On World Book Day dovegreyreader asks...Adele Geras

HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY EVERYONE! Like many others, Adele Geras has been a source of great encouragement to this health visitor turned book blogger and so, as I said yesterday, I was delighted when she placed herself very sedately in the armchair for dovegreyreader asks...and I will now apologise for what happened next.
It was of course lovely to see Adele wearing the actual Costa Book Awards outfit and, had I known I would have suggested she brought some wellies too.I've yet to find out how to get that slurry-like mud, unique to the countryside, off her gorgeous teal suede shoes.We swear by the washing machine here (and Crocs go in the dishwasher and come out gleaming) but a 60 degree wash in Ariel Bio followed by a 1300rpm spin doesn't seem to have helped.
Things got worse as you'll see because Rocky took a real shine to his visitor and the cat fur just whoosed onto that black dress like iron filings to a magnet, we were busy with the sticky lint roller for ages.Nothing seemed to phase Adele though, not even bookhound in his apron bearing the tea tray.

Always a writer? If not how did it happen and who or what have been the greatest influences on you?

Absolutely not!I am a failed musical actress.
I was going to be someone like Judy Garland/Barbra Streisand till I got married. I was supposed to be a STAR! I spent most of my time at university on stage and appeared in musical reviews twice in the West End . Unfortunately, when I came up to Manchester after my marriage, there were no vacancies for stars, so I became a teacher instead. I taught French in a girls' secondary school. I fell into writing completely by accident. I went in for a competition ( I love competitions!) to write a story for children and though I didn't win, I enjoyed the process so much that I decided to persist with it. It took me about two years to get anything accepted. Influences? My father and my English teachers at school, Miss Godfray and Miss Sturgis. I imagine these two as ghostly presences when I read over anything I've written. They had fierce red pens and excellent judgement, which is a good combination. Thanks to my dad, I can't split an infinitive, never make mistakes like 'between you and I' and NEVER, EVER say 'phenomena' when I'm talking about one thing. I also always put apostrophes in the correct place. Pedantic? Moi?

Is the circulation to your feet OK with Rocky on your lap ? He is quite a phenomena… phenomenal… big cat isn’t he?

Rocky is lovely and I admire him on your blog whenever his photo appears. He's welcome on my lap any time. Almost any cat would be. I'm a great cat lover. I know you're doing tutorials on VW with the estimable Susan Hill but do you know Virginia's remark about Mrs. Gaskell? She said Gaskell wrote as though she had a cat on her lap. I'm not altogether sure whether she meant it as a compliment, but if anyone said it of me, I'd be overjoyed.

An ideal writing day for you...

A day when I get up, longing to continue the scene I've started the day before. I have no errands to run before I can begin. It's straight on to the laptop after breakfast, write for two hours or so and find it brilliant when I read it back, instead of thinking: oh, must do something about that later, or that'll have to be done again from scratch or any of the other, somewhat discouraging things one thinks. By then, it's half past twelve, I've written about 2000 words or so, which is plenty for one day. I then back up my work, close the laptop and take myself off to lunch with a good friend. You don't want to overdo it, right?

Well quite Adele, more scones, more jam, more cream, more tea?

Absolutely, always more of everything like that, which you can tell by looking at me, right? One of my many mottoes is: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING CAN BE WONDERFUL...that's Mae West. My real top  motto, though, comes from Kaffe Fassett, the Californian knitting and tapestry wizard. Back in the 70s, the cry was always: If in doubt, add twenty more colours.

When you’re not writing…

I read all the time, like Dove Grey herself. I read fast and furiously. I read all sorts of things. I also watch an inordinate amount of tv, which I adore. I love cooking, I go to movies very often and the theatre, the ballet and opera whenever I can.I see my friends. I knit, though not nearly as much as I used to. I've never knitted a sock!

Your finest literary hour...

was the 23rd May, 2001. I was down in Birmingham at a day organized by the library for the children who'd been shadowing the Carnegie medal. This is the premier children's book prize and that year, my novel TROY  was on the shortlist. I was very elated about that. There were several of us there that day, including Philip Pullman and Jamila Gavin and Beverley Naidoo. She was the eventual winner, though Philip and I were joint runners-up with Highly Commendeds. It was a beautiful day, we had a splendid lunch in the Art Gallery ( do you notice a certain LUNCH THEME coming out here? Oh dear!) and best of all, I had to keep leaving the gathering to take calls on my mobile from my agent who was that very day organizing an auction for my first adult novel, Facing the Light. I had never had a book auctioned like this before. The sums I kept hearing about seemed astronomical and the little gifts ( Hodder couriered round some scented candles!) that came with the bids were amazing. At the end of the day, I'd already decided to go with Orion, but it was a heady experience and one I don't expect will ever be repeated. While I was at the Art Gallery I bought an address book and I'm stll using it.It's a reminder of that time.

Did you get a bus home or a stretch limo?

Good old British Rail from Birmingham New Street to Piccadilly.I adore trains

 
The book you most enjoyed writing...

The one I had most fun with was Made in Heaven. I didn't have a single problem with the plot, which worked itself out in a trouble-free way from the beginning. I loved doing the research for it, which involved emails to my pals asking them what their ideal wedding would be and also things like going to Wedding Fairs ( or Fayres, as they are sometimes called) and buying lots of glossy magazines full of STUFF. I didn't take long to write it and it was attended by none of the birth pangs, rewriting, etc that all other novels go through. It seemed to be completely trouble -free and I loved writing it. Another book I greatly enjoyed writing was TROY but that was for another reason. For the first time, I felt that I was tackling something big and in which I could spread myself. It was, I now see, an adult book to all intents and purposes: length, themes, etc, but like a lot of adult books, perfectly fine for teenagers

Recent good reads?

Too many to list, as I've been a judge this year for the Costa Book Award and have read lots of splendid novels. I won't talk about the category winners of that competition but rather about other things I've enjoyed. A lot of them will be familiar to Dove Grey readers, though I haven't gone the Woolf for Dummies route and I've missed out on Niall Williams. Will have to rectify that omission!
Recently, I loved Kate Atkinson's One Good Turn; Dissolution and Dark Fire by CJ Sansom; King Dork by Frank Portman; A Jealous Ghost by A NWilson; and all three thrillers, well known to readers of Dove Grey, by Arnaldur Indridason, who's a real find. These are: Jar City, The Silence of the Grave and Voices. Charlotte Mendelson's When We Were Bad is marvellous.

And of course you told me about Frank Portman and Arnaldur Indridason. Now the shoes, Adele leave them with me and we’ll sort those, can I offer you some wellies?

Yes, please to the wellies. I seem, with age, to have lost the ability to be comfortable in high shoes. But invisibility goes with age as well, so no one will mind if I appear at parties henceforward in rubber boots!

And with that Adele swept off elegantly to the World Book Day gathering at The Globe Theatre in London, expect her final party report of the season very soon and she’ll be easy to spot in the wellies (green Hunters, no pink spotty Boden's here)