It started with a long piece of descriptive writing about a heavy snow fall. There is a moment when you wake up and you hear the silence of the snow in your bedroom, as if the world outside has been muffled and you just somehow know when you open the curtains it's going to be there : the snow.
My main character was the eyes and ears that described the snow, but then she took on a life of her own and became a child's mind in a woman's body, a young girl who never had the chance to enjoy the snow. The first draft of the story was written in 2010 as a submission to a creative writing course I attended. It has been edited and redrafted several times since then and last year the long piece of descriptive writing that inspired it was remodelled into a poem.
Snow Woman was originally anonymous but when I named her Martha she took charge. She represents elements of myself and of several people I have come across in my life, but she is also her own unique person. Snow Woman tells how Martha deals with her family and what happened, but ultimately, I think it's about having the chance to take opportunities for growth and happiness whatever your situation.
How would you describe your normal style of writing?
My writing style has evolved and developed through experience and experimentation. When I was younger ( dreadful phrase!) I used to do a lot of scribbled, angst ridden stream of consciousness writing. It was very personal and cathartic and I have written pieces since which reflect this. I have always loved writing descriptively for the sheer joy of using, blending and manipulating words to show what I see. I find these pieces very useful to store and refer back to for inspiration for stories or to use sections in longer pieces of work.
I write my best when I really get inside and become a character so I do a lot of short stories in the first person.Recently I have written as a teenage boy, a mother dealing with a challenging teenager, a dying man and as an eight year old girl.
I am also known in my writing group for sharing either short stories or observational pieces where I can incorporate humour, mainly although not exclusively from a female perspective.
Have you published other material?I have a short piece of flash fiction in Best of Cafelit 2013 Anthology and three pieces of flash fiction and a humorous story called The Twelve Days of Christmas ( since re edited )on the Cafelit website. I was published as the monthly competition winner in Writers Forum national magazine with my story called 'Cruel Summer'.
Do you have a writing routine?My routine fits around running my business with my husband and ferrying my daughter to all her after school and weekend activities. I carry my mini pc and notebook everywhere and grab writing time whenever I can, sometimes just sat in the car. Sunday afternoons are good writing time at home.
Do you have a favourite place for writing?I am always trying to make little writing nests ( the latest in what was a tiny en suite shower room, which now houses all my writing files and books and a little writing desk).However my favourite places for writing are wherever I am able to just write without interruption( sometimes a cafe, sometimes a library) or where I can hide behind a latte and observe people for inspiration.
Tell something quirky about you.
Jo's alter ego |
My first cat was named Bela Lugosi after the Bauhaus single 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' but his nickname was Iggy ( after Iggy Pop).
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