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This interview with Caron Harrison was conducted by Kevin
Patrick Mahoney in the autumn of 1998.
KM:
How did you formulate the plot of 'Shades of Grey'? Where did the ideas come
from?
CARON
HARRISON: The plot of 'Shades of Grey' more or less formulated itself as I
wrote it. I wrote it as something to keep me occupied rather than with the
intention of becoming a novelist, so I was very unstructured and free in the
way I approached writing. I had a clear idea of the beginning and end, but it
was only as I began to write that the complexities of plot and character
emerged. The ideas seemed to come out of nowhere, as though I was playing a
video film in my head and the story just appeared. Obviously there were many
sections I struggled with and had to construct carefully, but once I got
writing, the book seemed to write itself.
KM:
What sort of research did you do for the novel, and how did you go about it?
CARON
HARRISON: Casual research preceded the writing of the novel by many years. All
through my teens I had watched war films with interest. Also, we lived in
Germany for two years when my children were very young. Here I met several
Germans who had fought in the war, one of whom kept his own POW mug-shot in his
wallet. He seemed to have quite pleasant memories of his "stay" in
England.
The bulk of my research was done after I had written the first draft of the
novel and realised just how much I didn't know about life for German POWs in
Britain. A visit to the second-hand bookshops in Hay-on-Wye produced copies of
the only three non-fiction books on the subject at that time. Even the Imperial
War Museum in London only had one of the books and precious little else about
German POWs.
I booked a family holiday near Malton, Yorkshire because of the POW camp museum
there. Conversations with local publicans revealed a few gems of information
about the POWs. An amazing piece of luck occurred while I was writing the
novel. Our local Buckinghamshire paper headlined a story about an Aylesbury POW
camp. This generated some correspondence in the newspaper and I contacted one
of the names involved, saying I was writing a novel. The gentleman concerned
sent three sheets of typed anecdotes by return of post.
KM:
What sort of reactions have you received about the novel? Has it helped you
gain a contract from a professional publisher?
CARON
HARRISON: If I've received a reaction about the novel, it has been very
favourable, many people asking when the sequel is out. As yet, however, this
has not led to any contracts with professional publishers. Now the sequel is
available and out of the way, I shall try approaching agents with both books
and see if I get anywhere.
I was recently able to add to the publicity by writing to a Manx paper about an
amazing experience I had on holiday abroad over the summer. I was swimming in
the hotel pool when I looked up and saw a lady reading a copy of 'Shades of
Grey'. I could scarcely believe my eyes and uttered Victor Meldrew's famous
words. Conversation with the lady revealed that she was from the Isle of Man
and that her sister had lent her the book as a good holiday read.
KM:
How did you go about publishing 'Shades of Grey'?
CARON
HARRISON: After ten years of rejection slips but great encouragement from friends
who had read the draft, I finally decided the time had come to self-publish. A
relative gave me an information sheet about it, gleaned from a writers
magazine, telling all the pitfalls of vanity publishing and that
self-publishing was actually quite different. I approached one of the
production companies on the list, found them extremely helpful and not too
expensive and decided to go for it.
I have just self-published the sequel, 'Divided Loyalties', and am now starting
to market it and contact bookshops which sold copies of my first novel. It's
early days yet, but I'm hoping some of the people who bought the first will
want the sequel, although experience has made me price it realistically higher.
KM:
When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?
CARON
HARRISON: I never wanted to become a writer. It was only after the first person
had read and enjoyed the first draft of 'Shades of Grey' that I realised I
was one.
KM:
Which writers influenced you? What sort of fiction do you read?
CARON
HARRISON: I enjoy action books with a touch of romance, my favourite authors
being Dick Francis, Wilbur Smith, Ken Follett, Colin Forbes and Clare Francis.
KM:
What's your typical working day as a writer?
CARON
HARRISON: I'm very much a morning person, so I get the basic chores done,
settle down to write at about nine o'clock, and carry on until midday. Walking
the dog allows time to review what I've written and think about what comes
next, then I carry on until school finishes or stop earlier if shopping is
required. Nothing ever gets done in the evening.
KM:
What piece of advice would you give to new writers?
CARON
HARRISON: Don't let the publishing world get you down. If enough
of your friends tell you it's good enough, believe them. Most important though,
scrap any sections you've really struggled with, as long as you bear in mind
the difference between "struggling" and "polishing". If you
didn't enjoy writing it, will anyone enjoy reading it?
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Visit
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page |
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interview |
