About this author
I am pleased to welcome Bea Davenport to the blog today. Bea is the author of IN TOO DEEP.
Welcome Bea!
Like many writers, I’ve wanted to write fiction since I was a child. I was under the entirely false impression, though, that you had to be someone special to be a writer. I turned to journalism when I left school and I have to say that I really, really enjoyed it. It’s a great job for anyone who likes ‘collecting’ stories! But that urge to write from the imagination never went away and eventually I decided to turn that into something solid, when I wrote In Too Deep, which was my first ever novel.
2) Several key characters in your book were journalist/ reporters. They were trying to do their job, and were actually trying to help people, but were still treated with suspicion. Do you think journalists are unfairly cast in a villainous role?
Yes, and it’s one of my bugbears when I’m watching TV drama and soaps in particular – they often follow very lazy stereotypes of the journalist as someone who’s calculating, insensitive and self-interested. There are a few of these in real life, of course, but no more than in any other profession! The journalists I knew tended to be like me – generally well-meaning and with an urge to inform and entertain. Fiction, particularly television drama, also regularly gets the journalistic process wrong. It’s been nice that one of the positive responses I’ve had to the novel is that it does tell people a bit about how regional journalists really operate.
3) What message were you hoping to convey to your readers?
I really started off wanting to tell a story, rather than convey a message. As I was writing, though, and developing the themes of domestic violence, I wanted my rather wet main character of Maura to find some inner strength. It would be great if anyone in a similar position felt encouraged by that.
4) What genre do you enjoy reading the most?
I do read a lot of crime genre novels and I like the page-turning aspects of it. I get a great deal of pleasure, though, from literary fiction that makes an interesting and poetic use of language.
5) "Witch Dunking" described as part of Dowerby's town fair tradition is based on fact. Can you tell us a little about that?
We all know that centuries ago, women feared to be witches (or women who were just seen as trouble-makers) were ducked in a pond or lake and were only deemed innocent if they actually drowned. I used to work in a Northumberland town called Alnwick where up until around 2006, they held an annual medieval-style summer fair where ‘wench-dunking’ was genuinely carried out, with a reconstructed ducking stool and a great big tank of water - although nothing dangerous ever happened! I always thought it was a rather eccentric thing to do and a great device for something very nasty to happen.
6) What are you working on now?
I’m working on two projects simultaneously. I’m writing a second novel in the crime/suspense genre, with the title This Little Piggy. It also has a journalist as a central character but in all other respects it’s very different to In Too Deep. It’s set in the summer of 1984, with the miners’ strike in the background, and the subject matter is in some ways even darker than In Too Deep. I also have a children’s novel, aimed at nine-to-twelve-year-olds, coming out with Curious Fox in June 2014. It’s called The Serpent House and it is a historical time fantasy. This children’s book was written as part of my Creative Writing PhD at Newcastle University.
7) Where can readers contact you?
They can contact me via Legend Press or else my website. The contact details are [email protected]
8) What is your favorite place to curl up with a good book? What is your favorite "reading" beverage?
It depends on the time of year. There’s nothing quite as luxurious as reading on holiday when you are in that fantastic state of suspended animation and can’t be made to go and do work instead. So the absolute best place to read is in the sun with a chilled glass of white wine. On the other hand, my own sofa in front of the fire with a good old cup of tea has many merits too!
9) What author or book has inspired you the most?
During the 1980s feminist writing really inspired me and helped shape my views of the world. It’s hard to choose one but Dale Spender’s Man Made Language, which convincingly argues that words can oppress women, is extremely inspiring.
10) Do you have a favorite quote you would like to share with us?
From the fantastic Barbara Kingsolver: Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.
Thanks so much for joining us today, Bea.
IN TOO DEEP can be purchased in the Amazon kindle store.
