A very happy Monday to you. I have a guest blog today from the lovely and soon to be fellow Brightonian Tasha Harrison. Tasha is the author of four novels, 'Package Deal', 'Hot Property', 'Pearls', and her new novel and the one she's talking about today, 'Blown-Away Man'. So without further ado here's Tasha talking about where her sparks of creativity come from.
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| TASHA HARRISON |
Many
thanks to Jon for inviting me onto his blog. I thought I’d write about the
various things that can spark off an idea for a story.
Like
Jon, I write comedy dramas. The idea for my latest novel, Blown-AwayMan, was born on a car journey home from visiting my husband’s
family in Lincolnshire. The night before, my husband had been to a school
reunion. I hadn’t gone with him as it wasn’t a ‘bring your partners’ occasion.
The journey back to Brighton is a long one, and my husband was very quiet, presumably
deep in thought about his old school friends – some of whom he hadn’t seen in over
20 years.
Attempts
to get him to tell me about who he’d met or what news they had after all this
time got me nowhere. With a long road ahead, two slumbering kids in the back
and no one to talk to, a writer has time for her mind to wander into all kinds
of intriguing scenarios…
Naturally
first up was: Hmm, I wonder if he met an
old flame who announced she gave birth to the child he never knew he’d
fathered?
Me:
“So did you meet an old flame who announced she’d given birth to your secret
lovechild?”
Him:
“Mildred.” (This is the name he calls
me when I’m being “a Mildred”. Plus a withering look.)
Me:
“Just checking.”
As
we returned to pensive silence, the embryo of a story began to form…
I
didn’t act on this idea immediately. Another conversation some months later (which
also took place on a car journey) sowed the next seed: James Blunt came on the
radio. I’m not a James Blunt fan, but I found this particular song likeable
enough. Husband immediately launched into an anti-James Blunt tirade.
Him:
“This is the worst middle-of-the-road shite I’ve ever heard. It’s so bloody
vanilla!”
Me:
“What’s wrong with vanilla?”
Him:
“Nothing, if you’re a boring f**ker with no imagination and taste.” (Kids
weren’t with us on this occasion.)
I
won’t recount the rest of this conversation because it involved a lot of
swearing, sparring, laughter and well, James Blunt didn’t come out of it too
well – even though I did my best to stick up for him and all things vanilla.
But, seed no2 had sprouted: a character who cannot abide vanilla-ness.
Clearly
the husband was providing a lot of inspiration for my new novel. In fact, as
the idea started to grow from embryo to foetus, and I named my early notes
‘Anything But Vanilla’, it was he who suggested Blown-Away Man for the title – the name of the iconic Maxwell Tapes ad from the
1980s. It was fitting: Mr Anti-Vanilla, my main character, was about to get the
shock of his life at a school reunion. The bombshell he is dealt scuppers the
smooth uphill climb to success he’s been so focused on climbing, and makes his
life…well, anything but vanilla.
The
third ingredient to join the brewing pot was a caravan in a scenic spot in Pembrokeshire
that we passed by on holiday. I wasn’t sure how this caravan would come into
the story, or why it needed to be there. All I knew was that it would come into
its own towards the end of the story, when my protagonist (now named Ed
Sullivan and fast shedding my husband’s skin), would reach a final decision
about his future.
The
rest, as they say, is pure fiction.
Praise for
Blown-Away Man:
‘Blown-Away Man is
a touching tale of what can happen when your life turns out just as you wanted
it to, but not as you needed it to. With each new revelation in this complex
story, you find yourself caring a little more about the characters, resulting in
a poignant and heart-felt read. A brilliant book.’ Dorothy Koomson, author of The Ice Cream Girls
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| BLOWN-AWAY MAN |
Thank you Tasha and don't forget to check out my blog tour that's still going on!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
