Author in focus - Iain Broome

I am delighted to welcome author Iain Broome to my blog today! Iain's debut novel, A is for Angelica, is published by Legend Press.

What gave you the initial inspiration for A is for Angelica?

Well, I'm not sure I knew I wanted to write this particular novel until I started writing it. It began as something of a character piece, where I had this middle-aged man curtain-twitching from his bedroom window. I also had the big reveal, that he had a wife who was there with him, '...asleep upstairs'.

In fact, I'd already written 10,000 words before I really decided what the book would be about. I was in the pub one Friday evening and a woman had a stroke on the table next to us. The ambulance came and took her to hospital, but I was struck by how easily life carried on around her. Even the group she was continued to chat and drink once she'd gone.

Anyway, it left an impression and I knew that I wanted to write about stroke and illness, especially its effect on family and loved ones.

Did the characters take on a life of their own as you began to write?

Yes, they really did. I think good characters are at the heart of every great book. You can have all the plot twists in the world, but if the characters aren't interesting, then what's the point? A good book makes you feel something. You need to care about what happens. It's all about characters.

As an author, I think I found my voice through Gordon Kingdom, the narrator in A is for Angelica. He started out a fairly quirky kind of a chap, but the more I wrote, the more I felt guided by him as a character.

Has writing always been your main passion?

Well, I loved reading from a very early age and I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was in my teens. I went to Sheffield Hallam University because I knew its English degree had a significant creative writing element to it, and that its MA Writing course had a great reputation. I wanted to put myself in the best possible position for getting published.

That said, I thought for some time that I was going to be a professional footballer. I know a lot of people say that, but I was actually quite good! I was in Notts County's youth academy from nine years old and left when I was 16 to do my A levels. But alas, it wasn't to be. I think things turned out for the best, really.

What was your journey to getting published like?

Pretty normal, I think. I wrote Angelica as part of Sheffield Hallam's MA Writing course, which meant I had a good idea of how to approach agents and how the industry works.

I managed to get an agent pretty quickly, but it did take a little longer and a reasonable amount of editing work before the book found a happy home at Legend Press. Again, that's pretty normal, especially in the current climate.

How was it seeing your finished book for the first time?

Pretty fantastic, I have to say. Although I was very lucky in that I was able to choose who designed my cover. I worked with hugely respected and rather brilliant Sheffield artist, Jonathan Wilkinson, who gave me a sneak preview before it was finally finished.

Seeing almost a decade's worth of work come together was very special. Still is in fact!

Where do you write?

Well, good question. Last year we bought our first house and then a week after moving in my wife fell pregnant with (identical) twins. What would have been my work area is now 90% nursery. I've managed to blag a small bureau, which was my granddad's, in the corner of the room, but it's hardly a writer's paradise.

To be honest though, I think that you can more or less work anywhere. It's all about having the ideas and the time. As a new parent, I'd happily take an extra hour or two a week to write over a spiffy new desk and view of the ocean.

Which authors do you enjoy reading?

I love Ray Carver's short stories and they are a big influence on my writing. But I also enjoy Margaret Atwood and, actually, my old tutor, Simon Crump. I also like to read a lot of non-fiction and I'm currently half way through Identically Different by Tim Spector. It's about genetics and twin studies, so I have a vested interest!

What do you do to take a break from writing?

I currently spend most of my time rearing identical twins and little else. Not that I'm complaining. They're ace. I suppose I also put a lot of time into my online world, usually my blog and podcast for readers and writers, Write for Your Life.

What do you have on the go/what is next for you with regards to writing?

Well, I'm working on a second novel, but I'm not far enough into yet to say any more, because I know how quickly things can change! There's a screenplay that I keep coming back to now and again too.

I've also got 20,000 words of non-fiction that I'm collaborating on and currently editing. It's about writing and being a writer, but from a very specific point of view. Hopefully, we'll be able to release it later this year in one form or another. 

Thanks very much to Iain for featuring on the blog and answering my questions.

A is for Angelica is published by Legend Press

About the novel:

Set in a northern mining town, A is for Angelica deftly draws us into the secretive life of troubled Gordon Kingdom. Gordon struggles with the fate of his seriously ill wife and patiently observes the unusual goings-on of his neighbours in Cressingham Vale. The arrival of the enigmatic Angelica prompts Gordon to make difficult decisions, as well as to embark on a flurry of cake baking. The book elegantly weaves prosaic tragedy, dark comedy and Hitchcockian menace.

You can read my review here.

A is for Angelica - Iain Broome

'I stay at home, hide behind curtains and make notes. I wait for something to happen.'

Gordon Kingdom watches the happenings on Cressington Vale, a street in a northern town, where he lives with his wife Georgina and dog Kipling. He keeps files of notes and his observations about the lives of those on the opposite side of the street. His wife has suffered two strokes, the first of which happened eighteen months ago, and he patiently cares for her at home, trying to cope, to continue some sort of existence, so lonely and so sad. No longer working outside the home, and with no children, Gordon records what he sees outside from his concealed viewpoint upstairs, in the house they've shared throughout their married life. There are several characters we meet, all seen through Gordon's eyes; there's Benny, who paints at night with his eyes closed, there's Gordon's best friend Don, and the new lady who moves into the street, Angelica. Gordon recalls how he started observing the little world in miniature around him:

'I found myself sitting by the window for hours on end, surveying the street. Letting the world drift past. Taking my mind off things. I watched my neighbours and got to know them better than I ever had before. Their changes in behaviour. Their simplest of movements. Their finest of details.'

He rarely encounters some of the people he keeps his files on in fact, until the arrival of Angelica, when things start to change. Gordon rarely sees his parents now. As he sits and thinks, Gordon also recalls times from his past, times shared with Georgina, and their parents. These events are sometimes happy, often rather tinged with sadness though. One of my favourite sections was the chapter entitled 'Umbrage', in which Gordon recalls a memory from just under a couple of years ago, when it was Georgina's birthday and they went to the coast. It's a lovely, happy recollection amidst the more troubled and unhappy thoughts that often dominate the moments he looks back on.

This is Iain Broome's debut novel, and it's a well written, emotional and thoughtful book with a story that flows well throughout. The novel is composed of short chapters, each with a relevant title that takes us through the alphabet, from Angelica, then Benny, to Birthdays and then Cressington Vale, and so on. This makes for a fairly quick read, though this is an emotional rather than eventful plot, and it's all delivered through Gordon as the first person narrator throughout, so we are intensely involved with his life. The author depicts the intense sadness and at times despondency present in Gordon's current way of life as a carer for Georgina, yet he manages at times to inject an element of humour into some of Gordon's encounters that I felt was very real, I could imagine someone like Gordon saying some of things he says, and doing some of the things he does. One example is when Georgina suffers her first stroke, during a neighbourhood watch meeting arranged by Gordon. The attendees are discussing the spate of milk thefts, and allocating shifts for keeping a look out. Even after what happens next, Gordon still remembers to remind Don about his shift. This sort of mundanity in the face of tragedy appears both surprising and yet likely too; trying to keep a hold of the small things.

The reader observes Gordon and is made to think about him and his unconventional behaviour, just as he watches those around him. At times it felt painful for me to be present with Gordon and party to his thoughts, and it is difficult when he can't admit the truth about his situation to himself, never mind to anyone else. He is determined to persist with his way of thinking; the alternative seems too painful, too much to contemplate. I found this a moving read that made me think. It captures the quiet sadness and loneliness that envelopes many lives, the spark of interest that someone new can inject. Sometimes Gordon's behaviour angered me and I questioned his choices, with him leaving me feeling both sympathetic towards him and at other times disbelieving; hence the story makes you think - what would you do?

A is for Angelica is about love, fear, the small things that make up a life, and the huge things that can suddenly change a life forever. It is made up of poignant observations, reminiscences, memories of the past and thorough scrutiny of the present. Contained in these pages there is sadness, grief and loss, the mundane and everyday occurences in a random life, not without some dark humour, and certainly offering us some truths. I look forward to seeing what this writer does next.

Published by Legend Press in print on 1st September 2012, and available now as an ebook.

Thank you very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. 

Legend Press is an independent book publisher - visit their website to find out more.

You can find out more about the author and the book on his website here and also follow him on twitter @iainbroome 

Here's a link to the author's video about the book, worth a watch to give you an idea of the weird and wonderful things it contains! 

The very fitting cover is beautifully designed by Jonathan Wilkinson.