Guest Interview With Sue McDonagh

Today, I’m thrilled to be chatting to my writing buddy, Sue McDonagh. I first met Sue in 2014 when we both joined a new writing group in Cowbridge. I like to think we hit it off straightaway and, that November, we supported each other through the ups and downs of our very first NaNoWriMo. Sadly, the writing group is no longer but Sue and I still meet up regularly to talk about all things 'writerly' . . . and other things, of course. Sue’s debut novel, Summer at the Art Cafe, was published by Choc Lit on Tuesday 15^th May.

Sue, welcome. Can you tell us what inspired you to write Summer at the Art Cafe?

Hi Jan, and thank you so much for having me! The inspiration behind Summer at the Art Café was my own journey towards passing my motorbike test, nearly a decade ago. Was it really that long ago? It still seems like only yesterday. Learning a new skill when you’re, *cough* older, is probably always going to be a challenge, particularly one which exposes you to the constant danger of being squashed by inattentive drivers. It certainly does sharpen up your driving responses though, and I really enjoyed the thrill of learning to control such an exciting vehicle as safely as possible. 
Belonging to Curvy Riders, an all ladies motorcycle club, brought me in touch with amazing women from all walks of life from over the UK, and the seed of the novel germinated. 

Perhaps, you’d like to tell us how you got the book published. 

Having joined the Romantic Novelists' Association under their New Writers' Scheme, I hammered my novel into shape and submitted it for their assessment. ‘Submit it’, they advised, so I began the process of sending to agents and publishers, along with carefully considered covering letters and synopses. During that time, I also sent it to publishers ChocLit, for consideration in their Search for a Star competition. Months passed before I heard from them, and no-one was more surprised than me to hear it had been shortlisted. I didn’t win, but it turns out that I was a mere one point behind the winner. ‘Did I have a second book ready to go?’ they asked. I did, but it was unfinished and I thought, pretty awful. Then my lovely mum died, and I found it really difficult to get on with finishing it. My writer friends urged and kicked me in the nicest way to the finish line, and I’m delighted to say that ChocLit signed me for both books. 
The euphoria of being an almost published writer lasted for a couple of months, until I received the edits. 

I was totally not prepared for: ‘Don’t like the beginning, or the end. Or the middle. Needs a total re-write.’Along with eight pages of closely packed criticism . . .
‘Put it in ‘the freezer’, I was advised. I did, and it didn’t look any better when I took it out a week or more later. I truly wondered whether I was cut out to do this. Christmas was rushing towards us, and I had a deadline of Feb 1^st. I doubted myself. I doubted my editor! What could she possibly know? I’m writing this in complete honesty, because I hope it will help some of you who will most certainly experience this in your publishing journey.
Eventually, I knuckled down to the extensive re-write that was required. Encouragingly, I saw my writing improve as I worked my way through. Until I got to the last portion of the novel, when I became increasingly and horribly aware that my ending wasn’t going to work any more. And the deadline loomed.
‘You’re too close to it. Have a break for ten days,’ my editor told me. ‘I’ll get back to you.’ Ten days of not writing? I could barely countenance it after almost two months of focused story-building. I gritted my teeth and switched to painting, while in my head I junked the entire shameful mess. I expected the very next email from my editor to say, ‘We did our best, but sorry. Better luck next time.’
I was both astonished and relieved to open an email that read, ‘It’s fine, I’ve made a few suggestions, get on with it.’

Where I’d flipped into disaster-mode thinking, my editor had actually read more deeply into my characters and what they wanted and my ending was back in position. So clever. I don’t think I could have actually finished that book without my editor!

I was struck by the pace of the writing in your novel. The story line kept me turning the pages yet the characters are very credible, too. Can you say which came first, the characters or the story you wanted to tell?

I’m so glad you found it pacy! I wanted it to mimic the whole excitement of learning to ride a motorbike.  Lucy represents so many of the ladies I met who told me of their learning experiences. Several readers have written to tell me that they felt I was inside their heads as they were reading! Ash is, of course, my utterly ideal hero…

Biking is very important to you and you are very much involved with Curvy Riders. How much of you is in the novel?

Hah, they tell you to write about what you know, and it’s fair to say I’ve certainly

done that with Summer at the Art Café! Lucy’s journey to master her motorbike are very much drawn from my own experiences. Along with countless other new riders, I dropped my bike so many times trying to do a U turn that I very nearly gave up. After kicking a cone over on the first part of the test, and then failing after a perfect second part of the test by dropping my bike in the snow outside the test centre, I can honestly say I have plenty of stories of my own to call on.
Having said that, Lucy developed her own character as time went on, and I constantly found myself surprised by her dialogue, as if I was simply a conduit for her voice. She and Daisy have made me laugh so many times. Writing has been a revelation in that respect. I thought I was the one in charge!

The novel is a feel-good story that up-lifts the reader yet it deals with a number of serious issues. Can you tell us why it was important for you to explore these?

My own life has been a series of dramatic highs and lows. Treated for advanced stage ovarian cancer aged 24, it changed my life and my career path. My hopes for having a family were dashed, my long term health constantly under review.

I now consider myself incredibly privileged to be owned by a wonderful, loving, extended family that includes my two boys and their daughters, and my three step-children, one of whom is about to pop another little girl into the world, and another of which has with extraordinary generosity of spirit, long-term fostered three very young children. I believe that the way we grow from these experiences shapes not only our own personalities, but also the friends and people we gather around us.
I know people in these toxic relationships, who gradually become subservient to their increasingly domineering spouses, and yet continue to hope that things will get better, that it’s just a phase. Lucy’s friends can see clearly what is happening, but the opportunity of jumping off the Gerry-directed treadmill only occurs because she wins the motorbike. Because it’s not his idea.

Riding a motorbike requires a kind of focused isolation. There is no-one else to ask. Just you, inside your helmet, and your ability to move that motorbike about. There are often scary moments, and you can’t just walk away and let someone else deal with it, because you have to sort it out there and then. With each incident, you grow a bit more in confidence, and this is what I wanted to show Lucy experiencing.

My personal experience of belonging to a big ladies only motorbike club is only briefly touched on in the novel, although I did want to show that camaraderie. Women riders are a growing minority, and although many are just as happy to ride with their menfolk, being out with your girl-friends has a different dynamic. Getting lost just makes it a curvier ride, we help each other move our bikes on slippery gravelly car parks, we find the best places to have coffee and cake, and we’re not above a spot of mooching about in shops, building sandcastles and sightseeing when we want to, either!
Like me, Lucy always wanted her own children, but when she meets Daisy, she begins to realise that long term parenting of someone else’s child is very different from a casual meeting with a little girl on her best behaviour. Her life was on full throttle from the minute she sat on that purple motorbike, wasn’t it?

Since the novel was published a few months ago, the reviews have been amazing, both in numbers and ratings. Can you tell us how you felt as the first ones started coming through?

I couldn’t believe how quickly the reviews came in – I wasn’t expecting that! I even had a #BestSeller flag!
I confess I was a little bit anxious as to how it would be received by ‘non-bikers’. To date, I have had over 84 mostly 5 star reviews, and most of them have been from people who’ve never ridden a motorbike. But they’re thinking about it now…
I’m so appreciative of everyone who has taken the time and effort to leave a review. I’ve read every single one, and it’s just lovely that people have warmed to the story that my characters have woven. Because Lucy and Ash and Daisy, they’re real people, y’know…

‘Planner’ or ‘pantser’ – which were you when you started writing and has that changed now you are a published novelist (I love saying that!)?

Even though I’m an airy-fairy artist in my other life, I know that really I’m a complete control freak, so I’m a Planner. I have colour coded spread-sheet things with my characters on, each chapter planned, the emotion arcs, everything.

I blimmin’ love a pack of coloured Sharpies, some Post It notes and a massive flipchart! Although that could be another art form, I guess…
But when I’ve planned it all, I start writing and my characters take it all off in a different direction. I go with the flow and see what happens. There’s a magical alchemy about writing, isn’t there? I can fret and worry about plot threads that aren’t working, or stop writing altogether because I over-think something, and then I start writing and somehow the words tumble out and fix themselves.

I’m not going to analyse that in case it stops happening!

You are a busy artist so I’m sure I’m not the only one to wonder where you manage to fit in your writing time. Do you have a particular writing routine?

I don’t watch much TV, and once I start writing I am able to shut everything out, so I write whenever I can. Social media is a distraction though. Also my dog, Scribble, is better than a FitBit, nudging me to take him out for a walk when he thinks I’ve been sitting about for too long.

You have a very distinctive style of painting that is so evident in the cover of Summer at the Art Café, do you have a distinctive style in your writing, too?

I read somewhere that Art is not about what I see, but what I make you see. I’d like to think that my writing makes my readers laugh but also cry a little too.

Many reviewers are saying they can’t wait for your next novel. Can you tell readers when and what to expect?

The second in the series is already written, and should be released in early Spring 2019! It’s based in the Art Café on the Welsh Gower coast, and focuses on two characters who popped up in Summer at the Art Café. There’s a gorgeous little boy, Liam, and a wonderful naughty neighbour who never failed to make me laugh, Beryl. I’m currently writing the third in the series, about a spiky heroine with a tendency to blurt. Can’t imagine who I’ve based that on…

No comment on that! 

Thank you so much, Sue. I’m thrilled to see how well your novel is doing and it’s been a privilege to watch your journey from the start.  

Summer at the Art Cafe is published by Choc Lit.  

Link to the book on Amazon: http://amzn.eu/6T7YCYg

Blog and website: www.suemcdonagh.co.uk

FB Author page: https://www.facebook.com/SueMcDonaghWriter/

Twitter: @SueMcDonaghLit

My thoughts on Summer at the Art Cafe: ***** 5 Stars

Summer at the Art Café is a delightful read where you'll find humour and emotion. The writing is pacy with a story line that kept me turning the pages to the end. Authentic characters are well drawn with enough layering to show both their strengths and flaws. You care about what happens to them. I particularly rooted for Lucy on her journey from life with her controlling husband to become a confident self-assured woman. The resilience she showed when learning to ride her newly-won motor bike was admirable! Added to the mix was the gorgeous Ash and lovable Daisy. The novel is a feel-good story that up-lifts the reader yet it deals with a number of serious issues, too. These are handled sensitively. A book I thoroughly enjoyed reading, I can’t wait for the sequel and have no hesitation in recommending this debut novel.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed finding out more of the story behind Sue's debut novel.

You may also follow me on Twitter @JanBayLit and on my Jan Baynham Writer Facebook page.