I'm thrilled to welcome author Fiona Glass to The Hippo today. I 'met' Fiona on Twitter a few months ago and after chatting to her I thought it would be great to get to know her a little better so I invited her to hang out with me today.
Let's start by introducing you all to the lovely lady herself.
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| Photo courtesy of Fiona Glass |
When
she isn't being a pane in the glass, Fiona writes darkly humorous contemporary
and paranormal fiction, almost always with a twist in the tail. As well as a
couple of novels, her short stories have been published in anthologies and
magazines, including Mslexia, Paragraph Planet, and The Library of Rejected
Beauty. Her paranormal romp 'Got Ghosts?' is available now from Fox Spirit
Books.
Fiona
lives in a slate cottage within stone-throwing distance (never a good idea in
Glass houses...) of England's largest lake with her husband, several pot plants
and a vast collection of books. She enjoys history, gardening and photography,
and rarely has her nose far from the pages of a book - or a cup of tea.
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What
book/books made you cry and why?
All
kinds of books make me cry, for lots of different reasons. Some are genuinely
sad, like Mary Stewart’s Thornyhold where the heroine has an unhappy childhood
and then her beloved father dies. Others are scary or horrifying: the ‘mines of
Moria’ scene in Lord of the Rings, for instance, gets me every time. Lastly,
some books’ endings make me sniffle because it feels so right for the
character(s) and the book. Of course, it helps when the author really involves
me with the characters, so I feel as though I’m there with them inside the
pages of the book, and going through whatever they’re going through right
alongside them.
I always love it when someone answers this question but it usually means that I have to look at the books mentioned and they inevitably get added to my TBR!
Did
you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
I
have a confession to make - I already do! Fiona is my real name and I used to
use that for all my fiction. But when I got involved with different genres it
became harder to keep to a recognisable ‘one size fits all’ brand. So now I
publish darker books and stories (crime and noir) under a pen name. It’s a lot
of work because I need two of everything (web sites, blogs, social media etc)
and they all have to be updated, but it gives me more control and keeps things
separate.
Where
did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing etc come from?
Mostly
from my parents, both of whom were avid readers. Dad read a lot of non-fiction
(travel books, mountaineering books, nature etc) and Mum loved fiction. She
encouraged me to read from an early age, signed me up at the local library, and
used to spark my story-telling instincts by starting a bedtime story with a
single line and then leaving me to imagine the rest of the tale before I went
to sleep. I wrote my first story (about a travelling mouse) when I was five,
and have wanted to be a writer ever since. It’s lovely that my dream has come
true.
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| Image found on Quernus Crafts |
What
did you edit out of your last book?
In my
case it’s more a question of editing things in! I specialise in short stories
so writing a whole book can be quite a challenge. I find the best approach is
to start off with the basic outline and then add more detail as I go along. In
the case of ‘Got Ghosts?’, I added Guy, and the vicar, and Emily’s
many-times-great-uncle Alfred and the whole plot thread of the missing
paintings, after I’d finished the first draft. However, the one thing I did
edit out was that Emily started life as Adam. Having the main character male
didn’t quite work for the effect I was aiming for, so I changed it round and
the sweet but dippy Emily was born.
What
do you think is more important: characters or plot?
Both
are obviously very important, and I usually start with a plot, or at least a
‘what if’ scenario. However, I find my books don’t come to life unless I have
the characters alive and kicking in my own mind. Once I invest them with hopes
and needs of their own they become ‘real’ to me, and hopefully to my readers as
well. I think characters can exist without much of a plot, but a plot isn’t
much of anything without the characters.
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| Image found on Google |
It really is a case of the chicken or the egg isn't it Fiona?
If
you could spend time with a character from your book who would it be and why?
What would you get up to?
It
would have to be Gramps, Emily’s grandfather in ‘Got Ghosts?’. He’s (very)
loosely based on my own grandfather, with the same warmth and kindness and the
same twinkly humour, although my Grandpa didn’t smoke a pipe – or walk through
walls. I’d love to spend time with him in the Greystones Hall library, or, like
Emily, take him exploring for priest holes and hidden nooks and crannies in the
house on a wet afternoon. And because he’s a ghost, it would be fun to watch
him playing mischievous tricks on the guests!
You
get a brilliant idea/thought/phrase at an inappropriate moment (eg in the
shower or driving) what do you do?
This
happens to me all the time and it’s so frustrating. Good ideas often seem to
come at the most inappropriate times, and never when I’m sitting at the
keyboard. I’ve tried various things including keeping a notebook on me at all
times, but that doesn’t work if you’re in the bath! Lately I’ve been getting
inspiration just as I’m dropping off to sleep, and have resorted to banging my
head on the pillow while repeating the relevant words like a mantra. I have to
do it quietly, though, so as not to wake my husband up.
Describe
yourself in five words.
Small,
quirky, shy, bubbly, fair-minded, pedantic – and bad at maths.
I'm not much good with maths either Fiona, so you're in good company!
* * * *
I have a copy of Got Ghosts? on my kindle and I'll be reading it very soon but I'm not going to wait for my review to tell you about it so here's the blurb.
Haunted
manor house Greystones Hall is filled to the brim with ghosts. It’s also
falling to bits, and artist owner Emily doesn’t have the money to refurbish the
place. When the makers of hit tv show ‘Got Ghosts?’ offer to pay for a
weekend’s filming there she jumps at the chance, even though she and her
ghostly grandfather Gramps have reservations. The reservations seem to be
misplaced when the film crew swing into action, and producer Carl turns out to
be dark, handsome and very available. But Emily soon starts to have doubts
about the methods they use, which Carl won’t discuss. Then the show’s resident
medium Stella stirs up a new and malevolent spirit, revealing a dark secret at
the heart of the house that has been hidden for centuries. And when Emily’s own
safety is threatened, together with that of her ghosts and her beloved Gramps,
will it be Carl who comes to the rescue, or someone much more unexpected?
Website
Amazon
Blog
I'd like to say a big thank you to Fiona for taking the time to stop by today. It's been great getting to know you and I can't wait to dive into my copy of Got Ghosts?
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