I don’t have a particular genre that I like reading, however, it has to
be fiction, and I suppose I could get away by calling what I enjoy reading Book
Club fiction. I don’t tend to read biographies or ‘how to’ manuals. I belong to
a reading group, which is a good way of taking my reading out of its comfort
zone.
I’ve
recently re-read a couple of books that I thought I knew well, and as a result,
I think I understand them much better. I’m
always surprised by what I like – recent reads that I thoroughly enjoyed are The
Midnight Library by Matt Haig, and The One Hundred Years of Lenni and
Margot by Marianne Cronin. Favourite childhood books that stayed with me
are the Milly Molly Mandy series, and as a teenager anything by Jane Austen
or the Brontës. And I do love a Thomas Hardy. I agree, it can be depressing but
his prose is so skilful, I can’t help but to admire it. In more recent years I
discovered works by Barbara Kingsolver, Donna Tart and Maggie O’Farrell. There is so much attention to surroundings in
their work, particularly to nature, which is also a character, in my view. It shapes
us – our thoughts and our moods. It is a very useful tool for a writer to
connect with nature and helps to reflect their protagonist’s character.
Being a debut author, I have connected with other authors over social media and I have chosen to read books that I normally wouldn’t choose. This has been great, as again, it’s taken me out of my comfort zone and I’ve expanded my reading repertoire. I can’t list all the great new debut authors I’ve read, but Emma Christie, Charlotte Levin, Louise Fein are just a few. I am currently running a blog spot on my website featuring authors of historical fiction and I’ve enjoyed reading their books if you want to check it out!
2.) Do you have any shameless addictions? E.g., Tea, Books, Shoes, Clothes?
I do like a nice up of green tea, and I did get into the various blends awhile back, but I can’t say I’m an expert. With regards to clothes, I have too many summer dresses, but as I’ve got older, I’ve tried to cut back on my wardrobe and gone for quality over quantity. I have a problem with my feet so although I love shoes, pointy and high, but it’s been years since I have been able to wear them and I find it hard finding shoe that combine comfort with aesthetic appeal. I don’t think I have any shameless addictions, but I am absolutely a dog person. Show me a dog, and you’ve immediately got my attention…
3.) What do you think is the biggest challenge of writing a new book?
Getting the idea in the first place – the hook. I have lots of ideas but
trying to find out the core hook is often an issue for me and then there are
the hours of writing trying to find out if there is a story worth perusing. I
have abandoned a couple of manuscripts, and my current WIP has been extremely trying.
I think the part of writing I enjoy the most is the redrafting of the first,
then shaping and polishing this second draft. It’s here that the terrible first
draft gets turned into something I’m proud of writing. I do find the structural
edits a bit of a challenge – but usually, I’d have to say the editor is right.
Being a writer of historical fiction means that the historical details have to be accurate. It is time consuming but it does help to frame the narrative to get everything right. I like to wrap my protagonist’s journey around true historical events if I can. Historical fiction writing is giving the emotional level to historical facts. For example, were I to go to a museum and see a mangle on display, I would know it was from a particular era and what the functionality of it was, but I’d immediately be imagining the women who used it, their conversations, the details of their lives, the children who sat at their feet or played nearby, the dramas and intricacies of their daily routines and relationships. It’s the same with an event – what was that person doing when a particular event took place, say the announcement of WW2? What did they feel, say, do and how did the news affect their life?
4.) Do you aim for a set number of words/pages a day?
When I’m working on the first draft of a manuscript, I try to write between 1500, and 2000 words a day, but usually it’s unpolished and pretty rubbish. I think that this is when you start to get to know your story and your characters, so it’s important just to write without polishing and editing. Once you’ve got the story, you can do that. It’s also a good time to make side comments, such as – put in some backstory here, or add such and such in, or connect back to X. The ideas and themes grow and develop as you go along, a bit like a river carving its way through the mud. I once did the NaNoRiMo writing challenge and it almost killed me. Never again.
5.) What are your thoughts on writing a book series?
I have thought about it. I have an idea for writing a series but although
I have spoken to my agent about it, it isn’t formed and it’s on the back
boiler, as it were. It might happen one
day, but certainly not yet. However, my WIP follows on from book 2, and I can
see that there is the potential for a follow up from that. I am probably a pantster
at heart. Planning so far in advance and all that it entails is probably beyond
me. I really admire Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series – what an achievement.
I am interested in writing books that are set
in faraway places. I love to travel and
it’s been hard during the past couple of years to peruse that interest. My debut,
Journey to Paradise is set in Colonial Singapore in 1949 when Singapore was
on the cusp of change. It was a dramatic time and I have written about it
through the eyes of my main protagonist showing what life was like for women in
faraway places at the time and how hard it was to break away from the rigid
social norms of the day. My protagonist is in many ways a metaphor for the
challenges facing Singapore at the time. My second novel, The Forgotten
Promise, (due out as an ebook in September 2022 and as a paperback in
December), is set in Malaya (as it was then) on the outbreak of the Japanese
invasion. It is a dual timeline dealing with the effects of the occupation on
two different women and how the occupation affects their relationship, as well
the political changes that were taking place at the time.
I have ideas
for setting novels in other places, such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia, America and a little
closer to home in Europe. Finding the hook, along with the historical details
is the challenge, but still, there are so many wonderful ideas to explore!
'A beautiful, immersive tale that will keep you turning the pages until the end' JENNY ASHCROFT
Singapore, 1949. When Miranda steps onto the pier with her husband Gerry she hopes that their move will bring the fresh start she needs and a chance to heal the scars from her past.
Gerry's role at the British foreign office affords them a beautiful house and invites the best parties in town. But their life feels worlds apart from England and true friends are hard to find.
When doctor Nick Wythenshaw encourages Miranda to work within the local community, she finds new purpose that opens her eyes to a new way of life.
But as riots erupt across the region and danger draws close to home, Miranda must make an impossible choice. Will she sacrifice everything she holds dear to find happiness?
'Guaranteed to transport you to exotic climes and engross you in the story of its troubled heroine...A terrific debut for Paula Greenlees' LIZ TRENOW
'Paula's novel transports the reader to a long-forgotten and fascinating time...An enchanting, evocative debut!' LOUISE FEIN
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Paula’s debut novel, Journey To Paradise, is set in Singapore in 1949 and is out both as a paperback and as an ebook. Her second novel, The Forgotten Promise, is released as an ebook in September and as a paperback in December 2022.
Her writing, although set against exotic backgrounds, is set on the cusp of change – the shift from colonial dominance to independence. She likes to dig into a variety of issues, and her main protagonist is, in many ways, a metaphor for the events surrounding her at that time. It isn’t always an easy journey, but in the end, success comes her way.
As for Paula – she has always wanted to be a writer. As a little girl she used to spend hours writing stories and turning them into books, even using flour and water as paste to stick the pages together. She spent hours writing poetry and plays as a teenager and has always written short stories in her spare time. It is this need to write and a love of reading that led her to take a degree in English and European Thought and Literature, and later a Masters Degree in Creative Writing.
As a writer, she feels it is important to have a wide range of interests – not only does it adds flavour and layering to prose, but allows it allows time for ideas to mull and to percolate. People watching in cafés is one, long walks is another. And food! Good food is essential to her and she loves to cook using the best ingredients she can find. As well as a love of travel, she is a keen amateur photographer. She has two grownup daughters and lives in Warwickshire with her husband and an extremely friendly Labrador.
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