GM. Hallo Katie – welcome to Gateway. I'd like to start by asking you how you how long you've been making your living as a novelist?

KF   Hi!   Oh crumbs, it’s a good long while.  I had my first two books published (by different publishers I must add) in 1972.  In those happy days a £100 advance was sufficient to take two adults and three kids for a fortnight’s holiday in Ibiza… how times have changed!  Fortunately, advances have changed too.  So the short answer would be 34years.

GM. How would describe your books? They're more than "romantic novels", and Josephine Cox, who was on TV a while back, said her books were described as "romantic novels" but were in fact part of the tapestry of life. I've read romantic fiction from a very early age, Denise Robbins and so on, but I agree with Josephine – your books, like hers, are more than just "romance". I'd be interested to hear how you describe them.

KF   I agree that they are more than romantic novels; I like the adventure part of them, which usually happens because your two main characters get parted in some way.  I think they are more or less a slice of the character’s lives… once I get started my characters take over… if they don’t want to marry each other then they jolly well won’t, and the surprised author has to look around and hope desperately that the story will sort itself out.  It always does!

GM. What did you like to read when you were growing up? Did any particular titles influence your writing career?

KF I read anything I could lay hands on, including sauce bottles, advertisements… Enid Blyton, E. Nesbit, M. Pardoe (the Bunkle books), then on to Dick Francis, Mary Stewart, Ngaio Marsh,  Elizabeth Goudge et al.  The book which influenced me most was definitely I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith.  I still think it is in a class by itself.  Lovely stuff.

GM. Was there anyone who really inspired you or encouraged you to write when you were growing up?

KF  Pamela Frankau’s book on how to write was encouraging, and my parents’ influence was also a factor.  My mother wrote, though she only got published as a teenager; my father wrote rather good poetry but was very shy about it and destroyed the lot just before his death.

GM. How did you become interested in wartime Britain? Was it conversations with your family? You write about the time as though you have first-hand experience, though that could have come with good research, of course.

KF  I was nine when the war ended and since I was evacuated in 1941 my memories of the bombing etc., have to be awoken by research,  by talking to people who were there and by imagination I suppose you could call it.  A cousin of mine was buried by her house for almost two days but will never talk of it.  However, there are others who remember brilliantly and are eager to tell.

GM. What led to the publication of your first novel? Did you send it to an agent? How long before it was accepted, and do you have unpublished manuscripts you tried to get placed before your first acceptance?

KF  I published my first novel because in 1971 there was a postal strike which lasted at least six weeks.  At that time I had been earning my living (sort of) by writing shorts for the mags, radio etc., and suddenly my source of income dried up.  A friend who wrote historical novels suggested that I should stop moaning about the post office and spend the time writing a book so I did.  I sent it straight to my friend’s publisher (I should add that she dared me to write a novel, telling me afterwards that she was sure I would fail, being used to the snappier length of short stories and articles) and they accepted it within 3 weeks.     I then wrote another book, sent it to the same publishers, who rejected it.  Surprised and hurt (what an admission, but it is true because I knew the second book was better than the first) I took another friend’s advice and whizzed it off to yet another publisher who not only accepted it within a fortnight but paid me £500 advance, a fortune!  And no, I have no unpublished MSS lying in cupboards – wish I had!

GM. What was the inspiration for ORPHANS OF THE STORM? I know you recently travelled to Australiarecently – did you perhaps meet people there with stories to tell about wartime romances?

KF  Orphans of the Storm came about because my Australian son was telling me about his awful experience of near-death when in hospital.  It sort of got into my imagination, and I used it to start the book…   Then of course Tony introduced me to a great many people, who told me a great many things about Australia during the war and so on… it’s lovely when a story just grows, expands, begins to write itself, which this one did.

GM. Are any of your characters based loosely on you, either as a young girl or as a fully paid-up adult? When I write, I always try to introduce a character with my beliefs and traits, though not necessarily my physical attributes. Do you do the same?

KF  I’m ashamed to admit that though I KNOW very well that everyone (including both my parents and numerous  aunts, uncles and cousins) all smoked like factory chimneys during the war, I can never let my characters follow suit.  I have never smoked, the smell makes me feel sick, and so yes, there are certain resemblances!  Also I could never harm a dog, cat or indeed any animal, so they have a fairly good time in my books!

GM. You travelled to Australiarecently. Have you found travel to be any more difficult or dangerous since the turn of the century and the ugly face of terrorism?

KF  Well, I can’t say I climb aboard a plane with any more fear now than before but that may be because I hate flying and am constantly nervous that the damned thing will tip up if I make an incautious move!  Actually the flight to Oz was good for me because it was so long that I grew quite blasé and didn’t wave the yellow flag (or whatever) when going to Gibraltar to visit my eldest son earlier this year.

GM. Staying with Orphans of the Storm, the book alternates between WW1 and the second world war. What went into your decision to structure the book in this way?

KF  Again, the structuring of it was not exactly intentional, it came because I’d done some research into the first WW and realised that their knowledge of blood transfusions, in 1916, was pretty sketchy, so it was possible (indeed, it happened quite often) that someone could die for lack of a transfusion, or live because someone was quick off the mark and knew that such things were possible.

GM. Can you give us a sneak peek in the next book, the one you're working on now? Or are you like J K Rowling, keeping quiet until the very last moment?

KF The book I’m working on now isn’t the next one to come out; that is called LITTLE GIRL LOST and is set in the early years of the last century – starts in December 1910 and ends around 1920.  It has two main female characters, Sylvie who is very lovely and somewhat self-centred, and Maeve, who was crippled by a fall when stealing a ride behind a horse and cart.  Sylvie lives in Liverpool, Maeve in Dublin, but they meet up quite early on, then part…   and the child who is lost is the daughter of one and the darling of the other.  Simple!  The one I’m working on now doesn’t have a title yet, but has two very different settings, a family living over a greengrocer’s shop on Heyworth Street in Liverpool  and the Brewster family, who live and work on a farm in Hereford both before and during WW2.  Sometimes it is quite difficult to get your two characters together naturally, not artificially, and I find war is a great leveller from that point of view.  People were moved all over the country, they met and sometimes fell in love, then were dragged apart as Command whisked them from one theatre of war to another.

GM. Can we talk about the creative process of book writing? When you begin a new book, do you outline the plot first? Do you always know what's ultimately going to happen?

KF  No, I don’t outline the plot first, or indeed at all, for probably the first third of the book.  Sometimes I have a picture in my head, sometimes the end is absolutely clear – I just don’t know how the devil I am going to arrive at it.  Sometimes I get it wrong, suddenly realise it, and have to rewrite large chunks.  I hate that worst of all, it is upsetting and never used to happen to me, but I’ve written a total of 76 books under different names and it is very hard not to do something you have already done before, and when you realise it you have to make changes.

GM. What is your writing process like? Can you take us through a typical writing day?

KF  I used to write all day, particularly in the evenings.   I have four children and at one stage had two other children whose mother left them in my care, which was why writing during the day was pretty hard but evenings were ideal.  Then my kids grew up and left home and I began a far easier time because I could write whenever I felt like it.  Then ten years ago I got ME/CFS and life became horribly difficult, and no sooner had I begun to come to terms with what I could and could not do than a doctor looking over his shoulder ran into our car, waiting to join a major road, and the whiplash which resulted made it impossible for me to type.  After some time I advertised for a secretary and to my own astonishment, discovered I could dictate, so now I “talk” the book, Jo, my secretary, types it straight onto the computer, then Brian, my husband, reads back to me what I’ve done and I correct, change, fiddle with it until it begins to sound right.  I should explain that ME/CFS affects one’s muscles and in my case, my eyes won’t focus on print, or the screen, or the telly for that matter.  Makes research hellishly difficult but Brian and Jo read me the bits I need to know about and we manage somehow.  Now I “write” for three hours, sometimes longer, each weekday morning, then after a couple of hours off we do any research etc., and then we shop, visit, play with grandchildren… and my biggest luxury is audio books, of which I have a great many.  They are lifesavers.

GM. How would you say you've changed as a writer since the publication of your first book?

KF  The people about whom I write are very much more real; I could meet them in the street and know them instantly.  I frequently change viewpoints so that you don’t only have the girl’s impression of what is going on but also those of what you might call “bit players”.  I am very much more professional in my approach to writing and have more confidence in my own ability to tackle different writing tasks.  I acknowledge publicity and signings etc., are important and absolutely LOVE meeting readers, partly because it is fun but more, alas, because several of them have helped me with information, with stories and anecdotes, and have become good friends, if only of the pen variety.

GM. When you're not writing, how do you relax and have fun? I know you have dogs – anything else that helps you to enjoy life?

KF  As I said earlier, audio books and the radio are my big relaxants, but dogs… oh dear!  We had four, but dear old Zak died last October and we’ve not replaced him.  We have a gorgeous ginger cat but it’s not the same.  My daughter has three huge horses but I can’t ride any more and feeding them the odd lump of sugar isn’t the same.  But I love swimming (in the sea, can’t manage in pools because swimming in fresh water takes more energy than I possess) and we go abroad two or three times a year, which is great.  I have a son and daughter-in-law in Spainso we visit them quite often, and the son, daughter-in-law and wonderful baby grand-daughter in Sydney Oz; see them rather less often, that awful journey! 

GM. Finally, what would be your advice to aspiring authors writing about life and relationships as you do?

KF   Read, Read, Read!   Study other people’s styles, compare them with your own.   See how cleverly the great writers gradually bring out  the personality of their characters.   Always remember that most novels are a bit like icebergs;  you should have done enough research to cover your subject but such research should show only a tiny amount to the reader – the amount that matters – because there is nothing more off-putting than a writer who wants to ‘educate’ their unfortunate reader.   Editors hate being lectured.   Some people will tell you that they despise ‘easy reads’ but I’ve always thought this is a sign of ignorance since we should all strive to produce easy reads; we are in the entertainment business after all.

GM. Katie, it's been an enormous pleasure for me to feature you and your books in Gateway – I hope you become a regular visitor, and keep us entertained with those fabulous books! Thanks very much. Paul

KF    It has been a pleasure.  Unfortunately since ME I have been unable to focus on a screen so could not look at the web-site myself but I know my husband found it very interesting.