Q&A with author Deborah Challinor

Deborah Challinor

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Your first books were non-fiction. What are the differences between writing fictional and non-fictional histories?

Obviously, you can be more creative when writing historical fiction, particularly regarding fictional characters. As far as my books are concerned, the depth of research is the same for both historical fiction and historical non-fiction, and the research methodology just as thorough and rigorous.

After writing two non-fiction books, writing historical fiction and not referencing anything initially felt decidedly strange. Having had eight years of academic training as an historian, during which you are taught to reference absolutely everything, it was a precarious feeling not to. However, the skeleton of historical fiction is based on research, over which the flesh of fiction is settled, and you need to do a hell of a lot of research to hold the story up. It then has to be adapted to be incorporated in various ways into the story, for example, through a character's viewpoint – or discarded, as roughly half of the research I do for my novels is.

What is your writing process? What is your favourite aspect of writing? Least favourite?

I start with a synopsis. If there are multiple historical events in the story, I'll do a timeline. When I'm on schedule, I aim for 30 pages a week. Every morning I go over what I wrote the day before and fix mistakes, etc. My favourite aspect of writing is when the words flow quickly and easily, which happens a lot less frequently than you might think, and when a new and interesting character suddenly pops up from nowhere.

My least favourite aspect of writing is rushing to meet a deadline when I'm behind schedule. Writer's block isn't much fun, either.

How do you like dealing with publishers, media, festivals, reviews?

HarperCollins NZ have published my books since 2000, and have always been very good to work with. As for the publicity side of things, I'm not sure I can honestly say I like whizzing around the country and rushing into television and radio studios and saying to the publicist who travels with me, "Who are we talking to now?", but it happens only once a year when a new book comes out, and you do meet some interesting people. Generally, I think the New Zealand media have been really supportive of my books.

In my 10 years as a professional writer, I've spoken at writers' festivals twice, so there hasn't been much to deal with there. By the time reviews come out, I'm at least halfway through writing the next book so my focus is elsewhere, and I don't often see a lot of them.

What do you think creative writing courses can teach and what can they not?

I've never done a creative writing course, so I can't comment on what's actually taught during such courses. I teach a level two Waikato University paper on developing the research skills required for writing New Zealand historical fiction, including ethics and methodology, and how to use that material effectively in a novel, but that's perhaps slightly different to a creative writing course.

What do you read, and who has influenced your writing?

A writer I very much admire is Pat Barker, who wrote the novels Union Street and The Century's Daughter (aka Liza's England), and the Regeneration trilogy, about the First World War. But I read a lot of everything. Crime, particularly British. I like Kate Atkinson, Laurie Graham, Caroline Graham, Roddy Doyle, Phil Rickman, Stephen King, Diana Gabaldon, Marian Keyes. Anything that looks like a good, escapist read. I also read a lot of non-fiction to do with my research.

Other interests, hobbies?

The music and culture of the 1950s, 60s and 70s in the western world.

Isle of Tears came out recently and a revised Grey Ghosts, about Vietnam War veterans. What's next?

The third book in the Kitty series, called Band of Gold, is set in Ballarat, Australia, in 1854, and is due out later this year. I'm about to start on a new novel about two New Zealand sisters who become involved in the Vietnam War in the late 1960s; one a New Zealand Army nurse who serves with the Australians in Vietnam, and the other an Auckland university student who protests against the war.

- © Fairfax NZ News