Author Q & A for Frances Garrood

Q- How has your career in nursing and counselling influenced your writing?

A – Inevitably it has had an influence, in that my experiences have deepened my understanding of people and their problems. My work with Relate especially increased my interest in relationships, and both Dead Ernest and my second novel draw on my experience in counselling victims of abuse.

Q – What authors have you loved and been inspired by as a child and as an adult?

A – As I child, I was horse mad, so Black Beauty was a favourite; also, Little Women and its sequels, and What Katy Did. I was (and still am) a voracious reader, so there are many more. Now, I think my favourite author is Anthony Trollope, and my all time favourite novel is Middlemarch, but more modern novelists include Anne Tyler, Margaret Forster and Helen Dunmore. My most recent great read is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, the brilliant debut novel from Gail Honeyman. I would love to have written that!

Q – If you woke up tomorrow with a supernatural power of your choice, what would it be, and why?

A – I would love to fly! I fly in my dreams, and it’s the most wonderful feeling. I think I must have flown in a previous life, for I know just how it feels.

Q – If we were to interview your mother, what might she say to us if we asked her what you were like as a child?

A – That’s a difficult one. My mother was a true eccentric, and she put up with a lot. I think I was quite naughty, and not always an easy child. She would have said that she wished I didn’t keep so many animals (at one stage, I had about 40 mice, and they escaped and invaded the house, interbreeding with the house mice. My poor parents spent hours trying to trap with them with pieces of cheese and a sieve). I think she would have acknowledged that I was was helpful – I had to be, as her health was poor and I had a much younger brother and a disabled sister.

Q – What secret talent do you have that others may not know about? (me personally… I can do a cartwheel off of my diving board lol)

A – I can sing a rather extraordinary song about a pig, complete with sound effects. My grandchildren love it, but I never perform it for anyone else!

Q – What is your favorite thing about meeting fans of your work?

A – While it’s always lovely to meet people who have enjoyed my books, it’s also interesting to find out more about them; who they are, what they do, etc. It’s a two way thing!

Q – What do you consider to be your BEST life accomplishment?

A – I’m afraid, I have to be boring and say, my four kids. I love the fact that they are all such basically good, caring people, and they make me and each other laugh. I also love that they are all so close, and see each other whenever they can. I think the death of their father (the youngest was only eleven) made them even closer.

Q – Wine or Beer, Dark chocolate or milk chocolate, spicy or mild, tropical or blustery, sun worshiper or sunscreen advocator?

A – Red wine, but I love my pint of beer in the pub on Sundays! Probably milk chocolate. Spicy and mild; just one type of food would be boring. Tropical (but that’s probably because as I write this, it’s blowing a gale outside). Sun worshiper, but with sunscreen.

Q – Can you give your fans a little hint about what you are working on now and what we can expect from you in the future?

A – I never plan books – I just start them, and see what happens. I’m currently playing with two, one of which is a sequel to Women Behaving Badly, which comes out later this year. Its working title is Walking Naked Through Jelly. Make of that what you will! As for the future – who knows? As I said, I’m not a planner (though I often wish that I were).

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to participate! We look forward to releasing this and the review of Dead Ernest!

~ Two Girls and a Book Obsession

Thank you very much for inviting me.

~ Frances Garrood

FOR A REVIEW OF “Dead Ernest”