1. Tell us a little bit about you as a writer, Martin. How did you start writing? What has your journey been like?
I started writing for reasons of self-preservation! I had never thought about writing anything, let alone a book, but once the idea of the story had popped into my mind, it just kept going round and round in my head. Either it was going to drive me nuts or I had to write it down.
As I had pretty much thought out the whole story, it only took about two weeks to actually write the first draft. That was the easy part!
The journey to publication was like being on a long, drawn-out seesaw ride, that slowly oscillated between hope and disappointment. The first draft was completed in 2013 and the final draft was published in 2024. During this 10½ years, I sent it to 32 different publishers. As with many things in life, in order to achieve something, bucket loads of patience, perseverance and tenacity come in handy. Hopefully these characteristics will lead to the final ingredient which is ‘Luck’! My luck was finding The Red Telephone Publishing.
2. And now I’m going to ask that question that all writers dread: where did you get the idea for Saint Ettie’s Music School from?
I have no idea where the idea for the story came from. It just arrived into my head during a conversation about screen/ script writing careers in the film industry. Being generally more pro-active than re-active, I suggested writing a film script that could be ‘hawked around’. Out of the blue, (maybe a P.L Travers - Mary Poppins moment), I said ‘maybe the script could be about musical instruments that could talk’. Why I said that I will never know.
3. So, in your book you have these instruments talk! We’ve published this through The Red Telephone, partly because of the age of many of the characters. They are young adults. Yet I think the appeal is wider; this book could be read as well by younger children – they’d love the talking instruments - and could also be enjoyed by adults. I also think it would make an excellent film – possibly a Disney one (and incidentally we never take film rights though if a film were made we hope it would help to sell more copies of the book). Can you think of any actors you would like to provide the voices of the instruments?
In the book, as far as I can remember, I only mention two voices. One is the violin Verity who speaks like a ‘southern belle’ and the other is the clarinet Charles who speaks with a ‘sophisticated drawl’. Maybe the voice for Verity could be Dolly Parton and the voice for Charles could be Anthony Hopkins. Thinking further of actors with distinctive voices, Michael Caine could be the voice for Dean the drum kit, Patricia Routledge or Joanna Lumley for Camilla the cymbal, and Meryl Streep for Veronica. Meryl Steep has great talent, especially with voices. Hopefully she would find just the right voice for Veronica. Tom Hanks would be another great contributor.
4. I note that the staff are known by their title and surname. Why have you chosen to be so formal?
The staff at Saint Etheldreda’s are all new and do not know each other very well in the first part of the book. Miss Stratton is the principal so the is spoken to with respect. Both she and Mrs Hutchins were born in the late 1890’s and people of that generation tended to be much more formal than later generations. It took time for them to get to first name terms.
5. The story is of course set in another era. Did you have to do much research for that? How difficult was it to leave 21st century attributes out?
I was a teenager in the 1960s so I did not need any research. It was no problem to leave 21st century attributes out. I never really had to think about it.
6. In your reading of you book during our event on 25 July there was one passage that was very tense . How did you build that up?
Places that feel perfectly harmless in daylight can take on a scary, creepy atmosphere in the dark.
Emily’s curiosity overcomes her feelings of fear. She really needs to know if she actually heard Camilla the cymbal talk. She cannot sleep, so she decides to very quietly get up and go downstairs to the room where the instruments are. The build-up describes Emily carefully and anxiously feeling her way down a dark corridor with creepy shadows. She arrives at the top of the stairs and looks down into the blackness below. There is some moonlight but it does not reach to the bottom of the stairs. Nervously she slowly goes down the stairs, fearful yet determined, until she reaches the bottom. She nearly falls as she becomes disorientated in the darkness, but manages to keep her balance. She then edges forward until she feels the door.
1. Elizabeth is an interesting character. Can you tell us a little more about her without giving any spoilers?
Elizabeth had an unhappy childhood. She felt unloved and unwanted. She had once heard her parents say in an argument that they had never wanted children. She feels lost, and spends a lot of time in a dark, lonely place. Her only escape to the sunlight is through music. Elizabeth finds it hard to make friends, and anything can trigger her dramatic mood swings. One minute she can feel relatively happy and the next she can be crouching at the bottom of a black hole of despair. Through the children and the music she helps them create, Elizabeth finally finds her real self.
2. Do you have another book planned?
No other book planned at this time. I would need another idea like Saint Ettie’s to pop into my mind out of nowhere, but so far, that has not happened. Maybe today – tomorrow…..?
Listen to Martin answering these questions and reading from the book
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