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Diary of a Provincial Lesbian is your third novel.
What is it about?
The ‘heroine’ Margaret Charlecote lives
with her partner Georgie in a small seaside town on
the south coast. After almost ten years together Margaret
considers herself one half of a loving couple, and
in her complacency fails to spot warning signs that
Georgie is drifting away from her. The novel traces
the effect that eventual realisation has on Margaret
and her life, over one year. |
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There was a book, published in the
30s called Diary of a Provincial Lady,
by E.M. Delafield - have you read it, and, if so, did
it provide the inspiration for Diary of a Provincial
Lesbian?
I'd read Diary of a Provincial Lady several years ago and then Christmas
before last I dipped into it again, finding it just as humorous in its depiction
of provincial life. As I'd recently moved to the small town of Hastings I started
to think over any parallels that existed today. I had only to read 'Club News'
in my local paper to be transported back decades with accounts of the activities
of the 'Hobnob Club', the 'Shakespeare Reading Society', and the letter pages
where every correspondent was 'incensed', to think that, yes, certainly the
small concerns background still existed. |
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The next-door neighbour character,
Deirdre, seems to have more than a little of the
'Dorian Green', (the character played by Lesley
Joseph in the TV comedy Birds of a Feather) about
her, and indeed similar characters have appeared
in your previous novels. Have you a fondness for
writing such characters?
When writing 'humour' , for me it definitely needs to be a case of writing what
I know about. Many of my characters are inspired by friends or an amalgam of
friends. I love larger than life, boisterous people - even appalling, larger
than life boisterous people, and I do know a fair few. Deirdre is based on a
very dear friend and I hope the sometimes reluctant affection Margaret feels
for her comes through. |
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The book includes 11 line-drawn illustrations
by Mary Vassallo, with whom you share an interesting
working history. How and where did you meet?
We met in a design office of the BBC. She was a designer and I was on work study
as part of my degree. After an initial hatred on both sides we found we shared
the same sense of humour and spent six weeks making each other snort with laughter.
In 1979 while I was still at The London College of Printing, we went into partnership
together sign writing, making illustrated signs and painting murals for restaurants
and hotels. We became adept at drawing dancing vegetables, dancing inn keepers,
and even on one occasion dancing bumble bees!
Over our twenty years working together we also designed and produced two fascias
for Gay's the Word bookshop - a job we're still very proud to have done. |
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There has been a gap of three years
between the publication of each of your three novels.
How long does it typically take you to write a
book?
I write most of the time, but some of my work ends up as short stories. Quite
apart from novels, over the past five years I've had many short stories published
and eventually would like to produce a collection. An actual novel might grow
out of a short story or a piece of general writing that I like but doesn't seem
to have a place or proper form. A day dawns when I think, ''All these bits of
paper - I've got the outline of a novel'', and so I get started and the actual
writing process takes about a year. |
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How and where do you write?
All over the house. On my laptop but also in my notebook. If I don't have my
notebook with me when I'm out I always find I want to write something down
so it gets scrawled on the back of bus tickets and receipts. |
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Does being described as a 'lesbian
writer' annoy you?
Not at all. I am a lesbian writer and in the main I write about an observed lesbian
life. I'd find it very difficult to write about sizzling heterosexual encounters.
If I do write something that is not intrinsically 'lesbian', it generally has
themes to do with parental relationships, ageing, childhood. |
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All your books feature tragic/comic
characters who are outsiders and are also somewhat
less than 'upwardly mobile'. They are not well-off;
they have part-time, badly paid jobs; they are
usually not motivated by money;
they are often on the outside, even of their own
social groups. Why is this?
In writing humour, there is often a strong link between the main character and
the writer. Comedians and writers of comedy often suffer from depression, low
self esteem, a sense of alienation and the way they have made a path through
life is by seeing the ironic side of tragedy. Nearly all the well known humorous
television/literary characters; David Brent, Basil Fawlty, Billy Liar, Lucky
Jim, even Bridget Jones - the list is long, are figures outside the norm. They
don't get life quite right. I feel I'm following in a long tradition of comedy
writing. |
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There's a lot of comedy in your writing.
Did this develop naturally as part of your style?
I've always been lucky enough to make people laugh. My father and his mother
were very witty people so my brother and I had to work hard to amuse them. However
since I started writing I find I'm not able to be as funny as I used to be when
I'm with friends as all my efforts go into the writing. |
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You're originally from Birmingham,
lived in London for
many years and are now based in Hastings -
have you enjoyed the move to the coast and has it
changed the way you write? Do you feel you 'belong'
to Hastings?
I don't know if moving to Hastings has changed the way I write. I am much more
aware of my surroundings and find so much that is colourful, amusing or even
sad. In summer I watch the families on the beach and it could almost be the 1950s;
thin kids shivering into threadbare towels and yet running about with such enthusiasm.
Down here so much seems to affect me emotionally that I have no idea what it
may produce in the future in my writing.
I never really belong anywhere. As a child, mum, my brother and myself moved
so many times after mum left my dad. Mum wasn't a 'home-maker' so we kind of
camped in rented accommodation, often reducing it to quite squalid conditions.
I move home about every four or five years, but because of my background I try
to make it as perfect as I can. |
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Is the inspiration for your characters
mostly drawn from your friends/associates?
Definitely. And my parents and grandparents. Although I am quite reserved, I
love people, love watching them, listening to them, even being bored stiff by
them or irritated. Often in retrospect I feel a deep fondness. N.B. Just in case
friends or family read this, I'm never bored or irritated by them! |
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Have you a next project in mind?
To put together my collection of short stories and get them published. |
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Which of your books lends itself best
to being dramatised? And are there any plans for
this?
I think all my books would make very jolly television series. Although they're
almost totally lesbian based, the humour and predicaments are universal. Watch
this space...! |
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What writers do you admire?
Jean Rhys, Lionel Shriver, Grace Paley, Alice
Sebold and many others. |
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Are you taking part in any events or
book readings for Diary of a Provincial Lesbian?
Yes. Please check the latest dates here. |
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