And here we go, a Happy Friday to you all!
I hope this last week has been kind to you all and you've enjoyed everything you've taken part in or have achieved! Not much to report from Eva's world, I'm afraid! Oh, I had a GP appointment yesterday and I'm finally being referred to the Pain Clinic as various meds they've tried me on haven't worked or had horrendous side-effects. Today, I'm seeing a Chiropractor at 12 noon, but enough about that! I'm not one to wallow in self-pity! I just keep going and work through it.
My youngest granddaughter, Brooke, has settled into school really well and thoroughly enjoying herself. I asked her if she had made some new friends (Brooke is everybody's friend, right) and I was amazed as she reeled off a great long list of names of who her new friends were, to hear that they are all boys! I think she's going to be one to watch when she reaches her teens!
Now, getting back to business - let's meet Pam!
Eva: A warm welcome to you Pam and thank you for being a part of my interview project. Okay, first things first, tell us all about yourself (as in, a bit of a biography).
Pam: Good morning Eva, and thank you so much for giving myself and other authors this wonderful opportunity. Okay, I'll get started! They always say variety is the spice of life and if so, I’ve had more than my fair share of spice. Besides travelling and living in diverse areas of the world, I often feel like a social chameleon. From Cambridge May Balls to shebeens in Mosside, from working as a community artist in Salford (before it was ‘redeveloped’) to teaching the rich and privileged in Switzerland, from living frugally in India to dining at the Dorchester, my life seems to swing between different social spheres. I’m not complaining. I love it all and as a writer it provides a great wealth of material.
How many books have you written up to now? Are they published or self-published? What
genre are they?
I first started writing as a ‘proper’ author when my friends’ spirit guides kept telling me I
needed to write, which coincided with my teaching career winding down. So far, I’ve written
a memoir called ‘To Be Human is an Honour’ and the first two in a series of children’s books
called ‘A Tree in Time’ and ‘Mist in Time’ They are for older children,/Y.A. and are historical fantasies, each is set 2000 years apart. Jenni slips through a tree and lands back in
prehistory. The first is when the hunter gatherers are living in harmony with their
environment and the second is when the first farmers are arriving on the shores of Britain.
The current one I’m preparing to publish is set when Stonehenge has been completed, at the
dawn of the Bronze Age. I research extensively for each one, then try to bring the facts alive
by imagining the lives people led, with earth magic and tree spirits thrown into the mix. I also
draw on my knowledge and understanding of how First Nations traditionally lived, in balance
with the land. After a journey of discovery into the publishing industry, I decided to self-publish, which has
been a fascinating but very steep learning curve.
Of all the genres there are, is there any genre/s that you feel you wouldn’t be able to write and
why? Is there any genre that you really wish you could write, but feel you wouldn’t be able to
do it justice?
Horror. I dislike reading any books that are overly violent or psychologically disturbing.
When writing or reading, I absorb myself in the book, so why put myself through that
trauma?
I’d love to write a different and unusual murder mystery but I’m not sure I’d manage to keep
hold of all the threads and red herring plots to make it work properly.
Do you have any favourite ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ words that you like to use in your books?
What are those words? Also, what words used by other authors irritate you more than they
should?
Yes. I invented the word ‘treeshift’ in my children’s stories to explain how the children blend
with the spirit of a tree and ‘disappear’ to the onlooker. They also ‘treeshift’ when they travel
in time.
Since developing my own editing skills, I’ve become more critical of other writer’s work and
the overuse of ‘just’, ‘really’ and exclamation marks annoy me. They probably get to me
because I fell into the same trap in my early writing days. I must have re-edited each of my
books about two or three times since first publishing them, it’s an ongoing process…always
room for improvement.
Do you sing at all, be it karaoke, in a choir or have done so professionally? Whether you have
or not, have you ever written (or had the urge to write) any song lyrics? Have those lyrics
been used at all?
I’ve sung on and off over the years. In my teens and twenties, I sang when required to do so
for plays I’ve been in. Then in later years, I sang in school as part of teaching music.
However, I’ve never written my own lyrics for a song. Oh I tell a lie! I’ve just done a lucid
dreaming course, as part of a study with Swansea University. The story I created included the
lyrics of a song. The first lyrics weren’t right, so I asked my dreams to give me better ones
and they did.
What question would you like to pose, (if you were to ever interview your favourite author),
which never seems to get asked in author interviews? And who is that favourite author?
It would be interesting to find out what was their favourite toy as a child.
It’s hard to pinpoint one. My favourite children’s author would have to be C. S. Lewis and
adult author is Jane Austen. Their books are my comfort ‘go-to’ books. However, there are so
many others that I love, I could list them forever.
If you were to ever write a children’s book, (and those of you who already do) would you/do
you do the illustrating yourself, make use of a family member or friend’s talent or pay an
illustrator? Do you solely write or do you have any other creative pursuits?
The children’s books I write don’t have illustrations, but the cover illustration so far has been
created by my talented younger friend, Harry Davies.
Other creative pursuits that I follow are making star quilts, beadwork and sewing.
Of all the characters you have created, who is your favourite? And why?
That’s very hard to choose. I think my favourite character is Jenni. She has vulnerability and
lacks confidence in herself, but discovers quiet inner strength as the stories progress.
Have you ever killed off a character in your books (I’m sure you have)? If so, was it
because…it fitted nicely into the storyline? OR…Did you start to really dislike the character
and, with too much work involved to re-write without that character, think it the easiest
option to have that person die?
I’m afraid none of my characters have died. I’ve injured an unpleasant one in my latest book-
yet to be published.
Are any of your characters based on family members or friends? Have you kept their
characters totally true to life or have you given them bonus traits that you wish they
possessed in real life?
I sometimes have people in mind as inspiration, but as I write, they develop their own
personalities to fit the story, so they aren’t completely that person.
Relationships/family life aside, what are your TWO main regrets in life?
Do you know, it sounds a bit odd, but I don’t have any. I’ve always taken every opportunity
and gone with it, loving where it has led me, so I don’t regret anything. I may have done
better in my final exams if I’d not done a parachute jump in the middle of revising, but I
don’t regret doing it.
What was your passion as a child? Did that passion stay with you during your adult life OR
did you, as you grew up begin to detest what you once enjoyed?
My main passion was acting and horse riding. I continued with acting till I left college, then
have hardly done any since. It takes up too much time, although I’m very much looking
forward to performing my own and other author’s books in the upcoming P.Y.A. Gossip of
Writers at Knaresborough Library in August. Bizarrely, I was chatting to a fellow writer at
the last PYA Fair and discovered he must have seen me act in a pantomime nearly 50 years
ago in Cambridge. (Unlike some of my fellow actors, I didn’t become famous, but he recalled
them and we worked out the amazing co-incidence.)
I haven’t done much horse riding in adulthood either. However, feeling comfortable on a
horse enabled me to have some great experiences when travelling; like riding with a Dine
guide into Canyon de Chelly and sleeping under the stars, and exploring the hills of northern
Ecuador on horseback.
What was your best subject throughout your school years? And your worst?
My best was English and my worst was Latin. The Latin teacher had a shock of white hair
and was very tall; a bit like the nasty uncle in The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis. He
used to shuffle name cards to pick who did the translation. The tension in the room as he
picked a card was palpable. If you got one word wrong, he’d throw a board rubber at your
head. He petrified me.
Tell me about your favourite teacher throughout your school years? Was it a crush you had?
Were they just an excellent teacher of your favourite subject?? Or some other reason…kind,
fun, generous…?
Mr. Kelk, my A level English teacher. He was amazing. We’d discuss all sorts of things and
it never felt like we were ‘studying the text’ but we all ended up with a love of literature, a
wide knowledge of the background to each text and great marks. He made learning easy and
enjoyable.
Did either of your parents ever express a wish to write? Are they supportive and proud of
your work? Or do they just choose to not get involved, but they are pleased for you?
My mum and my grandma were both prolific letter writers, as many people of past
generations were, however, they didn’t write books. If my mum and dad were alive, I’m sure
they’d be proud. They were always very supportive of whatever I did.
Tell us about your ultimate ambition, be it personal, travel, writing, work, hobby related or
other?
It’s not an ambition I can achieve personally but something I’d like to see happening. If I put
it out there, it might one day come to fruition. I’d love to see the local sewage works replaced
by reed beds. I’d also love the Calder Valley to create electricity for the residents by using the
abundant water power from all the streams, rivers and disused reservoirs up and down the
hills.
Do you have any phobias and if so, what are they? Have you ever conquered any phobia and
if so, how did you do it?
Not really. The only one thing I’ve noticed as I got older is nervousness with heights. One
time I was walking behind someone over Carrick-a-rede rope bridge in Northern Ireland.
They lost their nerve and were struggling to get across. In turn I picked up their panic and
froze. So I walked away and persuaded myself that I wasn’t going to bother doing it. I hung
around on the cliffs convincing myself that it wasn’t worth doing or getting bothered about.
Suddenly a local farmer and his dog started to walk over. He wasn’t even holding on to the
ropes. Without giving myself time to think, I walked down and followed him, feeding off his
confidence. It broke my fear. I managed the return walk with ease.
Most people I know are not happy with something physical about themselves (face/body
etc.,) but if you could change anything about your personality, what would you wish to
change?
Not sure, I think I’m okay with the person I’ve become over my life.
What is your ‘go to’ snack, whatever the time of day? And drink of your choice?
I love any seasonal fruit and yoghurt. The drink depends on the time of day and the weather. I
suppose I’d never refuse a drink with mango in.
Cats or dogs? What do you have? Do you introduce any pets into your books?
We had a dog, who was great for getting my head space clear. I’d walk him in the morning
and all the ideas would churn around and settle, then I’d come home and write. Since he died,
I still walk to get inspiration. I have some dogs in my books, who relate to the main character,
but they tend to be pets belonging to others.
AND FINALLY, Hit me up with all your Amazon book-links? And the links to your website and
social media profiles?
Amazon book links (also linked on my
website)
To be Human is an Honour
A Tree in Time
Mist in Time
Website:
Social media :
FB: Pam C. Golden author
Instagram: goldenpamc
Up next week in the spotlight, I have:
Tuesday: Ray Clark
Friday: Ann Wedgwood
Have a great weekend everybody!
Love and hugs
XXX