Today I am delighted to welcome author, K Lewis Adair to Books, Life and Everything to talk about her writing life and her latest historical novel, The Windmill, which was published by Matador on November 17th 2020.
Welcome to Books, Life and Everything! Would you like to start by telling us a little about
yourself and how you started as a writer? What are you interests apart from
writing?
I believe I am a very ordinary, (perhaps slightly quirky)
down to earth person with a huge fascination for history, ancient history and
archaeology. The spiritual side of me comes from trying to picture how our
ancestors used to live. I like to view things through their eyes, to feel their
lives. Genealogy helped me to see them more as did the ancient sites I love to
visit.
I cannot say specifically that I ever set out to be a
writer, but it is fair to say I always loved writing and telling stories, even
from a young age. I have always had a huge imagination, and this has helped me
immensely to conceive the ideas for my book and books to come. To create…gives
me pleasure.
When I began to write The Windmill, many ideas I had
collected in my life started to piece together. Along with a newfound interest
in genealogy that opened my curiosity to past lives and how our ancestors lived
before us, other questions arose for me. This then led me to visit a ‘Medium’
that opened my mind to so much more. I have a blog that explains this visit on
my Website.
What is your favourite childhood book?
My love of books began very early on. I was lucky to have a
mother who introduced me to many different books, even to reading me George
Orwell’s Animal Farm when I was too young to understand all the connotations of
it…to me it was an unusual farmyard. I loved The Hobbit, Lord of The Rings, The
Wishing chair (By Enid Blyton) and Stig of the Dump (by Clive King). I loved
the variety.
Tell us about your latest book without giving the plot away.
The Windmill is set in three parts, together with three
separate, historical ‘Connections’ back stories.
Part One:
The main character is ‘Ginny’. Virginia Lewis Faulkner.
Ginny’s journey starts with an unusual inheritance. Bequeathed
by her Great Aunt, whom she and other family members, have little knowledge of
following her disappearance in war-torn Holland, 1940.
Ginny begins a genealogical investigation that leads to
skeletons within cupboards that have been hidden from her family. Where will
this investigation take her? Who will she meet along the way and what does
destiny hold in store for Ginny?
Part Two:
We are taken back in time to 1940 and we now follow Ginny’s
Great Aunt. Why was she sent out to Amsterdam? She will discover shadowy
dealings, whilst working as an archivist, at the Rijksmuseum. Here she is
introduced to many new characters. Will we discover what befalls them?
Part Three:
Back to modern day (2005) to continue the search with Ginny
for more answers. This will lead to the door of somebody we met in 1940. The
three parts of the book now tie together through newfound knowledge… And leads
to an historical and spiritual enlightenment.
What are Connections?
There is a story within a story. These chapters have an ethereal feel and
appear vague. How important will the connections be to our character’s search
for truth and knowledge? Will it conclude in part-three of this book? Will the
future only become clear by knowing the past in future books?
Link to this blog page: https://klewisadair.com/2020/10/18/the-windmill-the-story-begins/
What are your writing routines and where do you do most of
your writing?
I am lucky to have my own desk and area now to write, but I
have done my writing in many places, from parks, gardens, coffee shops, back
seat of the car and even sat on the bed. I try to go to the office each day,
with a cup of coffee in hand (always the best way to start a day) and have a
pad and pen to the side of me.
I always begin my
stories writing them out by hand. It works for me as everything floods out. The
next bit is harder as I then have to decipher my handwriting and type it all
up. It will be many manuscripts later until the book becomes polished and
finished.
How do you go about researching detail and ensuring your
books are realistic?
I research lots of different topics around a thread I'd like
to build into my story. I find an obscure fact and delve headlong into
this...all the time thinking how this could interact with the characters and
the plot.
I double check the details I want to use and make sure the
correct names of an organisation are correctly termed in the right year. As we
know organisations tend to change their names.
In my book I refer to the Secret Intelligence Bureau,
founded in 1909 which later changed its name to the Secret Intelligence Service
around 1920. These small details, for me are important.
This sense of finding out something new and creating a story
around it gives me a real buzz and inspiration to push on.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Oddly enough it energises me. I think I’m like a child in
that sense…as I get excited to get on with the story telling!
Can you give any hints about any upcoming books you have
planned?
The Windmill is the first in a series of books. I am at
present working on the second novel.
There will be characters that you have been introduced to in
the first book that you will meet again in the second. After all it is a
journey that you are on, to help Ginny find out facts and discover so much
more.
Your journey will continue….
Thanks so much for dropping by today and good luck with Book 2!
About the Author
K Lewis Adair lives in the South West of England. Through
studying Archaeology and History, she was drawn in by the Pre-Romano/British
and Anglo-Saxon period. In particular, she has interest in how our ancestors
lived, interacted with each other, and how they might guide us to this day.
You can follow her here: Twitter | Website | Facebook Author Page
Book Spotlight
What is love at first
sight? What do we mean by destiny? Are things sometimes just meant to be?
And are there messages within our dreams?
Virginia ‘Ginny’ Lewis Faulkner thinks her luck is in when
she inherits a previously-unknown property. Little does she know all that
awaits her as she begins a genealogical investigation to discover more about
her Great Aunt Florence Stanley, whom she and other family members have little
knowledge of following her disappearance in war-torn Holland in 1940. But there
are skeletons within the cupboard that were hidden for a reason...
Told through a lens of three snapshots in time that are
connected by a ‘soul’s’ journey to reunite with past loves, experience the
loves and loss of three extraordinary people and their journeys in life.
Book link: Amazon UK | Troubador
Comments
Post a Comment