I am delighted to welcome
LOUISE BEECH
AUTHOR OF MARIA IN THE MOON
TO SHARE HER WRITING TOOLKIT
An early
hour
Yes, I am
insane. I work best earlier on rather than later in the day. Many writers I
know do it late into the night. That’s not for me. Aside from the fact that I
work evenings in a theatre, my brain is mush once you get me past about six pm.
I get up at about seven am, even if I’ve worked late the night before, and am
at my desk by eight am. This is when my ideas and thoughts are the freshest.
I’m usually good until about three pm (with lunch and a walk or work-out in
between).
Tidiness
I am
totally OCD. I cannot work in chaos. My head is a complete mess most of the
time, so I need my surroundings to be spotless and in order. I’m the first to
admit that I need serious help. But when my environment is immaculate I feel I
can go wild and let rip with the words. Makes no sense, but it’s true. Don’t
tell anyone, but I can’t go to bed and leave messy cushions. There I’ve said
it. Come and cart me away.
Music
Oh, I need
that music. It inspires me. Certain songs get me in a certain mood. There are
entire albums that remind me now of the time I wrote particular novels. I’ll
listen to just about anything. At the moment I’m loving everything by The
Weeknd. His gritty, dark lyrics match the mood of novel five at times.
Swearwords
I’m
terrible for swearing. I’m not a very good typist (two fingers, one from each
hand, haha) and so there’s quite a bit of cursing when my brain goes faster
than my hands can! Sometimes, if I forget someone else is on the house, they
come downstairs to ask who the heck I’m shouting at. So perhaps solitude should
be another essential, though it’s not likely to ever happen...
My desk
I only
write ‘properly’ at my desk. I scribble notes on physical bits of paper while
out and about, which I then import into my work. Now that I travel a lot more
with my writing, and all the events, I’m thinking of investing in a laptop. But
until then, my computer and my desk is the place I am for writing.
Tissues
I often cry
when writing. I do - I’m a big, fat wuss! If I’m writing an emotional scene, I
feel every part of it. Just as if I write a funny scene, I tend to laugh out
loud. These are even more reasons why no one should be near me when I write. It
really isn’t pretty. I’m an OCD tidy, sweary, sobby mess.
Exercise
When
sitting to write for long periods you can end up with your mind going in
circles. So I usually take an hour out mid-write to either go fo a long hike or
do a work-out at home. Boxercise is great! You find that the ideas flood in
when you’re physical! Plus there is of course the danger of eating too much
while sitting and I need to try and compensate for that. Of this I am also
guilty. Especially with Twirls... and chochip cookies... and lattes... and...
oh, I’d best stop now...
THANKS FOR TAKING PART, LOUISE!
About Louise Beech
Louise
Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was
a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. The sequel, The Mountain in My Shoe was
shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Both books have been number one on
Kindle, Audible and Kobo in USA/UK/AU. She regularly writes travel pieces for
the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a columnist for ten years. Her short fiction
has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the
Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport
Prize twice and being published in a variety of UK magazines. Louise lives with
her husband and children on the outskirts of Hull – the UK’s 2017 City of
Culture – and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre,
where her first play was performed in 2012. She is also part of the Mums’ Army
on Lizzie and Carl’s BBC Radio Humberside Breakfast Show.Find Louise on her website and on Twitter - @LouiseWriter
About Maria in the Moon
Published by Orenda Books (30 September 2017)
Publisher's description
Long ago my beloved Nanny Eve chose my name. Then one day she stopped calling me it. I try now to remember why, but I just can't.' Thirty-two-year-old Catherine Hope has a great memory. But she can't remember everything. She can't remember her ninth year. She can't remember when her insomnia started. And she can't remember why everyone stopped calling her Catherine-Maria. With a promiscuous past, and licking her wounds after a painful breakup, Catherine wonders why she resists anything approaching real love. But when she loses her home to the devastating deluge of 2007 and volunteers at Flood Crisis, a devastating memory emerges ... and changes everything. Dark, poignant and deeply moving, Maria in the Moon is an examination of the nature of memory and truth, and the defences we build to protect ourselves, when we can no longer hide...
Maria in the Moon is yet another stunner from Louise Beech... The writing is simply stunning, so vivid and descriptive that it takes you right into the heart of the story and into the lives of her diverse, larger-than-life and highly realistic characters. I couldn't help but be transported into Hull at a time of crisis.
To read the rest of my review of Maria in the Moon, click here.
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