspaper?

Ah yes, the tours are only for friends, when they show an interest. The column is something I’ve been doing, in one form or another, since the late 1980s. It’s currently called ‘Paul Crampton’s Canterbury’, and I get a lot of feedback from it. It’s also nice to help people trace, for example, a photo of their grandparents’ house in the city. So many old houses were pulled down in the early post-war years. In fact, demand for these pictures was so high that I produced a book specifically about them called: Canterbury Suburbs and Surroundings. In 2010, I won the John Hayes Canterbury Award for that one.

Paul Crampton, local historian, giving his friends
an informal tour of his favourite places in Canterbury

Wow, that's awesome, Paul! And it's so great that you can help people discover something about their past. So, I know the answer to this, but let me get to what you're dying to talk about. I know The Dream Messiah isn't your first published novel so, tell me, what else have you had published?

Well, The Dream Messiah is the first one to be published in the mainstream, and certainly the first one to reach a, potentially, worldwide audience.

But, yes, let's talk about the other books first. As you know, I'm well-known for local history books, particularly about Canterbury, and have published around 18 titles to date...

Eighteen? That's impressive. Sorry for interrupting. Please continue...

Paul Crampton's local history books of the Canterbury area

That's okay... As for novels, I self published ‘Strangers in Focus’ (2005) and ‘Ronnie Darwin was my Uncle’ (2006), both by Pen Press, which has since gone out of business… not, I hope, due to my books! After that, I won a writing competition, which saw two novels being published: ‘I want to be Half Jewish’, in 2008, and ‘Toby’s Burden’ in 2009. Sadly, both sank without trace, as there was no follow-up, or publicity whatsoever.

Paul Crampton's novels including his latest The Dream Messiah

That was just over six years ago. Was there anything between Toby's Burden and The Dream Messiah?

There were a few non-fiction books, but there were some rather unpleasant personal issues and also some mental health problems to sort out. You know... life.

Yes, I know a bit about that. Maybe, if you feel like it, we can talk a little more about that in a moment? Just for now, let's talk a bit about The Dream Messiah, which seems to be gathering a lot of positive attention in the press... I believe there's a story behind the book. Please tell.

Yes, there is. This goes back to my personal reaction to 9/11. I hadn’t thought much about Islam until then, so I began to research it. And, to my surprise, I found out that the three main monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity, had much more in common than they had differences; after all, it was the same God. And, I had to question, why is there so much mutual hatred and mistrust? It was then I decided to say something positive about the whole subject.

I can see from your overwhelmingly positive reviews that your message has certainly reached an audience that agrees with you! And part of that reason is your carefully chosen characters, and the events that bring them together. For a start, your main characters couldn't be more different from each other, could they. Your female character is Muslim, isn’t she?

Yes: Hamila Rashid is a young, black, Somalian refugee, in her 20s, who lives in modern-day London. The premise of The Dream Messiah is that she and my main male character, Tony Hammond-Jones – a white, Bishop’s son from rural Hertfordshire – begin having the same recurring dreams featuring each other. And, as the blurb says: when they finally meet, they slowly realise they share a destiny that has the potential to change the world forever.

Model for Hamila during photoshoot
for the front cover of Paul Crampton's

The Dream Messiah


Is that a heavily pregnant Hamila on the cover illustration, and is that a clue to their shared destiny?

Yes and yes; as is the book’s title itself! 
 
Hamila and Tony: main characters of The Dream Messiah
So what do you feel about such a great reaction to The Dream Messiah so far?
I am delighted it’s been a very positive one: 27 reviews currently on Amazon are anything to go by. I would love to thank everyone who's read the story and left such good reviews. I really feel they've connected with the characters and understood what I was trying to convey. And I was very careful to be respectful in every way when writing the book; after all, I want to convey a positive message, and causing offence is not my aim, in the least.

Did you find the book easy to write?

After a period of research, the first draft took me about six months to complete, which was fine. But writing fiction doesn’t always come so easily for me. As I mentioned earlier, I have a mental health condition that means my life is governed by chronic anxiety and depression. I've had therapy for this, and I found CBT invaluable. But I refused any medication.   

Any particular reason for that? I meant to come back to your mental health problems (thanks for talking about them openly. I know readers will appreciate that).

Well, I feel my condition has also given me my creativity, so it’s not all bad, and I don’t want to blunt the creative edges with drugs. Mind you, I occasionally self-medicate with alcohol, but have got a better handle on that one recently. In fact, I don’t drink at all at the moment. All in all though, I wouldn’t change the way I am. I write furiously when I’m in the mood, which is the way it is at the moment, thank goodness. Last year though, I just couldn’t touch my new work-in-progress. And the longer I left it, the more of an issue it became; the more I was afraid to pick it up again. But I finally managed to resume work in early 2016.


That's really interesting about the anxiety and depression actually being a source for your creativity. I recently saw a post on Bustle, talking about the link between depression and creativity in some famous authors, including J. K. Rowling. I suppose there's nothing worse than dulling something that, ironically, makes you happy. Are you working on anything at the moment?

I am in the advanced stages of a major project that began in 2009. This is a trilogy of novels called: ‘The Canterbury Apocalypse’. It’s another religious thriller but, this time, it’s a conspiracy trilogy that blends fact and fiction. Should I mention a slight similarity with the writing of Dan Brown? Well,  perhaps, but that’ll be one for others to decide. In any case, I am having enormous fun writing this. The first book is now ready, and I am currently putting the finishing touches to the second volume. For the first time, I'm really able to merge my love of Canterbury history with my fiction writing.

Another appearance: Paul Crampton in the Kentish Gazette


The perfect combination :-) So, how do you see your life in five years time?


I would love to be earning my living as a novelist. I don’t aspire to J.K Rowling’s heights but, having said that, I’m not setting any limits to my ambitions. In a recent interview, with my local history hat on, I was described as a novelist and writer, and it looked very good to see that title in print.  



Finally, where can we find you on the Internet?

Amazon Author page (getting round to it)
Twitter: @dreammessiah

Facebook pages:





Cordelia the cat curled up withThe Dream Messiah