Find Out Friday: Charlie Cochrane
1/13/2012 9:51:30 AM
Welcome to the first Find Out Friday of 2012.
Today, I am very happy to welcome author, Charlie Cochrane. Happy New Year, Charlie. How was your Christmas? Did you catch any rugby?
Plenty, but only on the telly. And the iplayer. And maybe the radio. And my hero Nigel Owens was reffing some of them so things were great. As for Christmas, it was exemplary; just the Cochranes, plus eldest daughter’s boyfriend. Lots of games, quizzes, food, drink and laughter – what more could one ask for?
Do you make a point of switching off over holiday periods or do they provide you with an uninterrupted amount of time in which to write?
Hm. Depends. Less writing time when the big girls are back from Uni and the youngest off school, certainly, but I do try to get 500 words down every day. (That may not seem a lot, but it’s my standard writing amount even on a good day! I try to make it 500 really good words.)
How do you divide your day between family, writing and your job as a training provider for new, school parent-governors?
I juggle well. I have lots of lists. I have lists of lists. Seriously, it’s all about being ultra organised. Luckily my training is done freelance so I can pick and choose dates and it only averages out at maybe four evenings a month, plus some admin stuff. I regard my writing as being a ‘proper’ job too, so I make time (on a normal day) for writing, promo, etc. The only time I rarely write a thing is when we’re away from home, on holiday or a short break.
Were you a keen reader as a child and to which books did you return?
Yes. I read and reread Tolkien, James Thurber and an odd book called On the Track of Unknown Animals!
At what point in your life did you realise you wanted to write?
I’ve always made up stories in my head – or to amuse the girls when they were younger – but it was only when I discovered the Hornblower fandom (and the wonder of fanfic) that I started to get the ideas out of my head and onto ‘paper’.
Which authors inspired you and why?
Patrick O’Brian, because he’s the king of characterisation and Mary Renault because she can say more in one sentence than most authors can in an entire page.
You write historical gay romance – what in particular drew you to this genre?
The simple answer is that I think it chose me, rather than vice versa. Those are the stories that come in to my head. If I think a bit deeper, I guess that I’ve always loved period fiction, whether it’s O’Brian’s Age of Sail stories or golden age mysteries (Sayers, Christie and the like). I also love books from the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Conan Doyle, Jerome K Jerome – bring them on!
Tell me about the Cambridge Fellow Mysteries?
I’m a great fan of classic mysteries and one of my favourites is “Death at the President’s Lodging”. Great murder mystery (I defy anyone to solve it) and it has a couple of really ‘slashy’ scenes. I was reading them and thought, “Isn’t it a shame there aren’t classic age mysteries with gay detectives?” So I started to write one.
It had to be set in Cambridge because that’s my old University, it had to be Edwardian because that’s one of my favourite eras from which to read books and it had to feature two gorgeous blokes…because it had to.
The books are both mysteries and romances, and cover the developments in Jonty and Orlando’s relationship against a background of murder, mayhem and dotty secondary characters.
Did you set out to write a series?
Nope. It just happened. (That’s a pretty common experience for me.)
How do you go about researching crimes?
I don’t. Not actively, anyway. Let me explain – much of my research has come almost by osmosis. I have a magpie mind, which accumulates things from books, films, pictures, newspapers, etc, so I have a hoard of information for the era I’m writing in and – because I’ve read so many crime books – I have a bank of crime info to draw on as well. I do check facts as I go along, but the broad brush things are in place.
From where did the characters Jonty and Orlando appear?
I want to say that they sprang fully formed from my noddle, but that’s only partly true. Jonty was inspired by the wonderful actor Jamie Bamber, who seems to specialise in characters who suffer nobly (and beautifully), and then get shot. Both his looks and some of the situations I’d seen him in helped to form Jonty, although his sense of mischief is all mine.
Orlando? Hm, he’s drawn from those sort of ultra clever, slightly odd heroes of mine (Alan Turing ) and Sherlock Holmes spring to mind). I wanted him to be a complete contrast to Jonty and to fall helplessly in love with him, without realising what was going on.
What other projects do you have lined up?
In February I have a short story coming out from Carina. “Dreams of a Hero” is inspired by the Matt Alber song “Boeotia” and shows what can happen to even the most mild mannered person when they start having strange dreams. I also have a Paralympic themed short out form MLR in 2012.
And there’s about half a dozen half written stories to finish and submit over the next year. Surprising how far 500 words a day can go!
Which books are in your To Be Read pile and which books would you personally recommend?
Does it sound odd to say that my TBR pile is an unknown? I need to find a series which inspires me to read it through avidly, in the same way that the Ladies No 1 Detective Agency or the Bryant and May books did. Any recommendations?
As for my recces, I’ll go with my genre. “Whistling in the Dark” by Tamara Allen is a great gay historical. And “The Charioteer” by Mary Renault is a must read for any prospective author as well as being a cracking story. And I recently very much enjoyed “A Hundred Little Lies” by Jon Wilson.
In my head, because you write Historicals, I am imagining you sitting at an old, captain’s desk, quill in hand and fingers stained with ink, scratching out your manuscript. Normally at this point, I ask my guest if they are a pen and paper person or a straight to pc writer, but I am enjoying the quill and ink pot image, so I think I will leave it there.
If I had a quill and pot I’d be covered from head to toe in ink within seven and a half minutes. I really am ridiculously clumsy and messy.
Thank you so much for being my guest, Charlie. Enjoy 2012. I hear there’s some sport thing happening in the summer….
You can follow Charlie on Twitter, on her website through Facebook and via her blog.
Comments:
Charlie Cochrane:
1/14/2012 10:49:30 AM
Thanks, Gaycrow.
Gaycrow
I didn’t realise that book had been written on the way toAustralia. Life’s coincidences – don’t you love them? Will answer re series at LJ.
Laura E. James:
1/13/2012 10:57:10 PM
Thanks.
Gaycrow – thank you for your comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the interview all the way over inSouth Australia!
Charlie – it’s a pleasure having you here and you’re welcome any time.
Gaycrow:
1/13/2012 8:24:58 PM
Charlie’s interview.
(Here via Charlie’s LJ.) I really enjoyed this interview. I hadn’t heard of “Death at the President’s Lodging”, and managed to find a copy at my local library. It was interesting to find out that the author wrote it on the way toSouth Australia, which is where I live. I’m looking forward to reading the book very much.
I have a couple of series to recommend … I’ll do that at LJ. 🙂
Charlie Cochrane:
1/13/2012 4:40:37 PM
Thank you!
Thank you for hosting me. I had great fun with these answers.