I’m delighted to welcome Sue Mackender and her superb novel, ‘The Girl on the Hill’ to Writers at the Gate.
Read on to find out more...
About the book…
THE
GIRL ON THE HILL
“When you’re not who you think you are, everything’s possible.”
Having spent her childhood shunned by her adoptive parents in favour of her ‘golden child’ older sister, Mia vowed never to be the black sheep again. Since those lonely days, she’s looked after Number One, lotus-eating abroad courtesy of a very rich man.
But her charmed existence is interrupted when her sister dupes her into returning home for a short stint as a carer. Housebound in England with her life in Sardinia in tatters, Mia’s world is turned upside down.
Yet
Mia’s not prepared for the secrets she discovers lying beyond her mother’s
grave— what was the significance of the old knitting bag embroidered with
peacocks her mother continually clutched?
Does Mia dare to discover a life she never knew existed?
· Publisher : Crooksbury Publishing; The Girl on the Hill ed. edition
(22 Oct. 2020)
· Genre : General Fiction
· Language : English
· Paperback : 326 pages
· ISBN-10 : 1527273555
· ISBN-13 : 978-1527273559
· Dimensions : 13.34 x 1.88 x 20.32 cm
Sue Mackender sold her successful recruitment business after 29 years to follow her lifelong passion for books and begin a new career as a writer. Sue is often termed as a Grit-Lit writer of Commercial Fiction. She places her heroines in impossible situations where they need to fight their corner to survive.
Sue lives
with her husband in Surrey United Kingdom.
Sue on Twitter : @SueMackenderAu1
Brief Interview…
When did you start writing your new book?
I started writing The
Girl on the Hill, in 2010. It was originally part of a novel called
"A Date in the Diary" featuring the lives of three girls post
boarding school. The girls, Maureen (Mia) Grace, and Cassie, agree never to
divulge what happened to Mia and the part the others played. The girls, now
women, receive an invitation to a reunion at Chartley, (a fictitious Independent
boarding school in Sussex) some 18 years later.
Agents and editors alike told me they'd be better as a series. So, I unpicked each one rewrote and resubmitted. Two made it to the acquisition table. The feedback was that I merge all three into one book. I could have screamed.
What is your inspiration behind the book?
The inspiration,
or the raw backstory for this series "Take Three Girls," came from my
boarding school years. Whilst so much of it was great. It was also a place
where you learnt a lot about yourself. There were no parents to run to If a
teacher had given you a hard time, or you'd fallen out with somebody. You had
to trust and rely on your dorm-mates, who became your secret keepers, tutors, confessors,
and supporters. I gained a vast selection of adopted siblings.
Whilst The
Girl on the Hill is fictional, being a boarder gave me the material and a
place to start on each girl's dilemma.
Growing up isn't easy,
which is why I give my heroines a hard time. I'm described as Brit-grit writer.
I love to create robust women who escape impossible situations, what drives
them, and how they overcome those challenges.
There's always a mystery and a secret about how and why some things happen. It's the challenges to ourselves, our children, our family that forces us out of our comfort zones and how we react to it. Fight or flight.
Can you describe your route to publication from concept to completed novel?
I was told at
school that I had a vivid imagination. It wasn't until I sold my recruitment
agencies in 2007 that I put words to paper.
I wrote in secret.
Not knowing the nuances required to write a novel. At 25,000 words, I thought
I'd written the perfect book. How naive I was? Eventually, I confided in a
friend who told me there was a new writing group in Bisley. The leaflet said,
“How to get published.” It intrigued me.
We met at Bisley Pavilion
every Tuesday for almost two years. I didn't know what I'd previously written
contained barely 10% dialogue, had no structure and one-dimensional characters.
I started again from scratch. My first book, Accident of Fate. I sent
it out to agents and publishers… Amazing plot—What a fantastic story
writer—gripping etc, etc but… it wasn't quite what they were looking for, at
the moment.
I got disheartened
but spurred on by people who'd read my 324 pages of A4, I turned to a vanity
press to make my first novel a reality. Soon I was being asked if there would
be a sequel. I hadn't planned on one but wanted to keep writing. I had a head
full of ideas. So, I wrote my second novel. Accident of Birth. I set
both between Malta, Sussex and the Kent coast, places I knew well.
Once more I tried
the traditional publishing route, becoming frustrated with each contradiction
or rejection. My books were selling. I joined writing groups and professional
bodies. The Alliance of Independent authors, The Society of Authors. I joined
the RNA new writers' scheme, gradually honing my craft.
Each line I write
is a challenge, I'm dyslexic. I can read a text through a million times and
won't see where I've put things in the wrong place or left out words or letters
altogether. It's difficult but not uncommon in many successful writers. I handwrite each chapter then dictate via Speech Dragon. ProWritingAid picks up a lot
of my errors and I use Fictionary as it’s great for following story arcs, scene-setting and character development.
Marketing has been a long, hard learning curve. I'm envious of Mal and his ability to do just that. The Girl on the Hill. I published via Amazon KDP, but also with Ingram spark. I can't say which I prefer until I've had a year to compare the two.
I spent a lot of time researching material for The Girl on the Hill writing in the unspoilt coastal town of Sidmouth in Devon. It was the perfect setting for Mia to unravel the secrets of her past.
What ideas do you have for any future books?
I'm currently
editing the second in the “Take Three Girls,” series. Grace, The Woman I've
Become, I expect to publish later this summer. The third, Cassie, The
Unexpected Mother, in 2022.
I have two
psychological suspense novels waiting in the wings, I've loved writing the darker side of life.
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