In today’s guest post, I have the great pleasure of welcoming novelist Margaret Kaine to Marcia’s Book Talk. Margaret, author of romance novels A GIRL OF HER TIME, FRIENDS AND FAMILIES, DANGEROUS DECISIONS, RING OF CLAY, RIBBON OF MOONLIGHT, and ROSES FOR REBECCA, amongst her works, answers questions about her books, and discusses her thoughts on writing. Without any further ado, I will now allow Margaret to elaborate upon the details…
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Q: For how long have you been writing?
A: About 25 years, and I bless the urge I had to become a storyteller. Entering the publishing world has enriched my life in so many ways. I’ve met so many fascinating people and when the writing itself is going well, there’s no buzz quite like it.
FRIENDS & FAMILIES by Margaret Kaine
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Q: What inspired you to write your latest book?
A: Having written seven regional sagas set in the mid-1900’s I felt an urge to try something different, more cosmopolitan, to introduce glamour and intrigue. The Edwardian era has always held a fascination for me, and I loved doing the research for Dangerous Decisions, describing the elegant fashions, the amazing number of courses served at dinner parties, and of course the beautiful great houses. The aristocracy certainly knew how to live in style. But supporting that lifestyle would be a veritable army of servants, domestic service then being the main employment. Sadly, many of the aristocracy and landowners exploited those who worked for them but there were also, as in Dangerous Decisions, those more enlightened.
DANGEROUS DECISIONS by Margaret Kaine
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Q: What do you especially love about writing?
A: I never cease to be amazed how a story can grow and characters develop purely out of my imagination. I don’t plot my novels, I like the story to be a journey of discovery for me in the same way that it is for my readers. The ability to create another world is a precious gift that I only wish I had discovered earlier in my life.
ROSES FOR REBECCA by Margaret Kaine
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Q: Which of your books is your favorite, and why?
A: I suppose one’s debut novel must always occupy a special place in your heart. Ring of Clay was begun just after I lost my mother. The major character of Rose is based on her and I found this helped me during that first year of bereavement. I was born and educated in Stoke-on-Trent known also as the Potteries, where Ring of Clay and several other of my books are set, and for me every chapter is full of nostalgia. This was the novel that I nicknamed ‘boomerang’ because it was rejected so often. Yet once published, it went on to win the Romantic Novelists Association New Writer’s Award in 2000 and the Society of Authors’ Sagittarius Prize in 2002. I am a Taurus and we are sometimes called stubborn. I prefer the word determined, and it was my strong belief in this novel that eventually brought its outstanding success.
RING OF CLAY by Margaret Kaine
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Q: Who are your favorite authors?
A: My favourite reads seem to be governed by different phases of my life. As a young girl, it had to be Louisa M Alcott because ‘Little Women’ had such an influence on me, that I not only named my daughter after Jo March, but my first heroine was called Beth. Later, I loved Norah Lofts, Anya Seaton, Susan Howatch, Catherine Cookson and the Jilly Cooper early novels. I’m an eclectic reader and now try to keep up with contemporary writers, constantly impressed by the wealth of new writing talent out there.
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Q: Do you have any upcoming releases which you would like to tell readers about?
A: I have just completed another Edwardian novel, which begins with a young girl incarcerated in a workhouse since the death of her mother. When a wealthy visitor to the institution offers her employment as a scullery maid, neither of them realise just how their lives will become entwined. A deeply enjoyable book to write and I hope to read, my proposed title is The Black Silk Purse, but it is early days yet and I can only hope that the publisher won’t wish to change it!
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Q: Will you be writing any shorter works in the future?
A: I don’t have any plans at present for a novella, although I’m beginning to realise that they are very popular as ebooks. So I might consider one. I still write the occasional magazine short story – which is how I began writing and learned its craft.
A GIRL OF HER TIME by Margaret Kaine
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Q: What do you like to do in your spare time to unwind?
A: To read, including poetry. I also enjoy playing chess especially with music softly playing and a glass of wine at hand. I try to socialise otherwise writing can be a lonely profession, have lots of ‘writing friends’, walk whenever possible (I’m afraid I’ve never been any good at sport), and love to spend time with my husband and family. We are lucky enough to have a son, a daughter and two wonderful grandchildren.
RIBBON OF MOONLIGHT by Margaret Kaine
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Q: Do you have any favorite TV shows, either from the past, or currently on the air?
A: Presently we have an inspiring series, ‘Call The Midwife’, and also the entertaining ‘Mr Selfridge’. I also find relaxing and uplifting the Andre Rieu Concerts on Sky Arts. And then of course I was totally absorbed in ‘Downton Abbey’.
I’ve watched the soap, ‘Coronation Street’ from its first episode in 1960. The original ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ was a great favourite and the mesmerising ‘House of Eliot’. So it would seem that I was fated to eventually write about the Edwardian era!
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Margaret Kaine Links
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