Dawn talks to me about her latest 'Chronicles' book, The Post Box Topper Chronicles

 

 

 

This is now the fourth in your ‘Chronicles’ series. Why did you start writing about these colourful characters?

I saw my first post box topper a few years ago in my hometown. It was a celebration of the American artist, Bob Ross. I was so impressed that I detoured regularly to pass the post box to see if whoever had created the topper did another. A few weeks later, I was pleased to see a Christmas-themed topper, and that’s what gave me the idea of writing a short story. First, I tried to imagine a group of people who knitted post box toppers, and the problems associated with designing and then knitting them. The story was set in a fictional village, and I came up with the Creaping Bottom Post Box Topper Society. I’d only intended to write one short story, but I enjoyed the characters so much, I thought I’d write another one for January. And then – as has happened so often in the past – I wondered if I could write another story… Eventually, I decided to write one for each month, concluding with a spectacular Christmas-themed post box topper, which was nothing like the disaster the club had created the previous December.

 

 

These stories have appeared first of all as a CafeLit serial. Did you find that useful? 

Yes. It made me more disciplined in my writing because I wanted to write a story in which Vera Twinge and the club members made a topper for each month. The stories, therefore, were time-sensitive. As soon as one story was accepted by CafeLit, I had to write the next or the Creaping Bottom post box toppers wouldn’t have agreed with the month in which the story was published.

 

As you wrote this particular story, did you come across some actual post box toppers? 

Yes, I look out for them now and am thrilled when I see a new one. The last one I saw had tiny solar panels, and it occurred to me that reality was catching up with the ridiculous creations the members come up with in my stories! I think my favourite topper in my book was November’s when the club celebrated International Creaping Bottom Day. They discovered the history of Creaping Bottom and the tragic end of Sir Oswald Bottom and his wife, Lady Bertha.

 

What sort of research did you have to do for this book?

I didn’t carry out any research although I follow post box topper groups on Facebook and there are often some beauties on there. But as I was thinking up each post box topper, I tried to use my imagination to come up with something that was slightly off the scale, rather than realistic! I particularly like the Shoot Chutes in September’s topper that commemorates the fictional sci-fi television series, ‘Space Base’.

 

Do you know of a knit and natter group? 

No, I don’t, although when I was being interviewed on air by Jacqui James of Basildon Hospital Radio, her other guest was Linda Catling, a lady who knits post box toppers, and it was fascinating to talk to her. At the time, I was still in the middle of writing the stories, but I’ll make sure both Linda and Jacqui get a copy of ‘The Post Box Topper Chronicles’. It would be interesting to hear what someone who produces them thinks of my stories!

 

What about the cafe? Is this like any you know?

No, which is a shame because I think a café like Bonzer Buns would be a lot of fun! Although I’m not sure anyone other than Beryl could create a new Cake of the Day each day for a year, but it was fun thinking up new names for cakes that included Australian towns and cities, such as Canberra Cupcakes and Adelaide Angel Cake. If I did more baking, it might be interesting to make up recipes to go with each of the Cakes of the Day mentioned in the book. Beryl, the café’s owner, isn’t like anyone I know – she’s ambitious, slightly ruthless and very single-minded, but with her energy and drive, she often makes things happen – usually to her advantage. The other character I like who works in the café is Effie Wiggins, the cleaner who is obsessed with cleanliness. She carries her cleaning tools in a golf-caddy-style holder and refers to them as her WOMD – Weapons of Mess Destruction. She’s not only determined to rid the world of dust and spider’s webs, but she also wants to make Creaping Bottom a mass murderer-free zone.

 

Can we expect another ‘Chronicles’ book in the future? 

I’m currently writing a few stories that revolve around the sighting of an exotic stranger in a suburban garden. The trouble is, I have never planned a Chronicles book in advance, so I never had an ending in mind. I have a few ideas for who the stranger is and what he’s doing in the garden, but nothing has been decided yet. I hope I can come up with something believable. So far, there are five stories on the CafeLit site, and you can find ‘Elsie’s Story’, the fifth one, here with links to the previous stories https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2024/07/elsies-story-by-dawn-knox-tea-and-buns.html

If the characters in a short story appeal to me, I often write more. Usually, in the first story, I have a character or event that needs explaining by the end of the book. In The Post Box Topper Chronicles, the ‘difficult’ character is the grumpy A. Godbin. I must admit, I wondered how I was going to get around the identity of that character! Hopefully, I achieved it in an interesting way that didn’t stretch the imagination too far!

But I so love the Creaping Bottom characters, I’ve already written a prequel which is available in the reader magnet on my website https://dawnknox.com and a sequel which will be published on the CafeLit site on 01 August 2024. So, it’s possible, I might write more stories with those characters. If you sign up for my email newsletter, the reader magnet is free, and it also contains stories from the other Chronicles Chronicles books.

 

Do you have any other news about your writing? Forthcoming publications or events? 

I’ve been working hard on lots of projects, and I have several books coming out soon. My Weekly Magazine is publishing another of my romances as a pocket novel on 15 August 2024. This is the first time I’ve set a story in the 1970s and I’ve just finished writing another one set in 1980. I also have a variety of short stories that have been accepted by My Weekly and The People’s Friend but are yet to be published.

Second, I’ve put together one hundred drabbles in a book that I’ve entitled ‘A Splash of Short Stories’, and have included stories, fractured fairytales, random thoughts and observations – all containing exactly 100 words. Several of those stories have appeared on CafeLit in the past.

Third, I also have two new World War Two romances coming out shortly. They will be numbers three and four in the ‘Heart of Plotlands’ series. I’ve just had new covers designed for the first two in the series, ‘A Cottage in Plotlands’ and ‘A Folly in Plotlands’ and the next two covers will be designed in a similar style. They will be ‘A Canary Girl in Plotlands’ and ‘A Reunion in Plotlands’.

And finally, my audiobook narrator, Abigail Langham, is about to start work on the last book in the ‘Lady Amelia’ series, the other five are already out in audiobook. John Guest has narrated ‘The Macaroon Chronicles’ in his own inimitable style! That will be out shortly, published by Chapeltown.

 

Buy ‘The Post Box Topper Chronicles’ here on Amazon https://mybook.to/PostboxTopper  or here on Bridgetown Café online bookshop https://www.thebridgetowncafebooksshop.co.uk/2024/07/the-post-box-topper-chroincles.html

Buy ‘A Cottage in Plotlands’ here https://mybook.to/ACottageInPlotlands

‘A Folly in Plotlands’ here https://mybook.to/AFollyInPlotlands

Martin Varny talks to us about his fascinating book for young people, Saint Ettie's Music School

 

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 21^st century attributes out?

 

I was a teenager in the 1960s so I did not need any research.  It was no problem to leave 21^st 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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