Tell us about yourself – where do you live and what do you do when you’re not writing?
Hi Clare, thank you for inviting me onto your blog. I live in the Scottish borders – a beautiful and much under-valued part of the country, but I was brought up in Ulster at the height of the Troubles, so my teenage years were challenging, to say the least. When I’m not writing I divide my time helping to run various church and community related activities – for example, Kids’Clubs and Adult Christianity Explored courses.
Can you give us a brief picture of your personal journey as a writer?
I wrote short stories for more years than I’d like to admit to, with some success, 3000 words becoming my comfort zone. However, personal circumstances changed and I found myself with both time and emotional space and so wrote my first novel: Turn of the Tide. It was mainstream published in 2012 and gained me the Beryl Bainbridge Best First Time Author Award. Two further novels in that series have followed – A House Divided (2015) – longlisted for the Historical Novel Society New Novel Award 2016 and the newly released By Sword and Storm.
In between I published a collection of short stories, including some which had won or been placed in competitions and the first of a two-book set of fictionalised biography based on the life of Martin Luther’s wife. Katharina: Deliverance (2017) was second in the Historical Novel Society New Novel Award 2018. I am currently working on the sequel.
How do you feed your creative engine? Where do you look, or what do you do, to keep the inspiration flowing?
Eat lots of chocolate! Seriously, though, once I’m writing I don’t have a problem remaining inspired.
Mark Twain said “Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.” – How much of your own fiction is based on truth?
My historical fiction is firmly grounded in fact. For each of the Scottish books I chose a time frame based on historic events that I wanted to include and built the story around them. Katharina was more challenging, as she is an elusive and shadowy figure, but I was very conscious of remaining true to what was known about her and ensuring that I didn’t distort any known facts.
Tell us about your latest book and why we should all buy it?
By Sword and Storm is set in the years 1598 – 1600 and although it can be read as a standalone, it is the third in a series charting the fortunes of a fictional family caught up in an historic feud between the Cunninghames and the Montgomeries, later dubbed the Montagues and Capulets of Ayrshire. For those who like their back story – the first in the series – Turn of the Tide is currently on an Amazon UK deal at 99p.
If you could wave a magic wand and change something about your writing career what would it be?
I’d wind back the clock and start sooner!
What comes first – location, plot, characters?
Character for sure – location and plot are important, but if the characters don’t grab a reader there’s little point in reading on.
Tell me about your writing day. Do you work to a routine? Do you have a dedicated space to write in? Endless cups of coffee or tea?
On an ideal day I will get up c 6.00 – 6.30 am and look at emails / social media etc before breakfast. Then after breakfast I will do my Bible ‘quiet time’ and hopefully start to write, edit or research – whatever the task is for the day by c 9.30 am. I write best in the morning, so other tasks – shopping, visiting, church activities, are left for the afternoon.
Anthony Burgess once said “Literature is all, or mostly, about sex”. How true is that of your books?
It’s not. That’s not to say there isn’t sexual tension between some characters, and I don’t avoid the issue, but I have made a conscious choice not to include explicit sex in any of my books – and that is a reflection of my personal Christian faith, but I’m also much more interested in the wider aspect of relationship between my characters, rather than the purely physical.
What has been the hardest thing for you to overcome in becoming an author?
My own procrastination! I’m constantly striving to be more disciplined.
If you could pick one of your own characters to spend some time with, who would it be and why?
Definitely Katharina von Bora. Researching her has been challenging and inspiring in equal measure. The more I have tried to get ‘under her skin’ and involve myself in her life and times the greater my admiration for her has grown. I think we’d get on.
What are you working on now – or next?
The second half of Katharina’s story – charting her life from the point of her marriage up to her death. I hope I do her justice.
To find out more about Margaret and her books, have a look at her website
And her award-winning novel The Turn of the Tide is currently available on Amazon for only 99p (UK only). You’ll find all her books on her Amazon page
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