Scottish author Catriona Child has two books published with Luath press: ‘Trackman’ and ‘Swim until you can’t
see land.’
Where do you get your ideas?
The idea for Trackman came from a dream
that my husband had – he dreamt that he was on an underground train. A girl was
crying and a man handed her a pair of headphones. Everything started to go a
bit strange when she put them on, but she was happy. He told me about his dream
and this set something off. I am a big music fan and have always been
interested in the effects that music can have on us as human beings, so this
all turned into Trackman.
For my second novel, it started out as an
idea about a girl who steals a lottery ticket from an old man. However, it
wasn’t really working and then I saw on the news about the death of Eileen
Nearne (a WW2 secret agent). I was intrigued by her story and have always been
fascinated by social history and WW2. I started to do some research into women
secret agents, as well as recounting stories my granny told me about WW2 and my
old man was suddenly transformed into a woman secret agent.
So to sum up, a dream and a news item!
How long do your novels take to write?
Trackman took about four years, including a
two year distance learning MA in Creative Writing. Swim took about two years.
I’m not a full time writer though, so write when I find time during evenings
and weekends.
How do you motivate yourself to keep going?
Some days are easier than others, if I have
a good idea or if I’m really enjoying what I’m writing about then it’s easy to
keep going. If the writing is not going well though, it’s tougher. I guilt
myself into turning off the TV or getting up off the sofa – Stephen King said
in On Writing, that you need to turn
the ER repeats off, and I hear that phrase in my head when I’m being lazy. I
also was told that writing is a muscle and needs exercised, so I use that as
another motivator, especially if it’s a bad day – if I keep going, the writing
muscle will be more toned tomorrow.
How do you judge when the book is finished?
I read it and edit it over and over and
over (both to myself and out loud) and get other writers to read it and
comment, and eventually the red pen marks get less and less. I don’t think
you’ll ever be completely happy with something, but there comes a time when you
just have to stop.
What is the last thing you do before you
send the novel off?
Read it one last time, check the spelling.
Was it hard to get your first book: ‘Trackman’
published?
It was probably easier than I expected,
although a great deal of that was down to luck – the director of Luath happened
to open the mail on the day that my submission arrived and liked it. I was told
that if anyone else had opened the mail that day, it would have just been
tossed onto the slush pile. I used the Writers and Artists Yearbook and sent my
novel out to a variety of agents and publishers. Some replied with a rejection,
some never replied, luckily for me Luath replied and asked to see the full
thing.
Did you ever think of giving up?
Not really. I was aware of how difficult it
is to get published, so wasn’t expecting to get a positive response. Trackman
was at the stage where I couldn’t really do anything more to it and it was time
to start writing something new, so I thought I might as well try and send it
out there. If nobody had responded positively, I probably would have given up
with Trackman and tried to write something new.
Who did you approach and why?
I sent it out to agents and to any
publishers who seemed to fit Trackman and who accepted unsolicited manuscripts.
Why did you make the decision to go
straight to the publisher?
Luath accepted unsolicited manuscripts, so
I thought I would try them. They’re an independent publisher from Edinburgh,
with a good reputation, so I thought they were worth a go.
How long did the process take from
acceptance to publication?
It probably took around a year, including
all the edits etc. Luath asked me to do a few initial changes to the book and
then I worked more closely with an editor.
How did you promote yourself and your
books?
This is the bit I find the hardest. I set
up a Twitter account and a writer’s facebook page. Luath had various contacts
so they managed to set up a few reviews in local papers, and arranged for me to
do various readings. I also contacted people myself and asked to appear at
their festival or if they would do a review on their blog. Some were
successful, some weren’t.
Would you consider approaching an agent
with future manuscripts?
Yes, I think an agent would be the next
step for me. I think it would be useful to have someone with good contacts who
understands the publishing industry more than I do, and someone who can have
the difficult conversations.
I sometimes feel that, as an independent
publisher, Luath don’t have the time or the finances behind them to market the
book as well as a bigger publishing company might have, and I think this is
where an agent would help.
Do you have plans for a third book?
I have a vague idea and am trying to write
bits and pieces, but am finding it more difficult to get time to myself since
having my daughter last year. I’m trying to keep a wee journal of my daughter’s
first year, which is a very badly written stream of consciousness type thing,
but at least it’s writing.
What compels you to write?
I’ve always written from a very young age,
whether it be stories, letters or a diary. It’s something I enjoy doing and
something I’m sure that I will always do regardless of publication.
What else do you enjoy besides writing?
I love reading, music (listening to and
going to gigs), the cinema – all of which have taken a back seat recently while
I spend time with my daughter (which I also love doing!). I swim, run and do a
bit of yoga to keep fit.
Catriona reading from her second novel: Swim until you can't see land
Photograph by Alan T Simpson.
Photograph by Alan T Simpson.
