Hi Theresa! It's great to welcome you to my blog - I'm looking forward to learning more about you and your latest release, The Gypsy's Son. Let's kick off with my questions...
Thank you for inviting me to
be a guest on your blog, Rachel. It’s strangely satisfying and relaxing to
answer questions about myself and my writing. For once I know the answers
without having to look them up!
1.)
What did you want to
be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a vet at first but having discovered ‘The Writers’ and
Artists’ Yearbook’ at the age of thirteen I began submitting my poetry to publishers.
It was then that I decided Journalism was for me. But ‘career advice’ never
came my way; I had no idea how to go about achieving such a goal. Then I had
second thoughts when I realized I’m much too sensible to be chasing celebrities
along the streets of London - or worse, travelling the world reporting from
various war-zones - so sitting at home with a typewriter became my dream.
2.)
Coffee, tea or hot
chocolate?
I’m a tea addict. I love to have a cup of tea by the computer. Sometimes
I stand it on the radiator in my study to keep it warm, but once I’m writing I
often forget it’s there.
3.)
What genre do you
typically read? Why?
I enjoy reading romantic fiction but like it to have some interesting
background. As long as it is well written and reveals information about people,
places or history along the way I’m hooked. However, when I’m researching a new
novel I wade through loads of non-fiction books. I like old musty books about
country life, social history etc. They may be old-fashioned in style but
usually contain gems. I’m interested in the ‘old days’, trawling-up forgotten
crafts and ways of life. Alarmingly, I’m finding that events in my own lifetime
are now classified as history!
4.)
Share a favourite
childhood memory.
I was one of four
girls. My mother was creative and wrote press releases for my father, Cyril Hamersma, who was an artist. (hamersma-uk.blogspot.com/ ) While exhibiting in
London galleries, he worked as a barber to support the family. It was a busy
household, as I remember, with visitors, phone calls, classical music blaring and
wet oil-paintings hanging everywhere. We lived on the ground floor of a large
Victorian terraced house in West Hampstead, London. Upstairs, where my great
aunt lived, it was quiet and orderly. There I could read a book in peace, or
just be with her while she ironed or cooked or entertained. It was one of my
childhood joys to sit under her kitchen table, concealed by the tablecloth, and
listen-in on conversations!
5.)
Do you have any
shameless addictions? ie. Tea, Books, Shoes, Clothes?
I love second-hand bookshops and junkshops. I’m a terrible hoarder of
all things old and unwanted, including animals. We have taken-in a succession
of scruffy cats from the Cats’ Protection League and at the moment we have a
Persian who keeps well out of the way of our ‘rescued’ racing greyhound, Rosie.
I can recommend re-homing a retired greyhound. She’s so affectionate (when
she’s awake) and no trouble at all. She never barks, needs little walking, and
sleeps for hours and hours. She’s the ideal dog for an author and we love her
very much.
6.)
What do you think is
the biggest challenge of writing a new book?
Feeling settled in my mind that I’ve done all I need to do first.
There’s a constant tug-of-war going on in my head because there’s never enough
time! I do what I can in the way of promoting my books, particularly the one I
recently published myself: ‘The Gypsy’s
Son’ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gypsys-Son-Theresa-Flem-ebook/dp/B010WADW8Y/ref=
However, I’m always trying
to catch up with the housework (ugh!), emails, letters as well as seeing
friends. I can’t settle down to work (and switch off the real world) when I
feel distracted. Yet I’m constantly fighting the urge to forget everything and
just sit down to write! So that’s the challenge – life itself – it gets in the
way.
7.)
Do you aim for a set
amount of words/pages a day?
No, I used to have quite a rigid timetable when I would do about six
hours a day. This would be time, rather than word count orientated. But more
recently I’ve relaxed that routine. I’m hoping to get back to it at the start
of the New Year.
8.)
What are your
thoughts on writing a book series?
This has never struck me as being a viable option. I like to see a story
through from beginning to end in the one novel. Some readers have asked me if I
would write a sequel, especially for ‘The
Sea Inside His Head’ published by Robert Hale Ltd.
This was my debut novel. Primarily a love-story, it’s about a Kent coalminer
who, in his desperate search to escape the pit and work in the fresh air, faces
losing his wife, family and friends. There is the temptation to revisit these novels
and explore what happens to them because they have become very dear to me, but
I doubt I will. Although all three of my novels have, I feel, satisfying
endings, there is always room for my readers to speculate themselves about the
future once they have put the book down. After all, there are too many new
characters just waiting in the wings.
Set in Cornwall in
the 1950s, this moving novel explores family relationships, romance and memories.
When a frightened young boy runs away from home, Gideon Tremayne, a Romany gypsy,
resolves to take him back. But their journey takes a lifetime. This is a
thought provoking book which delves into the past and challenges the reader to
re-evaluate the meaning of life, home and survival. It’s a novel about reconciliation
in which the search for love and security beckons…
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sea-Inside-His-Head-ebook/dp/B00CCTWSHK/ref=
(ebook & hardback)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Forgiving-Sand-Theresa-Flem-ebook/dp/B00OFI6K20/ref=
(ebook, paperback & hardback)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Gypsys-Son-Romany-Family-ebook/dp/B010WADW8Y/ref=
(ebook & paperback)
Theresa Le Flem inherited the creative gene. Born in London, she
studied Art and followed various occupations including hairdressing, before
running her own studio-pottery business in Cornwall. Finally she settled down
to write full-time. Her first two novels were published by Robert Hale Ltd and
she has just published her third novel independently. For relaxation Theresa enjoys
painting in oils, playing the violin and gardening. She has three children and
five grandchildren, all who live abroad. A member of the Romantic Novelists'
Association and the Society of Authors, she lives in the Midlands, England,
with her husband Graham, and their greyhound, Rosie.
Website: www.theresaleflem.wordpress.com
Twitter: @TheresaLeFlem
Facebook: Theresa
Le Flem’s own Facebook Page
Romantic
Novelists’ Association Facebook member
Belmont
Belles Facebook member
Look4Books
LinkedIn: Theresa
le Flem
Google+ Theresa Le Flem author (Author page in
its initial stages only)
Comments?? Questions??
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