Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book but there is another one nearly finished which I hope to get published in 2020. Both are based on my own family history. I also write short stories occasionally which I post on my own website.
I have a degree in Humanities with Literature and have always enjoyed reading, especially the great writers of the 19th Century, such as Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. A great deal of my working life has been spent teaching English and maths to young people in the workplace. Nowadays I find myself trying to pass on my love of the classics to people who were born in the 21st Century. It’s a hard task but if I can impart even the tiniest bit of enthusiasm, then I’ll feel I have achieved something.
I have done many different jobs in my working life, from nursing to shelf filling and everything in-between! Having lived long enough now, I realise that life very rarely goes to plan.
In my spare time, when I’m not writing, I enjoy spending time with my husband, our cats and pet rabbits, listening to folk and world music, going to the cinema and trying to grow vegetables, with limited success!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Glass Bulldog is my latest novel and is based on the true story of one of my ancestors.
Being the only child of two only children, I have always felt a distinct lack of family. This led me to research my family history and what I found there fascinated me. A chance snippet of information in a parish archive about my great-great grandfather Tom Finnimore sent me off on a voyage of discovery. Arrested and imprisoned for stealing six chickens at the age of 16, he somehow survived to have a family and a second chance. The more I found out about his life the more vivid it became until I was compelled to write up Tom’s story.
I have spent years carefully researching the facts of his life and the context of the time, and can say that I feel it represents a realistic picture of the life of the working class poor in Victorian Britain. Though it is a fictionalised account, all the main events actually happened as told, and I have tried to be as accurate as possible, especially with names, dates and places.
The novel covers a period of over fifty years from 1832 to 1885. This was a challenge in itself to portray, but I felt that if I made the book any shorter it would not be doing justice to Tom.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My writing takes place anywhere and everywhere, even whilst sitting in the car. I find driving is a great way to free the mind and inspire the imagination, and I’ve often had to pull over in order to get stuff down on paper. I always write the first draft by hand, as I think better that way, then redraft and amend it as I type it up.
My cat Maisie likes to sit on the table with me whilst I am writing, often on the paper as well, which somewhat slows down progress!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have a great love for the nineteenth century classics like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen but I am also a huge Tolkien fan. Reading Lord of the Rings as a teenager was life changing for me. Contemporary authors that I enjoy now are Alexander McCall Smith, Bill Bryson and Mark Wallington. I cannot say which ones have influenced my own writing style but I certainly love their books.
What are you working on now?
My current work in progress is called No Shamrocks Here and is another true story, this time beginning in the late Victorian era. It tells the story of three members of the same family: a female Irish immigrant and two of her sons; one who takes part in WW1 and another who lives through the war on the home front. I feel it is a new, fresh look at the war from a different perspective, plus a heart rending story of love gone wrong.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Facebook and Twitter as well as my own website. https//alisonhuntingford.com
I am also approaching literary festivals, book clubs, family history societies, WI.s; in fact anyone who will listen!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up! Even if you think you’ll never make it, just keep trying. I set myself a target of 3000 words by the end of the year and once I got started I just couldn’t stop!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Stephen King – anything goes, there are no rules with writing, everything is up for grabs. This is such a liberating approach.
What are you reading now?
Bill Bryson – Neither Here nor There
What’s next for you as a writer?
Get the new novel finished. Try and get an agent and a publisher. If not, put it out myself. Then promote everything over and over again.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
500 Mile Walkies Mark Wallington
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Author Websites and Profiles
Alison Huntingford Website
Alison Huntingford Amazon Profile
Alison Huntingford’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account