Interview with a Writer ~Rosemary Gemmell

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Today I am using the prompt ‘Interview someone who inspires you’ and I’m excited to have my very own writer Mum, Rosemary Gemmell, on my blog today. There was no better person I could think of to interview for this post as my mum has definitely been my biggest inspiration and support over the years, introducing me first to the world of books, then writing.

A talented and prolific writer since she put words to paper many years ago, here’s a wee insight into Rosemary’s world of writing.

When did you first start writing?

I first wrote poetry when a teenager in high school but I didn’t write anything else creative until after having my two children. Then I started experimenting with all kinds of writing, including academic essays as a mature student.

What do you write?

A little of everything (almost)! I mainly write short stories, articles, poetry, novels and novellas, with occasional children’s fiction.

What was your first published piece of work?

My very first published writing was a letter to a magazine, followed by several more. My first longer piece was an article in a Scottish Women’s Rural magazine. My first published short story was after winning the Short Story Competition at the Scottish Association of Writers conference, adjudicated by the then editor of My Weekly who bought the story for the magazine! My first novel, Dangerous Deceit, was published by a small Canadian company.

Why do you write?

I write partly to communicate and to entertain anyone who likes to read, as well as trying to make sense of all the ideas in my head that clamour for expression. When my imagination is stimulated, I explore it in fiction. But I also write because it’s fun, especially sending work out and waiting to see if anyone wants to buy or read it!

What or who helped you on your writing journey?

The single most useful and helpful decision I made for my writing was to join a local writing group at Erskine, near where I used to live. A wonderful writing tutor, Sheila Lewis (now sadly deceased), came to deliver a six-week session to get us started and ended up staying on as a valued member. She was probably my biggest influence, encouraging me all the way to publication. Lots of other writers have inspired me over the years, especially when attending the SAW conference and entering competitions. Strangely enough, my daughter (thank you, Victoria) also inspires me to be a better writer whenever I read her beautiful and often profound writing.

Share a writing low with us (if you feel comfortable doing so). What did you learn from this?

Although I was lucky to have my first novel published, it went through a few rejections first. The same with short stories – many published but many that just weren’t good enough. Now and then, it was discouraging but it taught me perseverance, to keep going and that the rejections were not personal; it was only a particular piece of writing that didn’t fit that time.

Share a writing high

Winning that short story competition with my first submitted story, then having it published in a well-known magazine, was one of the highlights of my writing career. It was followed by several other competition wins, including one where I was presented with a £1000 prize and a silver cup at a ceremony in Harrogate (Writing Magazine Love Story Winner – those were the days)! But nothing beats that initial confirmation that maybe my writing was good enough. The other main ‘high’ was getting my first full-length novel published as I wasn’t sure I could write longer fiction. Every success is still special.

Share some of your favourite lines from reviews/feedback of your work which boosted your confidence: (tell us what piece of work it’s about)

This was one of the many lovely comments for my first novel, the Regency-era Dangerous Deceit, which really made me want to continue writing books:

“I’ve just finished Dangerous Deceit and wanted to let you know how much I loved it. I feel incredibly guilty for racing through the pages when so much hard work went into them, but I couldn’t wait to see what happened. Feel a little sad now it’s over to be honest.”

And one from my most recent full-length Gothic suspense novel set in Scotland, HIGHCRAG:

“The characters and the plot blend seamlessly and, like Cate, the reader is unsure who to trust but in the ending all threads of the plot are skilfully brought together in a most satisfying way.”

Any tips for new writers?

First, read as much as you can. If you want to write short stories, read those published. Same with novels – we absorb the ‘how to’ while we read, much more than when reading ‘how to’ books (in my opinion). And read a variety of writing for inspiration.

Second, never give up writing and experimenting with different types and genres until you find the one that is just right for you. If your aim is to be published, keep sending work out – it maybe wasn’t the right piece at the right time to the right person.

And for all writers; any tips for keeping motivated?

Use any short snatches of time to get ideas and sentences down, without the pressure of having to sit and produce a set number of words, as they all add up. A good writing magazine is full of motivation and might help to get you going again. Reading can also help to motivate our own writing, and I find music good for stimulating ideas.

When do you write? Do you have a regular routine, or do you write in frantic bursts?

I’ve never really had a regular writing routine, although I do find my creativity is best in the mornings. I tend to write in short bursts and like going back to a piece to redraft it. I find it too boring to sit at the computer for long so I write shorter items in between novels!

Where do you write? (A dedicated room, or on-the-go)

Although I have a very pleasant room I call my study, with a desktop computer, I write far better with pen and paper when out and about, especially on trains and in cafés. The words seem to flow when writing, or scribbling, longhand and I can easily shut out distractions. I then redraft while typing it up at home. I wrote one of my first novellas almost entirely in longhand while out and about and enjoyed it far more than sitting at the home computer (until redrafting it!).

Any stand-out books you have read this year?

I loved Madeline Miller’s two fictionalized books about Greek mythological figures and their stories, Circe, and then Achilles. They inspired me to finally do an online course to learn Ancient Greek! I also read the wonderful complete Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, and my favourite LJ Ross DCI Ryan books. There were lots more in paperback and on kindle, of course.

Please share links to your website and where to buy your work so that people can find you

Website: https://www.rosemarygemmell.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosemary.gemmell.3/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosemaryGemmell

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosemary-Gemmell/e/B00U19Z4H4

Thanks to Rosemary for taking the time to answer my questions and for the lovely comment about my writing. I really enjoyed reading about your writing journey.

The Amazon link above will take you to all of Rosemary’s fabulous full length novels, novellas and short story collections. Also, if you are a People’s Friend fan then look out for their 2024 Annual in newsagents now where you will find one of Rosemary’s Christmas short stories

I’m hoping this ‘Interview with…’ spot might be something I continue to feature on my blog for future posts as I think it’s really interesting reading about fellow writers’ (and creatives) journeys and tips!

5 things I know for sure

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Pixabay image by pencilparker

Today’s title is my writing prompt and I’m answering in relation to writing (and reflecting on what this November challenge has taught me)

  1. Living a ‘creative life’ (mentioned in great books such as Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way) doesn’t mean creating life-changing masterpieces ~ It can be as simple as ensuring I stay connected to my creative brain in small ways: posting an unusual photo on Instagram, writing down a thought or opinion (in a notebook or in my notes on my phone), or writing short blog posts like this
  2. Even on days when I’m feeling like my head is foggy from ‘work brain’ I can still get decent words down on a page if I make myself sit down and write
  3. Writing a couple of terrible drafts is often enough to pave the way for a proper spark of inspiration that will then lead onto a much better piece of work
  4. Not sticking to one type of writing or project helps ‘creating’ become fun again
  5. I am much happier and life is more interesting if I’m producing something, anything, that involves getting words on a page

There will be days

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Pixabay photo by TemperateSage (Harmony Lawrence)

Today’s prompt is a combination of two: Write a commencement address for girls graduating high school/college and write a letter to your younger self

There will be days when you fail but when you pick yourself back up you will feel even more determined

There will be days when you feel everyone is moving faster. Don’t worry about speeding up to follow them. Slow down and take a deep breath and figure out what you really want. Here’s a hint- usually it is not what everyone tells you you should want. You will get there in your own time.

There will be days someone tells you you’re not good enough. Smile, walk away and enjoy showing them you totally are

There will be days you won’t feel confident in yourself and it might feel like everyone around you has it together. They don’t. They’re probably thinking the same about you. So be kind to each other.

There will be days you feel lonely. Sometimes because you are alone, but often it will be at a crowded party, or with someone who is bringing you down. Some day soon you will realise you are often your best company and the best times can be had alone, when you most definitely are not lonely.

There will be days you wish for things that never come and you cannot understand why. You won’t realise why until much later when you look around you and realise much better things arrived.

There will be days you feel lost and have no idea what you want. Enjoy the unknown directions. Whichever turning point at the crossroads you choose you can always come back again, then walk a different way. Each time you will take away something good, because you’ve been brave enough to move forward.

There will be days you win and accomplish great things, like today. Make sure you take proper time to celebrate and stay in the moment. You’ve done amazing things and your best achievements are yet to come.

You’ve got this.

Goals

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Image from Pixabay by Gerd Altmann

Today’s prompt: Share your goals and how you plan to achieve them

Write more ~ This challenge has been a good start because I want to write more in the wider sense, so I want to keep writing novels, but also shorter more creative pieces too. To achieve this I need to stop procrastinating and doubting myself

Send my work out ~ I think in a blog post much earlier in the year I said I was going to aim for 100 rejections and in order to do that I need to actually enter competitions and submit my work. So I need to start making a note of competitions I want to enter so I don’t miss the deadlines

Read about topics that interest me ~ I want to read wider than fiction. I do sometimes read non-fiction books but not enough and I think I should make time to research topics that interest me. For instance I watched a couple of documentaries about mediums/psychics this year, and one very famous medium posted on his instagram about having an arachnoid cyst in his brain and lots of people then shared stories in his comments about how they also had this cyst or family/friends did, and they also were able to predict things. I will gladly go down these kind of rabbit holes of research to find out more. I think it’s important for writers to be curious about strange things they come across as it can often be good inspiration for creative fiction!

Try new things ~ Maybe a cooking class, tarot reading class – I think I need to make myself a list of things I want to try…

Get fitter ~ I consciously tried to up my steps and was good at doing short dance workouts at the start of the year but I need to be much more disciplined. This gets much harder in Winter! Help me… (how do you keep motivated?)

Connect with old friends~ I feel like I’m still catching up a bit from those ‘lost years of lockdowns.’ Old friends if you are reading this give me a nudge, I do want to have that catch up and let’s get it sorted!

Make art ~ I’ve got this amazing big art kit which was a Christmas present from last year that I have hardly used and art reels of amazing artists demonstrating drawing/painting activities keep popping up on my Instgram and it is making me want to experiment. So maybe I should watch more reels to get me inspired and on my way

Travel ~ Last month was the first time I had been on a plane since 2019 and it was so great being abroad again. There’s a list of places I want to fly to and that will be a definite goal for next year. Looking up flights already…

I think that’s enough for now …. what are your goals??

Dear Winter

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Today’s prompt: write a post celebrating Winter. I do moan about Winter if we’re cursed with relentless rain and hate it when the alarm goes off in the morning for work with the recurring thought it can’t possibly be time to get up, as it’s still the middle of the night, clearly… But this post has reminded me of the more lovely aspects too. (Photos above are mine from the trip I mention below) So here we go…

Dear Winter,

One of my most beautiful memories of you was during a visit to Arran in 2016, where days awoke with spectacular sunsets, and ended with marshmallow pink skies. You scattered frost across gravestones, accentuating the ethereal beauty of carved forgotten names, the silence more acute amongst the sleeping trees.

Mist curling around houses and hillsides added a sense of the dramatic to an already beautiful landscape. The standing stones were bathed in a late afternoon orange light that my lens never could quite capture. I can still feel the peace and beauty you radiated on every stop we made around the Island.

Even on your darkest, most stormy days, I can still love you from afar. You make me appreciate the warm glow of light and indoor comforts found under warm blankets, wooly socks and jumpers, and when I cradle a hot mug between my hands I burrow down further into the warmth as I listen to your howls outside whipping the last of the autumn leaves away.

The trees become spindles stretching up to the sky, pointing out your beauty when you bestow the skies with blue depths only you can master, casting a magic hue across the streets before the night turns to black, and then sprinkles of stars explode, again and again, the longer I look.

You smell like cinnamon and hot chocolate and fresh pine and German sausages (from the Christmas Fayre I walk past every day I exit the subway station). You taste of soup, turkey, pigs in blankets, Brussel sprouts, roasted potatoes, velvety chocolate, and my mum’s homemade trifle. You feel like love and comfort and give me permission to watch absolute cheesy sentimental nonsense and enjoy it.

You are wild and dangerous, and dark and beautiful… no wonder you make it difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

Maybe this time

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Our White Agate wedding oathing stone/crystal (photo by Heyes Images)

When thinking over today’s prompt: write about an hour that changed my life, the temptation was to try to think of a big dramatic event, but when I was thinking about hours that have changed my life significantly they’ve not happened in isolation, and most often have occurred because I’ve been brave enough to put myself out there, go after new opportunities and remain open-minded and curious.

There have been significant hours where I’ve filled out important course applications, important job applications, taken a deep breath and sent my writing out into the world to be read…

Signed up for a dating site again, putting myself out there, hoping, maybe this time…

And a message that popped up from that dating site then led to an hour which did change my life in a very pleasant, unexpected way. When I met my now husband.

And thinking back I had no idea I was walking towards my last first date.

And the man running down the street towards me, ten minutes late, was actually perfectly on time, meeting me when I felt in the right place and ready for him.

That first hour we spent time getting to know each other, checking we were who we hoped, discovering if we matched up to the online dating persona (or in my husband’s case surpassing it seeing as he had written in his profile he had a peg leg and sold golf balls at the Barras). I remember the detail of the day – it was late October and unnaturally warm and I remember the detail of him… in those first couple of minutes the flash of first impressions when the sun shone in his eyes, reflecting shades of green and his smile was a mix of confidence and youthful energy and there was always a sense of calm, and later laughter.

Our relationship unfolded so naturally from that initial hour onwards that I never paused to think about the significance of that first meeting, of where it might go, because it just….went…flowed naturally without drama.

And I still remember that spark of anticipation when he sent me a message after we met to tell me he got a parking ticket, but I was totally worth it.

And then I definitely thought, maybe this time…

Public speaking

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Me, several years ago adjudicating and delivering my workshop at the Scottish Association of Writers conference

Today’s prompt is ‘Write about a time you had to speak to a large crowd’ And here’s a post about not just one time, but a few times…

When I was younger there were times when I really hated the thought of public speaking, and other occasions where I quite enjoyed it. This is sometimes the contradiction of being me- I often think I am a bit of a social introvert. Depending on circumstances you can get the ‘quiet’ me, or the ‘confident, communicative me’. (Often if there are very loud folk dominating the room you’ll only get to meet the ‘quiet me’, especially if you start making comments about how ‘I need to come out of my shell.’ No, actually, you need to go back in your shell).

I can think of two different occasions, a year apart in school in English where I had to do the ‘oral presentation’ part of the curriculum and the first time I was so nervous I barely looked up; the second time I was raring to go and had maps and diagrams up on the board. That was the first time I think I understood how to properly ‘command’ an audience.

Fast forward a few years to University and for most of my degree in Media and Communication I hated delivering presentations to my seminar groups. Then in my last year I got to deliver a presentation on a topic I had really researched and was enthused by – Post Modernity (and I got to talk about Andy Warhol as part of this). It was by far the best presentation I had delivered and some people came up at the end to tell me it was the first time they understood what that module was actually about. One woman ( who I didn’t really know that well as we had joint classes sometimes with social science students) was kind enough to say she was going to remember my name as she was positive I would be famous one day. (Still waiting, ha!). ‘First year me’ would have been shocked if I tried to reassure her this moment would happen and that I would get there in the end.

Fast forward another few years and I was back at University again, this time studying a post graduate one year course, training to become a careers adviser (my current day job). This was a very intense, full-on course which I loved. There was no time to feel shy or nervous; we all got thrown right in with client contact, even being filmed interviewing pupils (Uni got permission of course) and we then had to watch the recordings (and analyse them!!) together with our small crit groups so we could hone our practice. Another big part of the course was to get assessed delivering group work to classes in schools. During my first few years as a careers adviser I also had to deliver career talks to full assemblies, and more recently deliver a presentation to a packed room of parents.

Little did I know during my training and early years in the job how useful this experience was going to be for my other ‘career’. When you write for hours in isolation, often not speaking to anyone, (when I lived alone), you kind of forget what can happen when your work then gets published and your readers want to actually interact with you. I felt very fortunate when my first book was published to be invited to deliver creative writing workshops and author talks in both schools and in the community.

Talking to large groups of teenagers can be very unpredictable. You have to learn to ‘read the room’ pretty quickly, and at any group talk/session prepare for IT to fail. This has happened to me several times. One of my biggest author talks was to a full assembly hall of second years and the school IT system died just as they walked into the hall (so cue no flashy powerpoint presentation from me). The librarian who organised it was panicked, then relieved when I told her it was fine, I always had a back-up plan. (a careers adviser 101 rule). Another time the school IT systems decided to do updates on the library computer system.

I’ve had lots of great experiences talking to groups as part of my writing life. One of my favourite events was when I got to speak at a ‘Read to Succeed’ evening – this was to both young people and adults at a school and I was asked to tell them about the part reading played in me becoming a writer. So I got to speak from the heart and talk about two of my passions in life – reading and writing – and it was really one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had. One of the girls who attended that night found one of my author social media pages and sent me a message to tell me I had inspired her to start reading again, and maybe even try writing, and it was one of the best messages I’ve ever received in my writing life.

Another favourite experience was returning to the Scottish Association of Writers conference to deliver my adjudication for a competition I had been asked to judge (and deliver a creative workshop). I attended my first conference when I was 17 and returned over the years, winning my first ever writing competition there. (and winning meant reading your story in front of the packed conference which was a very scary moment at the time!). It meant a lot to return to the conference as an adjudicator and felt like a real ‘full circle’ moment.

The night that really topped all experiences of talking to a large group was launch night for ‘Follow Me’ at Waterstones. As any writer knows there are a lot of ups and downs in the writing life, and that night was definitely up there with one of my most memorable nights – mainly because it was so unique to have some many people I loved from so many walks of my life in the one room together, cheering me on as one of my ultimate dreams became a reality. I always joke that no matter what happens in my writing future, at least I have that night to remember!

And yes, I do still get scared and nervous when I speak to large crowds, but now I think I have learned to develop a ‘performance’ persona where I know I can get through it and actually enjoy the experience. And there’s nothing quite like the buzz of feeling like you have made a connection with the audience in some small way.

The little trips

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Home today after a night away in Stirling (and back on my laptop for this post, so hopefully the photos might not look so squashed together!). When looking through my prompts I landed on: ‘Write about the best trip you’ve ever taken’ and I decided to put a spin on this. I’ve been lucky enough to travel abroad to some spectacular places, and maybe I will still do a post about one of those holidays, but some of my favourite trips are ones that have become a bit of a tradition – small places not too far from home which have become favourite haunts. Stirling is a city my husband and I have visited a number of times over the years and we have a favourite B&B and a couple of favourite restaurants we go to now. We enjoy dropping in on the lovely indie bookshop/cafe the Book Nook., and on this trip we discovered a new shop, called Made in Stirling which was filled with amazing art products from local artists.

Another tradition is to drop in to Tir na NOg on the way home, which I call my ‘happy place’. I took some photos (above) but they don’t do it justice. I love the little shops here bursting with magical trinkets; candles, crystals, cute ornaments, gorgeous jewellery, cards and so on. The courtyard is always lit up which looks particularly nice in the darker, autumn months. Today it was looking quite festive, with colourful lights. The Soup Dragon cafe serves amazing food. We had too big a breakfast for lunch today, but I managed one of their very tasty brownies. As I was sitting in the courtyard I began to daydream about how great it would be to open a bookshop/cafe that captured the spirit of both The Book Nook, and Tir na NOg…. if anyone with any business sense wants to get in touch…

The best thing about the trip this weekend was we didn’t book it until the last minute and the spontaneity added to the fun.

Here’s to the next little trip….

Through a window

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Today’s prompt: look out a window; what do you see? I’m on an impromptu trip to Stirling and thought I should really give myself a break from today’s post but snapped a couple of photos out the car window on the way here, then added in the View from my window at the B&B and each one made me think of how fast time passes the older you get, and how conscious you become of wanting to hold onto good moments and want them to last forever. I think everything looks quite beautiful in Autumn, even in the rain, with a dusting of vibrant orange leaves holding onto some of the colour of summer before we move into Winter.

But then even in Winter when the trees are bare, and daylight is rare, the season can surprise us with other moments of beauty when the frost sparkles on the ground.

And that change of season is a good metaphor for life I think. Often change arrives when we maybe don’t feel quite ready for it, but when new moments arrive they can take us by surprise and make us view things from a completely different perspective.

ps this post is arriving from my phone after pre-dinner drinks so apologies for any weird formatting/typos

Finding Beauty

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Painting by Rory Farquhar Thomson

Today’s prompt: Take a notebook to a gallery or museum to write about something you see there

This afternoon after meeting a friend for lunch in my old hometown of Paisley, I took a wander round the Big Art Show which is a fantastic exhibition run by Outspoken Arts Scotland & Art Paisley Ltd. Hundreds of artists (both professional and amateur), submit their work to be exhibited within the Art Department in the Paisley Shopping Centre. It’s a great way to transform empty units within the centre into a creative hub of talent.

I didn’t have long to browse this afternoon before it shut, so I didn’t sit down with a notebook to write when I was there, but there were a couple of pieces that made me think fondly of the beauty that’s often forgotten in this town; a beauty I always tried to appreciate (and capture in photos) when I lived there.

The painting at the top of my post is titled Paisley Abbey in snowstorm by Rory Farquhar Thomson (This image of the painting is a screenshot from the online gallery of the Big Art Show which you can view here. It displays all of the stunning artwork that was on show in the exhibition.)

I love the atmosphere of this painting and the dream-like, ghostly quality that the artist has created with his brushstrokes. It makes the iconic building look as if it is shrouded in mystery. Back in 2013 when I was living in Paisley I wrote a post on my old blog where I had taken 10 photos and written about the places within the town. The photo below is one I took inside the Abbey. It’s such a beautiful building and I have great memories of attending the Abbey during a Medieval festival, a history of the Witches re-enactment, a friend’s graduation service, art fairs, as well as just having a wander around the beautiful building with friends and browsing the little gift shop.

The day after I got married I dropped off our legal paperwork at the Paisley registry office, and on my walk past the Abbey the sun was reflecting off the windows and I remember feeling this sense of a past part of my life smiling down on me as I walked into a new chapter.

My photo of Paisley Abbey

Another image below from the exhibition is by my artist and designer friend Rebecca Johnstone (a.k.a Dainty Dora. You can find some Paisley inspired prints at her online shop here ) Rebecca pairs her unique and eye-catching patterns with photographic imagery of iconic and familiar scenes around Paisley town centre. I love the vibrancy of the layers. This particular image won the ‘Love Local, Love Paisley’ prize at the exhibition, and it’s great to see the town coming alive through a different kind of lens.

Photographic Print – Rebecca Johnstone

I’ve been to some memorable events in the Town Hall over the years too, such as gigs and a beer festival (even although I don’t like beer that much – sampling many a variety confirmed this that day!). The Town Hall has just undergone a massive transformation and I’m hoping this might mean it will host some interesting future events

When I think back to the variety of unique events, tours, art classes, shows and buildings I have visited across Paisley it will always feel like a special place to me which inspires my creativity.