🍴 Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo ~ Kate Field

On this quiet Sunday morning why don't you put the kettle on, make your favourite breakfast and settle down for Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo

I'm delighted to welcome Kate Field to our Sunday Brunch today

Welcome. Kate. What favourite food are you bringing to Sunday brunch?

I’m being a traditionalist and bringing a pile of bacon butties. Crispy bacon, freshly-baked white bread and lashings of real butter… What could be better?

Would you like a pot of English breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz?

I don’t drink tea or coffee, so I suppose I’ll have to accept the Bucks Fizz!

Where shall we eat brunch – around the kitchen table, in the formal dining room, or outside on the patio?

As it’s October in north west England, I think it will have to be the kitchen table. Hopefully the autumn sun will shine on us through the windows and we’ll have a lovely view of the garden. I can’t imagine using a formal dining room again – ours has been an office for the last 18 months!

Shall we have music playing in the background, and if so do you have a favourite piece of music?

As we’re both northerners, shall we support a local band and listen to some Elbow? One of my favourites is One Day Like This. I love the soaring melody and the lyrics, and especially the way Guy Garvey pronounces the word ‘love’, in the same way I do!

Which of your literary heroes (dead or alive) are joining us for Sunday Brunch today?

I’m inviting Bertie Wooster as I think he would be huge fun. He’d tell great stories, sing silly songs and undoubtedly make us laugh. We’d better invite Jeeves too, in case Bertie gets into trouble.

Which favourite book will you bring to Sunday Brunch?

It’s so hard to choose a favourite book of all time, so I’m cheating slightly and bringing my favourite read of the year so far. It’s Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers. I love this sort of ‘quiet’ book, where the characters rather than action take centre stage. It’s beautifully written, gently humorous, and the ending is incredibly poignant.

Weidenfeld and Nicolson
2020

When you are writing do you still find time to read for pleasure? And is there a book you would like to read but haven’t had time for …yet!

Absolutely! Reading always comes first, and I can’t imagine a day without spending some time with a book. I’ve started listening to audiobooks over the last year too, so now I can escape into a book even when doing boring chores like ironing.

There are far too many books on my TBR pile that I haven’t had time to read yet, but one that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I have a crochet blanket kit that was inspired by the book so I’d like to read it before I get started on that.

Where do you find the inspiration for your novels?

It can be anywhere: random conversations, newspaper stories, song lyrics, TV shows. Usually it’s a combination of several ideas that come together to form a story. The premise of Finding Home, for example, was initially inspired by an article in a newspaper about a random act of kindness. A few months later, I heard a radio interview with firefighter Sabrina Cohen-Hatton. She has achieved remarkable things after a difficult childhood and after being homeless as a teenager, and she gave me the idea for my lead character, Mim. The character and the premise fitted together perfectly and I couldn’t resist writing the story.

Have you a favourite place to settle down to write and do you find it easier to write in winter or summer?

I don’t have a favourite place, but I find I’m most productive when I’m writing in the kitchen. I can’t listen to music when I’m writing, as it’s too distracting, but the white noise of the kitchen appliances seems to be a perfect backdrop. I think I’m more productive in winter too. In summer, it’s too tempting to get out into the countryside and enjoy a walk.

When writing to a deadline are you easily distracted and if so how do you bring back focus on your writing?

I’m used to working to deadlines in my day job, so I can be disciplined and focus on a writing deadline if I need to. My main problem is letting go when the deadline arrives. I always think I could make a book better with one more round of edits!

Give us four essential items that a writer needs?

I write my first draft by hand rather than on a laptop, so a good notebook and pen are my two main essential items. I also need peace and quiet – preferably an empty house, but that’s not been possible recently. Writers also need a thick skin to cope with the rejections and the bad reviews. I’m still trying to grow mine!

What can you tell us about your latest novel or your current work in progress?

My latest novel is called Finding Home. It’s the story of Mim, who at the start of the novel is homeless, unemployed, and living in her car. She meets a couple who are stranded in Lancashire but desperately need to get to Devon for a family wedding. She offers to drive them to their seaside home, and this act of kindness changes her life in ways she hadn’t expected.

I hope it’s an uplifting and romantic read!

One More Chapter 
2021

Kate, where can we follow you on social media?

Twitter: @katehaswords

Facebook page

More about Kate

Kate Field writes heartwarming and uplifting romantic fiction. She lives in Lancashire with her husband, daughter and cat. Kate’s debut novel, A Place to Begin Again, won the Joan Hessayon award for new writers.

Thank you, Kate for taking part in Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo.

Follow us on Twitter @jaffareadstoo #SundayBrunchwithJaffareadstoo

 

Close to Home ....Kate Field

As a book reviewer I have made contact with authors from all across the globe and feel immensely privileged to be able to share some amazing work. However, there is always something rather special when a book comes to my attention which has been written by an author in my part of the North of England. So with this in mind I have great pleasure in featuring some of those authors who are literally close to my home. Over the next few Saturdays, and hopefully beyond, I will be sharing the work of a very talented bunch of Northern authors and discovering just what being a Northerner means to them both in terms of inspiration and also in their writing.

Today I feature Lancashire author, Kate Field

Hi and welcome to Jaffareadstoo, Kate..

Tell us a little about yourself and what got you started as an author?

I’m Lancashire born and bred, and still live only ten minutes away from the street in which I grew up. I did venture down south for three years when I attended university, but was always glad to head back north. When I saw the hills rising and the clouds lowering, I knew I was almost home! I met my husband at university and luckily he is a Lancastrian too, so there was never any question about where we would settle.

I started writing many years ago. I’ve always loved reading – it’s amazing the way that books can manipulate your emotions, change your opinions, educate, entertain or simply take you away from life for a while. Trying to write a book was the irresistible next step.

As a writer based in the North West, does this present any problems in terms of marketing and promoting your books and if so, how do you overcome them?

I attended a talk over the summer about how to write a commercial bestseller. We were told that it’s easier to market a book set in, say, Paris or Cornwall, as the reader already has a mental picture of the location and how romantic it can be – as opposed to a book set in Lancaster. It was an excellent point, but not what I wanted to hear a few weeks before publication of my Lancashire romance!

Accent Press

I’ve received some lovely early reviews of The Magic of Ramblings, and I don’t think the northern setting has put anyone off so far! I write about small communities, and how the people in them rub along together, so I hope that readers can identify with that wherever they come from.

If you were pitching the North West as an ideal place to live, work and write – how would you sell it and what makes it so special?

The North West already has a great track record for nurturing talented people – there are some brilliant comedians, actors, musicians and writers who have come from this region. It inspired Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings so it must have something special!

I love everything about this region. We have flat vowels and high hills; brilliant museums and theatres; great places to shop and eat. But it’s the landscape that makes me most happy to live here: from the Lake District hills, to the beautiful Forest of Bowland, and even the bleak West Pennine moors. 

How did you break into the publishing world?

I always knew that self-publishing wasn’t an option for me, because I don’t have the confidence to look at my own work and think it’s good enough to share. My family still haven’t read any of it as far as I know!

Entering competitions was probably the turning point for me. I was a runner up in the lovely author Miranda Dickinson’s Future Stars competition, and a runner up in the Accent Press / Woman magazine competition. Boosted by that, I met an editor from Accent at the RNA conference in 2015, having sent her the first chapter of The Magic of Ramblings. Luckily she loved it!

What are the up and downs to being an author?

It’s a strange life: what seems a major disaster one day – a main character’s name that has to change halfway through the book, or a scene that doesn’t work on paper as it did in your head – can look totally different the next day.

Rejections are probably one of the lowest moments, and they have a horrible tendency to come together – I once received two in the space of twenty minutes! It makes no difference if it’s a ‘near miss’ or a standard rejection signed by the PA of the person you submitted to, it still stings when one arrives.

On the up side, it’s wonderful when the writing flows and you become immersed in your characters’ lives, to the point that they pop in and out of your head all day. And as a newly published writer, I’ve only recently discovered one of the best moments: to see from a review that someone has enjoyed your book more than makes up for every down day.

Can you describe your books in three words?

Emotional, character-driven romance.

Writing is a solitary business - how do you interact with other authors?

I’d never met another writer until I attended the Festival of Romance in 2013, and it was only then that I realised how much I’d been missing! It’s great to be able to share the ups and downs with people who know exactly what you’re going through. 

I’ve met some incredibly supportive and generous writers through the RNA. I was a late developer on Twitter and Facebook, but try to keep in touch with other writers on there. I’m also part of a lovely group of Critique Buddies on Facebook, who can always be relied on for support and encouragement. I don’t think writing needs to be a solitary business any more, and it’s definitely more fun when it’s not!

Thanks for inviting me on your blog, Jo..

You can find more about the Kate on the following sites:

Facebook

Twitter: @katehaswords

Amazon UK

Huge thanks to Kate for taking the time to answer my questions about her impression of living and writing in Lancashire

I hope that you have enjoyed this week's Close to Home feature

Coming next week :  Lyn G. Farrell




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