1) Described your novel in a couple of sentences?
Nutmeg is about the bizarre and complex ways our unconscious mind seeks to protect us from painful thoughts and memories. It explores the fine line between reality and fantasy, and the notion of ‘reality’ being self-created.
2) How, when and why did you first start writing?
I attempted my first novel when I was about sixteen, although I couldn’t decide how it should end so I never completed it. I was an avid reader of Christopher Pike novels, and I was trying to imitate him (the novel involved beautiful teenagers, vampires and lots of misplaced Americanisms). I think it was Christopher Pike who first inspired me to have a go at writing, although it’s hard to pinpoint why. Maybe I wanted to create that same sense of intrigue and excitement in other people that he managed to bring out in me. Maybe I just thought ‘how hard can it be?’ After that I didn’t write for a long time, not until I finished university and started to wonder what I could do with my life. I don’t think I ever saw being an author as a realistic option though, and my efforts were very half-hearted and sporadic. It wasn’t until I was thirty that I finally knuckled down and wrote Nutmeg. I think the panic of turning thirty finally motivated me into action!
3) Who are your favourite writers/influences and why?
I have never been passionate about an author in the same way I was about Christopher Pike. He was a real influence on my early attempts at writing, but I was never going to be a horror writer. Later, when I went to university, I took a module on the American short story and really enjoyed Raymond Carver. I tried to write a couple of stories in his style, but found it quite an effort. I learnt that you have to use your own voice, even if you would much rather write in the style of someone else. More recently I have enjoyed the writing of Joanne Harris, Marina Lewycka, Tony Parsons and Lionel Shriver. I can’t say how any of them have influenced me, although I’m sure they have done. I think these influences happen at an unconscious level. I’m sure you take a little something from everything you read, even if you don’t know it.
4) What inspires you to write?
Fear! I have never wanted to look back and think ‘I wonder if I could have had a book published if I had tried...’ I find the idea of not achieving an ambition scary enough to spur me into action. Until that anxiety kicks in I find it very hard to get started, even though once I am into a piece of writing I find such an enjoyable, absorbing experience. But I need that slight sense of panic about never achieving my potential as a writer in order to get going.
5) Where do you get your ideas from?
The idea for Nutmeg came to me when I overheard someone on the street saying ‘and the baby was caught in a frying pan..’. Actually, this probably isn’t what they said at all. I’m sure I must have misheard them, but I thought it was a very intriguing concept. Normally, I have no idea where my stories come from. Unfortunately, ideas for stories don’t pop into my head. I usually sit down to write and then think ‘right, what can I write about?’
Lucy
Nutmeg by Maria Goodin is published on 1st April and is available to order by clicking here
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