Author Showcase - Phlippa Hawley
08th August 2022
This month I'm turning the blog over to five different authors who write in genres different from the next. Each Monday, you'll read a Q&A I did with them about their latest book and their writing process. You'll also see a link to their book should you wish you purchase it.
The author and I would love you to share the blog on your own social channels and PLEASE tag us in. For everyone who shares and tags us both and includes my site name www.loveofbooks.co.uk, I'll send you a little 'thank you' gift, wherever you are in the world*.
*postal address will be required but, in line with UK GDPR regs, not kept. One gift per household.
Socials: Twitter: @sjbwrites @Philippa_Hawley
Facebook: For The Love of Books or Sarah Banham or Philippa Hawley
Linked In: Sarah Banham BA (Hons)
Instagram: @s.j.banham @apwivenhoe
This week, the blog is with Philippa Hawley, author of To Be Frank.
1. Why did Frank inspire you?
I wanted to create a new character who would challenge and add substance to the characters I’d become very fond of in my novel ‘Lawn House Blues’. I realised I wasn’t quite ready to let them go but needed to give them some extra intrigue and action in what became a family saga.
I’d already had an idea about an unusual will, after someone I knew was affected by an unusual inheritance conundrum in their family. When I talked to other friends about the subject of odd wills, I was amazed at how many families have had to negotiate the outcomes of such issues and so I decided to put that into Frank’s story. I hasten to add that Frank’s story is his own and not that of any of my friends! Incidentally you don’t have to have read ‘Lawn House Blues’ to enjoy ‘To Be Frank’.
2. Why later life love?
Why not? The character of Frank needed a better social and a love life as his confidence developed within the story. He started off as a lonely soul but had a lot of love to give with his increasing self-esteem. Perhaps I wanted to show that people never stop growing, learning and loving and that hope for the future can continue at any age. As a writer in my 60s, it seemed right to find an interesting partner for Frank to team up with to add a bit of spark to the story, although inevitably they had ups and downs along the way.
3. Tell me about your daily writing process?
I try to write regularly, maybe not every day, but realistically 4-5 days most weeks. It may be simply to tweak a short story I’m working on (sometime a poem) or to jot ideas for future stories. My writing group sets a prompt for a short story on a monthly basis and I am ridiculously conscientious about keeping to the deadline for online submission to the group, after which we all reply with comments on each other’s work, often encouraging submissions to competitions.
If I’m in the middle of writing a novel and on a creative roll I will write daily in blocks of 2 or 3 hours at a time. I usually do my chores, address emails and attend to other business in the mornings and then write in my study after lunch. I find it hard to write anywhere else. My study is upstairs in the house I share with my husband but this room is my space alone. From the side window of my room I have a wonderful view of our garden and the trees beyond, which I find both comfortable and inspiring.
I’ve also done NaNoWriMo twice, and FlashWriMo once, and have loved the drive of doing that, but maybe not every year. It can be a good way to kick start a novel.
4. Experiences of publishing independently or with a publishing house?
My first three books were self-published, admittedly with the support of designers and professionals to help format. I paid for editing, cover design, formatting and printing which all added up and planned my own book launches alongside Wivenhoe Bookshop. I was a real beginner with the first novels, ‘There’s No Sea in Salford’ in 2013, and ‘How They Met Themselves’ 18 months later. I learned a great deal over the following years – mainly not to rush, and also to concentrate more on structure and point of view and to edit until you could edit no more.
I enjoyed the more professional approach of working with Spiffing Covers to produce my third book ‘Lawn House Blues’. The clarity of their payment per item of service procedure worked well for me and in the end I paid a little more for a more professional product.
The problem with self-publishing was the lack of help with ongoing publicity and marketing. I always wanted to support, and have the support of, indie bookshops but found it hard to get my books out to them if they were not situated locally. It was hard to extend the sales market beyond just family and friends. Inevitably I had to rely on Amazon to maintain some ticking over of sales. As quite a private person it was hard to get reviews onto Amazon and to make the most of social media, which seems to be another requirement for sales.
I tried to get an agent for Lawn House Blues and To Be Frank, hoping to be able to access a traditional publishing route. It was hard work to send out endless submissions, each with a personalised letter and different requirements. The rejection notes were mostly kind though a few didn’t even bother to reply which seemed rude at the time, even though I understood how great the competition was and how busy agents are.
Then a writing friend pointed out some of the perhaps smaller or hybrid publishing houses who now accept unsolicited submissions. These are not part of the vanity publishing scene who demand large sums of money to publish your book, they offer a traditional contract with royalties if your manuscript is accepted. It is therefore much less costly but one does lose a little bit of control when it comes to style and timing of publication for instance.
Blossom Spring Publishing published To Be Frank and I am pleased with the outcome. They do however do their printing and online sales via Amazon so perhaps that’s not so very different after all. As for marketing and publicity, BSP have helped somewhat with a lot of social media posts but I’m not sure that’s made much different in sales yet – it’s early days and one still has to do a lot of self-publicity eg. press releases, blogs, authors' talks, encouraging people to do reviews and doing social media posts oneself etc which isn’t always easy. I wonder how different it would be with an agent and a full-blown publishing house behind you?
5. Which character gave you the most challenges?
Most of the characters developed themselves as I went along. It was at times difficult to maintain continuity of personality in some of the characters of Lawn House Blues who popped up again. I think Tricia was the hardest and the most complex, with her mental health needs and complex personality, but my editor seemed to want her presence to be built up (either that or cut out completely). Feeding her back story in for those who hadn’t met her before was tricky but I hope she became an intriguing addition to the tale. Who knows she might get a book to herself one day but no promises!
6. Which character would you most like to meet?
It has to be Mirabelle. I tried to make her sound quirky and interesting, funny and clever. I think she’d make a great friend and with her Welsh connections she could take me on lovely trips to Wales where she could paint and I could enjoy the scenery and write.
Check out Philippa’s book. Click this link to see Philippa's book. Don't forget to share it, tagging in Philippa, me, and a link to this site to earn your free gift.
The author and I would love you to share the blog on your own social channels and PLEASE tag us in. For everyone who shares and tags us both and includes my site name www.loveofbooks.co.uk, I'll send you a little 'thank you' gift, wherever you are in the world*.
*postal address will be required but, in line with UK GDPR regs, not kept. One gift per household.
Socials: Twitter: @sjbwrites @Philippa_Hawley
Facebook: For The Love of Books or Sarah Banham or Philippa Hawley
Linked In: Sarah Banham BA (Hons)
Instagram: @s.j.banham @apwivenhoe
This week, the blog is with Philippa Hawley, author of To Be Frank.
1. Why did Frank inspire you?
I wanted to create a new character who would challenge and add substance to the characters I’d become very fond of in my novel ‘Lawn House Blues’. I realised I wasn’t quite ready to let them go but needed to give them some extra intrigue and action in what became a family saga.
I’d already had an idea about an unusual will, after someone I knew was affected by an unusual inheritance conundrum in their family. When I talked to other friends about the subject of odd wills, I was amazed at how many families have had to negotiate the outcomes of such issues and so I decided to put that into Frank’s story. I hasten to add that Frank’s story is his own and not that of any of my friends! Incidentally you don’t have to have read ‘Lawn House Blues’ to enjoy ‘To Be Frank’.
2. Why later life love?
Why not? The character of Frank needed a better social and a love life as his confidence developed within the story. He started off as a lonely soul but had a lot of love to give with his increasing self-esteem. Perhaps I wanted to show that people never stop growing, learning and loving and that hope for the future can continue at any age. As a writer in my 60s, it seemed right to find an interesting partner for Frank to team up with to add a bit of spark to the story, although inevitably they had ups and downs along the way.
3. Tell me about your daily writing process?
I try to write regularly, maybe not every day, but realistically 4-5 days most weeks. It may be simply to tweak a short story I’m working on (sometime a poem) or to jot ideas for future stories. My writing group sets a prompt for a short story on a monthly basis and I am ridiculously conscientious about keeping to the deadline for online submission to the group, after which we all reply with comments on each other’s work, often encouraging submissions to competitions.
If I’m in the middle of writing a novel and on a creative roll I will write daily in blocks of 2 or 3 hours at a time. I usually do my chores, address emails and attend to other business in the mornings and then write in my study after lunch. I find it hard to write anywhere else. My study is upstairs in the house I share with my husband but this room is my space alone. From the side window of my room I have a wonderful view of our garden and the trees beyond, which I find both comfortable and inspiring.
I’ve also done NaNoWriMo twice, and FlashWriMo once, and have loved the drive of doing that, but maybe not every year. It can be a good way to kick start a novel.
4. Experiences of publishing independently or with a publishing house?
My first three books were self-published, admittedly with the support of designers and professionals to help format. I paid for editing, cover design, formatting and printing which all added up and planned my own book launches alongside Wivenhoe Bookshop. I was a real beginner with the first novels, ‘There’s No Sea in Salford’ in 2013, and ‘How They Met Themselves’ 18 months later. I learned a great deal over the following years – mainly not to rush, and also to concentrate more on structure and point of view and to edit until you could edit no more.
I enjoyed the more professional approach of working with Spiffing Covers to produce my third book ‘Lawn House Blues’. The clarity of their payment per item of service procedure worked well for me and in the end I paid a little more for a more professional product.
The problem with self-publishing was the lack of help with ongoing publicity and marketing. I always wanted to support, and have the support of, indie bookshops but found it hard to get my books out to them if they were not situated locally. It was hard to extend the sales market beyond just family and friends. Inevitably I had to rely on Amazon to maintain some ticking over of sales. As quite a private person it was hard to get reviews onto Amazon and to make the most of social media, which seems to be another requirement for sales.
I tried to get an agent for Lawn House Blues and To Be Frank, hoping to be able to access a traditional publishing route. It was hard work to send out endless submissions, each with a personalised letter and different requirements. The rejection notes were mostly kind though a few didn’t even bother to reply which seemed rude at the time, even though I understood how great the competition was and how busy agents are.
Then a writing friend pointed out some of the perhaps smaller or hybrid publishing houses who now accept unsolicited submissions. These are not part of the vanity publishing scene who demand large sums of money to publish your book, they offer a traditional contract with royalties if your manuscript is accepted. It is therefore much less costly but one does lose a little bit of control when it comes to style and timing of publication for instance.
Blossom Spring Publishing published To Be Frank and I am pleased with the outcome. They do however do their printing and online sales via Amazon so perhaps that’s not so very different after all. As for marketing and publicity, BSP have helped somewhat with a lot of social media posts but I’m not sure that’s made much different in sales yet – it’s early days and one still has to do a lot of self-publicity eg. press releases, blogs, authors' talks, encouraging people to do reviews and doing social media posts oneself etc which isn’t always easy. I wonder how different it would be with an agent and a full-blown publishing house behind you?
5. Which character gave you the most challenges?
Most of the characters developed themselves as I went along. It was at times difficult to maintain continuity of personality in some of the characters of Lawn House Blues who popped up again. I think Tricia was the hardest and the most complex, with her mental health needs and complex personality, but my editor seemed to want her presence to be built up (either that or cut out completely). Feeding her back story in for those who hadn’t met her before was tricky but I hope she became an intriguing addition to the tale. Who knows she might get a book to herself one day but no promises!
6. Which character would you most like to meet?
It has to be Mirabelle. I tried to make her sound quirky and interesting, funny and clever. I think she’d make a great friend and with her Welsh connections she could take me on lovely trips to Wales where she could paint and I could enjoy the scenery and write.
Check out Philippa’s book. Click this link to see Philippa's book. Don't forget to share it, tagging in Philippa, me, and a link to this site to earn your free gift.