Interview With Author Sonya Van de Graaff
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Australia where I studied classical music and law, and developed my love for the renaissance and a wanderlust for Europe. I now live in England with my wife and two dogs, dividing my time between the South Downs and London. I have written one novel.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Painter from Seville.
When I first visited Seville, I was enchanted by the city and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I visited it again and again. I fell in love with the art that the city produced in its golden age (from the late 1500s), and was curious to understand why the Renaissance took some time to make its way there. After all, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael were active from the late 1400s and only a short distance away (in Italy). Yet the art in Seville was materially ‘behind’’ in terms of technique and expression. After extensive reading, I decided the reason could have something to do with Spain’s preoccupation at the time with the pursuit of a certain ideology – in particular, reinstating Catholicism as the supreme and only religion. I was also observing, in my own experience, the effect on the arts and creative thinking when governments impose ideologies on their people. Anyway, long story short, so to speak, I decided to write a love story, combined with art and religion, set in the time of the early Renaissance and, of course, in Seville.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write in the middle of the night.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many and in no particular order: Iris Murdoch, Sarah Waters, Thomas Hardy, AL Kennedy, Ernest Hemingway, Lieke Marsman, Virginia Woolf, Michael Ondaatje, JL Carr, Jan Morris, EM Forster, Ali Smith, Jeanette Winterson.
What are you working on now?
My next novel…
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Still figuring that out!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Give your writing the time and effort it deserves and persevere even if you fear you must discard material – nothing you do is wasted.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Use great verbs
What are you reading now?
Ulysses by Joyce
What’s next for you as a writer?
Immerse myself as much as possible in the world of my new characters. I do this by reading books and listening to music that are consistent with that goal.
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?
The Sea, The Sea by Murdoch
To the Lighthouse by Woolf
Maurice by Forster
Author Websites and Profiles
Sonya Van de Graaff Amazon Profile
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