ALWAYS WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW!
There is an old adage for authors that you should always
write about what you know. Of course, for any novel there will always be
considerable research which must be absolutely meticulous – you can’t afford to
get anything wrong! But in general terms I would utterly agree that you need a
pretty good insight into what you’re writing about before you start.
My first ten stories were set in and around west Dartmoor,
an area I know intimately. For fifteen years, we owned a tiny cottage in a
small moorland village. My love for those wild uplands and my knowledge of
their rich and fascinating history simply grew and grew until I was bursting
with a desire to share them with others through my novels.
More recently, I have been writing about London and the
south east, notably the Kent countryside. The latter I have got to know well as
one of my sons has lived there for over a decade. I was, though, born a
Londoner, and it was to the very street I lived in as a small child that I returned
for my latest two titles, The Candle
Factory Girl and The Street of Broken
Dreams, which form The Banbury Street
Series, set in 1930s and 1945 respectively.
Of course, the memories of a small child are limited, but
those I do have are most vivid. The street itself, our house, some of the
people who lived there are still very fresh in my mind. Battersea Park, just a
stone’s throw away, is as clear in my head as if it were yesterday, with its
funfair, tree walk and Guinness Clock, all now long gone. The excitement of
watching steam trains at Clapham Junction and walking out of the station’s back
entrance past the eerie ‘banana arches’ on a dark and foggy winter’s evening
are memories that will stay with me forever. I just had to include the latter,
and if you’ve read The Candle Factory
Girl, you will know that I use it as the location of a dark, traumatic
event!
The heroine
of The Street of Broken Dreams, though,
is a dancer. Dance has been one of my life-long passions, so I suppose it was
inevitable that one day I would write a book in which dance was a main element.
Do I know much about dance? Well, I have to say that, yes, I do!
I began ballet
classes at the tender age of four when my family was still living in Banbury
Street.
Later on, we moved around somewhat, but I always went to ballet and
eventually, I started at Miss Doris Knight’s School of Dance. Although I was
only twelve years old at the time, I recognised what a brilliant teacher Miss
Knight was, but little realised that this was to become a life-long friendship.
I studied
under Miss Knight until I went to university. I knew I was never going to be
good enough to audition for the Royal Ballet School, but I loved my dancing
with a passion. Miss Knight produced a show every two years – and my, were they
shows! Her husband was a conductor, and when it came to the main performance,
we were accompanied by a full orchestra at – wait for it – prestigious
Wimbledon Theatre. Ah, now – if you’ve read The
Street of Broken Dreams, you will see how it all fits into my story!
After
university, I returned to Miss Knight’s for three years. Then my husband’s job
took us sixty odd miles away to live in the country, which was a dream come
true. My one and only regret was having to leave Miss Knight’s. However we
corresponded regularly for well over thirty years. When I began writing, she
was a huge fan and bought every one of my books. She eventually retired in her
eighties. Knowing I hoped one day to pen a novel about a dancer, she gave me
all her old dance syllabuses, and told me all about her war-time experiences in
a repertory company which inspired Cissie’s career in the book. Sadly she never
saw it all come to fruition, but her friendship and all that she taught me will
remain in my heart forever.
My own ballet
days are long over, although peek through the window and you might catch me
spinnning a few posé turns across the
kitchen floor. And the legacy of my passion for dance is that whenever I hear
some suitable music, I am instantly choreographing in my head, whether it be
for soloists, pas-de –deux or corps de ballet. Of course, I see my dancers
performing to a standard I could only ever dream of myself, but I understand
every movement, every step, every port-de-bras.
When you
read some of the technicalities in the book, you can be assured that every
detail is correct.
So, all in
all, I believe that old adage holds true. Yes, there are always more details
you need to dig out. I find research absolutely fascinating, and what a joy it
is when you come across something that, say, inspires a new thread to the
story. The greatest joy, though, is sharing your knowledge with your readers
and using it to create a tale that will stay with them long after they have
finished your story.
By
TANIA CROSSE
Fragile, broken, dead inside. She
only lives when she dances...
In the summer of 1945, the nation
rejoices as the Second World War comes to an end, but Banbury Street matriarch,
Eva Parker, foresees trouble lying ahead.
Whilst her daughter, Mildred, awaits
the return of her fiancé from overseas duty, doubts begin to seep into her mind
about how little she knows of the man she has promised to marry.
Meanwhile, new neighbour, dancer
Cissie Cresswell, hides a terrible secret. The end of the conflict will bring
her no release from the brutal night that destroyed her life. Can she ever find
her way back?
Under Eva’s stalwart care, can the
two young women unite to face the doubt and uncertainty of the future?
Published in e-book and paperback by
Aria Fiction, an imprint of Head of Zeus
Available to download from Amazon
Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and GooglePlay
Paperbacks available exclusively from
Amazon
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bjeg0g
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2HaxIBD
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Tania Crosse was born in London and lived in Banbury Street,
Battersea, the setting of her two latest novels, The Candle Factory Girl and The
Street of Broken Dreams. But when she was five, the family moved to Surrey
where her love of the countryside took root. She later graduated with a degree
in French Literature but did not have time to indulge her lifetime passion for
writing stories until her own family had grown up.
Side by side with her meticulous historical research and love of Dartmoor,
she began penning her novels set in that area from Victorian times to the
1950s, all based closely on local history. In 2014, she completed her
Devonshire series with her tenth traditionally published novel, Teardrops in the Moon, before taking her
writing career in a new direction with four sagas set in London and the south
east, published by Aria Fiction. Tania is particularly excited about her latest
release as the heroine is a dancer, and dance, in particular ballet, has been
one of her life-time passions. Like her heroine, she once danced solo on stage
at Wimbledon Theatre so knows first-hand what a thrill that would have been.
Tania and her husband have lived in a tiny village on the Hampshire/Berkshire
border since 1976. They have three grown-up children and two grandchildren.
Tania was shortlisted for the area Sue Ryder Women of Achievement Award 2009
and her brother is famous thriller writer, Terence Strong.
Visit Tania’s website at
Follow her on Twitter
@TaniaCrosse
Follow her on Facebook
Tania Crosse Author
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