An Interview With… Sue Davies.
Today on the blog, our Community Manager Isabel Tyldesley interviews writer Sue Davies ahead of the publication of their debut novel, By the Horn of the South - out September 28th! You can add By the Horn… to your Goodreads shelf here, and pre-order it on Amazon here!
About Sue Davies:
My early years were spent in Australia before moving to the UK in the 1970s. I subsequently worked at the BBC on programmes as diverse as Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Question Time. My main specialism was as a senior broadcast journalist making long form current affairs for BBC Radio Four and World Service. For this I travelled all over the world and received industry awards. My other forte was fast turn around material whenever there was a major crisis, for example, the Twin Towers tragedy or the subsequent bombings in London. In cases like that I would work all day and night. In my last years at the corporation I did a Masters degree in foreign relations with a view to working in international organisations and war zones. Then, unexpectedly, I became interested in the Classics.
Let’s start by getting to know you! Who’s your favourite writer?
That all depends on the mood I’m in. Sometimes I want a fun and meaty read and so will hope to pick up something like Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, or Percival Everett’s Erasure. If it’s major comfort I’m after, it’ll be someone like C. J. Sansom. The most astonishing book I’ve ever read is William Golding’s The Inheritors. I turned it round the moment I finished it and started again. And if I’m on the beach and want something really spikey I might take to some speculative fiction, like Ned Beauman’s Venomous Lumpsucker.
What’s your favourite book? (Tricky question, I know! We’ll let you off if you choose multiple!)
At this precise moment I’ll say Anna Burns’ Milkman, though if you ask me this afternoon I’ll probably say something different.
Can you describe By the Horn of the South in four sentences?
Based on a true story, this historical adventure is set on a Greek merchant vessel as it sails down the coast of West Africa in search of treasure. It is about 500 BCE; there is a volatile crew of navigators, healers and soothsayers on board; the ship conquers tidal wave, illness and death yet still fails in its mission. Who is to blame? The crew must answer for their actions to one of the most powerful and dangerous men of the known world.
What other books would you compare By the Horn of the South to?
Not necessarily books, but some authors are similar to me. Patrick O’Brian for his wonderful conjuring of life at sea; Mary Renault for her recreation of the archaic world of Ancient Greece.
What was your inspiration behind this book? What began this journey for you?
I was in Tunisia following the Arab spring and went sightseeing one day. Standing on a hillside looking out over the Bay of Tunis, I saw a shining doughnut of water embedded in the landscape. It turned out to be the remnants of the ancient harbour of Carthage.
‘Carthage!’ I thought. ‘Why don’t I know about Carthage!’
From that moment I began to imagine what it must have been like to live in those times and travel the seas. How different was the final product to what you initially planned when you embarked on this voyage?
Very different indeed. I had imagined the story would be about a single woman and her son who made a living eking out their existence at the harbour’s edge in Carthage. Well, the son, Qart, survived the process and became the ship’s boy on The Delphis. His mum, I’m sorry to report, turns up in only a few sentences. Many writers struggle with the publication process. What was your experience like, and what advice would you give to writers who don’t know where to begin? It is a long and torturous process.
By the Horn of the South and its prequel, By the Pillars of Herakles (which I will publish next year) were conceived about ten years ago and it took approximately five years to write each book. After I had finished the first I started to contact literary agents. These days, without a literary agent, no publisher will look at your work.
Yet no agents were interested. Either of two things happened: they told me to change my period of historical fiction (‘Why don’t you write about the Romans, or the Tudors?’), or they were silent. There was a very great deal of agent silence. I concluded, after years of fruitlessly submitting work, that I would publish myself.
So now, having wasted all that time, I’m a woman in a hurry. I am 76 years old. I no longer have time to be ‘found’ by anyone except readers. I need to get on with stuff while I’m still sentient. Fingers crossed. So I’m taking up publication offers made by Amazon and IngramSpark and will see where that gets me. If even a few people read my stories I’ll be happy.
As to advice: on the technical side of writing, go on courses. Harsh as it might be to imagine it, what you think of as Draft One is probably draft zero and you will need to do many, many rewrites. So get going. Keep going. Don’t listen to anyone else.
On the independent publishing side, join the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and swat it up.
No one can tell you how to write and publish a book. Unfortunately, every writer’s journey seems to take a different course. You are the only one who can find yours.
Research is key in writing, and particularly so in historical fiction! How did you go about researching this book?
As soon as I realised how little thought I, or indeed anyone in contemporary culture, had given to ancient Carthage I started reading. I spent a year in the British Library turning myself from a current affairs journalist into a novice classicist. The learning curve remains steep and fascinating.
Each project presents its own unique hurdles. In what ways did this book challenge you in comparison to past writing projects?
The past writing I had done had been largely working on scripts for long form radio programmes. This was usually in a pair with someone else. So the challenge with this project, both on the writing and research side, has been to have the courage of my own convictions. To believe that I, personally, have something to say and the capacity to say it is quite a challenge, especially if you are used to working collaboratively.
And did your writing process change whilst writing this book? How?
I got much tighter in my writing style, much more critical of how I, and other people, express themselves, and much less tolerant of what I consider to be sloppy writing.
I also hope my punctuation has improved. It is appalling!
What did you learn whilst writing By the Horn of the South?
Huge amounts about the ancient world, astronomy and my characters’ lives. I also, I think, learnt how to write.
And finally, are you working on anything new? If yes, can you share anything about it?
I’m working on the prequel to By the Horn… It’s called By the Pillars of Herakles and tells the story of how all my characters met and got together in the first place. It was actually the first book I wrote on leaving the ancient harbour of Carthage, and so needs a bit of an upgrade.
Let readers know where they can find you: