Novel Points of View is introducing a few
changes for 2016. We want to say goodbye and many thanks to Jenny Harper and
Mary Smith, and a big hello and welcome to new members Rae Cowie (writer),
Jennie Bohnet (writer) and Neil Donald (photographer). We’re really looking
forward to having new voices – and amazing photographs – in the weeks and
months ahead.
To get things rolling we have asked each of
our new members to give us three words or phrases that best describe their
creativity. And also to tell us a little bit about themselves. Over to you,
Rae…
Hello and a thousand thanks to the Novel
Points of View team for inviting me to join their not-so-secret gang.
This is the perfect time of year for setting
those New Year writing goals and thinking about how best to describe my
creativity was just the push I needed to return to the typeface after the sloth
of the festive season.
So what do I write? - Contemporary women’s
fiction stuffed full of family drama with a tender sprinkling of romance.
And how best to describe my creativity? -
Well I’m a bit of a chameleon when it comes to inspiration, as that magical
‘what if?’ question can be sparked by places, photographs, objects, song
lyrics…anything really.
However, like most writers I’m drawn to
write about what interests me and travel
has always been a firm passion of mine. Part of the joy of writing, for me, is
researching other cultures, finding out what makes people and places tick. My
current work-in-progress, Leaving Baku, is set in Azerbaijan (to the east of
Turkey, cradled by the Caspian sea). It’s the story of a young, local widow,
Samira, and the relationship she develops with a Western oilman, against her
family’s wishes.
Which brings me to my second phrase - family and relationships. Having been
lucky enough, along with my three siblings, to be brought up in a picturesque fishing
village, where community spirit was strong, perhaps it was envitable that as a
writer the importance of family and friendship would feature strongly in my
writing. However, just as in real life, the road any family follows is far from
smooth and part of the fun in fiction writing is throwing boulders in characters
paths – testing those relationships to the limit.
My final phrase links both travel and
family/relationships, as I love to write of individuals who are struggling to find their place in the world,
searching for where they belong, finding friendship and romance in unexpected places.
Whilst enjoying travel, I also love home
which nestles in a tiny hamlet in rural NE Scotland, overlooking the fertile
Ythan estuary, where geese come and go with the seasons. As well as my
imaginary characters, I also have my ever-patient husband and two lively
teenage sons to keep me company. I bake to relax - think lemon drizzle cake or red velvet
muffins - not exactly to Bake Off standard but good enough for my family to appreciate.
Then, to work off those calories, I walk and cycle the farm roads and dirt
tracks, which crisscross the surrounding fields...perhaps not quite so often as
I should!
And so, in joining the wonderfully talented
Novel Points of View team, I feel I’m travelling to an exciting new land, with
lots to discover and enjoy – here’s to friendships, old and new, in 2016!
