Interview with Posie Graeme-Evans

A little nervous today! It’s a subdued summer’s day, the kind you only get in London, and I’ve escaped the mania of Royal Wedding Fever to sit in this tiny slice of tearoom in the cloisters of St Bartholomew the Great to await my very special guest—a woman whom I’ve long admired (and envied!). She is best known in Australia as the creator of McLeod’s Daughters, but is a woman of many talents, including historical fiction. I’ve been privileged enough to read an advance proof of her latest novel, Wild Wood, a time-slip novel with a touch of mysticism. Please join me in welcoming Posie-Graeme-Evans.

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RH: Posie Graeme-Evans, welcome to your own corner of Writer’s Block where I’ve created a slice of London, circa 1981; I hope you like my version of Alicia’s café. I did toy with taking us to Hundredfield in 1321 but the comforts of the twentieth century appealed, and I think the food is a little better (I’m a sucker for a good Eccles cake). What can I get you?

PG-E: Can I have what you’re having? That Eccles cake does look good. And a cup of tea? Thanks.

RH: No problem *orders tea and a plate of cakes (because you can’t eat just one)*

PG-E: But I think you might be right Rowena, about the food comparison between now and the Scottish Borderlands of 1321. They had no reliable ovens, did they? (A nightmare! How can you bake cakes if you can’t properly gauge the temperature of the fire?) However, if you were wealthy, and had the resources of a huge estate to draw on, you probably ate very well (though winter must have been a trial; everything salted!) A lot of meat, though, and fish of course (not if you were poor. Peas pottage for you. Monotonous, very.)

RH: Considering the circumstances when we meet Bayard, I was rather afraid we might be fed horse!

RH: Congratulations on the release of your wonderful new novel Wild Wood. I’ve given it a solid five stars and advance reviews are suitably glowing. I found myself looking forward to the end of the day just so I could climb inside those pages, as equally enthralled with Jesse’s contemporary story as I was Bayard’s life in Hundredfield at the time of Henry Percy and Edward II.

About the Book

A new novel from Australia’s most beloved storyteller

Jesse Marley calls herself a realist; she’s all about the here and now. But in the month before Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding in 1981, all her certainties are blown aside by events she cannot control. First she finds out she’s adopted. Then she’s run down by a motorbike.

In a London hospital, temporarily unable to speak, she uses her left hand to write. But Jesse’s right-handed. And as if her fingers have a will of their own, she begins to draw places she’s never seen, people from another time—a castle, a man in medieval armour. And a woman’s face.
Rory Brandon, Jesse’s neurologist, is intrigued. Maybe his patient’s head trauma has brought out latent abilities. But wait. He knows the castle. He’s been there.
So begins an extraordinary journey across borders and beyond time, one that takes Jesse to Hundredfield, a stronghold built a thousand years ago by a brutal Norman warlord and passed down to the noble Dieudonné family, a clan honored and burdened with the task of protecting England’s dangerous northern border in the fourteenth century. Jesse holds the key to the castle’s many secrets and its connection to the mystical legend of the Lady of the Forest.
Somehow Hundredfield, with its history of darkness and light, of bloody battles won and lost, will help Jesse find her true lineage. In a world where the tales of old are just a heartbeat away, there are no accidents. There is only fate.

RH: Share with us a little about writing two distinct yet intersecting storylines set in such vastly different times. Do you write them as separate stories and then weave them together, or do they tend to flow as the story unfolds? What part does structure play in making this type of novel work?

PG-E: Hmmm. The tough questions first?

RH: Of course! *Tea arrives in a china pot with tea strainer and milk jug* That’s why I like to soften up my guests with food and beverages.

PG-E: Where to start… The key to writing for me, I suppose, is at the very, very beginning. I don’t plot, I let the story find me (true!) however that first, the very first glimmer of a story declaring itself and of characters beginning to appear, is always a shivery feeling. Something is born from nothing. And in this case it was Bayard’s voice which found me. I heard him speaking in my head—who says writers are Schizoid?—and he led the way back into 1321. At first I didn’t know the geographical setting or the actual date, but I was, and am, in love with the North of England—I go there as often as I can—and the Borderlands cropped up pretty quickly. Borderlands are interesting places, like cross roads—and they’re always fought over. Whoever said, ‘drama is conflict’ was right; lots of conflict on the Borders of England and Scotland for hundreds and hundreds of years.

And to speak to the melding of the two stories… I don’t write them separately, I just write and see what develops. Television story telling, which I’ve done for so many years, helps me I guess because at some level, I trust that I’ll find the way to work the story out because there is always a way. That being said, the way I write is very wasteful. The first draft is, inevitably, baggy and shaggy and it sprawls in all directions; and by the time I’ve got to the end of the fourth draft (when I’m generally sure I’ve actually got a book) much plot and so many, many characters will have been jettisoned.

RH: Always sad to jettison all that work, but gratifying when it comes together.

PG-E: You referred to structure, too, in your question. Structure is everything in the creation of a satisfying story, I believe. I’m fortunate to work draft by draft with one of Australia’s really great structural editors, Nicola O’Shea. She’s ruthless, but not cruel *smile* and helps me to see how to insert the scaffolding into my stories if there isn’t enough. Plus she gives great notes! I’ll take notes from anyone so long as they push the story forward.

And, two such different timelines? The fairytale is the link between the times, I think; the modern fairytale that was the public love-story of Charles and Di (which I think we were all in love with then—even though, now, we know how it ended) and the legend in that other time of the lady in the wood. I’m a sucker for legends and fairytales.

Sorry for the very long answer. Could I have another cup of tea? Lovely. Throat’s a bit dry from talking *grin*

RH: Yes, of course. *pours aromatic tea for Posie while eyeing off cake* Help yourself to cake, too. You’ll be doing me a favour *rubs cake-filled belly*

RH: I loved Aussie Jesse’s observations of English conventions, which gave her a kind of wry humour at some pretty distressing moments. Jesse narrates her story in present tense while the narrator of the historical story, Lord Bayard, relates his tale in third person, past tense. Was this a function of the dual structure? How did you determine these were the best points of view for their separate stories? Is point of view a deliberate choice before you begin writing or does it depend more on how the characters come to you when developing the stories?

PG-E: Wow! Get under the skin, why don’t you?? You know, you’re forcing me to ask myself how I actually do things? Not easy because I mostly write lost in a cloud of unknowing (lovely phrase that, not mine) and I only surface when something big happens on the page—like a shark fin, popping up out of the sea. And then I hunt it down or follow where it leads me (I have nothing against sharks by the way); on good days, my fingers run to keep up (mix those metaphors!) But so far as I know, the different tenses for Bayard and Jesse just felt right. So, no, it wasn’t conscious, at the time.

For instance, she seemed vigorous to me, and plucky, so I enjoyed writing her point of view. It seemed immediate, somehow, a direct way into her head and you get to experience what she’s experiencing at the same time she does. But Bayard’s tone is somehow elegiac/nostalgic; the man of action whose life has taken on another form (not to give the end away!) Perhaps that’s why looking back—the past tense—seemed to work as I wrote down his experiences.

RH: *Tempts Posie with another cake while formulating question*

PG-E: Another Eccles cake? Why not. Talking is hungry work!

RH: Meeting in a café is part of my cunning plan *wink* The other part is asking the questions, which is, as you say, much easier than answering them.

RH: The amount of research you do for your historical worlds is awe-inspiring. You really bring Lord Bayard’s world alive. Hundredfield in the early 1300s is not a fairytale castle and the realities of life, even for nobles, are rather harsh. At one point Bayard’s brother gives the order ‘None to live’. Share with us a little about your love of research and how you go about researching life in 1321. How do you manage to portray such rich history so vividly without getting mired in the detail?

PG-E: That’s a really lovely thing to say, Rowena—that Bayard’s world has come alive for you. I just adore research—always have and always will. For years after I left Flinders University (yes! I was an Adelaide girl all those years ago) I just read and read and read history for pleasure. Probably more than novels, in fact.

I was inspired by the then Professor of English at Flinders—the very distinguished Medieval Scholar, Ralph Elliott. Now he was able to conjure the past in his lectures. He took us callow kids by the hand and walked us into the medieval world through the door of their stories (Chaucer! Blimey, what a writer.) And Ralph was a scholar of Norse literature as well (Come on down, “The Island House”; all those Viking eddas and sagas became the calcium in my bones)

And then, as I got on with my production life in TV, all that I kept on reading got stored away on some separate drive. And one day, when I actually began to write what became “The Innocent” (my first novel), it all began to download in a torrent. And away I went.

I keep topping up what’s on that hard drive in my head, of course. I still devour books like food, and visit Google all the time as well. BUT the thing that really does it for me is entering the world—actually walking over the ground of where the story is, or will be set. And staying in the buildings of the time as much as I can afford to do. That’s precious, and the gift that just keeps on giving; of course I take a zillion photos, but it’s the memory of the sound of the wind, the smell of earth after rain, the squeak of snow under your shoes… so much. And so damn vivid! That, to me, is the real research; those sensory experiences. And yes, their lives were harsh, and dominated by religion—I find that moving and I still get angry over some many of the things that were done to people all those years ago; the doctrines of the medieval church that blighted so many lives have a lot to answer for, even today.

RH: This is my first Posie Graeme-Evans book and I’m thrilled to see that you have such an extensive backlist *rubs hands in glee*. Of course, you are famous in Australia for your television work and in this decade alone you’ve already published five novels. Share with us a little about your writing process and how you manage to be so prolific. A magic formula would be greatly appreciated! *wink*

PG-E: Magic? Hah! Yes, I’d like a wand as well… Like most writers I know, I’ve had fertile periods in my writing, and times of desolation too when it feels as if my mind is barren, that I’ll never, ever have another fresh idea. BUT television did train me. The thing is, with TV drama in particular, you just have to keep going, you have to make that deadline: too many people depend on you getting there, especially on a big series like “McLeods” (another gift that keeps on giving; 7 years gone this year and it still won’t lie down. People write to me every day about that series still.)

At least in TV you don’t carry the burden all by yourself; you have a whole story department, and editors, and directors and the whole crew of enormously skilled artisans who will lend you their craft skills if you pay them *grin*

But writing, as you know Rowena, is not like that. It is just you and that page—you carry all the responsibility. And some days I find that horrifying and I’ll do anything to avoid actually sitting down and turning the computer on. What gets me through, though, is pattern within my days.

I write in the afternoons and do other stuff in the mornings. And when, say, 1 o’clock rolls around, I just feel incredibly guilty if I’m not at my desk. I know that’s ridiculous, but it is productive over time, I suppose. And I don’t consider myself an especially fast writer with these later books.

The first three, the trilogy of “The Innocent”, “The Exiled” and “The Beloved” nearly wrote on auto-pilot—true! And they were fast (as I said, I was waiting to write them and once that switch was flicked, they just fell out onto the page.) But the process of writing the next three (in order of publication) “The Dressmaker”, “The Island House” and “Wild Wood” slowed down a lot. Maybe because I was no longer fitting them around the rest of my working life and they were my working life. Suddenly it seemed as if time was infinite. But it wasn’t and it isn’t, and there’s still, always, a panic towards the end. Ah, deadlines. I suppose they’re good for me like fibre and fruit.

RH: *laughs* Thanks for sharing your expertise with us today, Posie. I hope you feel sufficiently fortified because it’s time for your…

RH: What is your all-time favourite book/movie?

PG-E: The Song of Solomon; the language of the King James bible just rolls like the sea (and, right now, “H is for Hawk”)

RH: What are you reading now?

PG-E: “H is for Hawk”

RH: What is your favourite word?

PG-E: Today? Effulgent. Sounds like something rude and indulgent at the same time *smile*

RH: What is your worst writing habit?

PG-E: I have to have a blow heater going on my feet. That’s OK in Tasmania. It wasn’t in Sydney (and expensive! Warm feet, though, are my drug of choice)

RH: What is the best bit of advice you ever got (about writing or life in general)?

PG-E: Listen

RH: Great advice. Thanks for joining us today, Posie. Where can we find Wild Wood and your other works?

PG-E: Everywhere I hope *smile*  

Wild Wood was released April 1^st 2015 and is available from good bookstores everywhere!

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Do you have a favourite time in history? Or perhaps a favourite place to visit that’s rich in history you’d like to share? Use the comments box below to join the conversation or leave a message for Posie.

About the Author

Posie Graeme-Evans is the internationally bestselling author of five novels, including The Island House and The Dressmaker. She has worked in Australian film and television for the last thirty years as a director, commissioning executive and creator/producer of hundreds of hours of drama and children’s series, including the worldwide smash hit McLeod’s Daughters and Daytime Emmy nominated Hi-5. She lives in Tasmania with her husband and creative partner, Andrew Blaxland.

Visit her website at PosieGraemeEvans.com.

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You can find out more about Posie at her Simon & Schuster page

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