(Amazon Review) Catherine Graham’s debut children’s novel Peritinkle,
the wrong Special Princess is a rip-roaring adventure based around a peculiar
little creature that is half bat half mouse with leaves that goes by the name
of Peritinkle. Please don’t run off
with the idea that this book is for little tots. It most definitely is not.
It is an adventure with an eco twist and a reality similar to that found
in Jacqueline Wilson books crossed with JM Barrie’s magical worlds such as the
one found in Peter Pan. Catherine uses
an eclectic range of sub cultures, which include a secret society, an eco hippy
family, and the fantasy of a community of strange little creatures to create a read that is appealing to both parent and
child. This story, although an
authentic Scottish fairy tale brings in 21st Century issues and
characters. My personal favourite, from
the perspective of a mother reading to my 9 year old daughter is definitely the
fashion designer Monique Delaqua, who as the story progresses you realise is
more than a little mysterious.
My guest today is children's author Catherine Graham. Welcome Catherine. Lovely to have you back here again. Hope you are well. I have just finished reading Peritinkle: The Wrong Special Princess to your God daughter Elyssa, and I have to say we have both absolutely loved it.
My first question is, where did you get the idea from?
The inspiration for the Peritinkle stories was a wood behind my family's first house in Bellshill. It looked like it should have leaf creatures living in it. I didn't find them, though. And, of course I was also inspired by Mabie Forest, just outside Dumfries, which is where I set the book. It is one of the nicest woods I have ever seen. I often go to the Mabie Hotel to have tea and write.
Question Two: What is your inspiration. What did you read when you were a child?
I read everything when I was little. I loved Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and Tolkien. My favourite books were Little Women, The Railway Children, Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden. Also I liked anything that had an adventure.
Question Three: I never realised you were so fashion conscious, and I love the part in the book where Peritinkle asks Peritinkle what a fashion Icon is, and Peace-lilly says it's Kate Moss. As you have always been more interested in politics than girly things, where did you obtain all this knowledge from.
I got it from my fashion icon cousin. That's you, Fiona. Ha Ha. And...em..I also got it from painting. The work of Manga artist Ai Yazawa made me realise that a good sense of fashion is essential for artists who want to paint Manga or illustrate books properly. But there was a time - a long, long time ago - when I had the best dressed Cindy doll in Bellshill.
Question Four: You didn't just write the book, you also illustrated it. How long did it take you?
I started trying to paint Peritinkle on New Year's Eve 2007, and I didn't think I had painted her very well. This made me realise that I would have to go to art classes, to get better at painting, if anyone else was ever going to get to see what leaf creatures look like. I have attended art classes ever since, once a week for the past 7 years, and I still can't really paint her. But I will probably keep trying for the rest of my life. The cover of the book is the best attempt that I have made so far. But the lilac painting of Peritinkle and Kai, was the very first painting I did so it will always be special. I now realise it was better than I thought it was at the time.
Question Five: When Elyssa and myself came for our holidays, last year, to Dumfries, we noticed that Dumfries, Scotland, has lots of literary connections. Do you think growing up in a place where so many famous writers lived before you inspired your books?
Yes. I think it did. Dumfries has connections to Robert Burns and JM Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan. These people are an inspiration to so many people. Dumfries has just obtained funding to build Scotland's first centre for Children's literature at a place we call JM Barrie house. It was a house JM Barrie said he was inspired by when he wrote Peter Pan. He used to play there when he went to school. I think this centre will attract a lot of people to Dumfries and I hope many more people will be inspired through its work. Dumfries definitely inspired me to write. I moved here when I was 10 and the first thing I learned when I went to my new school was how to write a poem, and how to write a story. I wouldn't have learned those things if I had stayed in Glasgow. The schools in Dumfries are very aware of their heritage and they pass it on to the next generation at the earliest opportunity.
Question 6: Peritinkle is a very uniqe, superficial, spoiled, bad tempered little creature. Did you model her on anyone in particular.
Yes, someone I knew a long time ago. She was a very pretty, but very shallow person. She always had lovely dresses, and wanted everything she saw. She would also have temper tantrums in the street if she didn't get what she wanted. And she wasn't a little girl, she was nearly twenty. But she didn't care. She thought she was great. And she was.
Question 7: You are the last one out of the three members of our family who write to publish a book. Do you think we are now a collective? If so, what should we be called. And is there another person who you admire who we could let into our collective?
I think our collective would be an eccentric one, but it would also be quite productive. So I think it should be called the "spaced creatives" collective. I think other members of our collective would have to be very talented to make up for our eccentricities, though. So I would choose my favourite Manga artist Ai Ya zawa, of course, and I would also want our collective to contain an animator who could bring Peritinkle to life. I think that person would be Tim Burton. And also I think I would like a billionaire Arab Shiek to be part of our collective, too, because everyone needs one of those. And a couple of comedians who could make us laugh and Mary Berry to make the tea...and the cakes.
Ha, Ha. You don't want much, do you?
No. Who would you ask to be in our collective?
Em, probably, Mo Mowlam from the last labour party and the film director Mike Lee. And of course... the great Sam Irvin.
Nicola welcome and thank you so much for being my quest today.
You are VERY welcome!
What was it like growing up on the farm in Cumbria?. As I'm your cousin, I always thought your life was idyllic.
Yes, you are correct, it was! We lived on a tiny smallholding in the middle of a peat bog two miles away from any civilisation. When I look back now I can see that it must have often been very difficult for my parents, we were pretty poor (!) but we were a close, happy family. My memories of the farm are of a little plastic orange basket I used to collect eggs in, a water-well at the bottom of a field with water beetles and newts in it, and collecting hay by forking it loose up on to trailers and then my brother and I stamping it down in the barn to make more room. My dad was a bit of an inventor so there were all sorts of machines around doing strange things: my favourite was a windmill he built in a particularly wet field but he forgot to build solid foundations for it so it sank completely underground without ever leaning over by a single degree! One for the archaeologists of 3013 to discover I think! Fiona, I remember you and other cousins coming to stay at Easter time, with people sleeping all over the place on old army cots!
When did you first start playing and writing your own music?.
My dad plays the piano and him playing waltzes is my first memory of music (I always say he taught us how to play a waltz on a piano, paint a water colour and jump start a tractor - what more does a human being need!). He built me my first guitar when I was eleven but it was my mum's love of The Beatles that inspired me to write. I probably wrote my first song when I was about sixteen but I'm a very slow writer, I have to 'live' the song and let it develop over days or even weeks.
When did you first start playing in a band and what was it like touring festivals?.
I played in a duo with a school friend and thena couple of club bands but I wanted to play a different kind of music, then a dear friend of mine called Geoff Walker stopped me in the stairs in Carlisle Labour Club and said, 'Ay-up Nicky, want to be in a Cajun band?' I was so in awe of him and his music that I said 'yes' immediately, even though I had no idea what Cajun was! Come to think of it, we never did play any Cajun songs so he probably had no idea either! That band 'Nemo' was by far my most happy musical time. We were lucky to have an agent who ran festivals so he booked us in all sorts of places, but my happiest memories were just sitting in Mike, bass player's, living room, thinking of songs to play and then completely 'ripping them apart' - changing everything, adding in bits, changing the rhythms, adding wonderful solos by Geoff's brother Ian and just being generally creative and silly.
You have an album out of your music, how did that come about?
After Geoff died, Mike, the bass player and I played Brampton Live Festival and it went so well we just decided to record an album. It was produced by Lakeside Recordings, who normally are booked up years ahead but luckily he could fit us in and was so lovely. Its very strange hearing your songs 'at a distance'. For a while radio Cumbria played a couple of tracks and sometimes at parties someone will just stick one on and for a moment you don't recognise it and then - you notice all the mistakes! The album is dedicated to Geoff Walker, 'It would have been much better with you, but wouldn't have happened at all without you'. The attached track is called Salinas Harbour and is about my love of the author John Steinbeck.
Has your love of music been passed down to your on children?.
I am so, so happy that my love of music and art has grown in them. The most joyous thing is that they are both much, MUCH, better musicians/artists than me. I went to see my daughter sing in Lancaster last week and my son is playing in a little bar in Carlisle tomorrow. I've learned so much more from them than they learned from me but I'm glad that my musical influences have rubbed off on them, my daughter is as big a Joni Mitchell fan as me and my son loves celtic music and we have just got back from dancing at Music on the Marr Festival to a wonderful Scottish band called Manran - check them out on youtube!
Are you surprised by the amount of artistic people within the family?.
Surprised isn't quite the feeling. I remember, from when I was tiny, my dad and his family singing and playing records together. I always knew my cousins Gerard and Catherine wrote and my cousin John and his son sing. When we recently got back in touch with family members that we had lost touch from over the years and found that they too were creative it was like that feeling when someone tells you the meaning of a song lyric and you think, 'Oh, of course, how could I have been so stupid as to not realise that!'. I think we are so lucky to have inherited a creative gene and to have that available to us. The challenge is to use that tool in a way that is both fulfilling and meaningful.
Nicola it's been lovely to have you here thank you so much.
If you would like to hear Nicola playing album there's a link below.
I'm very excited to announce that my collection of short stories is available on Amazon.
I decided to publish with a small independent publisher, Spangaloo. I needed a company that was able to help me with all of my publishing needs. Book cover, editing and in particular distribution and on-line marketing.
I'm a new writer, a single mum, and I also have Graves disease. The family, writing and work balance is very important to me, particularly where my health is concerned. Basically if I want to do it all and stay well I need help. Big shout out to Spangaloo again and many thanks for helping make my dream come true.
I've learnt a lot about myself as a writer over the last few years. One, is that I much prefer writing short stories than 90,000 word novels, short stories are definitely more manageable.
The other is dialogue, I love it.
I had great fun writing these stories, I hope you enjoy reading them.
After a wildly successful and scandalous career as a
stripper, Fifi Lemott pens her memoirs and makes a fortune. She then buys the
house of her dreams in the quintessential town of Dorking, and embarks upon on
a journey of adventure and mischief in the hope of finding love.
In her search for a new life of romance and respectability,
Fifi finds her path crossing with sexually frustrated pensioners, and finds
herself baking cakes for the Women’s institute laced with Marijuana. She also teaches them how to Pole dance, and
fights a battle of wills with the town’s controversial book reviewer, Ted
Pembleton.
On a visit to LA to stay with an old friend, Fifi is seduced
by the gardener, which ends disastrously.
A surprise phone call from her flamboyant gay agent Luka brings Fifi
back to England for the Queen’s garden party, where all hell breaks loose when
she discovers that some of the Dorking residents are also attending.
Fifi, not beaten, but lonely and bored, sells up and returns
home to her mother’s house in Gateshead.
The death of a friend and a brief encounter with a long lost love brings
Fifi’s world crashing down.
With the help of a transsexual drag artist called Elspeth,
Fifi re-evaluates her life, returns to LA, and starts once again to write her
next adventures.
Darkly humorous tales filled with poignant reality and the
ridiculously funny.
Diana Lertzman is a woman who is an inspiration to us all. Especially to those of us who have had to struggle with the difficulties of balancing family life and a career in a time where women are becoming more and more invisible in the business world. Diana is proof that you can be a mother, a grandmother, be clever ,sexy and ooze girl power at any time in your life, all it takes is a little determination and confidence.
After her first marriage broke up Diana struggled as a single mum, she put herself through business school and forged a career in finance, she is also a trained cosmetologists.
She is now married to Rick Lertzman who is the co-author of the "Dr. FeelGood" book, and was one of my previous guests here in my Blog . The book is about to be made into a movie where Diana takes on her latest role as executive producer.
So when she agreed to talk with me I was delighted, and this is what Diana had to share with us.
MY INTERVIEW WITH DIANA
Diana, welcome and thank you. I'm really happy you agreed to do this interview. I want to ask you about the early days when you found yourself alone with no career prospects and two small boys to raise.
Diana: Thank you for talking with me. It was a very frightening time. At that point your world is shaken and you need to find a new order. I took care of my children and tried to get a focus on how I needed to proceed with my life. I finally decided to choose a career path in business. I never went to an employment agency and I found most of the job prospects for women were either as a retail sales clerks, secretarial or cold sales calls. These jobs were pretty much dead end with very little benefits.
The retail chain Victoria's Secret did offer me a benefit - one free bra a month -0 if I worked there. I didn't think that would feed my boys. A car dealership offered a job but said that first I needed to pay $600 to go through their training. Since I neither had the $600 nor was I interested, I passed.
Then fate intervened. I was online in an AOL "thirty-something" chat room when I told my friends there that I was getting up early since I had six interviews the next day. A woman named "Lizzy" suggested I put in an application at where she had worked which was General Electric Finance. She said they offered great benefits. I was aware of the company and was very intrigued. The next day I got up before the crack of dawn, put on a business suit, high heels and a carefully prepared look, dropped my kids at school and went to my six interviews I had arranged. The General Electric interview was my seventh stop that day. I was offered jobs at those first six interviews, but each was a dead end job. I stopped off at G.E. to pick up an application on the way to pick up my boys from school. I was unaware that there had been a purge at G.E. and they needed a new infusion of workers. I was offered a job and to start training the very next day. I agreed to start training at G.E. as the upside was far higher than the other job prospects.
As I began the training, I was overwhelmed at what the company offered. I literally was in tears as I learned about the bonus program, health benefits, pension plan and possible future growth. It was such a godsend at this low point in my life and with two children to raise.
I spent 17 happy years at General Electric and thought I finally needed to explore other opportunities.
How did you meet your husband author Rick Lerztman
We actually met in an online chat room. I had a very sarcastic profile which caught his eye. I wasn't interested in dating anyone from online, but, how should I say this, the prospects were quite slim. I had some disastrous meetings where men seemed to exaggerate about themselves and were quite different when you meet them. Many of them, as I discovered, were living with their mothers in their basement. So I was VERY cautious. Rick had told me he was a physician at a hospital (which he was) but I needled him that he was probably the maintenance man. He was amused and we began a long courtship and became the best of friends.
What was the role of a book publicist like.
It was very stimulating. The lead publicist at the publishing house was not very motivated. I learned in dealing with the media, book store managers, television producers, writers, reviewers and more. I did the legwork necessary to get the book the attention it deserved. I also learned the necessity to use the social media which, unfortunately many of the publishers seem to ignore.
I loved arranging the book signing parties as well. I try to create a stimulating environment where the author can shine.
Are you excited about your new role of executive film producer on the Dr. FeelGood movie, can you explain what the role entails.
I have a certain idea of some of the parameters, but I am sure I will learn much of it on the fly. I'm sure I will end up doing much legwork and "go fer" activities. The responsibilities include many areas including ensuring the crew is assembled, craft services arranged, actors are kept happy, and many of the daily activities needed to be done for the director to be able to do his job. I am very anxious and I am looking forward to the job. I hope that at my age, I can keep up with the energy of those who are younger than I- which is mostly everyone.
After researching the director Philippe Mora I couldn't think of any one better for the job of director for the movie how did the decision to approach Mr Mora come about.
Rick's co- author William J. Birnes has been a longtime friend of Mr. Mora. Bill was a consultant (and appeared in ) his film "Communion" (with Christopher Walken) and had recently appeared in his newest film (soon to be released) "The Sound of Spying".
Bill talked to Phillipe about the Dr. Feelgood book and he was intrigued at the story. He has acquired the rights to the book. Rick and Bill are currently working on the early drafts of the screenplay.
He is a wonderful director and I have greatly enjoyed his films and their originality. I am excited at the prospects of seeing Dr. Feelgood come to life on the big screen. I know he will bring a fresh perspective to the book as he has done with his other films.
You are also a cosmetologist and you own your own store, how's the store going and do you practice anymore?
I stopped practising as a cosmetologist several years ago. The store is doing well and is more of a small boutique. I enjoy the marketing aspect of it. It was challenging putting it together and now that we have got it off the ground, I want to concentrate more on Rick's upcoming book on Mickey Rooney and the film.
Do you have any words of advice to women who maybe just starting a journey similar to your own all those years ago.
The best advice I can give is don't ever ever settle for less than you deserve. Also don't ever let anyone discourage, belittle, humiliate or make you feel like you're less of a person. Always know your worth and what you mean to others - I like to put my family and friends first, - and discover who are your true friends. True friends will help you move - but really TRUE FRIENDS will help you move dead bodies. I also believe that you must make time for yourself.
When I got my divorce, I created a list of items to achieve that I was prevented from doing during first marriage. And always know that enthusiasm is God within.
Diana I think you are a wonderful lady and a great survivor. I wish you the very best of luck please come back and talk to us again. Many thanks.
Fiona, this has been wonderful. I greatly appreciate the time you took to talk with me. The very best to you and your family.
Philippe Mora
Philippe Mora (born 1949[1]) is a French-born Australianfilm director. Born in Paris in 1949, he grew up at the centre of the Australia arts scene of the 1950s and began making films while still a child.[2] He is the eldest son of artist Mirka Mora and her late husband, restaurateur and gallery owner Georges Mora. He has two younger brothers - William Mora (b. 1953), a prominent art dealer, and Tiriel Mora (b. 1958), a well-known Australian actor.
My guest today is world wide, No.1 best selling author, Joanne Harris.
Joanne Harris (MBE) was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels, including Chocolat (1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.Since then, she has written 14 more novels, two collections of short stories and three cookbooks. Her books are now published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. She is an honorary Fellow of St Cathrine’s College, Cambridge, has honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield, and has been a judge for the Whitbread Prize, the Orange Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science.
Joanne, welcome and thank you very much for agreeing to be my guest today. I feel truly privileged.
You have a new book out, an adult fantasy The Gospel Of Loki based on Norse Mythology. Would you like to tell us about it?
"It’s a retelling of the Norse Myths of the Prose and Poetic Eddas, written in the voice of Loki, the Trickster god. It begins with the Creation, and follows the rise and fall of the gods of Asgard, as Loki, initially brought in from the world of Chaos to help the gods, becomes increasingly alienated and angry, finally turning against them in revenge for their treatment of him"...
You have crossed genre from Romance to Thrillers and now Fantasy, not forgetting your French Cook Books and The Little Book Of Chocolat. Where next?
"I don’t agree that I’ve crossed over any genres – and I don’t think I’ve ever written a romance. My books, though often different in tone, are all linked by a number of strong themes; the outsider; the community under pressure; aspects of the family; everyday magic; themes of identity and perception; the importance of stories and folk tales.
You are a huge inspiration to myself. Your use of words are beautiful, and your ability to provoke the senses through food is a gift. Do you think that the fact that you have synaesthesia (a rare ability to experience colour as smells) has helped in the way you write description?
"Possibly; but I don’t have a point of comparison. I’ve always perceived the world as I do, and I try to bring all aspects of sensuality into my writing".
As it's lent we must talk about Chocolat, (by the way my friend and I would pay good money to see our local Catholic Priest in the front window of a chocolate shop) I read the book many years ago and related to it fully, especially as I'm a single mother. What or whom inspired you to write the story that sent your own career rocketing?
"I wanted to write a book about the cultural aspects of fasting and feasting. It was Easter; the shops were filled with chocolate. Chocolate seemed like a good place to start".
I saw one of your Tweets on Twitter, you were going out to dinner with the late, Scottish author Ian Banks. I thought that was marvelous, it was like that moment when someone asks who would your ideal guest would be at a dinner party. There was you and Ian Banks going to dinner. Like yourself, he is one the great 20th century writers, and again a huge inspiration to many. With books like The Wasp Factory and Espedair Street. Can you share any memories or thoughts about Ian Banks and his works with us?.
"Iain was a wonderful man; I’d met him a number of times while we were both on tour, and I’m a huge admirer of his work. As a man, he was kind; funny; completely unpretentious and yet extraordinarily smart. His death comes as such a sad loss to all of us".
My all time favorite book is Blackberry Wine. An enchanting, magical tale. Was any of it taken from your own life?
"Yes; the main character, Joe, draws heavily on that of my paternal grandfather; a gardener and sometime magician who influenced my childhood enormously".
I can't go without asking you whilst Chocolat was being filmed, were you available on set for consultation? and if so did you share a little glass of wine with Johnny Depp, and maybe some mild flirtation, or a snog?. I know you are happily married. I've done my research. I'm asking this question for my daughter ..obviously!
"Yes, I was on set during the filming (there’s a lot about this on my website); it was a lot of fun. And yes, I did meet the actors (although I have to admit that Johnny, though very nice as a person, really doesn’t appeal to me in the way he obviously does to - ahem! - your daughter)".