Monday, May 4, 2015

Please extend a warm welcome to my friend from across the pond, Ann Troup

It is my pleasure to introduce the lovely and talented Ann Troup who has taken time out of her busy schedule to chat with me about being a writer and her new release, The Lost Child. I am personally very excited about this one and count myself lucky to host her on my blog today!




VP: What is your inspiration? What helps you through writer's block?
Ann: My inspiration usually comes from situations, people and overheard snippets of conversation, it develops from asking the question what if? I am fascinated by human behaviour and why people are motivated to do the things they do. I used to believe that the older I became the more I would understand, not so. What makes us tick provides an endless source of inspiration.
Consequently I rarely suffer from writers block, but I am a huge procrastinator. This is probably a good thing in some ways, without those periods my house would never get cleaned! If I do hit a wall, I usually step away from the keyboard, do something else and let the characters tell me what they want to do next. If I’ve pasted them into a corner, they usually voice their objections and dictate their next move whether I like it or not – it’s quite an experience to find that your decisions are dictated by figments of your own imagination.

VP: Do you listen to music when you write? Have a completely silent space?
Ann: I normally listen to the radio when I’m writing, but strictly speech radio. Music is such a mood changer for me, it can really influence where I take things, which is not always a good thing. Silence isn’t an option either. I live near the sea in a very busy tourist area so there is no such thing as silence. Much as I love the grockles (as us Devonshire people call our visitors) they are too much of a distraction and I rely on good old Radio 4 to tune them out. I have discovered that there is no cure for seagulls, nothing drowns them out!

VP: Who inspires you? What authors do you look up to? Why?
Ann: My number one writerly inspiration would be John Steinbeck, but there are so many others, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Hilary Mantel, Jane Gardam, Harper Lee…I could clog your blog by going on. I admire their beautiful writing and their ability to acutely observe humanity and illustrate it in such a way that they blur the lines of right and wrong, good and bad. They make me think and they make me want to learn. There are some writers who can change you on a fundamental level; it takes extraordinary skill and mastery of the craft to achieve that.

VP: When did you first start writing? What genre do you prefer?
Ann: I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t scribbling some rubbish on some scrap of paper. I wrote my first novel when I was fifteen, the usual dark and soul wrenching ego trip. I’m glad to say that I don’t still have it – if I read it now I would be mortified and want to go back and slap myself upside the head!
I don’t really have a preferred genre, but I do binge read. I am currently favouring Urban Fantasy, but may need to stop imagining what might live on the fringes of my reality soon… It’s easier to state what I don’t often read which would be high fantasy, my son adores it and though I admire all that world building and the who begat who of it, my poor addled brain just can’t cope with remembering characters who have names that lack vowels, let alone whole dynasties of them. On the whole if it’s well written and a good story I’ll read it – I’ll read the back of a shampoo bottle in preference to reading nothing!

VP: If you had to choose another genre to write, what would it be? Why?
Ann: Ooooh –this one is tricky. One of the biggest problems I have as a writer is aligning my books with a specific genre. They are a mixed bag of mystery, crime, life, romance, preternatural anomalous experiences…so it’s hard to know, I can’t decide as it stands! If I were forced to choose I’d like to write fiction for children and be part of opening up fascinating new worlds for enquiring minds. A child quietly reading a book is a beautiful thing to observe – I’d like to be part of that and give a little back for all that I gained from writers when I was a child. I’d like to spread the magic.

VP: What is your favorite book (or who is your favorite author) and why?
Ann: At last count we have over 2,000 books in the house. I culled over 1, 000 last year, I only kept my favourites – does that answer the question? If I really have to nail it, there is one and it’s a favourite for a mixed bag of reasons, it’s a YA book written in the 1960’s by Ruth. M. Arthur titled A Candle in her Room. It’s spooky, haunting, emotional and beautifully written. I remember getting it out of the library incessantly as a kid and rereading it again and again. I love that book, not only for itself but because it brings back lovely memories of childhood. It’s long out of print, but I managed to track a copy down and it’s the one book no one is allowed to borrow, they can read it, but it doesn’t leave the house.

VP: Do you have another job and if so, what is it?
Ann: I am in the luxurious and enviable position of being able to write full time. I used to own a small art gallery and still work on commissions for ceramic art and book sculptures ( sorry book peeps, I have been known to chop up a book and make art from it, but usually only damaged unloved ones that would otherwise be pulped or trashed). I do occasionally give some of my sculptures away on my blog and Facebook page and my giveaways are worldwide – I’m not stingy on postage.


VP: Tell about your first book and how long it took you to write the first draft.
Ann: My first (self) published book was The Philosophy of Disgrace – a dark and twisted thriller about three sisters and nasty familial shenanigans. It took four years in total to write the first draft, but that was very on and off. I love the story, and on the whole it got a good reception but in fairness it needed the eye of a good editor and someone far more objective than me. I took it down from sale a few years back and it has languished in a folder ever since. It is now getting a new lease of life with the help of an excellent editor and I may be offering it as a freebie to blog subscribers in the near future.



VP:  Now for a little bit about your books, could you list all of your titles with a one sentence synopsis of each.
Ann:  My new title The Lost Child (Carina UK 19/5/15) is the story of Mandy, who disappeared aged three and the people who need her to stay dead, buried and forgotten for their own ends.

VP: Who is your favorite character? Why?
Ann: My favourite character has to be Brodie Miller, she’s a feisty teen who often acts and speaks before she thinks. In the story she acts as a catalyst for many events and finds that she is a magnet for trouble.

VP: Who is your least favorite character? Why?
Ann: My least favourite is Fern Miller, she embodies the worst traits of humanity, she is a narcissist bordering on sociopath – she was fun to write, but if I met her in real life you would see me in the distance closely followed by a cloud of dust.

VP: Which character was most difficult to write?
Ann: Hardest to write was Esther, as she can’t speak due to a devastating stroke she has to communicate through facial expression, mood and gestures. However, she holds the key to the truth so it’s important that we hear from her. I think she is a great character, but a tough one to write.

VP: What scenes are most difficult to write?
Ann: I’m a dreadful old cynic these days and find love scenes hard to write. I love a bit of romance though and it’s difficult to write anyone’s story without it cropping up somewhere. I do feel it’s important that human beings can be redeemed through what they are prepared to do for others, so love is fundamental on every level – but smoochy romance is my writerly nemesis. But, it’s in there, I did it and it was one of the scenes my editor was most happy with (phew).

VP: Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
Ann: In all honesty not really. Some aspects of Elaine’s character are familiar, her anxiety and self-doubt I can identify with, but very little of me is in any of my characters. I’d love to be badass like Brodie, courageous like Derry and as forgiving and sanguine as Miriam, but I am hopelessly fallible and really quite boring so I guess the less there is of me in a book the better.

VP: Indie pub or trad pub?
Ann: Carina is a digital first imprint of Harlequin (Harper Collins), so trad pub in ebook first with all the might of the big gun behind me. With a bit of luck and goodly sales the book will go to print later.

VP: What is your favorite scene? Why?
Ann: My favourite scene is the first scene in the book when Elaine first meets Brodie. Brodie inadvertently receives a face full of Elaine’s dead mother’s ashes via an incident involving a dead badger and a loose-lidded urn. This very thing actually happened to me and it was most unpleasant and undignified (I’m sure bits of my poor, long passed MIL still inhabit my smart black coat – despite the best efforts of the dry cleaner).

VP: Give a one sentence summary of your book.
Ann: Once sentence summary? Sheesh, it’s as bad as twitter! (why be brief when you can use 100, 000 words?) OK, here goes… A haunting and emotional story of loss, need and identity.

VP: How about a few questions just for fun? If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Ann: Can I be really soppy here? My father. He died when I was 18 and I just didn’t get time to learn enough from him. He fostered my love of reading and learning and was the most generous, honest and honourable man. He had his faults, but owned them and if I am anything like him that’ll do for me. Other than that I’d quite like to whip across the pond and have a beer or two with you, I think we’d have a blast. (I’m not much of a celeb fangirl – I like real honest to goodness folk who tell it like it is).

VP: If you could take the place of one of your characters, which one would you choose and why?
Ann: Honestly? None of them really, they all have flaws. If I absolutely had to choose it would be Albert – he’s away with the fairies and it sounds like quite a nice way to be sometimes.

VP: If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do?
Ann: I would tour all the capital cities of Europe, I’ve done a few but never for long enough. I would just walk, look, people watch, sit and drink coffee rinse and repeat. Absolute bliss!

VP: What is your favorite TV show/movie from childhood? What is it now?
Ann: Would it surprise you to hear that as a kid I loved Dr Who and still do? These days I don’t watch much TV but will drop everything for the Walking Dead ;)

WHERE TO BUY:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00VKH2MG2
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lost-child-ann-troup/1121690834?ean=9781474034968

Want to know more about Ann? Catch up with her here:
Facebook : Ann Troup
Twitter :@TroupAnn

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