It's not
often that we have two authors feature on the same day. What makes this a special occasion is that we are able to present mother and daughter,
Rosemary and Victoria Gemmell, to the RNA blog to talk about their writing life.
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| Victoria and Rosemary |
Rosemary: It is
hugely helpful to have a daughter who writes very well, and we share a passion
for books. Although Victoria is an independent adult with her own flat and full
time career, we still talk about writing every time we meet or phone. I have
lots of writing friends and have belonged to a local writing group for many
years but there is something unique in discussing creativity with a daughter
who knows exactly what it’s like trying to produce something publishable. It’s
possibly one of the most honest relationships as we both appreciate the
encouragement, support and suggestions. And Victoria has always been the
greatest supporter of my work.
Victoria: Without
a doubt. For me, having a Mum who was, (and still is), passionate about reading
and writing, was a big inspiration. Growing up in a house filled with books
created the perfect environment for an aspiring author. My Mum has always been
so encouraging and supportive of my writing – she let me use her old typewriter
to type up a novel when I was very young and was always so patient; reading and
giving me feedback on every story I wrote! (And I am sure there were a lot of
right howlers in there). She introduced me to Erskine Writers, (and the
Scottish Association of Writers), when I was in my late teens which gave me the
confidence to start sharing my writing with a wider audience and taught me a
lot about how to structure stories. It opened me up to a world where I was led
to believe that it could be possible to become a published writer, which always
kept me going through numerous rejections! Seeing my Mum win competitions and
become widely published was exciting. She’s always the first person I want to
tell if I’ve had some writing success as I know she understands how it feels.
This year, during the release of my first novel, I’ve really appreciated being
able to talk to my Mum during every step of the process, as parts of it can be
quite daunting! My Mum has also helped to promote my novel on social media. My
Dad and brother have always been very supportive too.
Do you
share ideas or work together at the planning stage?
Rosemary: We’ve never worked together at the
planning stage. I don’t think I could share that stage with anyone as I don’t
do much planning in advance, preferring to let my characters develop and grow
as I write which then feeds the story. We do ask each other’s advice now
and then, especially with short stories which we both write. I was delighted to
read Victoria’s debut novel in chapters during the first draft and knew it was
a winner when I couldn’t wait to read the next part. However, she eventually
changed the ending and I only knew about that when she asked me to check that
it made sense before submitting – I really had no input into that!
Victoria was the only person to read through the
first novella I put onto kindle (after I was a published author) as I knew I
could trust her judgment and she would probably catch any typos, although a
writing friend then read it before it was in print. She read the first few
chapters of The Highland Lass ages ago. Since there’s an age difference between
us, I was aware we were writing for a different market but some of her comments
made me think and I did eventually change the whole beginning of it before its
final (successful) submission to Crooked Cat Publishing. I’d certainly seek her
advice if I tried to write a YA novel as she is in touch with teenagers every
working day.
Victoria: When I
start a new big project I like to tell my Mum about it, and talk over parts of
the plot, and will send her parts to read. I like having reassurance from her
that I’m not writing complete drivel, and I know I will always get honest and
constructive feedback which is so helpful. I appreciate being able to talk to
someone I trust if I’m stuck at parts of a project.
Have
you ever had a disagreement over writing projects?
Rosemary: I can’t ever remember
any actual disagreements, as we respect each other’s opinions and different
styles too much. But not all advice is agreed with or taken in the end and
that’s quite right as we’re creative individuals. That might change if we ever
decided to work on a project together! On another level, we sometimes ignore
each other’s advice about what to work on next. Victoria has earlier books I’d
like to see out there one day, but she is quite rightly focusing on her next YA
after her successful debut launch of Follow Me at Waterstones a couple of weeks
ago. She is always advising me to work on one project at a time and would like
me to now concentrate on a different genre that I started a while ago and never
completed. I doubt there is much chance
of me changing the way I work at this age and I’ll probably continue to flit
between shorts stories, articles, poetry, tween fiction and novels. I greatly
admire Victoria’s focus, especially when she has a full time job as well. Maybe
that’s what makes her focused, since she doesn’t have a lot of time!
Victoria:
Disagreement
is a strong word – sometimes because our styles and genres are quite different
I might suggest a change which my Mum won’t always agree on, or vice versa. I
share work with other writers too, and I think that’s what you begin to learn –
that you can take feedback and then it’s up to you to decide ultimately what
you take on board.
Are any other members of your family planning to write a book?
Rosemary: My husband sometimes
jokes about writing something one day, and it would probably be non-fiction
travel-related (as he works in travel) but I don’t think it will happen. My
three and a half year old granddaughter is already showing great imagination
and loves her books. She started scribbling in a pretty little notebook I gave
her recently, saying she was writing, quite without any prompting, so watch
this space. Since Victoria started writing from about five or six years old,
I’ll encourage my granddaughter and I’m sure she’ll get support from her
English teacher Mum and Art teacher Dad.
Victoria: My Dad
jokes from time to time about writing a book (but he is joking – I think). I
wouldn’t be surprised if my niece was an author one day, as she has a brilliant
imagination.
Have
you thought about joining forces on a project?
Rosemary: Not seriously so far!
Victoria has three early projects, which I think she should resurrect. One was
a story for children that she wrote in primary school which convinced me she’d
be a published writer one day. The next was a more grown-up novel which I
definitely would like to see published and the third is a YA fantasy which I’m very keen for her to finish – that’s the
one I’d be interested in working on with her (if allowed). Unlike me, she
regards her first two novels as practice projects whereas I send mine out.
Perhaps our approach to writing would be too different. I suspect I’d be more
impatient to finish and submit something, whereas Victoria takes time over
crafting meaningful writing.
Victoria: I know
how my Mum is going to answer this…I started to write a fantasy type book years
ago which I didn’t quite complete and she still nags me to this day to finish
it, as she loved the idea. So perhaps we should try to write it together!
What
are you both working on at present?
Rosemary: I’ve just had the third
novella in my Aphrodite and Adonis series (romance and mythological fantasy set
on Cyprus) accepted by Tirgearr Publishing for a spring 2016 release and I
recently published a second, darker, collection of my short stories. Now it’s
on with one of the three novels that I started but have never finished so far –
two women’s fiction and one Victorian crime!
Victoria: I’m currently working
on another Young Adult mystery – that’s all I’m saying about it for now!
About
Rosemary:
Rosemary Gemmell lives in the west coast of Scotland and is
a published historical and contemporary
novelist. She also writes under Romy,
and tween books as Ros. Her short stories, articles and poems have been
published in UK magazines, in the US, and online. She has a Post-graduate
Masters in literature and history from the OU and is a member of the Society of
Authors, the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and the Scottish Association of
Writers. She loves to dance!
Links:
About
Victoria:
Victoria Gemmell lives in Renfrewshire, Scotland, and her
debut Young Adult novel Follow Me is
out now, published by Strident Publishing Ltd. Whilst studying an undergraduate
degree in Communication and Mass Media, Victoria developed a fascination with
pop culture and Andy Warhol, which has influenced a lot of the ideas in Follow Me. Victoria works with teenagers
on a daily basis as a careers adviser.
Victoria has had shorter works published in numerous
journals, writing under the name Vikki. She is a member of the Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Society of Authors and the
Scottish Association of Writers.
Links:
Twitter: @VikkiGemmell
Thank you
both so much for finding time to answer our questions and good luck with your writing
projects. Who knows, perhaps it
I wonder
if any blog followers also have family members who are authors? Please add a
comment below and tell us all about it.
Would you like to write for the RNA blog? Please contact us on
elaineeverest@aol.com
