Interview with prize winning writer, Mandy Huggins…..
You can find the full interview, and access Aly's blog from here
Could you tell us a little more about yourself and how you got started as an author?
Apart from good wine and good company, my three passions
in life are writing, reading, and travel. I inherited a love of travel
from my parents, so as well as being a fiction author, I’m a keen travel
writer.
My first writing success was winning third prize in the
school literary competition when I was eleven, with a poem about George
Best! And my first serious rejection was an erotic story I wrote for the
Sunday Sport in the early 90s. It came back with ‘Good writing, but too dirty. Ed.’ scrawled across the top in blue pencil!
I started writing seriously a few years ago. The first
pieces I wrote were for specific competitions, as I found the deadlines
were a useful incentive. I sent a travel piece to the Daily Telegraph every single week until they published me!
I have a full-time day job in engineering, so I write in
the evenings and at weekends. My partner writes too – a very popular
niche music blog – so we both understand each other’s need for creative
space!
Which writers have influenced you? Or whose books do you particularly enjoy reading?
My fiction is influenced by many of the
great writers that I love – such as Yoko Ogawa, Helen Dunmore, Ernest
Hemingway, Richard Ford, A L Kennedy, Helen Simpson, John Steinbeck,
Tessa Hadley, Patti Smith, Colm Toibin, A M Homes, Kazuo Ishiguro – the
list is endless!
There are many books I would love to have written, such as The Siege by Helen Dunmore, The Housekeeper & the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, or the wonderful Jane Eyre. But the one that stands out for me is The Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro. I love all his books, but this is my favourite. It
is so beautifully written. A story of a life lost to duty; unsentimental
and utterly heartbreaking. A masterpiece.
Where do you get your ideas from for your stories?
My stories are occasionally inspired by
personal experiences, and the settings are often places I have explored
on my travels. I was brought up on the North Yorkshire coast, and so the
sea appears as a major character in a lot of my work as well.
However, most of my main story ideas
come straight from my imagination, often sparked by something observed
or overheard. Sometimes the starting point will be a newspaper story, or
a single scene from a film that inspires me to create a completely new
story or an alternative ending.
Writing is a solitary business. How do you interact with other authors?
I’m a member of my local writing group, as well as
several on-line groups for fiction and travel writers, all of which are
very supportive. Authors I’ve met on-line have become real life friends,
and I try to meet up with them a few times a year. Harrogate Crime
Writing Festival is one of my regular haunts, even though I’m not a
crime writer, because it’s great for socialising! I do find it difficult
to attend events, workshops and literature festivals, because most
happen during the week when I’m working, and the majority take place in
London, or other places far removed from the frozen north!
What do you have coming up in the future?
Seven of my short stories have just been published in the InkTears showcase anthology, Death of a Superhero, alongside three other writers. There was a launch party in London last year, which was very exciting.
..You can buy it here
And my first flash fiction collection, Brightly Coloured Horses, is out now, February 2018 - published by Chapeltown Books.
..BRIGHTLY COLOURED HORSES
“Brightly Coloured Horses is the first flash fiction collection from award-winning author, Mandy Huggins.
Twenty-seven tales of betrayal and loss, of dreams and hopes, of lovers, liars and cheats. Stories with a strong sense of place, transporting us from the seashore to the city, from India’s monsoon to the heat of Cuba, and from the supermarket aisle to a Catalonian fiesta. We meet a baby that never existed, a car called Marilyn, a one-eyed cat, and a boy whose kisses taste of dunked biscuits.
These stories all have something in common; each is a glimpse of what it’s like to be human. We make mistakes, we do our best, and most of the time we find hope.”
It is earning ***** 5 star reviews:-
Follow Mandy here on this link to her Amazon author page-
I would love to write a literary novel
or a full length travel book, but my writing time is limited, and I
can’t seem to give up the buzz of writing short fiction and travel
pieces.
I am trying to find a home for my full
length short story collection at the moment.* I’ve had a couple of very
positive rejections, with some really useful feedback, so I’m still
optimistic!
*News update on that last paragraph - Mandy has signed with Retreat West to publish her short story collection – Separated from the Sea.
